Is James Patterson's Master Class Worth the Price of Admission?
In my early twenties, I purchased a course in writing from the "Famous Writers School". I could ill afford it at the time, but my wife supported my decision and we paid the money and I received the materials.
I did pretty good in the beginning, I received positive feedback and useful critics. Unfortunately, there was an assignment I just couldn't get my head wrapped around and I stalled. I did finish that assignment, but I never finished the course.
I took classes in writing from the local community college and I did well academically. How good I was as an author besides classmates saying "That's great" and the teacher providing me with some amount of praise, was an unknown.
I should note that my wife was positively supportive, but when something didn't work for her in my writing, she was honest and that helped me reevaluate what I was writing.
Life got in the way, and I had a career as a programmer analyst which paid substantially enough that I needed to focus on it. Writing became assignments to write documentation, white papers, an occasional newsletter and training materials. Not a lot of room for a whimsical imagination.
A couple of years ago I went into semi-retirement and with my wife's support I returned to my first love, lying...writing fiction. I have self-published two books and I am official releasing the second book, "Jonas Watcher: The Case of the Bourbon Street Hustler", this June 20th at a "Meet the Authors Fair" at the Castro Valley Library. I am working on the third book, working title "Jonas Watcher: The Case of the Jade Dragon".
While trying to increase my exposure on the internet and in the real world I came across this ad for James Patterson Master Class. While it has shades of the Famous Writers school, I suspect that James Patterson has a little more credibility, and the class is $90.
There are 22 lessons totaling about 3 hours of video. Is James Patterson worth $30 and hour plus the other items listed in the class? At this point, I can't say, but since I am hoping to improve my skills as a novelist, and hoping to discover a way to better market myself, I can think of worse ways to spend $90. I am on Social Security, so I have to budget for the class. Watch this space, and I will provide a critique for the course.
After a bit of a discussion with my wife, I decided to purchase the James Patterson Teaches Writing class. I watched the introduction and the second lesson, and I am encouraged by what I have seen. There is a workbook, and, of course, a presence on facebook. I haven't quite worked around the whole join and be counted on Facebook, but I have set up an avatar, commented in the introduction, and I am working through the workbook. I am excited to hear what James Paterson has to say. When starting any new adventure one starts out with a euphoria, and I hope to maintain it throughout the course.
Gene Poschman
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| Famous Writers? |
I did pretty good in the beginning, I received positive feedback and useful critics. Unfortunately, there was an assignment I just couldn't get my head wrapped around and I stalled. I did finish that assignment, but I never finished the course.
I took classes in writing from the local community college and I did well academically. How good I was as an author besides classmates saying "That's great" and the teacher providing me with some amount of praise, was an unknown.
I should note that my wife was positively supportive, but when something didn't work for her in my writing, she was honest and that helped me reevaluate what I was writing.
Life got in the way, and I had a career as a programmer analyst which paid substantially enough that I needed to focus on it. Writing became assignments to write documentation, white papers, an occasional newsletter and training materials. Not a lot of room for a whimsical imagination.
 |
| Jonas Watcher |
While trying to increase my exposure on the internet and in the real world I came across this ad for James Patterson Master Class. While it has shades of the Famous Writers school, I suspect that James Patterson has a little more credibility, and the class is $90.
 |
| James Patterson |
After a bit of a discussion with my wife, I decided to purchase the James Patterson Teaches Writing class. I watched the introduction and the second lesson, and I am encouraged by what I have seen. There is a workbook, and, of course, a presence on facebook. I haven't quite worked around the whole join and be counted on Facebook, but I have set up an avatar, commented in the introduction, and I am working through the workbook. I am excited to hear what James Paterson has to say. When starting any new adventure one starts out with a euphoria, and I hope to maintain it throughout the course.
Gene Poschman
Thank you, Gene, for posting this Patterson course information. The sign up page has been sitting front and center on my tablet for a week now, waiting for me to shell out the $90. I'm not a published author, but would love to be one. My passion is children's books, and I have taken a course on writing them. Now if I could just stuff my procrastination into a box, I can get started.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome, Suzie, you may want take a look at the class schedule. I have been remiss in adding to this blog, but I have been outlining my next book. If you have a story that is gnawing at you here are a couple of things to do that might help get you started.
ReplyDelete1. Just write a couple of sentences on what the story is about. Do not worry about being clever or style.
2. Write an opening line.
3. write an outline, not what you were taught in school. but simply a chapter list with a couple of sentences about each chapter. You are just telling a story, not writing it yet.
I hope that helps you get started. The world needs good children's books, if there had been something in school other than Dick and Jane, I might have been a better reader earlier in life.
P. S. - look for a local writer's group, a support group is always a good thing.
Gene Poschman
same here. I have written several stories for kids and published few books through amazon, but I considere myself a lazy writer and my marketing skills so poor.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to figure out how to make eBooks visible to people in such a way as the get purchased. The irony is that I have had more success with paperback books because I have gotten myself in front of people and pressed the flesh so to speak.
ReplyDeleteIt takes getting out of your comfort zone, but the couple of times I have done this I have been successful in a modest way. If I find a real workable process for eBooks I will share it, for now, I use social media, Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, Create Space and a number of othe sites, but I have yet to gain a sufficient internet presence.
If you have written Kids books, I suggest contacting schools and libraries and seeing if you can get in front of your audience.
I have a strong interest in the middle east, the cultures there, and its history. While most of my education and literature about the middle east have been through European writers, some of my favorite stories from childhood have come from that region of the world. I hope you are successful as a writer.