Party Info for 9/30/10!

Tonight, Writing Pad is throwing an awesome party to raise money for the High Desert Retreat scholarship fund called Duchess Willemina Pennington's Soiree Litteraire. For a small donation of $20, you can attend a party with good looking writers, a great DJ, delicious appetizers, and cocktails. You will also be entered into the raffle for a five week class series at Writing Pad! Click here for the details.

Stop by and help us help a writer in need realize his or her potential! Writing Pad will cover the tuition. We need you to help make up the rest.

You don't have to attend the party to be entered in the raffle for a five week class. Just donate $20 or more. Click here if you are a generous soul. Note: we will take donations of any amount (even $5 or $10 helps!)

For party location., call Marilyn at 323-333-2954 or email marilyn@writingpad.com.

Writing Prompt 9/22/10: It's Time To Party!

By Marilyn Friedman

On Thursday, September 30th, Writing Pad is throwing an awesome party to raise money for the High Desert Retreat scholarship fund called Duchess Willemina Pennington's Soiree Litteraire. For a small donation of $20, you can attend a party with good looking writers, a great DJ, delicious appetizers, and cocktails. You will also be entered into the raffle for a five week class series at Writing Pad! Click here for the details.

Stop by and help us help a writer in need realize his or her potential! Writing Pad will cover the tuition. We need you to help make up the rest.

You don't have to attend the party to be entered in the raffle for a five week class. Just donate $20 or more. Click here if you are a generous soul.Lastly, check out Writing Pad's new classes! In honor of Fall, we have discounted our prices for September and October. Take advantage of these delectable classes at new, affordable rates! Call 323-333-2954 before they are full!

• Writing Pad High Desert Retreat (Weekend of Oct. 22-24)--2 spots left
• And You Thought Your Family Was F'd Up: Developing Compelling Characters From Real Life (Thurs., Oct., 7)--New class
• Writing For Your Mummy: Find Your Inner Stephen King (Sun., Oct., 17)--New class
• Acting Out: One Writer, One Act (Thurs p.m., starts Oct. 21)--New class
• So You Want To Be A Writer (Wed. nights, Fri and Sat. mornings)--3 spots left
• Finishing School (Wed. nights, Fri and Sat. mornings)--3 spots left
• Your Name In Print (Sun. a.m., starts Oct. 17)--New class

By now, you are probably wondering, where is my writing prompt? Here it is, darling. Thanks for reading all of the announcements!

Writing Prompt: Make a list of five parties that you've attended in your life (or make up an imaginary party). Pick one and write about it for 10 minutes. Make sure to include some sensory detail about that party (smell, taste, sound, touch, sight). Then post your results in the comments of this blog! Use this poem as inspiration for your writing if you like.

Partying, it's what lifes all about

By Beonca Hobson

Partying,
It's what life's all about.
If you agree,
Scream and shout.

You know what I'm saying,
It's what lifes all about.
You got a job it's paying,
It's 3 a.m. and you're sneaking out.

Money's going towards booze,
It's what lifes all about.
It's noon and your rolling over and hitting snooze,
It's 3 a.m. again and your sneaking out.

You never see daylight,
The curtains in your room are black.
Your stoned and taking flight,
But for all you care you could live in a shack.

It's what life's all about,
Spending money on booze.
It's 3 a.m. again and you're sneaking out,
It's noon all over again and your rolling over and hitting snooze.

Partying, it's what lifes all about.

Comment on this blog! Write about a party. The best mini-story of August/September will win a free class! All comments will receive likes and remembers from Marilyn.

Writing Pad's/Duchess Willemina Pennington's Soiree Litteraire

By Jefferino von Bernsteinn, Haliena von Rosenbergg and Marilyna von Friedmann

Duchess Willemina Pennington invites you to shake your derriere to the musical stylings of DJ Wanky a.k.a. Xavier Laurent Marchelier De La Troue on Thursday night, September 30th!

