After numerous talks, workshops, readings and walking tours, the Dublin Book Festival finally comes to a close this Sunday. For those of you whose creative sparks may have been set ablaze by proceedings, fear not – perhaps it is just the beginning. Creative writing classes can help you to develop and structure your ideas through offering insightful commentary and encouragement.
These are both well-known virtues of course. A less well-advocated benefit is accountability – simply being asked to produce a piece of writing for the next class will have the effect of actually ensuring that you do so (hopefully this is on account of the sense of obligation rather than because of some kind of supernatural act of possession). And once you get writing at all, you never know what might come of it.
Maybe you won’t get offered a contract worth millions, but there are other ways and means. Self-publishing, for instance, is one course of action to consider but whatever your options, don’t for a second think that you aren’t worthy of having your work read by others. For encouragement, next time you’re in a book shop just look at that poor display table creaking (or should that be groaning/moaning ) under the stacks of copies of Fifty Shades of Grey. See Just about anyone can make it.
*Though you probably weren’t wondering, the double meaning in the article title was in fact intentional!
