Lessons
Class Introduction
01:13 2Reading, Listening and Participating
09:29 3Community Keeps You Writing
02:55 4Don't be Vague and Avoid Cliche
03:56 5Using Your Five Senses to Build a World
03:20 6Pacing: Write Slow, Write Strong
09:45 7Place is a Character
03:34 8Shame Will Shut You Down
07:12Lesson Info
Your Work is None of Your Business
This is what I do. You work is actually none of your business. This might sound really counterintuitive. It's like well of course my work is my business. It's my, I have to write the best book ever so that everyone will love it, and I can live and finally have the life that I want. It's like you have your writing voice. You have the stories that are going to come naturally to you. And you're gonna write those stories, and you're gonna have high points and low points. And then you're gonna send your work out into the world. And then there's nothing you can do about it. So I really think that it's so great to just have this practice of like your work is none of ... Is it good? Does it suck? It's none of your business. Who knows? You can be just like I don't know. I don't know if my work is any good or not and try to find some sort of peace with that. And that's hard 'cause, you know, when you do feel like something's really good, you want to be just like I'm awesome. I just wrote somethi...
ng good. But then the flip side of that is just like I'm such a bad writer. I just wrote the worst piece of crap. And it's like, this little, you know, roller coaster that you can get on when there's an alternative idea which is that your just a channel for whatever story is yours to channel, you know? And you do your best, and you get it out there, and then you move on to the next thing. I find this really freeing because then I get to move on to the next thing which is great. You know, people have different opinions about how much a book should be edited, you know? And I probably fall on one extreme where I don't do a ton of editing, and I know I have another writer friend who has edited his book 11 times. Like has it gotten any better after the third edit? I don't know you know. It's kind of like really expensive jeans. You're like after a certain price point, like it's just a jean, you know? It's like it's not better because it's $400. It's just like the same as the $100 jean, you know? So is, you know, how much better is a book, you know, after the 11th edit? At what point do you know to let go of your work? I should feel like three edits, and then I bring in outside eyes. I do believe that you could edit your book, one book, for the rest of your life, you know? I look at my book Valencia which I wrote when I was like 23 years old, 25 years old, and people like it. And I'm grateful for that. And I look at it now, and I'm like (gags) oh my God. Like whoa, who needed an editor really badly, you know? But the thing is that, you know, it is the book it is because I didn't edit it 11 times. And if I did, it would be a really different book. Better or worse, who knows? We don't know, but at some point, you have to just let your book be the book that it's going to be. Put it out into the world. Wish it well. It's like a little child. You don't have control over it. You don't know where it's gonna go. My book Valencia ended up in Iceland. Somebody read it, and now I'm here teaching this workshop because there's just these little spirits that you created that go out into the world so. Yeah. It's none of your business. Just keep your nose to the ground and do your next book.
Class Materials
Free Bonus Material
Ratings and Reviews
Bev
This was an inexpensive course that in my opinion offered great value. Michelle touched on a lot (operative word touched) of information that is informative and validating especially for those of us who are newbies in the world of writers. This is not a course of delving deep into specifics. For me this was a delightful afternoon spent with a writer who shared information and insights from her personal experience. I have some great notes from this course which I can actually apply. Thank You Michelle.
Tara
So i'm kind of in this place right now in my writing where I'm having a hard time moving forward and doing the work to finish. Listening to Michelle has helped me get more comfortable with realizing that if I ever want to get anything done I need to do that work. She left me feeling more amped up to continue my work. This is the kind of class that might help you come to the realization of what you need to do to finish your work or it might give you a different view of what you might need to do. I consider myself a novice writer so I think this course is definitely good for people who are starting there writing journey.