I joined the class after Sir Abe invited me to it when Daniel Miller shared it. The idea was to select our favorite author and study their work. My first instinct was that it was very similar to toastmasters in setup - with the students doing the work and getting consistent feedback. I was also excited at the idea that I could learn to write like my favorite writer.
Selecting the person I wanted to spend the 6 weeks examining and mimicking was hard. There are many good writers. I finally decided to focus on humor and clarity of message. So I picked Scott Adams and Trevor Noah.
As the weeks progressed and we got assigned things to do, I could only find Scott's work available for a deeper research. Each week, we had to deconstruct how the author we chose did certain things. And then write 500 words on anything we want using the things we discovered about the authors we chose. It took me more time than I expected to do the research needed for each week.
I found that I didn't really know a lot about writing. Things like structure, plot, narration, point of view.. etc. It felt overwhelming at times when I join the weekly sessions and hear others talk about those concepts with ease. In the last 2+ years of writing daily, I never thought about things like plot and narration. I just wrote and assumed I was becoming a good writer.
The class made me realize that there is a lot to writing properly. I may need to study a little bit more about the basics. Particularly around narration and dialogue.
The class also made me realize that many things that seem complex can be understood better by deconstructing them. I found it refreshing to see the techniques behind some of the best writings I have encountered. That made it easy to see myself doing that level of work if I put in the time.
Another thing the class reminded me of is the pleasure I get from meeting other people who are interested in improving themselves. Just like this community, the group in the class were determined to improve their writing. They were willing to pay money and dedicate their time and their Saturday afternoon to improve themselves. I get motivated to be around that type of energy. It makes me want to expose myself to that type of opportunity more than I have in the past.
And the final thing I got from the class was a system for writing well. As I did the assignment each week, I started to develop a structure around my own writing. And in the end, I came up with a process that helps me end up with a decent enough writing.
Overall, it was a great learning experience.
Selecting the person I wanted to spend the 6 weeks examining and mimicking was hard. There are many good writers. I finally decided to focus on humor and clarity of message. So I picked Scott Adams and Trevor Noah.
As the weeks progressed and we got assigned things to do, I could only find Scott's work available for a deeper research. Each week, we had to deconstruct how the author we chose did certain things. And then write 500 words on anything we want using the things we discovered about the authors we chose. It took me more time than I expected to do the research needed for each week.
I found that I didn't really know a lot about writing. Things like structure, plot, narration, point of view.. etc. It felt overwhelming at times when I join the weekly sessions and hear others talk about those concepts with ease. In the last 2+ years of writing daily, I never thought about things like plot and narration. I just wrote and assumed I was becoming a good writer.
The class made me realize that there is a lot to writing properly. I may need to study a little bit more about the basics. Particularly around narration and dialogue.
The class also made me realize that many things that seem complex can be understood better by deconstructing them. I found it refreshing to see the techniques behind some of the best writings I have encountered. That made it easy to see myself doing that level of work if I put in the time.
Another thing the class reminded me of is the pleasure I get from meeting other people who are interested in improving themselves. Just like this community, the group in the class were determined to improve their writing. They were willing to pay money and dedicate their time and their Saturday afternoon to improve themselves. I get motivated to be around that type of energy. It makes me want to expose myself to that type of opportunity more than I have in the past.
And the final thing I got from the class was a system for writing well. As I did the assignment each week, I started to develop a structure around my own writing. And in the end, I came up with a process that helps me end up with a decent enough writing.
Overall, it was a great learning experience.
It's a pleasant, existential thrill to be surrounded by people who care about craft, whatever the domain might be.