ONLINE WRITING CLASS ADDICTION

Some women are drawn to slabs of dark chocolate, some to the glitter of diamonds or the opalescence of pearls but what does it for me are online writing classes. Over the past two months and into the upcoming two months I have taken, or will take, a total of 8 online classes in essay writing, poetry and flash fiction. When I find classes being offered I hone in on those that intrigue me, those genres that I actually write in.

I get updates from Story Circle Network, WOW-Women on Writing, Writing It Real and from writer and teacher Jordan Rosenfeld. I also explore on a regular basis classes offered by Gotham online classes and Writers' Digest.

So what's the intrigue?
  • motivation to write
  • honest and professional critiques
  • exposure to writing I might not discover on my own
  • connection with other writers going through the same challenges
  • prompts and exercises that get me writing and give me direction
Just creating my pocket folders for each class, with neatly typed labels in violet print, gets me excited and eager to write. I most love classes that have lots of materials whether presented online or in books required for the class.

Some of my best classes have been offered through Story Circle Network. The classes are geared toward women writing about their lives but other topics like blogging and promotion also crop up. The instructors are top-notch and the content of classes is amazing. Genres from poetry about mothers, to haiku and other Japanese forms, to essays and journaling and memoir. There are mentors and instructors who also will work one-to-one with writers to get them through long term writing projects which is one of the programs I start on next week.

I admit my addiction. I don't want a recovery program to get over it either. I prefer to hang on to this one. It gets my writing done and it doesn't add on pounds like dark chocolate, though honestly--a bit of chocolate while writing can be a wondrous thing and can even bring the muses out of hiding.

Comments

  1. Romance, She WroteMay 21, 2012 at 11:41 AM

    Hi Renne,

    My addiction is actually NOT with online classes, but with writing in itself. I think about it all the time, when I'm driving, when I'm shopping, when I'm showering, it's on my mind all the time. And if I'm not thinking ways of refining a story I wrote, I'm thinking of the next one and how it should 'top' the last one. It's compulsive in a way, but it's good, no?

    Maria :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. ReneeMay 21, 2012 at 12:25 PM

    Maria
    I know what you mean. Writing is a true obsession. I think all writers have that need hardwired in the brain. We need to write as much as anyone else needs to breathe oxygen or drink water. Thankfuly we are a large community with lots of supporters.

    ReplyDelete

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