Take a writing class

being a little arrogant from all the comments on my writing, I don’t feel I need more. but I don’t see why I shouldn’t take the challenge in my creative writing class to spit out stories on deadline. I never get anything done unless I might be punished otherwise so I’m hoping this writing class will teach me how to step up

I can’t say I’m a fabulous writer but I had fun and it was nice to have something to agonize over – in a good way. It really made me think and kept my mind working.

should spend some time looking at net resources.

I will journal though and continue to work on a book that I have been writing, so I have some sort of draft, shell. I will try to pick it up more often maybe in the evening hours or on rainy days and moments of quiet. But as with my other goals I am giving up on today this one will rest with those until the appropriate time.

I love to write, and I think I’m rather good at it. Taking an actual class, however, would be scary. This is because writing is a private thing for me. It would be hard to share this out in the open and actually have someone grade my efforts. It would also be exciting in a frightening sort of way. It would be a stretch, so I’ll have to think on this one some more.

Money, time. The class didn’t happen. Not giving up. But also realizing one does not need a writing class to write. So… I continue writing. And reading others’ writing.

So I finished my Screenwriting class, and overall it was fine, good to be part of a learning group, trying something new. But I found that paying the money was my incentive to write, moreso than any information I really learned in the class itself. For a self-starter, a good book could’ve done the trick.

HOWEVER, being part of the class and paying so much DID motivate me: I finished my FIRST ROUGH DRAFT OF MY FIRST FEATURE SCREENPLAY!

Excited about that, and proud of it.

I’m nearly finished with my first 10-week workshop with Gotham Writer’s Workshops, and I’ve had a very mixed experience. On the plus side, I’ve begun writing: I’ve got over 100 pages of a rough draft screenplay. I feel that this has been self-motivated because I’m paying for the class, and not necessarily because of what I’ve learned in the class itself.

I have not had the best class experience. I didn’t feel that the instructor was structured according to Gotham Writer’s system and process that they advertise, for which I paid. This was destructive to me on several levels, and at one point totally paralyzed my writing. Worse, I worked up the conviction to call Gotham about this, partly because I felt I didn’t get what I’d paid for, and also because I thought they would want to know about the situation. I was treated VERY poorly by the office personel, treating as though it was MY problem that I didn’t receive my money’s worth. I was very cordial and reasonable, and was treated like a hypersensitive “artist” (negative) who needed to dust herself off and try again, which was not the point of the call.

I guess I needed to rant. Basically, I think it sucks to pay money for a course and not get what you pay for, and not be treated valuably. I’m glad that spending the money got me writing, but I’m thinking I might workshop this on my own from now on, or down the line perhaps in an online class setting, but not immediately. So far, I’ve learned just as much from a screenwriting book, and have found that production is more about prioritizing writing than it is about “information.”

I will be thrilled to complete the course in a week, though.

Needed the money for another worthy goal so it will have to wait.

I think I’m just gonna do it. Barring any unforseen financial inability. Originally I was thinking of something more practical for this goal, but f**k it. I love poetry most.