The 19th Annual Utah Writers’ Contest presented by Western Humanities Review is calling for entries. Please post the attached flier where the most people will see it; and inform students; faculty; or your patrons.
The contest is open to all Utah residents over 18. The entry fee is $10 and the deadline is Thursday; October 20th. Winners in each genre receive $500 and will be published in the Winter Issue of WHR.  If you have any questions please contact the managing editor at: nliederb@hum.utah.edu.

Thanks for your help in spreading the word to as many writers as possible!

Nate Liederbach
Managing Editor
Western Humanities Review
University of Utah

The joys of writing!

I’m starting a series of quotes from students regarding technical writing.

“Well crafted work increases effectiveness of communication, allowing projects to be completed with efficiency, which will bring an organization more business.”

[And I might add, helps increase the student's overall grade and learning ]

“By simply having a writing process, writing flows – rather than having to wait around for inspiration.”

These were stated by Jeff Thomas, SLCC Tech Writing 2100 class, Fall 2011.

I have a long-standing “friendly” disagreement with students about their “best” work.  They say that they do their best work when they are pushing a deadline – usually the 3 am shift of the project that’s due in five hours.

I call that the freewrite, and of course they feel the inspiration flow – that’s the power of the freewrite!  That’s why writing is so addictive to authors.

What these students are missing is the power that comes from the crafting.  To take those brilliant ideas in embryo and then give them flesh. The organization.  The structure.  The time to rewrite and make it even better.  An Engineer would never sketch out an idea for a bridge and call it good. He/she would take the time to make sure that the project would hold up under the conditions of the real world.

Similarly, a writer, especially a technical writer must have time to make sure that the document’s structure (ideas, proposals, tenants, postulations, etc.) are sound.  Good writing, writing that brings thought, wonder, change, or to quote my student “brings more business” takes time.  It takes hard work. It takes lots and lots of revision.

That kind of work (the last-minute, rough-draft kind of work) may “get you through” classes, but it won’t work in the business world.  A better way to approach college writing assignments is to practice the methods now so that one will have the ability to do when the real deadlines begin.

In class, I read an e-mail that was sent to me regarding the ePortfolios and a possible tuition waiver.  Here is the information -

• Have completed 15 or more General Education credits at Salt Lake Community College by the end of Fall Semester, 2011.
• Utah resident and citizen.
• Enroll in at least nine credit hours per semester.
• Maintain satisfactory academic progress.
• Have a GPA of 3.0 or higher by the end of the Fall semester of the application year.
• Agree to present their ePortfolio at an awards ceremony.
• Agree to participate in a follow-up survey a year after the award.

• Ethnic minority
• Economic need
• First generation college student
• Single parent with dependent child
• English as a second language.

Here is the PDF ePortfolio Tuition Waiver Application

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It’s a meet and greet for artists and writers on February 14, 2011.

I was asked to pass along some links to you that may be of benefit.

1. The “Do Something Award” can be found at this link.  It closes on March 1, 2011.  Here is some info about the grant -

In 2011, the five nominees will be rewarded with a community grant of $10,000, media coverage, and continued support from Do Something. The grand-prize winner will receive $100,000 during the live broadcast of the awards ceremony. All winners have the option of receiving $5,000 of their grant in the form of an educational scholarship.

2. This is a Poetry competition.  More can be found on this in this flyer - NFSPS_Poetry_Awards_Competition2.  Due date on this is February 14, 2011.

Hope you find the information helpful and interesting!

I just got an update entitled – Basics for Creating Your Gen Ed e-Portfolio

You can download it here –  Creating_Your_ePortfolio-1

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Thanks!

Thanks for your patience!

2010_FALL_First_Day

Thanks!