Time moves fast these days and nothing is as fast as April this year. Six months ago Steve and I looked at our projections for the upcoming year. He tapped one slender finger on April and he said, “Can you really do everything you have set up in April?”

He was right to bring it up. So many of our scheduled projects and activities would come to a head in April. We could see it gathering like clouds on the horizon. The pandemic made some of this slightly easier since our planned travel was cancelled. But daily life just takes longer these days.

We’ll get through it.

Since I wrote to my friend about how I choose courses, I figured I’d write about my own learning plans for the remainder of this year and a bit into 2021.

This month is Kris Rusch’s Short Story Intensive. After that I intend to dig into more of Dean Wesley Smith’s online workshops and Mike Dawson’s Self-Publishing 101 course.  I’ll continue to participate in Mary Robinette Kowal’s monthly classes for patrons. Plus the MasterClass offerings. That’s more than enough for this year.

Because Steve is particularly vulnerable to Covid19, we won’t be travelling for the remainder of the year. So all learning will be online until next February when I plan to go to Superstars Writing Seminars again. We’ve cancelled our plans to go to Origins and everything else.

For anyone interested, Dean is running a special on all their online workshops until Friday at 5pm (so tomorrow at 5pm West Coast time). Everything is half off, including their lifetime subscriptions. Last year I purchased a lifetime subscription to their online workshops. It was expensive and I worried that I’d made a terrible mistake. But it was the best thing I could have done. He has a workshop for nearly all of my craft problems and quite a bit on the business of writing as well. I’ve used it to figure out how to do things I was stuck on. I recommend it, especially at half off.

It looks like I’ll need to set up my own novel-writing curriculum this year, piecing together Dean’s workshops, books, and questions to Mary Robinette. It will at least provide me with enough to get started so that I will have a better idea of what I need in the future.

For 2021 I’m considering Dave Farland’s Apex program. We’ll see. I have a few months to make plans for 2021. I believe in continuous learning, so I’m always on the lookout for a good course or book on writing or publishing. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Hope you are also learning and progressing in your own art. Be well, friends! And stay well.