This week’s job skills workshop, covering writing the perfect resume and cover letter and mastering the job interview, will be held in the auditorium at Burbank Unified’s adult school campus near Bob Hope Airport at 10:00 am this Friday, August 26. I’m excited to teach this new class, which the director asked me to create to help people find rewarding work.
The theme of this 90-minute class is that looking for work in today’s market requires explicit assessment, awareness and positive assertion of one’s record, experience and philosophy of work.
Social media workshop 8/16 | Burbank Public Library | Photo by Jeffrey Falk
Feedback from Monday’s workshop in social media, which I delivered in downtown Burbank, was constructive. One of my students suggested adding thematic detail to title slides, a good suggestion which I plan to incorporate, and I’m told that the LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter screenshots were helpful. Attendance at the Burbank Public Library-sponsored event exceeded my expectations and audience questions were sharp, serious and insightful.
This area north of Los Angeles is a diverse economic mix of artists, entrepreneurs, professionals and crew that represents the Southern California industrial blend of media, movies, technology, retail and manufacturing. I covered a wide scope of functions and editorial best practices in major social media and I was impressed by how attentive and knowledgeable today’s readers and communicators are about the nuances, details and complications of branding one’s presence on social media.
Social media workshop 8/16 | Burbank Public Library | Photo by Jeffrey Falk
I plan to add aspects of this class to this fall’s 10-week course on social media, which starts on September 12 (follow this fall’s All About Social Media on Facebook here). Space is limited, so if you’re in Southern California, sign up because the course is filling up. The new fall course includes live demonstrations and tutorials in social media. Computer laboratory instruction for each student’s social media profile(s) is an optional part of the fall program this semester, too, so expect to get individual attention with emphasis on how to improve what you’ve made or want to make. Look for updated lessons based on the newest trends, tools and failures, including experience from my projects, campaigns and branding. From Joss Whedon quitting Twitter after negative reviews for Tomorrowland to Brian Williams losing his stature and Robin Williams‘ daughter Zelda Williams reclaiming social media as her own domain, my course covers today’s terrain.
This course is an editorial orientation. In other words, this is not a course on every detail or feature of Instagram, Twitter or YouTube. My approach instructs the student in how to engage social media based on one’s goals, values and self-interest while exploring certain uses, tools and functions.
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The same premise goes for my fall 2016 Writing Boot Camp, which breaks writing into progressive steps, from before writing begins to after completion of the first draft. Writing Boot Camp includes spot and assigned writing and notes. Course subjects include habits, resources and immersion in writing as an art and as a science.
Selecting the format, designating the topic and formulating a theme are studied and both writing and editing are practiced, both one on one as well as in collaboration with other students in class. Students are asked to read aloud. The 10-week series is based on what I have learned and fundamentally grounded in my professional writing background. I am enthusiastic about Writing Boot Camp. I plan to introduce the course’s first guest speaker, a published author of dozens of books, this coming fall, too.
Who enrolls in an adult writing course? Poets, screenwriters, published authors and anyone seeking to achieve clarity in writing. Students are entertainment industry executives, songwriters, police officers, lawyers, teachers and entrepreneurs. Certain students attend for general knowledge and practice in a disciplined approach. Others seek to refuel the creative supply through my encouraging immersion in the art and business of storytelling.
Writing Boot Camp starts on September 15. Both courses are held at Burbank Adult School near Bob Hope Airport. However, if you’re unable to attend and you want help, I am available by appointment, video or telephone. Contact me for details.
Here’s a roundup of my new communications studies this summer and fall.
Breaking writing into progressive steps, from before the writing begins to after you’ve completed the first draft, whether a screenplay, manuscript or blog post, Writing Boot Camp features assigned and spot writing opportunities and my detailed feedback. Course topics include pre-writing habits, tips, tools and resources and immersion in writing as an art and science. I instruct in selecting the format, designating a topic and formulating the theme of what you aim to write. Writing and editing are studied, examined and practiced, both one on one as well as in collaboration with the class. Students are tasked with active thinking, writing and reading aloud. So, it’s called boot camp for a reason. I introduced the course last year after creating a 90-minute workshop on assignment and, while it is structured based on what I have learned in classes I’ve attended, the course is proprietary and fundamentally grounded in my own professional writing experience. I’m enthusiastic about the new material and I hope to have my first guest instructor, a published author of dozens of books, this coming semester. I plan to expand Writing Boot Camp in the future (follow the fall course on Facebook here).
