So, I woke up this morning and my body protested against the idea of leaving the bed today. Several medications (and hours) later, I was heading to my Creative Writing class. I know it’s weird to have written a novel and had it published and THEN decided to learn about creative writing but
a) I’ve never done things the normal way
b) It would be arrogant to think that I couldn’t learn from other people
c) I really don’t know much about writing in the first place
The room was silent (which I hate) – there was no small talk (which was odd), so I was even more nervous. When the course began, there were 7 females and 1 male. The tutor said the dreaded ‘introduce yourselves’ thing and we had to say if we had any prior writing experience. I hadn’t intended to mention my book, but then thought it would look like I was hiding something if I didn’t. There was another novelist there, too, and people that had done commercial writing or attended other creative writing courses.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I’d hoped everyone would chat and bond – how can you share your work with people you don’t trust? I’m not saying the group is untrustworthy, but just that we haven’t had a chance to get to know one another. I’d love to get to know some real people, rather than solely my ‘virtual’ friends online. This was why I opted to do a course in the real world, rather than on the internet.
Some people felt able to share some work they’d prepared. I wouldn’t have wanted to at this stage, nor do I at any other stage, but it’s an obligation. I’m not comfortable reading aloud and I find it tiring. Some people have an aptitude for this: not me!
Today, I learned about Haiku, which I’d never really understood. I have to prepare one for next week. I like learning new things, but worry that this course is going to be challenging in more ways than I’d anticipated… I’m still tense now, almost three hours later!