Stop by, join LA's literati, and support a very worthy cause: broke writers. There are over 72,000 underpaid and overworked writers here in Los Angeles! All proceeds from the event will go to Willemina's scholarship fund to send a talented but destitute writer to the Writing Pad High Desert Retreat.

Your $20 dollar donation to the scholarship fund entitles you to champagne, hors d'oeuvres, and glitter. Duchess Willemina will also preside over the raffle of a five week class series at Writing Pad.

Suggested attire is bookish chic.

Can't attend the party but still want to donate (and be entered into the raffle for a 5 week class series)? Click here, darling.

Host: Writing Pad/Duchess Willemina Pennington

When: Thursday, September 30, 2010, 8 p.m.

What: $20 dollar donation to our scholarship fund

Where: Writing Pad, LA's most exclusive writing school

RSVP to her social secretary Marilyna von Friedmann at marilyn@writingpad.com by September 27. Party address will be provided upon RSVP.

Writing Pad High Desert Retreat Scholarship Fund

By Jeffrey Bernstein, Marilyn Friedman, Chris DeLorenzo

How would you like to give up your hard earned cash to nurture someone else’s creativity? He or she will go to the Writing Pad High Desert Retreat, finish a book, win a Pulitzer prize, get a movie deal, and you’ll have helped to make it all happen. Yay, you!

But seriously, help us help a writer in need. We want to give a talented but broke writer the chance to realize his potential regardless of financial status. Writing Pad and Laguna Writers will take care of the tuition. We need you to make up the difference!

To show our appreciation for your generosity of $20 or more, we will enter you into a raffle to win a five week Writing Pad class series ($275 value). Or, if you are in San Francisco, you will be entered into a raffle to win a 1 day class at Laguna Writers ($150 value)! Thanks so much! Click below to donate.

If for some reason, this link doesn't work for you, email marilyn@writingpad.com with the amount that you want to donate. Make sure to let us know if you live near LA or San Francisco. Thank you ever so. :)

Writing Prompt 9/15/10: Breakfast

By Marilyn Friedman

Start your day out with a delicious, nutritious writing class! We've added a Friday a.m. section of SYWBW/Finishing School for those of you who have a flexible schedule.

Also, in honor of Fall, we have discounted our prices for September and October. Take advantage of our fantastic classes and retreat at new, affordable rates! Write that book, short story, or screenplay that you've always dreamed of finishing. We can help you do it. Call 323-333-2954 before these classes are full.

• Writing Pad High Desert Retreat (Weekend of Oct. 22-24)--2 spots left
  2 nights/2 days of relaxation, top notch writing classes, one-on-one consultations, gourmet food, and fun!
• Mini Writing Pad Bootcamp. . .With Dessert (Sun., Sept. 19, p.m.)--1 spot left
• So You Want To Be A Writer (Wed. p.m., starts Oct. 6, Fri. a.m., starts Oct. 8)--3 spots left
• Finishing School (Wed. p.m., starts Oct. 6, Fri. a.m., starts Oct. 2)--3 spots left

Writing Prompt: Make a list of your five favorite breakfast foods. Pick one and write about it for 10 minutes. Make sure to include some sensory detail about that breakfast food (smell, taste, sound, touch, sight). Then post your results in the comments of this blog.

Here are some ideas for what to write about: describe what the breakfast food tastes like in great detail, discuss why you think it is the most superior breakfast food, or describe what happened the last time you ate it (a breakup, your morning routine, witnessing something at a cafe or restaurant). Use this poem as inspiration for your writing if you like.

Breakfast (Love Poem) by Ian Beckett

Orange squeezed, tea brewed, bacon fried

Self showered, beard shaved, robe wrapped

Wife kissed, tea brought, eyes rubbed

Juice sipped, toast munched, day discussed

Sugar stirred, tea drunk, watch checked

Kids rattled, cornflakes spooned, plates emptied

Mum fussed, kids grumped, teeth cleaned

Noses wiped, shoes on-ed, lunch packed

Stragglers awayed, byes waved, friends greeted

Office called, PC packed, car started

Wife snuggled, door closed, journey begun.