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Who takes the adult education course? Everyone from screenwriters, poets and published authors to police officers trying to improve clarity in reports and lawyers, doctors and other professionals. Past students include songwriters, teachers and entrepreneurs, also a studio executive in charge of writing talent, a social media manager aiming to improve his storytelling and a celebrity actor’s manager seeking to better ascertain quality scripts. Some students come for acquiring knowledge and practice in a disciplined approach. Others seek to replenish a creative supply through immersion with other writers in an encouraging, guided environment. Register for this fall’s Writing Boot Camp, which starts on September 15 near Los Angeles, by going to the link included here.
My social media series starts that week, too (follow this fall’s All About Social Media on Facebook here). Space is limited for both of these 10-week courses, so if you’re in Southern California, mark your calendar and sign up soon as enrollment has started and both courses are filling up. Improving the social media course based on student feedback, I make time for new, live demonstrations and tutorials and plans for computer laboratory instruction. I want to include guest instructors for this course, too, and I’ve already updated lessons based on the latest social media trends, tools and failures, including experience from my own client projects, campaigns and branding.
The course remains a general orientation to social media with emphasis on best editorial practices, so I want to be clear that this is not a course on every feature of Instagram or Facebook. This approach leads to interesting exchanges as you can imagine. Students often come expecting me to tell them what to do in each part of the social media experience. But, as advanced users know, you learn by doing, too, and trial and error is integral to mastering new technology. Also, the downside of social media stems from plunging in without purpose, direction or clarity in one’s highest goals, which feeds drift, distraction and aimlessness. So, I’m careful to instruct students in how to guide social media based on their own decisions while pointing to certain uses and specific features. Past students include adults who want to know more about this amorphous new industry, from filmmakers and artists seeking a better grasp of distribution means to grandparents, activists and merchants seeking to better connect, persuade and cash in. To register for All About Social Media go here.
Touch/click for details of “Making Sense of Social Media”
Additionally, I’ve been asked to help individuals who are looking for work, so I’ve created a new 90-minute workshop on writing the resume and mastering the job interview. This one-time class is scheduled at the adult school for August 26 and it’s free to the public (details below). So is another one-time 90-minute class I’m giving on social media in downtown Burbank on the upsides and downsides of social media. “Making Sense of Social Media” also examines a range of recent social media examples, trends, success and failure.
Go here for details and here to follow “Making Sense of Social Media” on Facebook.
Jobs, Resume & Interviews
Writing the Resume
Mastering the Job Interview
10am-11:30am | FREE admission
Friday, August 26, 2016 at Burbank Adult School | Call to register: (818) 558-4611
Of course, let me know if you are unable to attend the classes, which are offered in downtown Burbank at the library and at the Henry Mingay campus of Burbank Adult School near Bob Hope Airport. Otherwise, if you want help, I can probably work with you remotely or meet if you’re in LA. Contact me to schedule a private session. Follow my events on Facebook and feel free to connect and follow on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
In anticipation of (and for after) tonight’s free storytelling workshop at Burbank Public Library (go here) on how to make yourself the hero of any new writing project, here are three writing resources.
Leaving aside books and manuals for style, grammar and the mechanics of writing, the best recent books for a general writer are based on lectures by my favorite writer, Ayn Rand, who wrote bestselling fiction and non-fiction for stage, screen, print, broadcasting and literature. Her writing lectures were adapted as two concise volumes, The Art of Fictionand The Art of Non-Fiction, which are available at relatively low cost (click titles to buy). The lectures, which I’ve studied, and these two books have influenced and improved my writing. I recommend them without reservation for the serious adult writer, though I think the advanced writer and the intellectual writer will gain the most value. They contain rare, great insights and indispensable tips, tools and comparative excerpts from literature. I’ve returned many times to these two books, which I find extremely useful for the smallest details and for addressing and solving the most serious writing problems. What I like best about these works is that Rand emphasizes writing she likes and why she likes it, as against only breaking down what’s wrong with most modern writing. When I began to write movie reviews on assignment, I returned to her brief comments on writing book reviews for the general reader and applied the ideas.
