Professional Profile

Michael Wilson has been teaching creative writing classes and facilitating writer's groups for over 8 years and was an award-winning Contributing Editor for the Writer's Block at Suite101.com. He has a BA (with Honors) in English from Ohio University, and has been a featured guest speaker at the Thurber House, the Maumee Valley Writers Conference and the Columbus Writers Conference. He is also the publisher and editor of Grist for the Muse a monthly creative writing newsletter. His first book: Flash Writing: How to Write, Revise and Publish Stories Less Than 1000 Words Long, was published in October 2004.

More About Me

Here's a fun little writing exercise that I came up with after reading Douglas Coupland's MicroSerfs a few years ago that will help you get to know me better. This exercise comes straight out of chapter 4 of Flash Writing.

Imagine you have been selected as a contestant on Jeopardy, and luckily the categories are your dream categories. They guarantee that you will blow out your opponents in the game. Here are mine:

• Lives of 20th century American writers
• The writing process
• Astronomy 101
• Star Trek (all shows)
• Creative thinking
• Pro wrestling trivia
• The care and feeding of Microsoft Word
• Corporate politics and communication
• Document design and page layout
• Super hero comics
• Cleveland Browns football, past and present
• Hot Chinese and Thai food
• Pop hits of the 80’s

So, now you know a little bit more about me. What about you? If you have trouble finding a topic to write about, list your Jeopardy dream categories and start from there. Remember to have 6 Jeopardy categories, 6 Double Jeopardy categories, and a Final Jeopardy category. Try it!

Bottom line: I've wanted to be a writer ever since I was in the 2nd Grade and first learned to scrawl words on paper. Writing is my passion, teaching others what I've learned about writing gives me great joy.

Things I Am Involved In

• Grist for the Muse

• Barnes & Noble @ Easton Town Center

• Upper Arlington Lifelong Learning

Summary of Qualifications

• Over 8 years of experience teaching creative writing classes
  
• BA with honors in English from Ohio University
  
• Over 9 years of professional writing experience (technical, business and creative)
  
• Presenter at the Thurber House, the Maumee Valley Writers' Conference and the Columbus Writers' Conference
  
• Publisher and Editor of Grist for the Muse, a monthly creative writing e-newsletter
  
• Facilitator - Fiction Writers Group: Barnes & Noble at Easton Town Center
  
• Areas of experience - Creativity, Fiction Writing, Non-Fiction Writing, Publication, and Basic Writing Skills
  
• Author of Flash Writing: How to Write, Revise, and Publish Stories Less Than 1,000 Words Long (ISBN: 1589396375, 184 pages, Paperback, $14.95.) published by Virtual Bookworm.