Down To The Page

Update: I thought I posted this but evidently it got lost in the chaos of the times. My opinion of the public library has only increased since the Pandemic started last March. LAPL offers tons of free online classes and other resources plus individual branches still have writing club events via Zoom. The recent article in the Los Angeles Times--"How do you go to the Los Angeles Public Library when COVID-19 has closed its buildings? It’s easy, fun and surprisingly comforting" (9/26/20)--highlights some of the Los Angeles Public Library's offerings, and other local library systems, including Los Angeles County most likely have similar programs. 

Here's my original post from August 2019:

Recently, I started taking an online writing class through Gale (free for anyone who has a City of Los Angeles Public Library or County of Los Angeles Public Library card!). The class is called "Writeriffic: Creativity Training for Writers" and is taught by the prolific writer Eva Shaw.

Every week, she gives students a short but thoughtful writing assignment to help stretch underused or out-of-practice creativity muscles. Last week, we had to write up to 250 words about a color. That sounds fairly simple, except it had to be in the first person--writing from the color's perspective-- and we had to use a thesaurus (either online or print) to help us come up with different words for the color. 

I encourage anyone interested in creative writing, new to creative writing, or returning to creative writing after a long break to check out her classes, which you can find here. She teaches writing classes, too, including travel writing and writing your life story.
The public library has so many free online classes through different vendors, you could probably spend years learning new subjects or updating skills you learned in school. And since the classes are free and you can choose how little or how much you want to participate, it's a pretty low commitment.  
While your pondering whether or not to take a class, enjoy my short essay about the color brown. 

"Brown"
I am brown--warm, rich, inviting. Anyone who says I’m boring doesn’t know the real me. I’m the mud brown that squishes between your toes. I’m the beige of warm beach sand underneath your feet. I’m the woody brown of tree bark. I’m the black-brown of loam, bountiful and earthy, as you dig in your garden. I’m the bittersweet brown of a chocolate bar, luxurious and sweet. On a hot summer’s day, dive into a light brown chocolate ice cream cone, sticky and melting in rivulets down your fingers. I’m the color of hot chocolate warming on the stove on a rainy afternoon. I’m the java brown smell of coffee brewing early in the morning. I am brown, a color as deep and old as the Earth.