Your Favorite Relative: Writing Prompt and Gift Suggestions

By Antonia Crane and Marilyn Friedman

Stressed out by the holidays already? Here's a writing prompt to loosen those shoulder knots. Family visits can be stressful and fattening, but they can also be a time to build sweet memories and remember happier times. Scroll down below to use your favorite family members as inspiration for your writing! In the meantime, here's a few places you could buy a gorgeous card and a new journal or a gourmet gift basket for your favorite relative to show your appreciation—then treat yourself to a cupcake at one of these places:

• Landis Gifts and Stationery in Larchmont
• Fanciful Gift Baskets on Melrose.
• Best cupcake in town: Babycakes (they have one in California now!)

But Writing Pad has the best treats of all because our classes not only make your literary dreams come true, they won't add an inches to your waistline! In fact, someone once told Marilyn that writing burns calories, and she would really like to believe that.

This Sat., learn how to infuse true stories with subtext and conflict with successful screenwriter and show runner Lamar Damon ("Bunheads," "Celebrity Exes") or make your memoir a page turner with bestselling memoirist Brett Paesel ("Mommi.es Who Drink", More) On Sun., get a customized plan for landing that agent and primo book deal with successful author and book consultant Derek Taylor Kent ("Scary School")!

Then next Tues. you can learn everything you need to know to become a successful freelance journalist with Taffy Brodesser-Akner (NY Times freelancer, Self). Taffy has helped 21 students get published. You're next! Or on the Eastside, get your 15 minutes of fame with your very own one-person show with Emmy award winning writer and Moth host Brian Finkelstein!

Who said that there wasn't enough time left in 2012 to work on making your writing dreams come true? Not us!

Note: classes with an asterix (*) will be held at our new, posh Westside location in Westwood!

Classes Starting Week of Nov. 26- Dec. 2
•True Tales: Crafting Compelling Stories For The Screen
•Memorable Memoir Bootcamp: Getting To Second Base*

•Get Your Book Published Intensive*

Classes Starting Week of Dec. 3 - 9
•Do Re Mi, Baby: Songwriting Made Easy
•So You Want To Be A Freelancer*
•The You Show: A Solo Performance Intensive

•From Spec to Staff: A Ticket To The Writer's Room

•Say It Isn't So: A Storytelling Class

Classes Starting Week of Dec. 10- 16
•Stand Out Stand-Up: A Comedy Workshop

2013 Classes

•How To Hook An Agent*

Writing Prompt: Make a list of your three favorite family members. Pick one. Make a list of three great times you shared with them. Pick one. Now add a sensory detail to that event (smell, taste, sound, touch). Now write about that great time for 10 minutes, making sure to include the sensory detail. Then post your story in the comments of this blog to get entered in the contest for Oct./Nov.! There's only a few days left (and not much competition) so we hope that you'll post something!

For instance, Antonia is going to either write about the time when she was supposed to be in bed by 10 p.m. but instead her aunt took her to the county fair and let her ride The Zipper until she was sick or that time she had a really big secret and told her big brother who never told a soul. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Write about your favorite family member and a fun time you shared with them. Then post your ten minute write in the comments of this blog to get entered into the contest for a free class!

Here Comes Family Writing Prompt

By Antonia Crane and Marilyn Friedman

Thanksgiving is a time of family which, for some, means a smorgasbord of suffering and trauma and for others, a time of cozy snuggling and full tummies. For me, it's somewhere in between my Dad's emotionally reticent wild rice stuffing and my Mom's overbearing cranberry beet salad. My sister's kids bring me joy but also remind me of my fallow shortcomings. Family invites a complex palette of emotions and lots of distracting entertainment. My relatives are coming to visit this T-day weekend so I found some fun places in LA to bring your crazy family:

• Little India in Artesia for exotic shopping and a delicious lunch at Rasraj.
• J. Paul Getty Museum for a picnic.
• Huntington Rose Garden Tea Room for high end treats after a peek at Blue Boy and Pinky.
• Stark Bar at LACMA for a trendy cocktail after a jaunt to the Stanley Kubrick exhibit.
• Tula Tea Room inside the Museum of Jurassic Technology for free tea and a sampling of something odder than your family.

And here are two refuges to race off to for a few hours when your family is napping in your bed:
For Her: Olympic Spa in Korea Town.
For Him: Yoga for Men (Stephen Ewashkiw's class at Urth Yoga in Silverlake).

