Has anyone taken an online writing class of some kind?

[sunandshadow]

What website did you take it through? Was it a free or paid class, and what was the topic? I'm looking for places I could teach. I currently teach free classes on assorted writing and art topics, but I don't like the venue much, there aren't enough people looking to be students (I feel that I'm already donating my effort to teach, recruiting should not also fall to me), and there's no way to work my way up from free classes to paid classes or paid one-on-one help/mentoring/editing/whatever.

 

[JackLuis]

I took a creative writing class on the net from Chico State University about 10 years ago. I suppose they still offer them.

The course used the Cambellian Hero's Myth as the structure of the class. Interesting but not what I needed then.

 

[litfan10]

What website did you take it through? Was it a free or paid class, and what was the topic? I'm looking for places I could teach. I currently teach free classes on assorted writing and art topics, but I don't like the venue much, there aren't enough people looking to be students (I feel that I'm already donating my effort to teach, recruiting should not also fall to me), and there's no way to work my way up from free classes to paid classes or paid one-on-one help/mentoring/editing/whatever.

Have you checked local community colleges? I've been teaching at one for over a decade now, and I've seen a lot of adjuncts pass through the doors.

The market for paid on-line classes is through Writer's Digest, but I have no idea how they hire their staff for the online offerings.

 

[litfan10]

I should mention the biggest need at colleges for adjuncts is basic freshman composition and remedial writing.

 

[sunandshadow]

I should mention the biggest need at colleges for adjuncts is basic freshman composition and remedial writing.

Yeah I'm not interested in that at all, lol. The courses I offer free I at least get to choose topics of interest to me, like how theme should guide plot structure and worldbuilding, intro to structural analysis of fiction, survey of writing theory from Aristotle to the present, how to develop a story idea into a synopsis, etc. Two-thirds of the fun of teaching the course is that I get to write the curriculum and retain copyright of it if I ever want to publish it.

I did apply to the local universities for a TA position to pay part of my tuition toward earning an MA in English or MFA in Creative Writing, but I wasn't offered any jobs of that sort, or for that matter any financial assistance at all, so I had to drop the idea of going to graduate school. I looked into actual professorial positions at the local universities too, and they pretty much all said "If you don't have an MA/MFA or an impressive publishing history don't bother applying, we won't interview you." Its also rather off-putting that all the people I know who work at universities say they are abusive employers where any minor screw-up can get you either fired without warning or labeled "don't promote this person, ever".