The founder and owner of, Men with Pens, James Chartrand, (her pen name) has a business writing course, Damn Fine Words, which is starting on September 3rd

She is also running a contest; it ends as the business-writing course begins on September 3rd.

Information on the contest:

• Blog post article of at least 450 words on why writing is important to you and how better writing skills would change your business”
• “Two people will win a scholarship to the September edition of the Damn Fine Words writing course. (Retail value $1,599 each.)”

Writing is important to me because … I ‘need’ to use the written word to make money.  Luckily, for me the very act of writing makes me happy, because it is not generating any income.

At this point, I feel like I am writing something for school. You know, that dreaded paper that every teacher asks you to write.  ‘How I spent my summer vacation…’

I have no idea where I am going with this, so I might as well ramble on.

Last year, my fifteen year old complained about how much homework she was getting in her English literature class. When I had her show me the offending material, I was amazed and jealous of all the tutoring she was getting, everything from how to write a plot and characterization, to the ability to read and discuss literature at a college level.

We talked about how well she understood the class and her only complaint was that some of her classmates were trying to get out of doing their own homework. They would use sibling’s old papers or even get their parents to do their homework.

“Wouldn’t it be great,” I said.  “If the schools made parents take one class with their kids?”

Her answer was a silent glare. Teenagers can speak volumes without moving their mouths, and say absolutely nothing after talking for an hour.

“I would sign up in a heartbeat to take this class.” I said that aloud.  She said nothing.

I took my high school years for granted. The classes were just something I had to get through on the way to life, not realizing that life was right in front of me, never behind never ahead, just now.

I never know when to shut up so I added.  “My classes never had the content that yours have.”

Having an adult tell you that ‘your’ schoolwork is harder than theirs ever was, well, all the rolling eyes and heavy sighing let me know she was not taking it as a compliment.

Writing, for me, was something I wanted to do after I opened that first page of my mother’s encyclopedias, neatly placed, on a small bookcase in the living room.   I remember asking who made the books.

The answer I got was, “A writer.”

I often wonder if I were told, salesman or bookbinder or even garbage man, would I have felt that tugging at my soul.   Maybe it was God who whispered ‘Writer’ in my ear.

Let me try again.

• Why writing is important to me… because I can’t see my life without that spark of creativity, pushing my hands to write.

Second question:

• How will better writing skills change my business?   This one is easy. It will give me focus on the direction of my writing.

In order to take my writing to the next level, which would be marketing and ‘what-ever’ I am missing. I just know that I need to learn a completely new way of looking at my writing, and my life. Doing anything well is a progress, steps need to be taken, no jumping ahead I may miss something important. Learning the right steps helps keep me on the right track.

Earlier this year

• I grabbed my domain name.
• I have a couple of logos drawn out.
•  I have ideas and a love of nature.
•  I just need something or someone to help me pull it all together.

*I posted another article on this contest here…WikiHook  come by and read.  

Anyone interested in trying out for a free class. Paste your link on the Men With Pens site. Do it soon! The contest ends on September 3rd.

Good Luck to all