See Chapter 1 at The Cantankerous Muse on YouTube

Writers assemble!

Writing classes are awesome.

I should know. I teach them. By definition and necessity, writing is a solitary pursuit. In the middle of your busy day, you need to set aside some time to sit down and scratch or peck out your story, essay or poem. One word at a time. It can be hard.

When you take a writing class, you’ll learn techniques and receive information that will help you navigate the lonely writing hours. Ideally. More on that in a moment. More importantly though, the class can also serve as a confidence booster. You’ll find community with other writers, all sharing the same experience.

I was talking to a new writer friend who had just fallen for and spent money on one of those “Become an eBook Millionaire in a Week” online cons. Sorry, I mean courses. How surprised are you to learn that she didn’t become a Kindle Czar in a week, a month or a year? All she got for her $47 was discouraged. I’m sure you have seen these offers on social media. If you ever searched for or clicked on anything writing-related, you were most likely served at least some of the ads.

You see, apart from the big lie that your foolproof Kindle system can make you rich, the really sad thing is that it turns writing into yet another task, another part of hustle culture. Don’t think about what you want to write, think about what sells.  There is no point in not writing what you want to write. Writing will change your life in ways that are much more valuable in the long run. But it is not a quick-money proposition.

If there’s a course that interest you, do the research. If it promises you something other than “This course will help you with your writing project”, especially if it promises you a fast solution and/or money, consider walking away. Writing is well worth your time. Most of these courses aren’t worth the bytes they are written on.