The Story Behind

Creative Writing Institute

The story behind Creative Writing Institute is a bit long and involved, but very interesting. Help yourself to a cup of Java and a brownie on yonder counter while I tell you how it all began. You'll love this story.

A few years back, I happened across one of the best writing websites on the Internet - Writing.com. At the time, I was looking for a free writing class to motivate my dead fanny off the stool of do-nothing. Long story short, no such classes existed, but there was a keen interest for them, so I considered a few facts:

     * I had scratched pennies and nickels together to gain multiple certifications over

        a period of 15 years

     * I didn't want anyone to have to struggle for a writing education like I did  

     * I had the talent to develop and teach writing classes

     * I had the time to found a writing school

     * I could develop it within Writing.com's virtual walls

     * I would charge "points" for classes instead of cash (Writing.com tokens)

     * All I lacked was courage and technical expertise

l approached a friend on that site and told her I was contemplating the creation of a writing school. Cookie loaned me her courage and technical expertise and six months later, A-1 Writing Academy (now defunct) was born. That's the good news. The bad news is that a mere four months later found me wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into! At the end of one year we had 200 students. At the end of two years, we had 600.

The school had 32 departments, an entertainment center, a qualified counselor, 22 tutors, and 10 employees in administration. Terrifically talented people bound together in a common cause and thus we learned that private tutoring produces extremely effective results. But there was a fly in the ointment - only 10% of the students completed their courses.

The lesson quality was excellent. The tutors were awesome. The price was laughable. So what was wrong? And then the truth dawned on me - the students were complacent because they had invested nothing in their education. Sadly, anything that is freely given is seldom appreciated. Still determined to make a writing education available to poor people, but now armed with the fact that they must indeed invest something, I decided to found a new school on the Internet and charge a very nominal fee. I sold the Academy and hoped it would continue, but it folded within four months.

As plans for Creative Writing Institute took form, I stumbled across an Internet article about a Texan woman who developed cancer at the pinnacle of her career. As the illness took hold, her socializing came to an end. She had to quit work and concentrate on sheer survival. Friends became uncomfortable in her presence, and at length, only immediate family members remained. Bald, sick, suicidal, and slowly dying in a dark room, she decided to try her hand at writing.  

As she wrote, her imagination soared to new worlds. Short stories taught her how to mentally leave Earth and quite literally visit anywhere that she could imagine. In doing so, she found total healing for mind, body, and soul. After a full and miraculous recuperation, she returned to the hospital where she had been a patient and visited other cancer patients. She led them into writing therapy and returned regularly to accept their written assignments.

What a magnificent woman! Days later, I tried to relocate the article to offer her free writing classes, but I was unable to find it. I lay awake every night for a week, thinking about her and wishing that I could make a difference like she did. Then one night, in the midst of my mulling, God visited me and told me I could do the same thing.

The proposed writing school could be a non-profit organization that would scholarship thousands of people with various illnesses. But why stop there? Creative Writing Institute could offer new life to senior citizens. It could train the unemployed to work from home! Paying students and donors could support the scholarship program. The possibilities were endless!

So here we are - all because of a lady in Texas - a lady who, in a sense, has founded a 501(c)3 charity - and she doesn't even know it.

Wouldn't you like to be a part of this work? You can be. You can give a cash donation at http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com/donate.php, or carry our link. You can do volunteer work, donate anything that you specialize in, or help me find the lady in Texas who has inspired this great work. Maybe you could help with marketing or fund-raising. You CAN make a difference!

WHAT  WE  EXPECT  from our STUDENTS

Creative Writing Institute has an excellent curriculum and personable tutors. We are here to escort every student from their present level to their individual, highest potential. You might say every lesson is tailor made for the student. You won't find another school that is so attentive, so personable, so intimately involved with its people. We hold a high bar and any tutor who does not live up to that standard will not remain on staff.

If our student fails, we have failed. If they prosper, we feel like a proud parent. But on the table of reality, there is only so much that we can do. If the student won't study, they won't learn.  

If you are interested in a writing course, I have some advice for you. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Don't try to save money by skipping to advanced levels (like I did), as you will only achieve mediocre writing status and lose faith in yourself (like I did). The chances are good that you will have to return to the courses you skipped (like I did), or the whole writing picture will not gel properly in your mind. Writing courses are laid out to coordinate with one another. Don't rush the learning process! It takes time!

Yours for writing,

Ms. Deb