Mystified by Master Class
I’m a bit puzzled here.
According to the Facebook targeted ads, the following writers have something to teach me about writing:
- Judy Blume
- Dan Browne
- Billy Collins (former U.S. Poet Laureate)
- David Mamet (second place: steak knives, third place: you’re fired)
- Joyce Carol Oates
- Aaron Sorkin (inventor of the walk-and-talk, and Josiah Bartlett)
Well, I never should have checked on that Master Class Neil Gaiman Facebook ad!
Now I’m being pursued by the Hounds of Hell, aka “Master Class” video ads, a minor sinkhole of an ad spend for them, ads which are completely ignorant of my MFA in Creative Writing, four full decades of salt mine-craft (Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink times sixteen), numerous books of poetry and fiction and essay on Amazon, and occasional writing prizes.
Has anyone actually paid for these Master classes?
I’d love to hear your story. I’d love to hear how it works, and if you got your money’s worth.
Writing, for lack of a better word, can be directed, not necessarily taught.
I’m a big fan of writing workshops and courses, and writer retreats, but I don’t see how this Master Class concept really works.
They seem to be 5–10 minute long videos, featuring generic “tips,” with zero hands-on teaching. It’s not a classroom; it’s a quickie.
No, thanks, I’d rather just sit down and write. Or, better yet, I’d rather read the output of Judy Blume or David Mamet, and learn from their finished work.
This essay originally appeared in my second collection of essays, Laying Low (2021).
