Anne Winchell

Lily, a gray and white cat, is completely asleep and sprawled on a c2c crochet blanket with fluffy purple ombré yarn Rangoon from pale Lilia to dark purple

Lily is just a happy camper! She’s especially happy because I have her favorite winter blankie out and she just cuddles on it all day and night.

I’ve been decent. Not much writing getting done, but I’m getting a lot of worldbuilding done! Which somewhat counts I guess? How have your books been coming? Is Tom still adorable? 😊

Well well well… if it isn’t the shipment of Lion brand yarn I ordered in 2023! I received a full refund… in 2023… I mean, do I tell them I finally got it? 😂

Omg hiiiii!!!!! It’s been forever! I’m barely on social media these days but try to check in. How are you?

I normally don’t, but I had some time (it took less than 10 minutes) and I felt bad. His topic for the semester (that he chose) was work-life balance and he talked a lot about his personal struggles.

College writing 1, so usually freshmen but this was an upperclassman who put off taking the class and then put minimal effort in.

Consequences were he’d have to drop out of college… and it only took about 10 minutes to grade. After updating the grade he had a 69.7, so obviously he promptly asked if I’d round him up to a C and boy I let him know how utterly unacceptable the whole thing was (I thought I had before, guess not).

Nothing like a student email at 8am that starts “I know grades are due at noon but” 🤨
Asked me to grade a rewrite they turned in late (8 days after course grades were released) so they could possibly pass the class. So… do I teach a lesson about responsibility, or let them pass & stay in college?

The semester is almost over!

I just realized I haven’t written anything other than comments on student papers in nearly three weeks. That’s pretty bad for someone who needs to finish her book asap so it can be published in a reasonable timeframe. But it’s the end of the semester, so I’m stuck for another week.

I know I’ve been mostly quiet on here, but boy have I been buried in grading! The world isn’t making it easier with everything that’s happened. I’m just trying to get through the semester, then I can start looking for better ways to speak up and make my voice heard.

Writing & Worldbuilding 202: Monsters — Author Vivian Sayan In today's blogpost, Anne Winchell and I finalize our Spooky October marathon by talking about monsters! Whether real or imagined, we've got you covered!

It’s that spooky time of year! Are you dressing up as a monster? I probably can’t help with your costume, but if you wanted to write about monsters, my friend @vivissiah.bsky.social and I have some tips for adding a spooky, monstrous appeal to your worlds!

I was Rebecca's TA for a film studies class my first semester at Texas State University. She's intelligent, passionate, & extremely kind, & she's running for State Board of Education in Texas. Whether you're Texan or just want to promote education, consider giving!

I have an international student who asks endless questions. I teach on zoom & I’ll get questions privately in the chat for everything. I love it so much. She’s literally never learned this stuff so she has no embarrassment asking, while my other students think they “should” know it so they don’t.

Writing 201: Understanding Critiques — Author Vivian Sayan In today's blogpost, the great Anne Winchell defines the types of critique and gives tips on how to form positive relationships with your critiquers.

Guess what? I have a new blogpost out! This one is about understanding critiques. I talk about the general groups who might critique your work (like beta readers & editors), what they do, & how to find them, plus how to develop positive relationships with them!

I survived a bridal shower for my cousin (who I love) surrounded by 30 very wealthy Southern women talking about fashion & football & redecorating. While I stand there in my $30 dress from Amazon having never attended a college football game & whose redecorating budget might be $100, not $10,000.

Pro tip, apparently: want your students to find out trump’s dark side? Ask them for examples of historical political scandals. Not a single one said Watergate, it was all just trump’s scandals, which many were learning about for the first time. Bc that is historical to them 😂 (I did redirect them)

So far, my classes are way better than last semester, but their latest assignment worries me...
Me: Choose a focused topic you have a close, immediate, personal connection to that wouldn't be shared by anyone else.
Student: My topic is climate change because it'll impact everyone in the world.
😭

In my honors college class today, we were discussing yellow journalism & social media, & after a while, one student said that she didn’t have social media & hadn’t for six years after she decided it was ruining her life. The entire class gave her a round of applause 😂

Oof. Geography didn’t approve my honors course substitution not because my course doesn’t work as a human geography course (it does), but because their major only requires 32 credits & the students have to take certain classes & don’t get electives. That doesn’t sound like a fun major, honestly.

Worldbuilding 201: Education Basics — Author Vivian Sayan In today's blogpost, I discuss the basics of education as well as how to start building your own education system for your worlds.

Well, we're officially back to school & this week's worldbuilding blogpost is about education! @vivissiah.bsky.social breaks down what education is, why we have it, what the purpose is, & why a liberal arts education is the best education! Oh wait, not the last part? Well, I'm sure it's implied!

How odd (but nice?) While walking to my car, a first year student randomly started talking to me (complimented my umbrella). We actually had a conversation until we went different ways. She thought I was a student at first lol. Really nice though, and a writer! I hope to run into her again.

I’m proposing a worldbuilding course in the honors college & I’m trying to get as many substitutions as possible so it counts towards student’s majors. Just heard back that sociology didn’t approve it, which is sad. Fingers crossed it’ll count as geography & anthropology!

Worldbuilding & Writing 201: Games — Author Vivian Sayan In today's blogpost, Anne and I discuss games: what they are and how to incorporate them into your world and your writing!

The dealer flips over a triangle.
You subtly eye the circles & square in your hand & stifle a smirk. Calmly, you raise the bet.

Now, we don't know what any of this means, but if you have it in a story, it reveals character & relationships & adds tension. I wrote about adding games to stories here!

Thank you!

Thank you! She’s celebrating by getting wet food on demand, and I’m celebrating by getting a happy cat purring next to me!

Thank you! She’s getting extra wet food today and quite pleased by it! 😂😊

A photo looking from above at Lily, a gray and white cat, who looks up at the camera waiting for you to give her wet food.

It’s Birthday time! Today, Lily turns 15, and I turn 40! Quite the big day!

Writing 301: News Writing — Author Vivian Sayan Extra! Extra! In today's blogpost, Anne Winchell breaks down the news: how to write it and how to include it in your stories. Read all about it!

News writing is so unique & I'm always interested in pulling it into novels, so I put together advice for what the news is, what types & mediums there are, how to write news with the inverted pyramid, &, of course, how you can incorporate all of this into your stories! Can you handle the truth?

Worldbuilding 103: Mathing — Author Vivian Sayan In today's blogpost, I math it up with some methods to do quick and easy calculations to help making your worlds more believable.

Most writers aren't math people. You know the cliche, good at writing, bad at math. However, I've needed to calculate a variety of things in my stories & I turn to my friend Vivian for help. Vivian put together some easy, intuitive ways to get realistic numbers in your stories. Hate math? Read this!