Hey everyone! We are back again with another post for the week. I’m very excited to say that this is the second to last post of the series and we will be getting to the end next Saturday where I will announce what we will be doing going forward this year. So, without further ado,
Develop As A Writer: Attend Writing Classes
One of the things that can have a large influence on writers of every age whether you are published or not is other writers. This week’s post and next week’s post are both related to using other writers to develop. This week’s post is focused on more organized settings and the next is more informal.
There are several different types of writing classes that you can attend that could help you to develop yourself as a writer. There are large settings such as writing conferences to smaller settings such as a locally offered writing class with a published author or editor teacher.
Writing Conferences
Writing conferences are a great type of class to attend to develop as a writer. Now this all depends on the type of writing conference you attend and the types of classes that are offered at the conference. Often writing conferences have multiple panels with multiple options during each hour of the conference. The teachers of each section might be different (ie. some are published authors and some are editors who work at a publishing company) and sometimes the topics are related to different parts of writing.
Whatever kind of writing conference you attend they are usually a larger class size than some of the other options. One of the writing conferences I attended wasn’t even a very large writing conference but each workshop class I attended had at least 45 people. Not extremely large but large enough that its more generalized knowledge than specific. But if this is the type of class you think would help you than this is the type of class to attend.
University Offered Classes
University offered classes are somewhere between small classes and writing conferences. Some universities offer classes (usually at the night at the Universities I have attended or heard about) that are not directly related to attaining a major but are for furthering education in those who are not full-time students. Often these classes range from all sorts of topics such as computer programing, digital art, writing, business, etc.
If the University near you offers writing classes that you can access and you can afford them then there are a few benefits and a few drawbacks. University writing classes will have a very straight forward and set out teaching plan most of the time. You will know exactly what you are taking. If you take a class called Writing Poetry then you will be focusing on poetry. One drawback of these types of classes is that often times these classes are designed like University classes meaning there is homework.
But if this medium sized class with organized structure but homework is something that you find useful and enjoyable this is the type of class for you.
Published Author/Editor Classes
The last type of class that you can attend is small classes offered by published authors or local editors. These classes are at the bottom not only because they are the smallest but because they are also harder to find. This might be because there are not local authors in the place that you live. It could be because the local author is a writer on the side. It could just be because the local author doesn’t like these types of classes. Maybe it’s because the local publishing company doesn’t allow editors to teach classes. Maybe the local editor doesn’t want to spend their free time doing a class. Either way some areas might not have this type of class.
For areas that do these types of classes, they can vary. Perhaps your local author who runs this class wants to focus more on character development. Perhaps they focus on how to develop a plot or how to use foreshadowing in your story. Perhaps if its taught by an editor they focus more on editing or getting your manuscript ready for publication. Sometimes these classes cost money and sometimes they don’t. But whatever specifics about the class are they are usually smaller and more individual focused. Because of this these classes are good for people who like that kind of personalized class or who aren’t good with large crowds.
There are so many different types of classes that I haven’t listed here but these are the three that I think are good examples of more formal writing classes that can help you to develop as a writer. I hope that this list can help you get started in finding a writing class that can help you. If you have any good types of writing classes you’ve been to and enjoyed or writing classes you want to attend comment below.
That’s all I have for this week’s post. I hope that it was able to help you to develop as a writer. We only have one more post for this series and I can’t wait to announce the next step. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, become a blog page member, share, and follow me on social media at the link on the bottom of the page. And remember,
Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next week!
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