Writers write.
A Proposal for a New Course
A friend asked me if we had any plans to do an English or Writing course in the not-too-distant future. This is something I had been considering seriously, but was not sure when to press ‘Go’. In general, at the Saxifrage School, it has been difficult to know when we ought to launch a humanities course. It seems easier to “sell” people on the immediate value of our technical courses. We have wondered if adult learners (our current prevalent audience) would see the value of good writing and of good inquiry. It is time to find out.
I studied English in college which meant I was, essentially, part of a book club/writing club for four years. This experience taught me, more than anything, that good writing comes—as with any mastery—after a lot of practice and a lot of dialogue with a community of other writers. I do not profess to be a good writer, I know that I am far too quick and far too lazy for that. Good writers are patient. I do believe, however, that I am a good reader and am able to identify what makes writing good.
In forming this first writing course of the Saxifrage School, I envision a small group of writers (of all skill levels) writing together trying to write well and write things that matter. We will meet once-a-week for twelve weeks.
The problem with the economics of writing workshops is that, for an instructor, closely reading other people’s writing and giving them meaningful feedback takes a long time. Good comments and constructive conversation are something that cannot be automated. Arguably, a writing teacher doing their job well is working harder than most any other teacher. Because of this, it is incredibly important for the quality of the course that it stays small. By small, I mean 8 students maximum. If it is to stay small, that means each student has to pay a bit more.
We will pay $575 each (less than the $2000+/course at Pitt) so that a great writer can afford to spend the time facilitating our meetings and challenge us to improve. We could begin in either January or March.
Here are the four things we will do together:
I. Write.
Collaborate on a thematic mixed-media journal each month: three months of writing a piece per week on three different themes. We will publish our work as a collection on Medium.com (this very website). Having somewhere to share our writing will keep us motivated and ensure we try to write something that matters. Our themes will try to address important needs or topics relevant to our place, time, and community here in Pittsburgh.
II. Read.
Read great writing by great writers and read each other’s writing. Reflect and critique both of these as a group. We will enjoy a mix of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and screenplays.
III. Get Technical and Concise.
Each week we will address common errors and work toward excellence one imperfect sentence at a time. Our practice will prioritize writing that is concise as much as it is correct.We will work on the proper use of semi-colons, narrative voice, affect vs. effect, and the difference between em dashes, en dashes, and plain old dashes.
IV. Draft, Edit, Draft, Edit, Draft, Edit.
We will help each other ruthlessly pursue excellence through patience and process. The group will critique your work and you will draft pieces multiple times. Even the best writers always have rough drafts, but they get less rough each time when we work intentionally to identify bad habits and common mistakes.