And don't forget that Writing Pad has a wonderful collection of classes to keep your muse sharp and warm in the last two months of 2012. For instance, on Tues., Dec. 11, transform that hellish T-day visit into a hilarious stand-up comedy routine with master comic Johnny Walker ("The Tonight Show," "The Hollywood Improv,"  "Laugh Factory")! Find out how to land that plum staff TV writing job so your Dad will stop bugging you with Emmy award- winning writer Ed Crasnick ("Hot In Cleveland", "The Sopranos") on Sat., Dec. 8. A full list of our classes is below. Click on the links to sign up before they are full!

Note: classes with an asterix (*) will be held at our new, posh Westside location in Westwood!

Classes Starting Week of Nov. 26- Dec. 2
•True Tales: Crafting Compelling Stories For The Screen
•Memorable Memoir Bootcamp: Getting To Second Base*

•Get Your Book Published Intensive*

OTHER CLASSES BY GENRE

Book Publishing

•How To Hook An Agent*

Journalism
•So You Want To Be A Freelancer*
 

Writing for Actors

•Do Re Mi, Baby: Songwriting Made Easy
•The You Show: A Solo Performance Intensive

•Say It Isn't So: A Storytelling Class
•Stand Out Stand-Up: A Comedy Workshop

Screenwriting
•From Spec to Staff: A Ticket To The Writer's Room

Writing Prompt: Your Most Annoying Family Member
You know that family member who makes you want to stab his or her eyes out? Use that relative to write a deeply flawed and wonderful character for your next story. Make a list of your three most annoying relatives. Pick one. Write down something that relative does that make you want to scream. Make up a code name for that relative based on that annoying behavior so you don't get into trouble posting about them (e.g. Competitive Buddhist, The Nagging Queen). Give your character a life dream and a unique physical characteristic. Now, place that character in their favorite setting like a dude ranch, a casino, or hammering tiles on the roof. Start with a scene in that setting where your character is doing that annoying thing and include their life dream, code name, and unique physical characteristic (or whatever you get to in 10 minutes). Before you know it, you will fall in love with the character on the page and so will your reader! Then post the results in the comments of this blog to be entered into the contest for a free class!

I can’t wait to see what you come up with (feel free to email marilyn@writingpad.com if you want to remain anonymous but still enter the comment contest).

Write about your most annoying relative!  Post your 10 minute write in the comments of this blog, and you could win a free class!

Comfort Food Writing Prompt and Recommendations

By Marilyn Friedman

Last week, it started to get pitch black at 5 p.m. every day, and the weather finally cooled off. Although I'm not a fan of the early darkness, I am enjoying the chillier weather and the excuse to light my fireplace and excavate my winter wardrobe! Another thing I love about winter is indulging in a hot bowl of soup or some comfort food before sitting down to write. Here are a few of my favorite places to get comfort food in LA so my muse feels toasty and ready to get to work:

• Fire Roasted Tomato Soup at Bread Lounge in DTLA
• Truffle Mac and Cheese at Blair's in Silverlake
• Clam Chowder at Santa Monica Seafood in Santa Monica
• Mongolian Hot Pot at Hot Pot Hot Pot in Monterey Park

And don't forget that Writing Pad has a wonderful collection of classes to keep your muse cozy and amused in the last two months of 2012. For instance, on Tuesday, Nov. 27, you can learn how to write a hilarious stand-up comedy routine with master comic Johnny Walker (“Just For Laughs” TBS Las Vegas Comedy Festival, "The Tonight Show","The Hollywood Improv", "Laugh Factory")! Johnny will show you how to mine your life for hysterical material and how to master the mix, act out, and logic play. By the end of the class, you'll have a short set written that you can perform at the Pad! 

Also, on Wed., Nov. 28 find out how to land that staff TV writing job and keep it with Emmy award winning writer Ed Crasnick ("Hot In Cleveland", "The Sopranos") in From Spec to Staff: A Ticket To The Writer's Room! Ed will show you how to create and market a pilot or spec script to get that writing job that you've always dreamed of and share how to excel in the writer's room. You'll even get feedback on your show idea.

A full list of our classes is below. Click on the links to sign up before they are full, my darlings.

Note: classes with an asterix (*) will be held at our new, posh Westside location in Westwood!

Classes Starting Week of Nov. 26- Dec. 2
•Stand Out Stand-Up: A Comedy Workshop
•From Spec to Staff: A Ticket To The Writer's Room
•True Tales: Crafting Compelling Stories For The Screen
•Memorable Memoir Bootcamp: Getting To Second Base*

•Get Your Book Published Intensive*

OTHER CLASSES BY GENRE

Book Publishing

•How To Hook An Agent*

Journalism
•So You Want To Be A Freelancer*
 

Writing for Actors

•Do Re Mi, Baby: Songwriting Made Easy

•The You Show: A Solo Performance Intensive

•Say It Isn't So: A Storytelling Class

Yum! Butternut Squash Soup!

