Thinking of all the college students who are home from their fall semester, catching up on their sleep and relishing the end of final exams and term papers. Congratulations to all – and to all their parents – enjoy their time home!

I am relishing the end of my fall semester with the news this week of passing my fall semester on-line course, Creative Writing, through Wesleyan University’s affiliation with Coursera.com. I recommend Coursera to anyone looking for an easy way to dive into a personal enrichment course of study. From the arts and humanities, to computer science to languages, their catalog is deep. And, their pricing is reasonable, only $49 a month.  Each module was led by a different Wesleyan professor with short videos. For the writing course, they included visiting writers for discussion. I’ve added many more titles to my “TO READ” list for 2018 after hearing from these professional writers. Perhaps taking a course will end up on your 2018 New Year’s resolution list. In my opinion, it’s easier than a new diet!

So, what’s next in my writing journey now that I have some basics under my belt? The winter semester starts next week with a Capstone project. For seven weeks, I will be working on a single essay, the beginning, middle and end of a narrative. I have decided to expand upon one of my assignments from the “Characters” module, First Class.  In that assignment I developed an introductory scene of my novel and introduced my protagonist as she begins medical college in the 1890s. The assignment required writing a single scene from two points of view: first person and third person omniscient.  It was interesting that in my course peer review feedback, I received conflicting preferences on which version was stronger.

FEEDBACK PROMPT: Which version of the scene resonated more with you? Why?

The first-person one. It’s more consistent, and frankly more human. I can see the girl and her chaotic thoughts. Especially I like the micro-panic attack at the end.

The second version. I felt the second version gave me greater sense of other characters (Marissa), not just Liz.

As I expect my novel will be written in the third person omniscient, the challenge will be to meld the two points of view to create a compelling story that is more human, not just for my protagonist, but for all the characters. As I begin this next stage, I would welcome more feedback on “First Class” – blog post of November 12th. And, each week I hope to share the early drafts of this essay for continued feedback.

Merriest of Christmas Wishes – – Happy Holidays – – Cheers to a Happy, Healthy 2018