For day to day motivation and encouragement, I also suggest reading screenwriter Brian Koppelman’s 202 Practical Writing Tips, the majority of which I think are legitimate and/or valid, some positively brilliant.
I plan to go into more detail about writing resources, including daily rituals and the writing habits and history of the world’s best writers, in my new writing course this fall. Registration for my all-new Writing Boot Camp in suburban Los Angeles opened this week. The 10-week course covers general writing, essential principles and a checklist for perfect writing with emphasis on setting the proper pre-conditions, choosing a format, topic and theme, getting and staying motivated, best practices and good resources. Writing Boot Camp will be fun, lively and streamlined for beginning, intermediate and advanced adults. Each student will have an opportunity to have his writing evaluated. Space is limited, so register soon if you want to attend (click/touch hereto register).
Registration is also open for All About Social Media, which offers an essential guide to creating, using and maximizing Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Contact me to let me know if you have any questions about the courses. I’m heading to the library for tonight’s workshop in the meantime.
Registration for my all-new Writing Boot Camp in suburban Los Angeles opens today (register here). The 10-week course covers all general writing formats, from business writing and blogging, social media and e-mail to fiction or non-fiction in script, manuscript or memoir.
I plan to explain essential principles and furnish a checklist for perfect writing. Particular emphasis on proper pre-conditions and writing guidelines includes:
Selecting format, topic and theme
Motivational and relaxation techniques
Writing, editing and clarifying
Best practices
Good resources
Writing Boot Camp will be fun, lively and streamlined for beginning, intermediate and advanced adults. Each student will have an opportunity to have his writing evaluated. Space is limited, so register soon if you want to attend (click/touch here to register today). Registration is also open for All About Social Media, which offers an essential guide to creating, using and maximizing Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (register for the social media course here).
Private instruction is also available. Contact me for details if you’re interested.
Otherwise, I’m offering my August 6 writing workshop, sponsored by Burbank Public Library (for details, read here), at no charge. It’s free. The evening class examines storytelling and how to make yourself the hero of any new writing project. Speaking of heroes, my op-ed defending the legendary Bob Hope and Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport appears in the Los Angeles Times-owned Burbank Leader (read the article here). In case you missed it, I argue that Bob Hope’s self-made status suits both the city’s and airport’s history.
The self-made man and the history of a place also inform my summer series for Chicagoland newspapers. Towns north of Chicago are the scene for the world’s first Girl Scout cookie, Frank Lloyd Wright’s only bridge ever built, invention of Christmas lights, visits from Teddy Roosevelt, even America’s first recorded serial killer. The articles are part of a new collection of North Shore stories. Sort and read by article index here. Keep checking the link because there are more to come.
For daily and weekly updates, connect, ‘Like’ or Follow me on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
I am pleased to announce that I plan to offer a complete, new writing course covering all formats. Students will learn how to prepare for writing as an exercise, how to build, write and edit the piece, and how to write with the audience in mind. Each student will have an opportunity to have his writing evaluated. The 10-session series for general adult education starts this fall in southern California.
In the meantime, I am grateful to receive this endorsement from a movie producer who enrolled in one of my courses and attended several of my workshops:
Scott Holleran is the best instructor in his field in the Southland. He is also incredibly talented as a writer and blogger. He has one of the sharpest minds I have encountered anywhere. He is brilliant and creative and very skilled in all facets of communications, journalism and adult education. His instruction has had a tremendously positive impact on my life.”
All About Social Media is already in progress as a 6-week course covering proper social media management including instruction in creating campaigns. Registration for this course is open (a few seats are available in the class), so feel free to call (818) 558-4611 to attend. The Los Angeles-based course is also offered this fall.
Burbank Public Library
I’m giving a writing workshop this summer sponsored by Burbank Public Library. Admission is free. The one-hour presentation at 7 PM on Thursday, August 6 in downtown Burbank includes visual storytelling slides. It’s part of the library’s Every Hero has a Story series. The storytelling class is open to the public, so feel free to attend.
Private individual and group instruction is also available if you’re not able to attend class in L.A. Contact me for details.
I write fiction and non-fiction. Read my blog at left for informal posts on news, ideas and the culture. I am available for contracting, so if you're interested, please start here.
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