Jeff Cutler™ – columns, essays and opinions

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Now it’s time to get back to the typewriter.

Today, keep thinking about leftover turkey and other foods and then write a poem in any format about food you love to eat during the holidays. Yes, it’s a free-form assignment but I figure you can treat this as your first of many holiday gifts.

Put your completed assignment in the comments field. Mine will be there shortly.

Keep writing.

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Hey, since many of you are still in school (as am I on a quest for my Ph.D.) I’m giving you the week off.

Please use this time to fill out your assignment number 12 and then we’ll be back in a week with a new assignment for you to tackle.

Eat well! Think about writing.

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During November each year there are legions of writers who embark on an exercise to write a full novel during the month. For many, the biggest part is the push through the middle part of the novel without creating a dull set of circumstances for their characters. But let’s think for a minute about the START of the book.

Your assignment this week is to come up with three opening sentences for books that could be written. No need to flesh them out, just three separate sentences.

Put your assigments in the comment field of this blog. My sentences will be there shortly.

**I was at a writers’ conference all last weekend and that’s why JeffCutler.com wasn’t updated yesterday. Sorry if you were waiting anxiously to submit your jeff cutler dot com assignment.

Keep writing!

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Have you been doing your homework? What about the writing assignments here on jeffcutler.com? Well, I’m in the midst of a conference that is all about writing.

It’s Crime Bake, put on by the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime New England, and this is the sixth annual writers’ conference.

The best thing about the event is the relationships people forge when they’re here and the incentive people feel to do some writing after they hear the stories of success from other writers.

Personally, my mystery writing has ground to a halt. I’m doing a lot of commercial business copywriting and am not sure that mysteries hold a future for me.

In fact, the place that I really have found a niche is in column writing. I currently create columns for the local paper, for a national mountain biking publication and I also publish columns on my blog and podcast.

But it doesn’t matter the genre you’re planning to excel in (or the field in which you’re already a success), it’s invigorating to spend some time around other writers and bask in their energy and support. It’s a similar feeling to the one I got after a few days at Podcamp Boston 2 a few weeks ago.

Maybe I should just travel the world going to conferences to remain inspired. Hmmm.

With that in mind, stay tuned. I may just have a new assignment for you before the weekend is over.

Keep writing!

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Here’s the next in our regular assignment listing on jeffcutler.com.

This is assignment 11 and it’s another fun one.  This week, please choose a proverb or quote (and tell us where it comes from) and then use this quote or proverb as the first line in a conversation or expository paragraph.

You’re limited to a couple paragraphs. Please put the assignment in the comments section below. Mine will appear there shortly.

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November is write a novel in a month month. So have you been doing that writing? Me either.

But November is also Blog Post a Day Month and I have been equal to that task. I’ve been posting mostly at Bowl of Cheese and Things to Worry About, but I’m adding posts here at Jeff Cutler dot com too.

Like assignment 11 which I’ll be putting up shortly with my own solution to it.  Even if you’re not blogging, please keep contributing here. It’s fun to see your entries and you guys have been so great at posting smart and innovative assignments that I frequently feel like I should be learning from you.

Congratulations and keep up the good work!

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