I'm happy to announce that the Writers Bloc, while already being an excellent base of operations for the site's beta readers, shall take a regular format starting this week with a feature for most days of the week.
The (current) schedule is as follows:
Monday: SomeGuy's Workshop
The Monday feature will be my main contribution to writing work here, where I do my regular writing sessions. I can't say for sure what my topics will usually cover, but I can promise they'll involve far more than just grammar and writing mechanics (though I don't doubt I'll do a lot of that).
Tuesday: The Rotating Guest Post
This site has a lot of talented writers, all having different strengths to share with the rest. So aside from NightBeck and myself, Tuesday will feature guest posters with some new ideas. Anyone who would like to take charge for a lesson or exercise only needs to say so, and I'll modify the guest posters list as needed. I hope at some point everyone takes a crack at this one.
Wednesday: The Wednesday Word
Wednesdays feature two things I've always found to be extremely useful for writing: vocabulary and alliteration. Every week I'll feature a useful, fancy, or flat out cool-sounding word for people to add to their respective vocabularies (if they're not using said-word already). Sometimes it's great to wow an audience with the word "indefatigable", you know? As for why the weekly word will come on Wednesdays, well... why not?
Thursday: Beck's Workshop (not a confirmed title)
NightBeck, while also an excellent writer in her own right, has one very important advantage over me: she's actually working toward a career in professional writing, taking courses, speaking to editors, and participating in writing workshops already. This, as well as a strong background in creative writing, should give her features a very unique feel.
Friday: Open Questions
Think of Friday posts as a forum where everyone can contribute writing questions and answers. Along with being a good quick way to ask questions and get answers from everyone here, it can also give ideas for the upcoming week's workshops and exercises.
Sunday: Beck's Writing Prompts (not a confirmed title)
As expected for the most involving, most practical writing exercise, NightBeck's prompts will take place on the weekends, when people hopefully have time. Beck's purpose for Sunday is simply to get people to write (the best way to learn is to do, after all). Every week she will give everyone a short premise or topic for people to write about; for example, it could be anything from "What is your favourite book and why?" to "A stranger punches your baby in the face: what happens next?"
Going further about Sundays, Beck's writing prompts will serve a dual purpose. For one, it will give writers a quick exercise to put fingers to keyboard and get fast feedback. For another, it will allow the above-listed beta-readers an easy way to show examples of their writing abilities, especially the ones who don't have as many written works in their portfolios just yet.
At present, Saturday is a free/spare day. We may just leave that as a resting day or we may use it for anything else that comes up along the way. Also, should any random shot of inspiration hit anyone, I'm sure those posts could pop up any time during the week, so hey.
Of course, we can change this weekly schedule to anything better should that come up. At present, though, I think this should give this little world some good, fluid movement throughout the week and add a little more variety than just "more of SomeGuy's damn grammar bits".
Thoughts? Questions? Ideas? Criticisms? Be sure to mention them below! Aside from that, I guess we get started tomorrow. Hope to see you all here throughout the week!