Writing Prompt: Cold Weather Comfort Food
It's cold outside which means it's time to make baked apples with caramel sauce, Mama's crock pot chili, and of course, roast turkey with wild mushroom stuffing and heaps of piping hot gravy! Start by making a list of your 5 favorite comfort foods (or your fictional character's favorite comfort foods). Pick one. Now add a specific memory that comes to mind when you think of that dish. Last, add a sensory detail to this comfort food (sound, taste, touch or smell) that goes with your comfort food. Now write for 10 minutes about this comfort food, and make sure to include the memory and the sensory detail. Then, post the results in the comments of this blog to be entered into the contest for a free class!

I can’t wait to see what you come up with (feel free to email me if you want to remain anonymous but still enter the comment contest). I'm going to write about my mother's homemade hot borscht that she made on cold winter days. It was full of wonderful vegetables like beans, carrots, and potatoes and tasted like a warm hug.

Write about your favorite cold weather comfort food!  Post your 10 minute write in the comments of this blog, and you could win a free class!

Fall Break: A Dream Retreat At A Dream Of A Price

By Antonia Crane

Here is what I love about writing retreats and why Writing Pad's Fall Break Writing Retreat on Nov. 2-4 is above and beyond all of them:

1. Stars, Baby
When I part with my cold hard cash for a writing retreat, I want to study with successful writers whose writing I admire. At Writing Pad's Fall Break, you get access to so many literary rock stars. In the Screenwriting track, you can study with Robbie Fox ("So I Married An Axe Murderer", "Playing For Keeps") who has sold 60 projects and Chris Hauty ("Never Back Down", "Homeward Bound II") who has had 12 films produced. In the Memoir/Fiction track, you can learn from bestselling memoirist Monica Holloway and award-winning writer Ron Koertge who has published 19 novels and 12 books of poetry. In the Personal Essay track,  you'll get down to business with successful journalist Taffy-Brodesser-Akner (NY Times, Self, Salon) These are critically acclaimed superstars who will give you feedback on your work and shepherd you to literary greatness.

Screenwriter Robbie Fox with Jessica Biel and Gerard Butler On Set of "Playing For Keeps" (To be released Dec.!)

2. Time
Having hours away from work, pets, spouses, dirty dishes and Facebook to concentrate on writing and learning writing craft is essential for finishing a project.  In Writing Pad's Fall Break, if you take the Personal Essay track with Taffy Brodesser-Akner, you will complete an essay and send it out for publication or die. If you sign up for the Screenwriting track or Memoir/Fiction track, you will have a weekend to finish that screenplay or book you've been dreaming about. It's that simple.


3. Writing Family

Writing retreats are an opportunity to meet with other writers, share work and get support. At the retreats that I've attended, I've met writers who champion my every success and become life long friends.

4. Money and Bang For Your Buck
Many writing retreats are expensive and have crappy food and stuffy dorm-style rooms. This one is local and reasonably priced. After a scrumptious gourmet breakfast, lunch, and dinner catered by a professional chef, dessert and dancing in a gorgeous loft space with an incredible view of DTLA, you go home to your comfy bed. No extravagant plane flight tickets or hotel bill necessary! It all takes place over the course of one weekend so you don't even need to take time off.

Remember: Fall Break is fast and furious, affordable, local, and you will study with uber instructors!

This is how it works: Choose your track. Here are your options:

1. Screen Writing Track with Robbie Fox, Chris Hauty and Lamar Damon
Whip that pilot or film into shape with the heavy hitters of Hollywood: Robbie Fox ("So I Married An Axe Murderer", "Playing For Keeps") and Chris Hauty ("Never Back Down", "Homeward Bound II"). Get feedback on your screenplay ideas, find out how to get an agent and how to come up with commercial ideas and get to work! Costs: $245 for Weekend Pass (includes 3 classes, meals, wine tasting, activities and art supplies),  $75 for one-class pass (add lunch for $16, wine tasting for $16, Art Games class for $16, Writing Pad Hoedown for $16 or dinner for $21).

