Is Masterclass worth it?
Not sponsored, obviously!
Hi friends,
I have Covid this week (boo!) so here’s are some highlights I’ve gleaned from the Masterclass subscription my mom gave me for Christmas (thanks, Mom!).
If you love listening to famous authors over sixty years old talk uninterrupted for four hours, this is the website for you! It’s like youtube meets slow tv. I’m obsessed.
My only complaint is that I wish there were more novelists on the website.
Margaret Atwood:
-Don’t overload the reader with information in the first five pages.
-The beginning of your book usually appears around page thirty of your rough draft.
-Finding the correct structure for your novel takes time. Start with a simple structure.
Salman Rushdie:
-Put a turbo engine in your book. That is the plot.
-Write from a place a of deep feeling (love).
-Write what feels deeply necessary and dangerous
Amy Tan:
-She started writing at age 33
-Each chapter of a novel is a short story
-invent a benevolent ghost who accompanies you, a truth detector
Walter Mosley:
-He started writing when he was 34
-A novel is a living being that you are creating out of your soul
-Plot is the structure of revelation (When do I find out these things?)
Malcolm Gladwell:
-Number your sections and subsections, and take the numbers out at the end
-Withhold the prize until the end to keep readers reading
-Play surprise and suspense games with the reader
James Patterson:
-write every chapter like its the first chapter in the book
-leave out all the parts that readers are going to skim, delete anything that doesn’t propel the story forward
-Write the majority of the book as an outline, then fill in the details later
Dan Brown:
-A thriller needs the three C’s: a Contract between the author and reader, a ticking Clock, and Crucible that the hero can’t run away from.
-Have fun misdirecting your reader
-Hemingway wrote, “True mysticism should not be confused with incompetence in writing.” (Accidentally confusing the reader isn’t the goal.)
Neil Gaiman: (Cancelled. His class was taken down due to ongoing allegations that he is a sex predator)
-All fiction is fantasy
-Fantasy is making a metaphor concrete
-By the time you are done editing, readers will not be able to tell between the pages you wrote on a good day in the flow state and pages you labored over on a bad day. Both will be in your voice.
Things they agree on:
-Read everything out loud
-Use humor
-Your rough draft will be very bad, and that’s normal
-Work backward from your ending
-Condense your plot into the shortest amount of time possible
-You can build little traps for the reader: lead them to expect one thing, then surprise them with something else. Give them something more satisfying than what they were expecting.
-Write seven days a week, early in the morning
-Know what you want the reader to feel, emotionally, in each chapter
-Keep raising the stakes
-Create a world that the reader wants to be in
-You can do first and third person in the same novel
-Everything is driven by characters wanting mutually exclusive things
As Mark Twain said, “The difference between fact and fiction is that fiction makes sense.”
…
Ending with a quote from a statement from the Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) Board President on the recent Mahmoud v. Taylor Decision:
“Writers, publishers, editors, and narrators of LGBTQ+ literature face new barriers to reaching young readers. School-aged readers lose access to stories that reflect diverse identities. Educators and librarians may feel pressured to exclude inclusive books. Removing diverse perspectives from school libraries denies the reality of the diverse world we live in, threatens to further divide us, and legitimizes bias against LGBTQ+ people and families.
What We Can Do:
This ruling makes our work more urgent. Together, we can continue to champion sapphic literature and ensure our stories are seen, heard, and valued.
Support inclusive authors and publishers — Buy their books, review their work, and recommend them to others.
Advocate locally — Attend school board meetings, join or support groups fighting book bans, and speak up for inclusive education.
Stay informed — Follow trusted organizations, track developments on book bans, and use our resources to take action.”