A Lesson Learned

Tom Dylan


Notice of absence from Tom Dylan
Sorry if there is a delay in responses. Sometimes life gets in the way. As John Lennon said, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

I signed up for an online writing course

forking out a fair amount of money.

On the morning it was due to start,

I clicked on the link, excited,

feeling like a kid on the first day of term.

 

I joined the video chat,

with the tutor taking the course.

I was raring to go, eager to get started,

to learn, to write, to develop,

to hone the craft of writing.

 

We were told to spend an hour 

writing in our notepads.

After that came a twenty minute break

before another hour of writing on our own,

and finally ending with ten minutes

meditating, collecting our thoughts.

 

The only thought I was left with

was how the course was 

a complete waste of money.

  • Author: Tom Dylan (Offline Offline)
  • Published: January 30th, 2024 07:11
  • Category: Unclassified
  • Views: 15
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Comments +

Comments8

  • 2781


    You don't need them.

    • Tom Dylan

      Completely agree. 🙂

    • orchidee

      Oh no! A one-off session?
      Similar to Proof-reading courses maybe - which are very expensive.
      I agree - you don't need them. Keep using that quill, as AP says!

      • Tom Dylan

        Yeah, there are all these courses and seminars that promise so much, and you have to pay so much. And I recently did an online poetry writing session, you pay for it, but they just kinda say, write on your own.. erm, yeah, I could do that for free! 🙂 Thanks as always for the comments. Cheers, Tom. 🙂

      • Teddy.15

        LOL robbed on live video cam oh dear Tom, I would be so disappointed but you may have given thousands of readers a plan to make easy money. LoL 🤣 you are a hoot!

        • Tom Dylan

          Bless ya, Teddy. I was inspired to write this by a couple of things. I'm always seeing adverts for books and courses promising to teach you how to write a best-selling novel etc, and also, I did pay for an online poetry session thing recently, and the thing was full of breaks and now write on your own, go and get a cup of tea etc.. I can do that all on my own without paying for the privilege! So, I thought I'd get my own back and write about it. Thanks for your comments. 🙂

          • Teddy.15

            In the UK there are lots of places you can go to do a really good course in person. I suspect it would be amazing. 🤗

            • Tom Dylan

              Yeah I might check that out, cheers Teddy. Will have a look in the spring when it's a bit warmer out there. 🙂

            • orchidee

              OpenLearn from The Open University (O.U.) has lots of free courses. Don't know if any on actual poetry-writing - but you probably don't need a course on that!

              • Tom Dylan

                Thanks for the tip off, will check it out. Definitely won't be forking out for anymore online courses and sessions. 🙂

                • orchidee

                  Some of the OU courses are a bit high-brow, even some of the Introductory Level ones. But they're very thorough, and you can get 'badges' on some courses - ooh! Erm, that'll be a bit of paper with a picture looking like a badge, not a real sew-on badge!

                  • Tom Dylan

                    Thanks for that, Orchi. Will definitely look into that.
                    So no badges like we used to get in the cub scouts? Was thinking of getting a poetry badge sewn on my sleeve. 🙂

                    • orchidee

                      Ooohh, they can't afford the material to give everyone a proper badge! heehee. I expect that's why it's a paper badge. Yes, look out, in case some courses seem a bit high-brow, whether we've been to Uni or not.

                    • Bella Shepard

                      What a rip off! Sometimes I think you are your own best teacher. Reading your work, I think that you are.

                      • Tom Dylan

                        Thanks Bella. And to be honest, posting my work and reading everyone else's on here is doing me so much good too. 🙂

                      • Thomas W Case

                        You are doing fine without them. Good write.

                        • Tom Dylan

                          Thanks a lot, Thomas. That means a lot.

                        • Doggerel Dave

                          They've told you the truth above, but with you I always feel that you have a wee bit of tongue in cheek when you tickle them keyboards for MPS, Tom!

                          • Tom Dylan

                            Yeah, definitely a humour and sarcasm running through my writing, Dave. I can't help it. 🙂 I did pay recently for a poetry session on Zoom and was miffed when they said write on your own, and now we'll take a break, and then go and get a cup of tea.. I thought I'd get my own back and write about it.. Cheers, Tom.

                          • Goldfinch60

                            We can all get conned in our lives Tom but this will add to your life's experience and it won't happen again.
                            As I say, you cannot teach experience.

                            Andy

                            • Tom Dylan

                              Yes, I'll definitely be avoiding the online things that they ask money for. I decided to get my own back by writing about it. My wife always says, you should never annoy a writer, they'll kill you off in a story. 🙂 Cheers, Tom.



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