A Masterclass in Avoidance

February 24th, 2019Posted by Nancy

To clarify, the avoidance is all on my side.  The teachers on the Masterclass site are doing their jobs. 

My husband decided to sign up for a year’s access to the online learning site, Masterclass, which features lectures from such luminaries as Ron Howard, Steve Martin, and Annie Leibowitz.  It’s not cheap but we figured between the two of us we could watch enough to get our money’s worth out of it. 

He watched the courses by Hans Zimmer, Deadmaus, and Armin Van Buren and, as a result, has rescored a scene from 2001 (just to try it) and is busy composing an electronic dance piece that features Darth Vader on vocals. 

I watched the talks by Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman, dutifully taking notes, reading the workbook, and trying some of the exercises.  I admit that I preferred Mr. Gaiman’s soulful approach to Ms. Atwood’s more acerbic style.  Most of the information wasn’t new to me but it did provide a framework for thinking about some challenges on the novel.

And, of course, those challenges are why I’m watching lectures and doing exercises instead of just WRITING THE NOVEL. It allows me to avoid the hard work and yet tell myself that I’m being, some fashion, productive. 

I’m not sure that I really AM being productive, but hey, I never met an avoidance technique I didn’t like. 

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