Writing Classes

hat a great topic for me this week. I am in the midst of my second online writing class:  Empowering Character Emotions by Margie Lawson. A few drafts ago on my WIP I realized that I needed help learning how to bring emotions out of my characters. So even though I write for children, I signed up for this class through PASIC, a group of romance writers. I figure if any group of writers can claim to know about character emotions it would be these ladies.

At the moment there are over 400 emails in my “writing classes” folder from this class. I’m on assignment #5 when 15 assignments have gone out. Those numbers make it sound like I’m more behind than what I really am! I have read all the lectures, and done all the “easy” assignments, like #9 or #12. I’m only saving up the big “thinking” assignments for when I have more chunks of time available.

For now, all those unopened emails will stay unopened. Those are kind of extra, the class examples and discussions. I read all the emails marked Teaching Point or Read This-type emails from the instructor. The other emails I’ll read later on as reminders of the class and how to apply what I’ve learned.

It’s been a busy month and my head feels like it is half-way through a marathon. By the end of the month I expect my brain will be exhausted but I’ll be able to look back and see how far I’ve come.

It’s the same feeling as the other online class I took through Author MBA about Career Planning. If it’s a good class there is a lot of information to process at once. But I am learning so much and I can already see my writing getting better—the whole point to taking a class, right?

At first I had been hesitant about taking any writing classes online. The reason was not because I think I know everything to know about writing. I was just skeptical about spending the extra money. I mean, writing books are free at the library. The good writing books I don’t mind buying and adding to my personal library. How do I know the class will be worth it? Why not just buy the lecture packet and work through it on my own?

Why take a writing class?

-you will be more motivated to do the work

-you will be led one step at a time

-you will improve faster with the camaraderie

-you will learn from others

-you will learn from the instructor

-you can ask questions directly

-you can get expert feedback on your work

How do online classes work?

The two classes I’ve taken were held through Yahoo Groups. A few days before the class was to start I received an invitation to join the particular group. Lecture emails go out every few days and include assignments to apply what I’ve learned. I can also access lectures in the Files section of Yahoo Groups so I don’t have to wade through all those emails. In my current class we also connected with EPs (Editing Partners) to swap homework with. I can also post assignments to the group as a whole to get feedback from the instructor.  

Any others?

I know you writers out there are a wealth of information! Please leave a comment about other good writing classes you know about. As soon as I recover from this one I’ll be ready to sign up for another!