Words 10-12

Quick housekeeping note, class. Some of your are leaving great comments on my blog with attached questions. That won’t fly. I don’t have the time to get into blog comments. Two ways for paid students to get a response from me (and if you haven’t paid, stop tire kicking and paypal me what you can afford). Message me on Facebook with your question or comment or email me at: stevetarde@gmail.com ******************************************* I am a filmmaker. I often ask myself 3 questions before I make a film. What goals do I have for this film? Just yesterday, one of my students shared her goals with me in making her film with the purpose of changing her life. 1. To improve my vocabulary. 2. To improve the way I write 3. To make a more confident woman. My track record as a teacher and writer can be researched by any potential student at my blog, steve-tarde.blogspot.com or perusing my book Gift To My Dad at Amazon. Let’s look at the confident woman goal. Most women have that in their goals list and this is what I have to say about that. Confidence is an essential characteristic of successful men and women. How do I teach women to be more comfortable in their own skin? I improve their vocabulary. I improve their ability to write. I highlight their speaking skills. I introduce them to my national mentoring group so they can test their new leadership skills. I encourage them to recruit other women and share with them the work of my national mentoring think tank which among many goals, works hard to get the message out that a woman who does not carry protection in the form of pepper spray is doing more than taking a calculated risk. She is risking her life. National organization such as Security Company and safety awareness experts Susan Bartelstone have joined me as we build associations with women across America. I expect that I will be speaking with you very soon and of course you can always write me at: stevetarde@gmail.com Why create another picture when one well developed and readily available will do. Remember 10. salivate (apple)? o Add to the picture cluster. Always, always KISS (keep it simple student) 11. Serpentine. My mental image for this vocabulary word is Lombard Street, located in San Francisco. Google Lombard Street and you will be thinking in pictures like me. 12. Circuitous. When you have the chance to add cluster words. Serpentine and circuitous are both examples of routes far from direct. What do you do if you have a question? Cry? Scream? Dial 9-1-1? No, you know why this mentoring course of mine is so special. I am on the other side of that question. All I ask is that you be a student who has paid tuition. And believe me like Santa, who knows who has been good and bad, I know who has supported my work and who is still tire kicking. So, if you are still tire kicking, stop. Go to my paypal account which is the same as my email address stevetarde@gmail.com and help me to educate another group of students through your payment, something you can afford and then, by all means, join the others and ask your question. So, now you have been through a few lessons and you are feeling smug, feeling damn good about yourself. Maybe it’s time to ask you a question. What are you going to write about? I have written thousands of stories and several books. Remember, I asked you to read one of my books. Gift To My Dad which you can find on Amazon. How can I teach you how to write if you ignore what I have written? What about Gift To My Dad? The beauty of Amazon and why so many of my writers who I inspire to publish works of their own, end up on Amazon as well, is that they are not greedy. Their partnership arrangement with me and other authors is that in return for sharing revenues, Amazon will make titles available for readers to sample first before they buy. Sort of like my tire kickers. So, if you are still short a few pesos for purchase, no worries. Go to Amazon now and sample Gift To My Dad. I will give you a few minutes to come back to me. No, really. It’s OK. I will sing a few songs while I wait for you to come back. My singing of Tom Jones and Frank Sinatra ballads is as if you were seeing them live in concert. Ask me to sing for you if you see me in performance. I may indulge you. You see, I am a very modest man. But I get impatient with tire kickers. We are all trying to make a living here. OK! Is everyone now back and informed? So what was I thinking about when the inspiration came to me to write Gift To My Dad, which is fast becoming a Father’s Day classic? By knowing the answer to that question, you will be able to start thinking in motion pictures in your own head. Just like what we are doing in my ground breaking vocabulary course as you are taking right here online with me and others. You know what picture came to mind? A picture of a Dad who I loved very much, but for the life of me, wouldn’t love me back. My dad used to take me and a friend out to play hardball on the fields of Melville (named after Herman Melville, the writer) New York. Sometimes I brought my friend Peter from next door whose younger brother Rick built that wiffle ball stadium in Encino that I have written about, but that’s another story for another time. So dad, Peter and I are throwing the ball around and suddenly a brand new baseball settles in my glove. Where did that come from? Dad loved exciting us kids that way. When you are ten years old and the old ball you are playing catch with, becomes cream white and slick to the touch with its newness, you remember. The picture of that scene in my mind is as fresh as when it happened some fifty plus years ago. It is that kind of picture, that kind of movie, that kind of film I am inspiring you to think of. I don’t want you to be just another writer reaching for a story. I want to teach you to be a filmmaker, even if you never produce your own movie. For, in fact, you will produce your own movie. You will produce it in the form of a story or a book. Are we all on the same page now? ******************************************** I am interviewing writers who want to be part of my vocabulary project which will change the face of American education. Message me if this is for you