Monday Writerly Roundup: Wise WEbinars and Competition Judging

This roundup features valuable webinars and teaches you the art of the spuddle.

First Up … here’s a word that I think suits many an artist can relate to. To spuddle is to work ineffectively, to work hard but to achieve nothing. There’s a certain comfort in finding a way to describe your state of mind.

Photo Description: The Word Spuddle appears in white writing on a navy-blue background.

How To Teach Creative Writing

The teaching of creative writing is a peculiar art. There’s no official training to do it; people start teaching as a way of supporting themselves in their writing lives. So, any resources that will make you better at teaching creative writing are to be welcomed.

The Irish Writers’ Union is organising a webinar for people who want to break into teaching creative writing, led by writer and teacher Diarmuid Fitzgerald. It’s on Monday 20 May from 6.30 to 9pm, via Zoom.

And it’s free to Irish Writers’ Union members. To register, email info@irishwritersunion.org. They’ll also let you know how much it costs for non-members to attend.

Judging A Writing Competition

I’m judging a writing competition this week. A group of teenagers who attend a drama school in West Cork have written monologues and I’ll have the pleasure of reading them and deciding who will come first and second.

I’ll be looking for strong characterisation and also at how the language will sound when it’s performed on stage. I’ll give feedback on each monologue, which I hope will encourage them to develop the monologue further.

I’ll also be judging quite a big writing competition over the summer and I’ll give you more details about that when the time is right.

Minding Creative Minds Webinars

Minding Creative Minds is a government funded organisation which supports artists in various ways, to improve their practice and to remain mentally healthy.

One of the supports it offers is an ongoing series of webinars, on topics like applying for funding, stagecraft and entrepreneurship for artists. You can find out more about these webinars on the Minding Creative Minds website.

If you want to chat about any aspect of this writerly roundup, contact derbhile@writewords.ie. And you can also…