Comments on: An Education: Reasons to Take a Writing Course

By: Christopher Jackson

Christopher Jackson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:00:56 +0000

Thank you for sharing your site with us, Christina! It looks great – will certainly have to check it out in more detail and get involved!

Sites like yours, and like Fuel Your Writing, as well as social networking sites, are really powerful in keeping like-minded individuals in contact with one another – be it writers or anyone else. While I recommend getting out there and getting on a course and meeting other writers face to face, the Internet is such an important tool for networking with others to form a support base that can bring out the best in us.

By: Christopher Jackson

Christopher Jackson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:57:06 +0000

Thanks for commenting Mani. I feel like a lot of people are put off by the cons that I mentioned, and they really are big barriers to a lot of people. People need to be shown that these cons are sometimes necessary in order to “invest in ourselves”, as Doreen says above.

Glad you liked the quote, I think it’s spot on. It summarises the practicalities of learning to be a writer well, and gives the vast majority of us writers (the ‘competent’ ones) a lot of hope.

By: Christopher Jackson

Christopher Jackson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:53:19 +0000

“Investing in yourself.” – great phrase! It’s very true, we must see these networks and associations for what they are, ways to improve ourselves and to continue to learn and to grow.

Thanks for commenting :)

By: Christopher Jackson

Christopher Jackson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:51:16 +0000

Taking a course really does make you take writing seriously, so that you don’t feel bad scheduling time for your writing. Sometimes it is easy to feel guilty, that you should be doing something else.

Thanks for commenting!

By: Christopher Jackson

Christopher Jackson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:49:58 +0000

Thanks for your comments Christopher! College and university campuses do have an air of inspiration about them, almost built in, which seems to radiate from the buildings and the open spaces and the students and teachers wandering through them. Great places to hang out.

Having people to understand how we feel is very important. Sometimes I feel a lot of my non-writer friends don’t quite ‘get’ why I write. Having met people who feel the same way about me is very supporting and inspiring.

By: Christopher Jackson

Christopher Jackson — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:46:03 +0000

You’re right, a course isn’t necessary, but it puts you in contact with some great people who become not only fellow writers, but also friends.

The support base that you mention is very important – be it coursemates, friends and family, or other writers met on social networks and blogs such as this one!

Thanks for commenting Kat.

By: Christina Bunce

Christina Bunce — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:07:20 +0000

I have never done a creative writing course but I run one – MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth in the UK – a campus based MA and a 100% online version. We focus on making good writers out of competent ones and help writers learn how to make money from their craft.
We too were uneasy about the point you make in Con #2: after an intense year submerged in a tight supportive community of learners and industry professionals our graduates felt suddenly ejected into a world where they had to struggle alone both as writers and professionals.
In response we set up http://www.profwriting.com, an online writing community and source of information for new writers. Loads of free information, advice from writers together with mentoring schemes and a peer review facility. Writers can also set up their own mini reading groups and swap work and discuss it in private. Literary agents watch it closely. We see it as a way of keeping some of the best aspects of the MA course, without the ongoing cost.
Together with our Facebook site, this keeps our students in touch with each other and with us – that way they share professional experiences, and continually develop their industry understanding and networks.
No longer do they feel abandoned and naked in a cold and unfriendly world – as you say in Pro #3, it’s the people that make it.

By: Dr.Mani

Dr.Mani — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:50:47 +0000

I’ve taken exactly one course (a home study, like you mentioned) on fiction writing – by Randy Ingermanson, author of the “Snowflake Method”. I learned some nuances of writing fiction, and got introduced to the inimitable Dwight Swain, from whose books I got the equivalent of a Master’s degree on the art and craft of fiction writing.

The ‘cons’ you mention are real deterrents to further progress, but I’m plodding along with my first novel, seeking feedback from several writers (non-fiction, mainly), and tweaking the writing skills I’ve developed and acquired over time.

Nice post, and spot on :-)

All success
Dr.Mani

P.S. – I loved the Stephen King quote you used. “It is impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, or a competent writer out of a bad one, it IS possible, with help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.”

By: Doreen Pendgracs

Doreen Pendgracs — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:24:58 +0000

The exact same reasoning can and should be applied to joining professional associations. I belong to 5 different writers’ associations. Each serves a different purpose, as I write across genres, in addition to writing for periodicals & writing books. And I think each assn is worth the cost of being a member. For mentoring, camaraderie, professional development, etc. It’s called “investing in yourself.”

Have blogged on this at:
http://doreenisthewizardofwords.blogspot.com/2009/08/are-you-joiner.html

Comments welcome!

By: Deborah Wall

Deborah Wall — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:12:41 +0000

I did a diploma in writing and it was a great step forward. I met great people, was inspired by others words and set regular time aside for something I could of very easily bypassed for a basket of washing otherwise.

By: Christopher // ScribblePlay.com

Christopher // ScribblePlay.com — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:21:34 +0000

I took several writing classes at UCLA and only have good things to say about the experience. Just being able to meet and connect with other writers — people who understand how you feel and what you’re trying to do with your work — was what it was all about.

I also found the campus really inspiring — it was the perfect place to hang out on the grass and let ideas flow.

By: Kat Musselwhite

Kat Musselwhite — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:58:12 +0000

I have taken two Creative Writing Courses. The first was when I was studying for my A Levels and I did a night class, which luckily for me was free because I was under 18, and a student at the College that ran the course! I was the baby of the group, but that was never an issue, because no one ever held it against me and I loved hearing other peoples opinions – a lot of the people on my course had a lot more life experience, so it was definitely an eye opener!

My second course, was my degree, which was paid for by tuition fees that were covered by the government, and again what I loved most about this course was the people. I loved getting and giving feedback, and hearing different opinions and thoughts on things. You definitely can not call writers boring, as I learned quickly on my courses. Creative Writing was always fun, loud and chatty, and you could walk into a class feeling really low, and walk out laughing!

I’d really love to do another course,but my local college no longer offers the night course :(

I don’t however, think that a course is necessary for becoming a writer, it’s just great to create this kind of “support base” that exists long after the course has finished!!

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:48:34 +0000

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