Researching Lately: Writing Classes for 2022
/2022 will be the year of writing.
I’m never sure if anyone knows I’m a writer (not just on this blog but in fiction, script, editorial, etc) and up until recently, I wasn’t too sure either. It’s writing that continues to take up most of my waking life without ever feeling like I’ve had enough. And frankly, I’d rather have a fun life where I do what I love the majority of the time than to fall into the “satisfied but unfulfilled” category.
I’m about halfway through my vision casting process. SMARTER goals stumped me and I stopped to write myself this note before shelving the project for a few days —
so, in summary, the same things I keep saying to myself:
take a writing class.
maintain a writing practice.
grow my community.
get published in print.
Simple as that.
What follows below is the culmination of my research in pursuit of writing classes / organizations to watch in future. There got to be so many links that I concluded someone else might find this information useful.
Upcoming writing classes & educational organizations
Catapult — writing classes by writers, all classes of interest sold out
The Writers Studio — nothing resonating
Writers.com — Writing for Children: Write a Picture Book — starts Dec 29 [tomorrow], $330
Lit Agent & Author: The Essence of Successful Publishing — Jan 23, $249
Introduction to Personal Essay — Starts Jan 17, $495
Gotham Writers — $25 reg + $419
Essay & Opinion Writing Level 1 — starts Jan 11
Children’s Book Writing — starts Jan 19
Character Intensive — Jan 22 & 23, $165
Screenwriting — [no instructors of interest yet]
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing — [no dates of interest yet]
Travel Writing — [online only at this time]
TV Writing — Starts Jan 12
Writing Scripts 101 — [no dates of interest yet]
The Writing Salon — Scholarship program
Script Writing from the Inside Out — starts Jan 9, $310
Free January Meetup — Saturday, Jan 8 @ 2 pm
Writing Gym — Saturday, Jan 20 @ 2 pm [1 hr], $25
The Transformative Trip: Travel Memoir Writing — starts Feb 12, $195
Build Your Narrative Engine: the First Ten Pages— Saturday, Jan 8, $112.50
Worlds & World Building — Saturday, Jan 22, $90
Rising Tides: Studio Sessions — starts Jan 25, $675
SCBWI Mentorship Program — due Jan 14, $15 + $325 [if chosen]
Helpful writing submission tracking and sourcing tools
Submittable — submission tracker
Duotrope — submission tracker (no manual entry) also a search engine, $5 / month or $50 per year
How to Use Duotrope to Advance Your Writing Career
I chose the Feb 15 cohort of Margaret Meacham’s Children’s Book Writing ten-week online course.
Researching writing teachers helped me refine my parameters for what I hoped for in a class. Margaret Meacham’s published works and bylines fall into categories I’d like to explore; her experiences are in areas I find genuinely interesting and her experience in the subject she’s teaching boasts a lot of proof (publishing).
Gotham Writers was by far the best catalogue I encountered in all my research. Most of these classes are well outside my personal budget. Because I’m still in school (and supplementing my financial ecosystem with student loans) I try to allocate at least some of those educational funds to self-development outside the the academic sphere.
Do you have any writing programs you recommend? Is there a program you wish you could find? Let me know in the comments below. I have a 2022 writing group event percolating and your input will be especially helpful.
