When it comes to writing, there’s always more to learn, either through instruction or experience. I think most writers love to learn, or simply to refresh what we think we already know.
You may have heard of the famous University of Iowa Writers Workshop that’s held every summer. I know of a few writer friends who have had the privilege of attending. I haven’t had the pleasure myself and really hope I can someday (when I’m able to afford both the time and the expense), but the good news is there’s an annual free online writing workshop sponsored by the University of Iowa that’s open to anyone interested in expanding his or her writing education. It’s called “How Writers Write Fiction” and this year’s course is currently in session (not endorsed by RMFW).
I attended last year and got so much out of it that I knew I wanted to take it again. This year they have both a beginning writer’s track and one for experienced writers, though students are free to participate in both. We’ve just finished the Welcome Wagon, a week-long introduction that includes getting to know our classmates, the instructors, the teacher’s aids and the moderators. The host is NovoEd, which has an interface similar to Facebook in the way it’s organized (but without all the annoying ads). Lots of great conversations are going on and this year we are encouraged to form our own discussion groups based on location, interests, writing levels and/or genre. It’s only been a week and I’ve already met some great people with similar interests.
Every day there’s a short video made by one of the workshop instructors. The first week’s daily videos focused on best practices, and every day there’s a link to a different writing article, usually essays by renowned fiction writers. All of them are excellent. Then a discussion thread is started for us to talk about what we saw and what we read. For example, today’s short video covered nine basic writing tips.
So far, we’ve had a series of writing practice assignments to prepare us for the actual lessons that begin right after Welcome Week is over. It’s getting us ready for Class Session 1 called “Starting With Character.” This was so helpful to me last year, and there’s even more focus on character this year, which is extremely important to me. Each week there will be a new class video, required reading assignment, discussion topics on best writing practices, writing assignments and peer feedback. Each week will also have a different fiction fundamentals video followed by a discussion and a quiz.
Everything on the course site is incredibly well organized. The course itself is set up like its own website with links to different areas that we can access throughout the course. It’s an 8-week course, entirely self-paced, and I could spend an entire day, every day, exploring the site and participating in all the different discussions going on. Hard to believe it’s all free, but I can attest to its value since I took it last year as well, however this year’s course is more extensive.
Each week will focus on a different area of fiction writing, as it applies to both long form and short form. Here’s this year’s course schedule after Welcome Week:
Class Session 1: Starting with Character
Class Session 2: Expanding on Character: Cast and Dialogue
Class Session 3: Working with Plot
Class Session 4: Using Character to Produce Frame and Arc
Class Session 5: Voice and Setting
Class Session 6: Immersion and Setting: Description and World-Building
Class Session 7: Embracing Revision
Farewell Class: Onward! The Writing Life
I’ve just started writing a new novel that I’m approaching from a new angle. This story is not genre specific for a change, so the course comes at a great time for me. I’m learning something new and I’m eager to dig in.
It’s not too late for new students to enroll this year, but as stated earlier, this course is not endorsed by RMFW. Since we’re only a week in, you can still sign up. If you’d rather wait until next year, you can get on the mailing list to receive advance notice. The Iowa Writing University has something going on all year long and there are lots of great articles on the blog. Check it out here http://www.writinguniversity.org/blog.
Happy learning!
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