Writing courses and workshops: General or genre/style/subject (etc) specific?

Lashul · Feb 5, 2017

So far, I've been on three general writing courses, one of which was online. While somewhat helpful, one of them was a bit too intense (8 hours in a row once a month) and there were some people who made me feel somewhat uncomfortable with their criticism. I felt they were sometimes too focused on the subjects of my writings, when I asked for feedback on the language and structure. The other two have been fun, but they have not helped me that much, most likely because I've been too depressed to commit to them.

Right now, I feel like I could actually pick up the habit of daily writing. Already three days in a row! My question is, would you recommend a course with a focus (for example: fantasy, science fiction, children's fiction, crime fiction...) or a general one? I'm quite keen on fantasy and soft sci-fi, so I'm leaning towards the former. Also, it so far seems to me that partakers in general courses are often inexperienced with genre fiction and with literature itself (no offence intended) and I'd like to see if that's also true for specific courses.

Maryn · Feb 5, 2017

The kind of course I'd recommend you take depends on your skill level. If critics--mean or nice, either way--are catching mistakes in writing mechanics, punctuation, usage, plausibility, construction, pacing, research, all the sorts of things that are basic to all types of writing, then a general course well-matched to your knowledge base would serve you well. Research it first if you can. (More than once I've signed up for and taken a class where I knew more than the instructor. Sigh...)

But if you can already write pretty well, with few mistakes, then a genre course might serve you better. You're likely to find people whose basic skills are as solid as your own, who are well-read in the genre, and who can help you write better both overall and in that genre.

I'm a long-time participant in a genre-specific group which meets face to face.

SinisterMime · Feb 5, 2017

I've found that who's in the group matters a whole lot more than a restriction to or from genre. Plenty of those who write YA, for instance, will rag on dystopian novels or the originality of further takes on Battle Royale. And there are plenty of science fiction writers who will tear apart space opera for poor science. The real trick is to attend, get to know who you'll be writing with, and whether or not the crowd is right for you. In my experience, sticking with homogeneous categories of groups closes off a lot of valuable critique and method from writers outside of your genre; and can be a bit stunting, when members of the group get to repeating one another or simply back-patting.

Maryn · Feb 5, 2017

That's absolutely true, a homogeneous group being a disadvantage. My group is small these days and we're more alike than we prefer for writing purposes. We keep trolling for PoC, young people, dudes, etc. but with little luck so far. I think part of that is we're able to demand a certain level of competence with written English and we ask for the first two double-spaced pages of something they've written. Anything. That's a stopping point for many.

Maryn, so demanding

Writing courses and workshops: General or genre/style/subject (etc) specific?

Lashul

Maryn

At Sea

SinisterMime

Maryn

At Sea