Comment on this blog! Write about breakfast. The best mini-story of August/September will win a free class! All comments will receive likes and remembers from Marilyn.

Writing Prompt: 9/9/10 Ode to Delicious Things

By Marilyn Friedman

Do you want to feel delicious? Spend some time with your muse! Write that book, short story, or screenplay that you've always dreamed of finishing. Here are some ways to make your creative dreams come true:

• Writing Pad High Desert Retreat (Weekend of Oct. 22-24)--2 spots left

2 nights/2 days of relaxation, top notch writing classes, one-on-one consultations, gourmet food, and fun!

• Mini Writing Pad Bootcamp. . .With Dessert (Sun., Sept. 19)--1 spot left
• So You Want To Be A Writer (Wed. p.m., starts Oct. 6, Fri. a.m., starts Oct. 2)--3 spots left
• Finishing School (Wed. p.m., starts Oct. 6, Fri. a.m., starts Oct. 2)--3 spots left

Call 323-333-2954 to sign up for the retreat or classes before they are full!

Writing Prompt: This writing prompt is inspired by my weekend in Seattle where I ate many delicious things including the best clam chowder in the world!

Make a list of 5 things that you think are delicious. Pick one item off of your list and spend 10 minutes writing a short ode to it. Then post the results in the comments of this blog!

Here are some ideas for what you could write about: what do you specifically love about it? Where do you eat or drink it? Make up a simile for that food--(what is it "like" or "as"?). In the sample poem below, Marge Piercy says that coffee is "dark as the waters flowing out of a spooky swamp." Use Marge Piercy's wonderful poem as inspiration, but your piece can be much shorter!

In Praise of Joe
by Marge Piercy

I love you hot
I love you iced and in a pinch
I will even consume you tepid.

Dark brown as wet bark of an apple tree,
dark as the waters flowing out of a spooky swamp
rich with tannin and smelling of thick life—

but you have your own scent that even
rising as steam kicks my brain into gear.
I drink you rancid out of vending machines,

I drink you at coffee bars for $6 a hit,
I drink you dribbling down my chin from a thermos
in cars, in stadiums, on the moonwashed beach.

Mornings you go off in my mouth like an electric
siren, radiating to my fingertips and toes.
You rattle my spine and buzz in my brain.

Whether latte, cappuccino, black or Greek
you keep me cooking, you keep me on line.
Without you, I would never get out of bed

but spend my life pressing the snooze button.
I would creep through wan days
in the form of a large shiny slug.

You waken in me the gift of speech when I
am dumb as a rock buried in damp earth.
It is you who make me human every dawn.
All my books are written with your ink.

Comment on this blog! Write about something you think is delicious. The best mini-story of August/September will win a free class! All comments will receive likes and remembers from Marilyn.

Writing Prompt 9/2/10: Best Friends Forever

By Marilyn Friedman

Do something special for your writing and yourself. Go to the Writing Pad High Desert Retreat on the weekend of Oct. 22-24! There are only 2 spots left--call 323-333-2954 to sign up before it's full.

It's 2 nights/2 days of relaxation, top notch writing classes, one-on-one consultations, gourmet food, and fun! Make some significant progress on a writing project or get your writing practice going!

Also, we have some fantastic classes coming up this fall. They are:

• Mini Writing Pad Bootcamp. . .With Dessert (Sun., Sept. 19)
• So You Want To Be A Writer (Wed.'s, Starts Oct. 6)
• Finishing School (Wed.'s, Starts Oct. 6)

Call 323-333-2954 to sign up for classes before they are full!



Writing Prompt:
What comes to mind when I say, "best friend"? Make a list of your 5 adventures/experiences that you had with a best friend. Pick one and add two sensory details to it (smell, taste, sound, touch, sight). Write for 10 minutes about that adventures/experience. Make sure to include at least one of your sensory details in your piece and post your results in comments of this blog!

Comment on this blog! Write about an adventure or experience you had with a best friend. The best mini-story of August/September will win a free class!