Wordmaster Book

25/06/2024

I just published another book. This one addresses ways that educators (either in traditional education or creating independent courses) can use ChatGPT to assist in creating their courses. Unlike those scam artists who tell you that you can use AI to create entire courses in minutes. This puts the teacher back at the center of the course creation process and shows how teachers can use AI to assist at every stage of online course creation. Anywho, it's available as an eBook on Amazon and on my own Wordmaster Academy website. You save if you go to my website. If you want to learn more go here. https://wordmasteracademy.net/books/teachchatinfo3.html

15/05/2024

Help wanted.

Here's a fun exercise. Instead of "creating" characters, "hire" them.

Let's hire some characters for your story

02/04/2024

Get out from behind your computer and check out some bulletin boards for writing ideas.

28/03/2024

How did I lose track of what I love to do?

26/03/2024

25/03/2024

A warm-up exercise for writers

22/03/2024

Let music unleash your muse

21/03/2024

All the Little People

Here's an exercise that takes a different look at historical fiction

Shifting Perspective in Historical Writing (even if just for fun)

13/03/2024

One of the cliches of writing is "Show don't Tell." It's a cliche because it works. But, it's not always that easy to break the habit of telling. One way to do this is to pretend you are a video camera. That's the subject of today's exercise.

To master showing instead of telling think of yourself as a camera.

12/02/2024

DIGGING FOR IDEAS

I've always loved ancient history and archeology. I often use some archeology-based exercises with my writing students to stimulate the imagination. In today's Substack, I share a couple of exercises that let you dig for ideas through the use of "artifacts."

Archeology of the Imagination for Writers

10/01/2024

So Excited!!!
It’s taken me five years, but now I’m ready to launch Wordmaster Academy. ( http://wordmasteracademy.net ) I’ve been teaching online for more than 20 years. Done right, the online educational environment is an excellent way to make education accessible to many who because of time commitments, family responsibilities, income, or health issues can’t make it to a brick-and-mortar educational institution.
Over the past two decades, I’ve created more than 50 online courses. Now, I’m bringing many of those courses together in one place – Wordmaster Academy. In my launch, I have uploaded nine of these courses:
• Write YOUR Novel YOUR Way – This is actually a bundle of five courses I’ve taught as standalones that lead you through the process of writing a novel while respecting your own writing personality.
o Creating a Premise and Story arc
o Growing Characters from the Inside Out
o Making the Scene: Crafting Effective Scenes
o Creating the Story of Your Novel
o Building the World of Your Novel
• The No-Excuse Zone: Reality-Based Planning for Writers. Do you make plans that you don’t ever seem to be able to keep? This program helps you create realistic goals and develop plans that allow you to meet those goals within the context of your personal lifestyle.
• Fire Your Cover Designer. You can create professional eBook and print covers using free or low-cost software.
• Writing Magazine Articles that Sell. Short nonfiction writing is more in demand now than ever before. And magazines are alive and well even though many have moved much of their content online. Learn how to write articles for blogs, magazines, websites, and social media.
• Write and Publish a Short Nonfiction eBook in 30 Days or Less. Digital publishing has changed the book publishing industry. Today, a book no longer needs to be 200 pages long. Many popular books on Amazon are in the 10,000 – 20,000 word range. This course takes you from idea to publication in just 30 days.
• Formatting eBooks and Paperbacks for Kindle. Why spend a hundred dollars or more for something you can do yourself without coding in just a few minutes.
• The Email Educator. Create your own online courses and deliver the content via email. Some of my most profitable courses have used email as my virtual classroom
• Create Courses Using ChatGPT… And Remain Human Doing So. No, you can’t just drop a couple of prompts into ChatGPT and create a full course. However, you can partner with Chat to produce courses in half the time while remaining in control of the process. Even if you don’t want to use ChatGPT, this program leads you through the process of creating an online course like a pro.
• Turn Words into Cash. Five Side Gigs for Writers. What can you do to make money while writing that novel? This course shows you five ways to turn your writing skills into cash starting tomorrow.
These are all fully-interactive courses. I am there to provide feedback on assignments and many of the courses will include a discussion forum where you can connect with other students and learn from each other.
All of these courses are priced to be affordable. They range from $15-50 with most priced at $35.
Future plans include the creation of college-level semester-length courses for $50-100 each. Eventually, I also want to create an MFA-style program for people who would like the knowledge and the discipline but don’t need the degree.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve been up to.

One day, I was checking my email. I saw the subject line "You saved my life." At the time, I had a daily devotion.  I posted a short inspirational message each day. I tried to make them substantial, challenging, and practical. It was more like Steak and Potatoes than Chicken Soup. I opened the ema...