Michelle Conaway

 

Well, I finally did it.  I have been taking a writing course through the LongRidge Writers Group called Breaking Into Print.  I started in late 2010 and just finished – BUT I did finish and I am thrilled.

The course is a self-paced writing course to prepare you for submitting articles and short stories to magazines and online publications. I have always loved writing but I learned so much about query letters, submitting various manuscripts to magazine markets and more.

Plus, I honed in on some writing techniques that have become great tools in keeping my writing tight and to the point. (As I sometimes have had trouble with).

You can receive college credit through this course, however I didn’t need the credit so I did it for my own enjoyment and learning.

In my busy life, finishing this course was quiet a challenge. All you writers out there know that in order to write and write well a time must be set aside every day for writing. I struggled tremendously with this and thought about quitting the course countless times. Between spending time following the boys and Jessica’s passions, building an enourmous  garden in my backyard, attending Master Gardening requirements, taking care of my step father and cooking, cleaning and general mom duties, finishing this course at times felt like and impossible goal.

Thanks to the very relaxed due dates, I persevered and finally finished last month.

For anyone wanting to hone their writing skills and learn more about the business of writing, I highly recommend this course.

Here are a few facts about LongRidge Writers Group – Breaking Into Print

• You must first submit a writing test provided by the company.  Based on your sample writings they will make a decision on whether you are ready for the course or not.  You must be approved by submitting writing samples and answering some of their writing prompts.
• If accepted, you will be assigned to your own published author, who will be your mentor/instructor through the duration of your course.  I’ve read that if you don’t click with your instructor, you can request a new one.  My instructor was WONDERFUL so this wasn’t a problem for me.
•  You can receive 7 hours of college credit by completing the course. There is no time limit to finishing.  This was such a PLUS for me.  If I was going to be late on an assignment, I simply emailed my instructor through the website and was granted more time.
•   You have online support after you are accepted.  There is an “extra help” section for each assignment that you can access 24/7.This helps you navigate and trouble shoot when you have questions about an assignment.  There is an online writers support group as well.
•  While you DO learn a lot about grammar and punctuation, the focus is on WRITING!  Getting ideas down into a clear, easy to read, organized format.
• You can choose to write short stories or articles or switch back and forth between the two.
• There is a monthly payment option – which I took advantage of – or you can pay the full fee up front.  I got mine paid off well before I finished the course and that was no problem.  I had all the support I needed to the finish!
•  Once you are finished with the course you continue to have full access to the website tools for LIFE.  Yes, if I’m having trouble with any aspect of writing, I can still utilize the website and support groups.

For anyone looking to gain confidence in their writing skills, this is such a TERRIFIC option.  It helped me build confidence in my writing, assisted me in learning more about editing my own manuscripts, got me thinking about submitting my work for publication and gave me loads of experience in writing query letters, introduction letters and bios.

 

 

 

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