Catching Idle Butterflies

Fini!

Last night I sent off my 50th and final lesson to the Apprentice Course I signed up for through the Christian Writer’s Guild. I still have to hear back from my mentor with comments, but I did manage to finish within the 2 years with one week to spare. I guess that alone is something to celebrate. When I spoke to my mentor at the writer’s conference in February, only 20% complete the course, and a small percentage of those finish in time.

Do I feel a sense of accomplishment? Well . . . sure . . . I guess.

This ambivalence comes from my mom and me discussing it the other day.

When I told her I just finished the course, she asked, “And what do you get? A certificate?”

“I think so,” I said. “I may also get an opportunity to continue on with the Journeyman course. I don’t think I want to, though.”

“And what’s the advantage of that?”

“I guess to say I’m a Journeyman with the Christian Writer’s Guild.”

She then went on to say that having a college degree doesn’t necessarily get a person further in life, and there are many successful people who’ve never earned advanced degrees, etc.

I then realized she thought I had taken this course in order to proclaim my schooling, so I can go around to people with certificate in hand and say, “Lookie what I earned! I so smart!”

While that occurred to me, I didn’t specifically sign up so I can hang a piece of paper on my wall.

I signed up right after I completed the first draft of my novel. I looked at the thing and thought, “You know just because I think I’m a good writer, it doesn’t mean I am a good writer.”

I signed up for the Apprentice Course to discover that answer, and perhaps even become a good writer by the time I finished. Plus, they designed the course to expose the student to all forms of writing, from poetry to all forms of magazine articles, nonfiction books and finally novels.

Everyone wants to write a book, it seems, whether it be that best-selling how-to or self-help book, a memoir, or the next “Great American Novel.” I count myself among them.

But is that the direction I should go? Does my writing niche belong elsewhere, such as freelance magazine writing, poetry perhaps? Or could I do more than one?

Taking this course has answered all my questions. Not only am I a better writer, but I now know what I’m good at, what I suck at, even what I despise.

For instance, while some may disagree, I don’t do humor. I can write humorous, but it’s usually by accident. To set out to write funny or come up with funny articles on a weekly or monthly basis, forget it.

I can also write a passable nonfiction article, but again, to do so consistently enough to make money at it won’t happen. I don't have the passion for it.

Fiction, however, not only do I excel at it, I enjoy it above all else. Whether or not I can make money is a question that won’t be answered for a long while. But I’ve learned to be patient.

The greatest lessons I’ve learned is that I can’t be good at everything, and how not to take criticism personally. My mentor many times was tough on me, but I learned more from his criticism than from his praise.

My learning to improve my writing will continue, but at this point, I don’t think I need more schooling in order for that to happen. I have the basics down, so I want to spend more of my time building upon them with the things I want to write, not the things I have to write.

Plus I’ll save $1000.