2. Fiction/Memoir Track with Ron Koertge and Monica Holloway 
Learn how to structure your book with pizazz and get feedback from the best in the biz. This weekend intensive includes courses with Writing Pad Founder Marilyn Friedman, bestselling memoirist Monica Holloway (Driving with Dead People, Cowboy and Wills) and with prolific, award-winning novelist and poet, Ron Koertge (Lies, Knives and Girls in Red Dresses, Stoner & Spaz). Costs: $245 for Weekend Pass (includes 3 classes, meals, wine tasting, activities and art supplies), $75 for one-class pass (add lunch for $16, wine tasting for $16, Art Games class for $16, Writing Pad Hoedown for $16 or dinner for $21).

3. Personal Essay Track with Taffy Brodesser-Akner

By the end of Taffy's Personal Essay Bootcamp, you'll have an essay ready for publication (like the 21 other writers she's helped get published!). Taffy will dig out your naughty truth, figure out your essay's beating heart, and give you the structure you need to complete that essay that's been percolating in your gut for years. Taffy's essays have been published in The New York Times, The LA Times, Self, Salon and lots of other places. If you sign up for this track, you will be with her all weekend long. You must commit. I double dog dare you. Cost: $400 Weekend Pass (includes classes, meals, wine tasting, activities and art supplies.)

I'll see you at Writing Pad's incredible Fall Break the weekend of Nov. 2-4! My recommendation to you: sign up before it is sold out.

Don't Miss Your Moment With Susan Orlean

By Antonia Crane

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS.

It's a Writing Pad miracle: Susan Orlean is coming to Writing Pad on Thursday, November 1st from 8-9:30p.m. for a fireside chat. Do you want to know how to twist one life changing moment into a bestselling book? Of course you do. This is one of those moments. Don't miss yours. Seize this opportunity to grow as a writer and hear a literary icon speak about her process. 
 

Here's the deal: Susan  has been a staff writer for the New Yorker for 20 years. She is an award-winning author who turns journalistic scoops into literary gold. In 1999, Susan parlayed her exposé of high-end flower poaching in the Florida Everglades into a New York Times bestseller with The Orchid Thief which was the inspiration for the Oscar wining movie Adaptation.  More recently, she created another bestseller with her investigation into the exotic world of a canine film star in Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. Come hear Susan share her thoughts on everything from the art of storytelling, being a staff writer at The New Yorker, to being portrayed on screen by actress Meryl Streep!

After the chat, we will be gathering for a snack and drink or two. That's right, snacks, champagne, and the company of an amazing novelist! What more could you ask for? Click here to grab a spot before the event sells out! 

From Exposés To Epic Tales: A Fireside Chat with Susan Orlean 
Thurs., Nov. 1, 2012

8:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Event Only: $20

(Includes snacks and champagne)

Event and Copy of Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend: $32

(Includes event price, paperback, snacks and champagne)

Location: Writing Pad East (Downtown LA at the Corner of 7th and Santa Fe)

Here's a little more about Susan Orlean:

Susan Orlean is the bestselling author of eight books, including My Kind of Place, The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup, Saturday Night and Lazy Little Loafers. In 1999, she published The Orchid Thief, a narrative about orchid poachers in Florida, which was made into the Oscar-wining movie, Adaptation, written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. In 2011, her book Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, an account of Rin Tin Tin’s journey from orphaned puppy to international icon, was a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book. It won the Ohioana Book Award and the Theatre Library Association’s Richard Wall Memorial Award. Susan has been a staff writer for the New Yorker since 1992. Her work can be found in Esquire, Rolling Stone, Outside, Smithsonian, and The New York Times. Orlean graduated with honors from the University of Michigan and was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2003. In 2012 she received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan.

Summer Comment Contest Winners

By Marilyn Friedman

We had so many fantastic story submissions for the summer comment contests. Below are the contest winners. If you didn't win this last round of contests, please continue commenting on this blog with your wonderful stories and poems. Remember, there is a new contest for October/November!

But before we tell you who won a free class at Writing Pad, here are some amazing courses that we have coming up soon on the West and East side of LA. You won't want to miss them!  Classes with an * will be held on the Westside of LA.

Comment Contest Winners

Jesse Sage Noonan

 May I have a drum roll please? The April/May Comment Contest Winner is Jesse Sage Noonan! Congratulations, Jesse! I asked the Jesse what inspires her to write. She says, "On a good day: a great novel will spark the desire to craft sentences or explore ideas for stories. On a bad day: guilt." You can read Jesse's wonderful piece about a memorable concert here.

