As I continue building and rebranding my writing practice, I’m also educating myself about teaching on-line. I love teaching, but I don’t love to drive, and where I live, teaching gigs all start with starting the car. So I decided to see if offering an on-line class is for me.
I started by seeing what’s available and how it’s done. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot out there – more than I have the temperament to explore. That alone should have been a clue.
Mostly, I tried the free, introductory samples, including a webinar about how to increase my earnings ten-fold. I even signed up for the follow-up phone call, but cancelled before it occurred. Money for its own sake doesn’t motivate me. This is a good thing to know.
I did find the introduction to Joan Dempsey’s Literary Living helpful, and I wrote about it here. I still use the Narrate-Affirm-Meditate-Single Task exercises almost every morning I sit down at my desk, combined with Morning Pages, which I learned from Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way.
Dempsey is now offering, Improve Your Writing, a course that covers much the same material I teach.
Finally, I did sign up for Tsh Oxenreider’s on-line course, the Upsteam Field Guide, because it wasn’t a huge financial investment ($59), because the subject matter interested me, and because there was no time limit on finishing the course.
I’ve already fallen terribly behind.
As impressed as I am by the format and materials, I’m disappointed by the content. For one, by Oxenreider’s definition, I’m already “living upstream,” following my life’s passion, which is to write. For another, I’m way older than her target demographic, and while I like the accumulated experience and wisdom I’ve garnered with age, I don’t like being reminded that I’m older than most of the people on the planet.
And then, there’s the matter of the two writing groups I do attend: One is run by the incomparable Suzanne Kingsbury, who fosters creativity; the other is self-directed, with neighbors. In both groups, I get something I can’t get on-line: real time, in-the-flesh human contact. And wine.
What all this teaches me is that I’m still old school, and I’m okay with that. So I won’t be offering on-line courses any time soon. I do, however, continue to offer one-on-one editing services, which is as much a private tutorial in craft as it is a close reading of the work. For now, that’s enough.
![photo: M. Shafer](https://nhwn.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/img_1103.jpg?w=100)
Deborah Lee Luskin is an author, blogger and pen-for hire. She advances issues through narrative, tells stories to create change and offers a variety of writing services at www.deborahleeluskin.com.
Reblogged this on feuzebio and commented:
A educação e o conhecimento das novas tecnologias, vão libertar as pessoas de sua ignorância espiritual. As denominações religiosas escravizam os homens, para viverem nas suas próprias limitações. O Poderoso EU SOU ABSOLUTO nos liberta de toda sorte de escravidão submetida a humanidade pelo espírito da opressão. Busque e ache o EU SOU ABSOLUTO que está dentro de sua mente, alma e espírito. “O reino do Pai Celestial está dentro de nós”
I read that Toni Morrison started writing at 39. I took great comfort in reading that. Would love to hear how things turn out once you’re done.
Thanks for that info about Toni Morrison. It’s very encouraging. But I’m not sure what you mean by “once you’re done”. I’ve been writing since I was nine, and expect to write till I’m dead. But I’m not dead yet – so I’m still writing! You can learn more about what I’ve published and posted at my website.
I meant the course. Writing is never done, is it?
I read your suggestions and ideas about “writing-servise.” – I must say that your are so “dilligent.”
My experiences with on-line courses is, one is always typing. I finished my degree on-line and I still talk about all of the writing (typing) I would have to do. It is much harder to keep all of the chatting in line when behind a computer. The social aspect of verbally communicating with a group tends to be more effortless and easier on the mind… especially when the punctuation can be done with a sip here and there for emphasis.
Thanks for sharing this perspective.
Enjoyed the insight. Love Julia Cameron’s stuff (a term of art).