Why do I feel like I was conned signing up for this writing course?

I was advised to strengthen my storytelling voice for my memoir. My developmental editor said I needed a more robust narrative voice to carry the story. However, as I started writing my second draft, I needed more help. I bought a book that promised to help me uncover my writing voice, but this also didn’t seem like the answer. Then I saw a course advertised as an ‘increasingly popular course, Finding Your Voice’. I signed up and paid, worried that it might get filled. However, as with many marketing strategies, the sense of urgency was fabricated.

Five days prior, I received the syllabus for the course. Six one-hour sessions mainly focussed on the class giving feedback to each other. Also, because of a doctor’s appointment, the teacher let us know that not only did she have to shorten the very first class, but the first class’s focus was on administrative issues. Using one of the six classes mainly focussed on administration issues, I was very turned off.

Nope, not for me. I will not waste my precious dollars on that. Besides, I’m already investing in other writing courses to complete this book in a year. I don’t know what I was thinking.

So, I tried to cancel by feigning a change in my schedule. I requested a complete refund and was ready to pay an administration fee of $25 or…