Consider long and hard before you choose a writing course. Who will be your Master of the art? Whose sacred gown will you follow? Will she expect you to produce “guideline” writing? Will your soul be lassoed? What is her writing style? Will you be goaded into her personal standards? Can you and your characters live or will you be advised to follow the wide path? Is getting your fee her only objective? Will your questions and concerns be answered in a childish “we are right” tone? Does she talk about no-no’s? Honestly, if you are brimming with vitality and the world is in your imagination, then you won’t do well with a ladies’ sewing circle instructor.
If you make a mistake here, you may lose your money, which after all is not as serious as losing your love of writing. Let your pen bleed with the essence of you. There is nothing to envy in the dump of me-too paperback authors whose end is the secondhand bookshop. Check out your teacher (be particularly wary if she sends you emails dotted with spelling/grammar mistakes). Don’t be duped by egos or author “glory.” Are her books available at Amazon? Bookstores? Libraries? Have readers left reviews about her at Amazon? (Remembering that some affectionate comments may have been planted there by friends). So, after reading a book or two, ask yourself how you responded. Frankly, did you enjoy the story or was it something you would normally pass over? Did you get involved? Did you care? Was it fodder for the mass market such as spoon-fed romance? Did you sense it was writing “by numbers” for money? Do you write with the same intentions?
As a writer you have a map. It is your private quest. It is your soul’s freedom. Navigate the waters of your future carefully, wasting not money, nor time, for there are many sea-monsters who would finish your journey. Your ship may have to charge through emotional king waves; lands uncharted; ferocious critics; mysterious forces of the earth. Strong nets, the fingers of greed, trap the nave writer who sails for fast fame and unearned riches. Stay true to the map and you will pass by those who wrote themselves into history. They will wave to you from the coast, urging you not to hesitate. Let them be your Masters, because they are not after your money, but your soul’s destiny. Invite them to be part of your intimate Master Alliance Circle. Ponder infinity with Emily Bronte; study street-poverty with Charles Dickens; pace the floor with Poe; love the wild boy in all of us with Mark Twain; drift away into possibilities with “Madam Bovary” and find power in “Moll Flanders.” Like Captain Ahab, you must forever pursue Moby Dick with a fervor not found in anything but your Higher Self.
Be brazen. Are you going to benefit from this course?
Esmerelda Jones… writer of desires
Victoriana, Victorian Swoon & Erotica, The Wisdom & Romance of Ancient Greece, Crystal Ball Clairvoyant.
