The More You Know: Online Classes
Wow! The last few months have been distracting, to say the least. Here’s my better-late-than-never (but still extremely late) post.
We should all strive to learn new things to keep our minds active and generally improve ourselves, but it’s doubly important for writers. If you believe you should write what you know, the more you know, the better.
But even if you don’t, it never hurts to jump-start your brain with new info. Study anything and everything: physics, basket weaving, history, horticulture, you name it. Anything you learn can be worked into a story, or inspire a new one.
One learning resource that provides a lot of bang for your buck is online classes — and many are free! I tend to pick up at least one piece of advice or knowledge that sticks with me from each class, and often have to pause to write down story ideas that spring to mind.
I know ONE doesn’t sound like a lot, but useful knowledge is, well, useful. I watched an online container garden seminar a few months ago, and my one takeaway was to put an upside down bottle full of water in your potted plant so that it’s self watering for a few days. The vincas on my porch have never been happier.
You can find all kinds of classes out there on the interwebs, but to get you started, here are some of the online learning resources I use the most:
Coursera and EdEx
These sites offer classes from colleges and universities, including Stanford and the ivy leagues (and now even some from companies like Google and IBM). Many are free with the option to pay for a certificate. You can find classes on math, science, computing, psychology, language, art — just about anything you can take at a college. They also have personal development classes. Right now I’m signed up for one on nutrition (among others). The one downside for busy people is that they are on a schedule and eventually you can’t access the lessons, but if you fall off halfway through the term, you can usually sign up for the next one and pick up where you left off.
Khan Academy
This one has elementary school to AP and college level tutorials. It started as a math site but has expanded to include lots of areas of study, including science, arts and humanities, and even “life skills.” And it is free (although you can make a donation if you want). I’ve only done math so far, but one day I’ll get to their other fare.
The Great Courses Plus
https://www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/
This one you have to pay for (at present it’s about $20 a month full-price, but I pay $30 quarterly because of a deal that popped up on social media). When I’m researching a book or just want to learn more about a topic, The Great Courses Plus is my go-to site. It features full lecture series (often around 30 or so 30-40 minute videos) by professors on a great many topics: science, math, law, economics, languages, art, music, history, you name it. Right now I’m watching one on mindfulness, both for a project and for self improvement.
MasterClass
This is the most expensive of my subscriptions (either $90 per class or $180 for unlimited classes for a year). They aren’t as in-depth as the Great Courses series (they are often around 20 lectures of 10 or so minutes each with a pdf workbook), but you get a good overview by an expert/practitioner in their field. Classes include Samuel Jackson Teaches Acting, Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking, and Chris Hadfield Teaches Space Exploration. And they have lots of classes by famous writers, and so far all the ones I’ve watched have given tips I started using right away. James Patterson’s outline method of writing a stub for each scene has helped me tremendously. Margaret Atwood’s advice to try changing the POV if you don’t think your story is working got one of my projects out of limbo. Aaron Sorkin mentioned that he retypes the whole thing when he’s doing a script revision, which worked for me on a book that had become a labyrinthine nightmare in editing. If you can afford them, give them a try.
YouTube
For something online class adjacent (although mostly NOT by credentialed professors), you can find all kinds of tutorials on YouTube, from makeup application to cooking to fixing your computer. But I’ve also found some really inspirational series there. My favorite is Every Frame a Painting (https://www.youtube.com/c/everyframeapainting), a series on cinematography. Every one I watch makes me want to write a script, or even go out and shoot a movie. They point out things I never noticed about movies I love. Each is on a different aspect of cinematography, usually focusing on one auteur (like “Edgar Wright - How to Do Visual Comedy” and “Akira Kurosawa - Composing Movement”). Give the channel a watch if you are an aspiring film writer (or just into film). Another great filmmaking channel is Lessons from the Screenplay (https://www.youtube.com/c/LessonsfromtheScreenplay). The “Inglourious Basterds - The Elements of Suspense” episode has stuck with me (and is where I learned about the “bomb under the table” concept).
You can also find a great many educational podcasts and documentaries, and DVD commentaries with all kinds of amazing info. But I’ll save those for other posts.
Happy writing!