Bufty said:
In my humble opinion anyone who genuinely wishes to write a novel should put pen to paper as a first step. Chances are they'll already be an avid reader and have a decent grasp of grammar. They'll soon find out if they have either anything to say or the tenacity and perseverance that warrants further guidance.
I don't disagree with that, Bufty: certainly anyone who wants to write a novel should start writing and make sure they're committed to the craft before shelling out the cash for such a course. I had already started my novel when I signed up for the class, and I had already decided that I had the tenacity and perseverance that warranted further guidance.
The problem I found, however, was that I didn't get the level of guidance the school's literature suggested I should have expected. Since I was already writing professionally for my "real job," (although the kind of writing was different) I wasn't prone to lots of grammatical and spelling errors. My submissions were returned with occasional circles around things like
"do not" and
"did not" because the instructor felt I should
always use
don't and
didn't, no matter what. I got generic comments like
"very good" without lots of details about
why he felt a passage was "very good," which doesn't do much good. That's why I say I was disappointed with the school.
The novel ended up going through major changes after the school, not because of suggestions the "expert,"
published instructor gave me, but rather because of more detailed suggestions from two fellow writers. At least a few of the changes I made
should have been obvious changes for the instructor as well.
I think these online courses could be a good thing, but anyone who decides to take one should watch very carefully the kind of feedback they get from the very first lesson: if you're not happy, don't wait because you think it will get better later...it's unlikely the situation will improve.