Here's where you come in. I'm signed up for two right now -- both novel-focused, but one is online and one's in person. Which should I keep?
My goals are as follows:
- Work on in-process novel, which I plan to make major changes to, starting from the beginning.
- Have deadlines so as to make significant progress by the end of the semester.
- Waste as little time as possible.
I also signed up for this intensive revision workshop, which I will likely use for a longer short story I've been toiling over for years.
Your thoughts? Please vote soon so I can drop the appropriate class and free up a coveted spot for people on the waitlist.
7 comments:
If wasting time is a concern, maybe the online class is better?
Or you could always show up to the live class once and then decide.
Now that I've looked at the descriptions, it's also worth saying that Malena's sharp.
I agree about Malena. And the correspondence-y nature of the online course should keep the focus on the text (i.e., give you more objective readings). The only downside might be if you wanted to meet local writers.
I took a short story course from the UC Berkeley Extension in SF. I found it very helpful to meet personally with the instructor and get that "workshop" feeling live. So I can't speak to online experience. Maybe it would be great, but it was also nice to meet local people writing....
The online format we use at UIUC is great for one way lecturing but less and less effective the more and more interactive you want it to be. Want to ask a question in class? You've got to type it out succintly enough for the webcasting lecturer to read it and respond in real time. Want to interact with your peers? All of a sudden your in a chat room, complete with all the limitations that come with that format.
I'd go with in-person. One man's wasted time is another's invested time. The time I invest in something usually makes me value and appreciate it more.
also- writing prompts? 95% likely to be a waste of time.
I've taught online novel classes and I find that the class members, especially, are bad about responding to each other's work. As the term goes on, too, it gets worse and worse. I think nothing can quite replace that in-person experience.
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