Writing Tip: Take writing classes.

Classes can be taken in person or online. So no excuses–just need to carve out the time.

I’ve learned a ton about writing that charting in a patient’s chart or writing nursing curriculum never taught me. I’ve benefited by having teachers and many peers give me feedback on what works and what doesn’t work in my writing. And I’ve met my local writing partners.

Four of us have met weekly for about ten years. I met two of them in writing classes at Chicago’s Newberry Library and the other one at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. Sitting in class with other writers was a good way to get acquainted and see if we may be compatible for the long term.

Which reminds me, I have an “assignment” to do now for my next meeting. We’re working through Bernays’ and Painter’s What If: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers–for the third time! Now, if I only could remember all that I’ve supposedly learned…

(See an example of an Iowa SWF assignment, Rant, by clicking on  “stories” on the sidebar.)