Memoir Writing: The Journey to Me

[add] This short writing course offers practical ways to bring the story teller within you to life! The memoir is the most popular and expressive literary form of our time. A memoir, in the simplest of terms, is your story. Some have described it as a written scrapbook of memories. In this class, you will learn how to record the significant events in your life and turn your personal story into a captivating memoir. Instructor Catherine Lamberg will mentor the class. Although there are no prerequisites, students may find it helpful to take Introduction to Personal Journaling as a preparation for this course.

Introduction to Hair Color Theory

[add] This course is designed for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of how hair color works. Instructor Dawn Cressman presents easy-to-follow lessons exploring the history of hair color, the structure of hair, gray coverage, safety issues, and different types of color and techniques for applying color. There are no prerequisites and everyone is welcome to enroll in this class. This course will benefit anyone who is new to the salon industry, cosmetology students, color clients, and even experienced professionals as a refresher course.

Young Adult Novel Writing for Beginners

[add] Some of the hottest novels on the market today, such as the Twilight saga, and memorable classics like The Catcher in the Rye, are in the Young Adult genre. Learn how to write successfully in this genre with this short course led by Young Adult novelist and daily blogger Candace Ganger. This course is designed to help budding novelists create a submission-ready YA manuscript one step at a time. For the writer who still remembers what those butterflies, first kisses and high school memories were all about, this detailed course on Young Adult Novel Writing for Beginners is a fast-track to the creative process, from initial brainstorming to finding the perfect agent.

Recovery from Abuse

[add] This course examines the steps that can lead to recovery from abuse in its various forms, including physical, emotional and sexual. The course is not intended to provide a one-size-fits-all model with guaranteed results but rather a guide to help in the process of healing and recovery. Instructor Stephanie Romero examines significant things a person can do, changes in their thinking, and new perspectives that can be gained which will aid in this recovery process. The objective of the course is to reach a wide audience that includes victims of abuse who are seeking to recover; friends, family members and neighbors who find themselves in situations of trying to understand and help abuse victims; and professionals who currently work with abuse victims or may work with them in the future.

How to Date in a Healthy Way

[add] Explore the obstacles preventing you from enjoying romantic fulfillment in this short course packed with helpful tips on dating and assessing the health of your love relationships. Conduct your own personal inventory to discover who you are and what you want in a relationship; learn how to recognize why you are losing at love by clinging to people who won't commit themselves; how to make yourself more appealing to others, how to discard unhealthy relationship habits, and how to build your self-esteem in today's youth and beauty-obsessed culture. Dating maven and songwriter Melanie Clark wrote this course for KSURF and will lead the class.

Building an Offline Home Page

[add] Most HTML classes teach how to create web pages to publish online. This course takes a different approach: you'll learn how to apply basic HTML techniques to create an offline home page. More than just a Web page, an offline home page is a virtual workspace that resides on your personal computer and can only be viewed by you, which means you can include links that you would never put on a public webpage, such as shortcuts to online banking and shopping accounts. Richard De A'Morelli also explains how to create buttons that you can use to log in to your accounts on popular services such as Gmail, Yahoo Groups and Facebook with a single mouse click.

How to be Organized (...In Spite of Yourself!)

[add] More than just another class about time management and clutter control, this short workshop will help you to prioritize what is truly important in your life and liberate yourself from what is not. Learn how to break out of a lifetime of bad habits and time-wasting behavior. The course will reward you many times over as you find yourself once again able to enjoy the simple pleasures in life: family, friends, and more time to do the things you most enjoy.

Fantasy Writing Workshop

[add] In this hands-on writing workshop, you will learn the basic steps to writing a short fantasy story. Fantasy author Andrea Stanet will delve into issues unique to this genre such as creating worlds, creatures, and magic systems. The course begins with a brief overview of the different sub-categories of Fantasy genre and ends with the student completing a short fantasy story. By the end of this course, you will have the skills necessary to create an enchanting tale that will leave your readers spellbound!

The Art of Writing Horror

[add] In this new writing workshop, author and international educator Laurie Notch explores the art of writing horror fiction that will get published. The course presents detailed instructions on how to write horror fiction that will keep readers turning pages, eager for more. Learn how to structure your plot so that the story flows from beginning to end; create tension, conflict, and cliffhangers; use dialogue to reveal a character's evil motives, set a frightening mood, create fear, and heighten suspense. Whether you yearn to write about ghosts, creepy dolls, insane asylums, or terrifying maniacs, this writing workshop will help you discover the horror in everyday life and turn it into a potential bestseller.

Writing As A Healing Art

[add] Writing is more than just a way to communicate ideas to others: it is a tool we can use for healing, self-discovery and empowerment. In this 9-unit course, London-based Holistic teacher Callie Carling explores a variety of popular writing genre and techniques for using writing as a healing art. Each lesson provides insights into a useful technique, a writing prompt designed to promote self-healing, helpful tips to motivate you and get your creative juices flowing, and suggested inspirational readings.

Writing A Romance Novel That Will Get Published

[add] Learn the basic skills needed to write a romance novel in this hands-on course led by multi-published romance novelist Leigh Barbour. By the end of the course, students who complete the writing assignments will have laid the foundation to write their own category romance novel. Topics covered will include an overview of the romance publishing industry, types of romance novels, characterization and plots, settings, viewpoints, description, narrative and style, dialogue, sensuality, pacing, revision, available resources, and a look at marketing.

How to Save and Invest Wisely

[add] Over the past several years, the stock market has become an unpredictable and risky proposition. In this fact-filled course, financial planning expert Chuck Weinstein explores high and low-risk alternatives for saving and investing wisely. In- depth lessons delve into the pros and cons of conventional savings accounts, CDs, money market accounts, bonds, mutual funds, and other popular investment strategies. Take the first step to achieving financial security and independence in this intensive workshop.

Principles of Strategic Management

[add] How do we grow our business and please customers? What's the best way to increase gross income and sales? Who are our competitors and what strategic moves are business rivals likely to make next? Join financial guru Jason Willoughby in this short course for those who are seeking answers to these questions, those who want a winning strategy, and those who want to stay ahead of the competition. The course will provide a brief introduction to the evolution of strategic management, how to develop strategies, and the process of developing a strategic plan using the SWOT Analysis method. The course will also examine strategy analytical tools, as well as the process of crafting and executing company strategies.

Writing A Press Release

[add] This short but comprehensive course explores the basics of how to write a press release. Mentored by published nonfiction author Gloria Oren, the class will help students understand what a press release is, the role it can play for a business or a client and points to consider before sitting down to write a press release. The course also examines when and why to write a press release (and when not to bother), the nuts and bolts of structure and style, how to format a press release, and to whom the finished press release should be sent so your story will be told.