Ethel Watson

The winner of the June/July Comment Contest is Ethel Watson!
Congratulations, Ethel! I asked Ethel about her writing practice. She says, "I like to write early in the morning at the computer, especially if I have hit on an idea or solution that I want to get down quickly. Often, though, I prefer to write in longhand in one of my many notebooks -- writing in longhand is more like meditation, and my notebooks are home to many of the writings from my Writing Pad classes and a source of inspiration. "
You can read Ethel's charming pieces about motherly talents and what's in her refrigerator here and here.

I hope to see you soon either on this blog or at Writing Pad West or East!

Favorite Cafes and Meaningful Words Writing Prompt

By Marilyn Friedman

Sometimes you just need a change of venue to get those creative juices flowing. I love writing in cafes. I escape the distractions of home and indulge in cafe latte's and tasty treats. These LA cafes have plenty of outlets, comfortable seating, and the perfect environment to motivate your fingers to start tapping on on your laptop: Bread Lounge, Bulgarini Gelato, Conservatory of Coffee, Le Pain Quotidien, Sweet Butter.

Speaking of motivation, we have a bunch of classes starting this week that will help you find the best, most productive writer inside of you. Showcase yourself as a writer! Craft an essay that will mystify an audience in Moth Me Baby starting this Sun., Oct. 21 with Pinata curator and Pushcart Prize nominee Christine Schoenwald. Or, launch your acting career with an amazing one-person show with award-winning performer and writer Lauren Weedman in Get Truthy starting this Tues., Oct. 23! Both classes include show bookings.

If screenwriting is more your thing, learn what it takes to craft an irresistible pilot in Writing A Pilot That Can Fly with Emmy-award winning writer Jeff Kahn starting Mon., Oct. 22. Jeff's sold 13 pilots and worked on every major network. He'll read your entire pilot and give you a one-on-one consult at the end of class!

Also, this Sun., Oct. 21, the amazing Annabelle Gurwitch (Huffington Post, More, LA Times) is back with Punch Up Your Prose. Annabelle's class will add TNT to your writing. She'll show you how to blow up small details and flip descriptions in surprising ways to end your stories with a BANG!

A full list of our classes is below. Click on the links to sign up before they are full, my darlings.

Note: classes with an asterix (*) will be held at our new, posh Westside location in Westwood!

Classes Starting This Week
•The Found Story: Finding Your Story In The Street*
•Get Your Book Published Intensive* 
•Punch Up Your Prose: Extracting Story Gold
•It's Playtime: Writing For Kids

•Fist Fights, Car Chases and Shoot Outs: Writing Action Scenes for Fiction*
•Moth Me Baby

Classes Starting Next Week
•Writing A Pilot That Can Fly 
•Get Truthy: A One-Person Show Intensive
•So You Want To Be A Writer?*
•Finishing School*
•Do Re Mi, Baby: Humorous Songwriting Made Easy
•Hanky Panky: Writing The Erotic*

Events
•From Exposés To Epic Tales: A Fireside Chat with Susan Orlean

Retreats
•Writing Pad Fall Break 

Book Publishing

•How To Hook An Agent*

Creative Writing and Multi Genre
•Writing Pad Craft Fest
•Writing Pad Body Shop: Crafting A Classic Creation

Fiction and Memoir
•Fall Break Fiction/Memoir Track
•Get Your Grimm On: Finding Your Inner Fairy Tale*
•True Tales: Writing A Compelling Past

Journalism, Personal Essay and Web Writing

•You've Been Featured: Writing The Magazine or Newspaper Article*
•Fall Break Personal Essay Track
•Query Letter Clinic: Writing The Pitch That Sells Your Story

Writing for Actors
•Stand Out Stand-Up: A Comedy Workshop

Screenwriting

•Fall Break Screenwriting Track
•Business Time: A Screenwriter's Survival Skills Workshop
•Blockbuster Madness: Writing The Studio Script
•Get Real! Writing For Reality TV

Writing Prompt: Meaningful Words
Make a list of your 5 favorite words or words that you mother used when she was angry with you. Pick one. Write down an image that comes to mind when you think of that word. Add a sensory detail (sound, taste, touch or smell) that goes with that word. Now write for 10 minutes and post the results in the comments of this blog to be entered into the contest for a free class!

I am going to write about how my mother used to call me a piggy when she was mad. "Don't be a piggy," she said! It was a catch-all word she used to describe nasty behavior as well as bad table manners.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with (feel free to email me if you want to remain anonymous but still enter the comment contest).

If you need more inspiration than what I've provided, here's an amazing poem on the word F*ck by Kim Addonizio.

Write about your favorite word or a word that your mother used as a weapon!  Post your 10 minute write in the comments of this blog, and you could win a free class!