Author: atwiford

The Cherry Hill library has offered a wide variety of educational programs and classes for residents of all ages for years.

One such program is the Novel Writing 101 class, a 10-week series that aims to help those interested in writing and publishing a novel create stronger stories, prose and characters. 

Ty Drago – a novelist, editor and publisher – teaches the class.

“I retired,” he said. “I became a full-time writer, yeah. And you know what you can’t do for eight hours a day is write, so you have to look for other things. I like to teach.” 

Drago has instructed the adult novel-writing class for seven years. He also runs a six-week, short fiction- writing class and has done a number of seminars for children.

His class is the first of its kind at the library that is free. Drago focuses on different elements of writing week to week, using lecture notes displayed via slideshows and writing exercises to help participants better understand the topics at hand. 

Drago goes over his five rules for writing: write; finish what you write; edit what you write; submit your writing for publication; and then, go write something else. One class exercise involves taking a long passage and shortening it while keeping the same tone and vibe. 

“Vibe is very internal,” Drago explained. “It’s not about what’s out here, it’s about what’s inside the character … The point of view is tight and you are inside and feeling everything they (characters) are feeling.”

Another class assignment is to write 100 words in a way that conveys a broad image to the reader or writing the same length with more emphasis on detail. 

Drago said this year’s class averages about 18 people a week. Since it takes place over 10 weeks, each class does not always draw the same set of students, though some are consistent participants. It also helps with things like outlining the books students want to write and coming up with milestones.

Drago also goes into detail on the difference between show versus tell and when to use each.

“Tell gets a bad rap,” he noted. “Tell has its place … if you’re writing a short story for an anthology that has a limit of 1,500 words, and you’re at 2,000 and you gotta cut off a quarter of that story. You start looking at the shows versus the tells.”

Showing the audience something often takes up more words than telling it. Students are encouraged to read their writing – both from home and with in-class exercises – aloud for the rest of the class to hear. Drago then critiques the passages, telling students what they did well and what they need to work on. 

He emphasizes the importance of having a “first read,” the first person to read a work other than the author, and specifically mentions how necessary it is that that person be willing to be honest. 

The end portion of the class is set aside for the attendees to split into groups and share their ideas and what they’ve been working on. Drago helps when they have questions or want feedback on their work.

As the general population ages, Social Security, retirement and other issues become top of mind. To give residents some peace of mind, the township library recently held a talk called, “Social Security: You Earned It!” 

The presentation was created in collaboration with AARP and was presented by Sarah Spellman, a speaker for the organization. She began the talk by discussing issues that have arisen around Social Security in recent years, most notably financial challenges related to the declining ratio of workers to beneficiaries. She then went on to list possible solutions and the pros and cons of each. 

One proposal is to raise or eliminate the wage cap, as only earnings up to $176,100 are currently subject to annual Social Security taxes. Raising or eliminating the maximum would allow for more income into the system through highter taxed earnings. Another solution would be to increase payroll tax for workers and employers. 

“So rather than having payroll taxes at 6.2%,” said Spellman, “why not increase those by one to two percent possibly? And depending upon which of those you chose, you could impact the problem by either 25 up to 50%.”

Another solution would be implemented over several years by slowly increasing the full retirement age, currently 67 for those born in 1960 and after. Spellman argued against that on behalf of AARP, which advocates for keeping the minimum retirement age at 62 and full retirement age at 67.

“The argument for that is that there are some people who are in careers that you physically cannot continue to work that long into your life,” explained Spellman, using underwater welding as an example.

Another solution would be to reduce payments for high-income earners, which Spellman emphasized would include means testing. The final proposal she discussed was for the govnernment to find other financial sources, using money from the general fund and budgeting the Social Security shortfall, or diverting money from other programs. 

“None of these are 100% impact,” Spellman acknowledged, “so it’s going to have to be a combination.”

Attendees at the library talk were each given a paper with all of the possible solutions laid out, so they could list pros and cons of their own. After that, Spellman led a group discussion on what attendees thought to be the best idea. Many suggested raising or eliminating the maximum amount of taxable income and capping payments for high-income earners.

Spellman then directed the group to AARP’s website; it has a tool that allows users to ask questions about Social Security. Some participants asked questions about when and if they should start taking Social Security, a query Spellman said she could not answer because it depends on an individual’s situation.

But Judy Greenberg attended the talk and found it beneficial.

“I think this seminar de-mystified some of the issues surrounding Social Security,” she observed. “We suddenly turn 65, and Social Security becomes front and center for us, and we’re not able to really understand what the whole system is about, how the demographics change in our world, how that system works and how we can best access the system.”