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The Business of Writing

All the course pages specific to The Business of Writing are shown below.

Also please review the Contributor Code of Conduct, the Privacy Guidelines, and the other pages in the Basics menu at the top of this page.

The Skills area offers practical tutorials to help you improve your writing. These pages will be particularly useful during the weeks in which you are working on your projects.

If you have questions, or if you need help, please get in touch.

Considerations for the Creative Activities

FInd Your Way by Making a Path

Jan. 5, 2024, 8:13 p.m. • Ross Laird

The business of writing is a tricky subject. It’s all wrapped up with questions about career, income, the future, and other uncertainties. So, as we approach this course...


Welcome

Shaping the Creative Life

Jan. 5, 2024, 8:14 p.m. • Ross Laird

I’d like to start with a short vignette from the world of writing and publishing. In the early 1970s, Robert Pirsig was working as a technical writer (of computer manual...


Reading Project

Choose Your Adventure

Jan. 5, 2024, 8:14 p.m. • Ross Laird

Possible Readings There are a couple of directions you might follow in choosing readings for this class. As I mentioned in the welcome video...


Toward a Career in Arts & Culture

The Meandering Path Forward

Jan. 5, 2024, 8:15 p.m. • Ross Laird

Careers in arts and culture are unpredictable, meandering, filled with synchronicities—and that there are no specific or concrete steps to follow to guarantee success or...


Self-awareness Project

Creativity is a Journey Inward

Jan. 5, 2024, 8:15 p.m. • Ross Laird

The self-awareness project is an opportunity to reflect upon the depth of your experience in the course. How did it go? What happened? What did you notice? What was diff...


Writing Project

Shaping the Future

Jan. 5, 2024, 8:15 p.m. • Ross Laird

You have the freedom to choose the form and structure of your writing project for this class, and here are my suggestions about two different paths you might take: Opti...