6-Week Course to a 3 Month Novel

Frustration makes me feel so many different emotions that I think I have something in common with my HP PC – I freeze a bit too often. I can’t figure out where to start my thriller: 3000 years ago or start in the hero’s contemporary world and do a flash back or dream sequence – both poo-pooed by successful authors. I’m sad because it slows my creative juices, mad because I should already know from all the classes I’ve taken and confused at how a badly written book can see their day in print. I suspect there’s a dose of envy in there, too… somewhere.

So I go online in hopes of goosing the web spirits to send me a sign.

Ah, here’s a guy that has made his bloody mark; Gar Anthony Haywood's, a crime writer ( member of mediabistro.com Courses and Seminars ), promises to teach students how to write a novel in 3 months that gets the attention of any agent, editor, publisher or reader. That’s quite a claim! The few catches (you knew there would be, huh?) are that you must submit: a letter of interest, a brief work history, previous coursework list, a writing sample of 15 pages (max) and $425.00 - oh yeah, and don’t forget the 6 weeks. Sounds serious, intriguing and out of my reach. Unemployed at the moment, that kind of money keeps writer’s like me at the end of the line.

My interest in such a course (if it’s not already obvious) is to find out if I have what it takes; if I still can not get it all straight after a class like this, then I should stop chewing on my pencil and go find a job at the zoo. I found the magic elixir but I can’t get the bottle open.

What to do now? I could waste more time on the internet looking for another class of this sort (not writing) or read some books on the subject that I checked out from the library (again not writing). Maybe if I do the laundry I’ll get an ah-ha; go eat something? I’m not hungry and am trying to loose the weight. I’m also trying to loose wait :) This indecisive stuff may be the smoke screen for a writer’s block. Uh oh; that’s bad. Send out an APB!

Luckily, when things get this bleak a little voice I keep forgetting I have about says: Never give up: never surrender! Okay, okay, okay. There has GOT to be something on the WWW to guide me. Millions upon millions of writers are posting stuff this very moment, just for me. That’s it – positive attitude. Baby steps.

Come on, frustration; let’s go back to the wishing well.