For those like me - I am talking about writers who have never done the theory of creative writing - a course like the Random House Struik Course run by the online training firm, Getsmarter, in which Ron Irwin, creative writing lecturer, agent and editor, former student of Prof. JM Coetzee delivers the lecturers, comes up with assignments and reviews them with keen interest - is a big eye-opener.
My stories had been successful up to this point, winning a competition here, getting published in an anthology there, - one of which is in an anthology for Kenyan Secondary Schools' English curriculum - and even being shortlisted for the Caine Prize, I realised upon embarking on the course of 10 modules that mere instinct carried me through. Nobody had hitherto told me about basic things like Point of View, Dialogue, characterisation and conflict - among others. It helps to know these, as I have just found out. There are some tricky moments when, for instance, POV might have shifted without the author realising it, thereby confusing the eventual reader.
Keep up the good work Ron and Getsmarter!
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