So I decided to step outside my little bubble and take a writing class this year. I took one a while ago, and I felt like it would be fun, something different. It’s a basic class in writing sketch comedy.
If you’ve looked at my books, or even read my books, you may have noticed I have a tendency toward the funnier side of life. And here I am in this big city, I figured I may as well take advantage of what it has to offer.
Darning of me, no? Look out 2015!
What I think will prove the most beneficial for me is that it is focused on writing as a cooperative activity. That’s not something I commonly do, though I have done it, if you caught the 12 Days of Christmas spoof SloopJonB1960 and I did.
But we tend to guard our ideas, keep them close, keep our work, as it progresses, largely to ourselves. Or, at least I do. I see writers out there who are much more willing to open their works-in-progress to the world. For me, if I haven’t edited it 7 times, you aren’t seeing it.
So I’m hoping this class breaks me out of that need for perfection and, to be frank, ownership. The things you create with others are very different than what you can create on your own, which, incidentally, was one of the points of the first class.
We’ll see how it goes. I had to brave some icky winter conditions to get there, and it turns out I’m glad I did.
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A Bit to Read 
I really like titles, and the “Look at me!I’m So Pretty.” very clever and funny.
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Aw, thanks! 🙂 As you can probably tell, I’m also a fan, the stranger the better.
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“Writing as a cooperative activity” sounds to me as if it means something different from wanting to edit your work before the world sees it, and something different from workshopping. I’ll be interested to hear more.
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You are totally right! It’s sketch writing, and that’s often done by more than one person. I’m used to writing on my own, making all the choices. It’s a completely different experience. There’s group ownership.
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Sounds like the way we write as Gert. Take it in turns, freefall, no advance planning, no editing till the first draft is finished. It’s amazing what comes out!
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Exactly! It’s not really something I’ve done much of, but so far it’s been fun.
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