I Love Online Classes and Workshops, A Guest Blog by Kimberly Napoli

Kimberly Napoli

I love online classes and workshops. They tap into the part of me that is a geek who loves to learn and the busy part of me that is trying to balance it all and write a decent book.

I don’t have the time to register at a school, drive there a few times a week and search desperately for parking. But without the commitment to learning the craft, how will I improve my writing? Online classes were the answer.

When I first decided to take my writing more seriously I realized like any industry I had to research and learn the language. Really, what did they mean by POV, H/H, DH, MRU, S/S, SASE, submission format and Show don’t Tell? Like any industry there is a culture and a system of doing business. There are rules to the game. I found all the answers and more in online classes.

Online classes offered me the chance to live my life my way and grow as a writer. Most online classes are run through a forum or a yahoo.group that uses email. They allow you to read lessons and posts at your own pace, and submit assignments and participate or ‘sit at the back of the class’ and just lurk. The biggest benefit was finding instructors who understood me and fellow students who were just like me.

Finding like-minded people and groups to belong to was a blessing in a career path that is very solitary. It was especially helpful since a lot of people don’t take you seriously until you are published. I found a group that gave the classes I loved and I discovered that they were local to my area. I was able to join the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America because I discovered them online.

I am now the coordinator for their online classes and I get to reach out and meet amazing authors and create a curriculum that promotes the craft of writing. I was especially blessed to meet Kitty Bucholtz who invited me to be her friend and a guest contributor to this amazing blog site.

There are so many amazing things to be gained from online classes and it is done your way on your terms. I hope you check out some of the great sites I have listed below and find a class that excites you to learn and strengthens your love of writing.

Some sites to check out:

http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html (I work here, come say hi.)

www.pasic.net/workshops.html (This is the Published Author Special Interest Chapter of RWA.)

www.writeruniv.com (They offer some very intense classes for a very reasonable price.)

www.writersonlineclasses.com (The title says it all.)

http://www.yosemiteromancewriters.com/6.html (They offer a lot of classes, 3/month. You have to try to not find something to like.)

http://www.rwanational.org/cs/chapter_conferences_and_events#online (Home of Romance Writers of America. What can I say, I am biased toward romance.)

http://www.rwamysterysuspense.org/index.php (This is the KISS of DEATH home page. They have Murder 101, which gives technical classes and Killer Instinct which gives craft classes.)

These are great places to start. I hope you check them out. They are my favorite locations.

Best to you all,
Kimberly Napoli

Kimberly Napoli is the founder of the web site G.A.M.E. Plan for Success, and is the OCCRWA Online Class Coordinator.