life in lockdown 8 - life lessons

 Are we still in lockdown? I know that people in some parts of the country are back in lockdown, but here in the south, where I live, we aren't (technically) though many of our freedoms are still curtailed, or re-curtailed (if that's even a word), so it certainly feels as though I'm still living in the shadow of it. Maybe I'll have to find a new word to use in my headings that better sums the up the new reality of where we are.

Anyway, the thrust of this post is intended to be about the learning that I've done over the past few months as a way of reminding myself that I haven't just been resting on my laurels, or wallowing in self pity on a full-time basis. I've not been standing still, there has been forward motion, albeit at a stately pace.

I've completed two on-line writing courses over the summer. The first was about memoir writing, and I did it through the DailyOm website. I have no intention of writing my memoirs, but it looked like a really interesting and challenging course that would encourage me to look at aspects of my past life that I needed to address, and recurring issues that I could deal with differently next time I rub up against them. It was hard work sometimes, revisiting times in my life that I'd rather not revisit, and addressing problems I'd rather not face, but it did add a whole new dimension to my writing. It was non-fiction for starters, and I had to think very differently about my writing, as well as being brutally honest, and non-fictitious, about my main character i.e. myself. This course proved to be really useful in many ways, and I think it will continue to be going forward.

The second course was called Writing Without Fear and I signed up for this course through Writers' HQ. I've done a couple of their courses before, and will be doing another one shortly, but more about that in a moment. I really like their approach to coaching; they are very realistic about the trials and tribulations of writing, trying to write, and are very encouraging, and very sweary. This course was really worthwhile, and helped me to identify some of the blocks I've put in place that stop me from writing as much, and as often, as I'd like. I'd really recommend WHQ, their site has a ton of free courses to try, and free resources for writers to use.

As alluded to above, I start another course with WHQ next month. This one is called Short Fiction Mini Masterclass. It's a five day course, so not too intrusive, not too much of a commitment. And writing short fiction is something that I'd really like to focus on at this time, as I don't seem to have the stamina, or concentration, to work on long form fiction at the moment. I'm looking forward to starting this course a week today.

I sometimes worry that I might turn into that person who spends all their time doing courses in writing rather than spending my time doing any actual writing, so I'll have to keep a check on that and make sure I find the right balance. Having said that, I am pleased that with all else that's been going on in the world, I have been able to knuckle down and push myself to learn some new things that will hopefully improve my mind and my writing.