Posted by Tom Nevesely on August 18, 2010 at 12:06 PM
This is slightly off topic so please bear with me...
I think I've been bitten by the writing bug. I would really like to learn to write articles about my travels or hikes I've been on to go along with my photographs.
I was wondering if any of you had any recommendations for an online course I could take.
Many colleges and universities are offering distance education in various subjects, including writing. You might want to check with your local college/university to see what they have to offer.
While distance ed via a public institution will have costs associated with it, these costs will likely be lower than those of private training companies.
Tom, online courses can be extremely helpful to the beginning writer. Like learning anything else we have to start somewhere so why not an onlne course? But there are a few things you can do to jumpstart your endeavor. You can get some writing books and although a lot of them exist there's a couple that can get you started for sure. One, "Sol Stein on Writing", and then another is Strunk and White's "Elements of Style" - a handbook no writer should be without.
I write fiction and some creative non fiction, and although you've expressed interest in writing travel pieces to accompany your images it's good to realize that basic principles of writing apply to all genres.
The next single best thing a beginning writer can do is to join a Creative Writing Critique Class. Find one in your city and sit in, listen, and learn. Soon you'll be participating and then when its your turn to read you'll find the critique invaluable.
The next single best thing a beginning writer can do is to join a Creative Writing Critique Class. Find one in your city and sit in, listen, and learn. Soon you'll be participating and then when its your turn to read you'll find the critique invaluable.
That's excellent advice, over and above anything else you do. I've been at the writing game for a long, long time ranging from editing a newspaper to technical writing and editing to my ongoing 20-year stint as a columnist for a couple of papers. I thought I knew it all and was pretty smug about it till as a lark I signed on for a community college creative writing class built around critique. It opened the flood gates in my writing and taught me how to self-edit like I've never done before.
One point on "correspondence" style of classes. They're only as good as the one-on-one evaluation and feedback you get from the instructors. If it's not prompt, you lose momentum. If it's not thorough and knowledgeable, you lose heart. Alaska has a long history of "distance delivery" courses through the university, and the single detail of instructor attentiveness makes or breaks every single class.
If the instructors don't have the time and the sense of commitment to each and every student, the learning process will come to a screeching halt. If you think it's easy for people to miscue when trying to be funny or offhand in remarks on forum threads, just wait till it comes to commentary as close to the heart as a student's very best writing efforts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next single best thing a beginning writer can do is to join a Creative Writing Critique Class. Find one in your city and sit in, listen, and learn. Soon you'll be participating and then when its your turn to read you'll find the critique invaluable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If such a class is available to you, Tom, this is certainly the best option. There is nothing like 'live' learning!
Let us know what you decide.
--P
Posted by Tom Nevesely on August 24, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Thank you all for your suggestions. I looked for a local Creative writing class and didn't find anything that appealed to me.
I'm going to register for Guy's Creative Writing for the Nature Photographer course right here on NPN. I've been following Guy's blog, newsletter and reading his various articles for some time and I really like his writing style so I think I can learn a lot from him.
It should be fun and I'm looking forward to it!
Discussion
9 repliesI think I've been bitten by the writing bug. I would really like to learn to write articles about my travels or hikes I've been on to go along with my photographs.
I was wondering if any of you had any recommendations for an online course I could take.
Thank you in advance,
Tom
Many colleges and universities are offering distance education in various subjects, including writing. You might want to check with your local college/university to see what they have to offer.
While distance ed via a public institution will have costs associated with it, these costs will likely be lower than those of private training companies.
--P
Guy
I write fiction and some creative non fiction, and although you've expressed interest in writing travel pieces to accompany your images it's good to realize that basic principles of writing apply to all genres.
The next single best thing a beginning writer can do is to join a Creative Writing Critique Class. Find one in your city and sit in, listen, and learn. Soon you'll be participating and then when its your turn to read you'll find the critique invaluable.
That's excellent advice, over and above anything else you do. I've been at the writing game for a long, long time ranging from editing a newspaper to technical writing and editing to my ongoing 20-year stint as a columnist for a couple of papers. I thought I knew it all and was pretty smug about it till as a lark I signed on for a community college creative writing class built around critique. It opened the flood gates in my writing and taught me how to self-edit like I've never done before.
One point on "correspondence" style of classes. They're only as good as the one-on-one evaluation and feedback you get from the instructors. If it's not prompt, you lose momentum. If it's not thorough and knowledgeable, you lose heart. Alaska has a long history of "distance delivery" courses through the university, and the single detail of instructor attentiveness makes or breaks every single class.
If the instructors don't have the time and the sense of commitment to each and every student, the learning process will come to a screeching halt. If you think it's easy for people to miscue when trying to be funny or offhand in remarks on forum threads, just wait till it comes to commentary as close to the heart as a student's very best writing efforts.
The next single best thing a beginning writer can do is to join a Creative Writing Critique Class. Find one in your city and sit in, listen, and learn. Soon you'll be participating and then when its your turn to read you'll find the critique invaluable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If such a class is available to you, Tom, this is certainly the best option. There is nothing like 'live' learning!
Let us know what you decide.
--P
I'm going to register for Guy's Creative Writing for the Nature Photographer course right here on NPN. I've been following Guy's blog, newsletter and reading his various articles for some time and I really like his writing style so I think I can learn a lot from him.
It should be fun and I'm looking forward to it!