As many of you know, I took a fiction writing class last fall. What I didn’t mention was that I was supposed to take an intro to memoir writing class. Alas, the memoir class didn’t get enough enrollment so it was cancelled.

I was annoyed and sad that memoir writing class was cancelled. I really started to think that I was cut out to write memoirs, so I was hoping to learn the process of what I was and wasn’t supposed to do regarding memoirs…

For two days after I got the email stating that the class was canceled, I moped and played the teeny tine violin. Then I looked at the Gotham Writers Website to see what other classes were available. I noticed Fiction 1, which I had already taken, but this was a different teacher, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Boy was I glad I took this class…

My teacher was awesome. She really knew how to explain basic concepts and really explored the actual technique of writing. She was organized and gave great homework lessons. I saw my writing get better as the class progressed.

I met some amazing people in the class. There were a few young women who are amazing writers and are great to have as reading/writing buddies. In fact, we are all in the same workshop, working on getting our novels from point a to point b.

I rediscovered a love of fiction. I had lost a bit of my fiction mojo- thanks endemic- but I’m on my way to fictional happiness…

Bottom Line- once I chose to make the best out of a situation I wasn’t thrilled with, good things started to happen. Sometimes things don’t happen as we had planned. We just have to remember that we still need to keep moving on. Staying mad or angry at something probably won’t help us in the long run. Trying to think of the positives, and acting with them is the way to go.

I’m about 20,000 words into a first draft of a work that I really like. I made some new friends. I look forward to writing every day. Can it get any better than that?

49 thoughts on “Writing Class Redux”

  1. A perfect example of one door closing and another door opening. Something I need to remind myself of from time to time. Glad you are enjoying the class and getting lots os writing in.

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  6. It sounds like it may be the same class on paper, but a totally different experience. I’m glad you’re enjoying it, the teacher and the students in the class can all make such a difference to learning. Also we’ll done on the progress with your writing

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    2. It does, and it reminds me of that old saying “When one door closes, another opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” I’m glad you spotted that “other” door!

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  14. I’ve always thought it would be interesting to write a memoir. In fact, in my early blogging days, I kind of did that. Wrote a single post for each year of my life, in chronological order, from birth to age 37. Unfortunately, I left the blogging site and misplaced the floppy disc containing all my blog posts. It’s probably buried at the bottom of a landfill somewhere.

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  21. A happy accident indeed! The best part about fiction is that you can create anything you want. Your only real obligation is to make it interesting for your readers. That’s very freeing, creatively speaking.

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  22. A perfect example of how important it is to allow yourself to get over a missed opportunity, and then to take a positive mindset into making another choice. I didn’t do this with an important piece of professional training and ended up floundering all over the place, then making a bad decision. I got over it, but I learned about the importance of taking the actions you took.

    Sounds like you re-run of your writing course with a new tutor is fab. I’m going to start working with a writing coach in March/April and am really looking forward to it.

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