The Classes:
Are the classes taught online? How does this work?
The school is (obviously) online. In general, teachers provide weekly lessons for you to read, followed by a weekly homework assignment. If you complete all your homework assignments on schedule, we send you a Certificate of Completion.
What time are the classes?
What time did you turn on your computer? Seriously, there IS NO SET TIME to attend class. We have students and teachers around the world, so expecting them to meet in one common chat session would be silly. Class material comes to you by e-mail and you handle that when your schedule permits and at your convenience. But within our course deadline. See the next question.)
Why do you have time limits? Why not have "self-study" at our own speed?
We may some day have such courses. But self-study too often means no-study. The student pays for a course, completes the first lesson or two, then life intervenes and the course is forgotten. That's a waste of money for the student, who also does not gain the knowledge he or she wanted. It's also not very good training for any kind of writing where the writer needs to work to a deadline - and most writing comes with deadlines, either self-imposed or editor-imposed. Our courses are relatively short. We try to have weekly deadlines so you don't fall too far behind at any time. The teachers will work with you to a limited degree if you have scheduling problems. Most courses offer an "extended" option which simply means you have two weeks to do each week's lesson.
Can I get college credit? A degree? A CEU?
WritersCollege.com offers correspondence writing courses intended for professional development or personal growth. We are affiliated with no degree-granting institution or program and offer neither a degree nor credit that can be transferred to a degree-seeking program. Likewise, we are not formally registered as a CEU (Continuing Education Unit) granting authority.
We do like to think that the knowledge you gain here will be of immediate use in earning you more money or in satisfying your inner need to write, or both. And we do send Certificates of Completion to students who complete all their work in their courses.
|
Payments, Credit Cards, Refunds, etc.:
How do I pay? How reliable is WritersCollege.com?
We take credit cards, debit cards, checks, money orders, first-born children. Oops, maybe not the latter. We would probably take cash if anyone ever sent any. Credit/debit cards are simplest for most people and save the bother of locating an envelope and stamp. Checks and money orders are fine, but need to arrive in our office before the start date of the course.
BUT: We take checks or money orders only if issued from U.S. based banks or institutions. Our profit margin is too low to permit us to pay currency conversion fees. If you are outside the U.S. and have no U.S. bank account, we suggest you use the PayPal method of paying.
We use PayPal for credit/debit cards and we never see your card number. PayPal now takes cards and cash from many nationalities and performs the conversions for you, passing your payment on to us in U.S. dollars.
How do I pay by check or money order?
Fill in and then print out the check-payment form found at the registration area for the course you wish to take. Mail those to the address listed on the form. We take checks and money orders ONLY from US banks/institutions. If you are resident in another country, please use the PayPal system and a credit or debit card. If your check bounces, we'll discuss that with you too. We will expect you to reimburse us for the bank charge.
How do I get a refund?
Ask. E-mail us at Director@WritersCollege.com
We have a ten-day, no-questions-asked drop period during which you may try the course and, if you don't like what you see, request a refund. We know of no other school that offers such a policy. After the ten days elapse, we refund course fees if we are unable to continue the course or for similar problems not the student's fault. To be blunt, we can afford such generosity because students rarely drop.
Note that we do NOT regard the students' personal problems or scheduling problems as a reason for a refund once the drop period expires.
|
General Information:
Who ARE those guys? More about WritersCollege.com than you needed to know.
What is now WritersCollege.com started in 1992 when Steve Morrill, who was then teaching seminars in nonfiction writing, became the nonfiction writing teacher for America Online's "Online Campus" The Online Campus grew from two writing teachers (fiction and nonfiction) to include as many as several dozen writing teachers. But it was never solely devoted to writing and Steve always chaffed at the restrictions and what he felt was poor management. At one point Steve applied for the job as manager of the Online Campus but was rejected. He swore to someday do things his own way.
In late 1997, Writer's Club, a private company that was licensed to operate on AOL's site, decided to start a web-based venture. This would remain affiliated with the AOL Writer's Club, but would be available to the entire world. Steve talked the owners of Writer's Club into offering a writing school as part of the new web site. Writers Club University started classes in March, 1998. It soon grew to include almost 30 teachers and 60 courses, making it the largest online correspondence school devoted to writing.
In August, 1999, the Writer's Club company became part of the publishing company iUniverse.com. That meant the school was absorbed into a much larger site operated by iUniverse.com. We changed the school's name to Writers University and went on. But iUniverse.com was very large, and they required that the school use programming designed for entirely different functions. That did not work very well but we all lived with it. Again, Steve swore to someday do things his own way.
He got his chance when, In October, 2000, iUniverse.com rid itself of all of its non-publishing ventures, including the school. By now Steve had learned enough about how to run a school, and had the resources to run his own. WritersCollege.com sprang into being, starting its first classes at the WritersCollege.com site and name in January, 2001. The new site has the teachers and management from the older efforts, but has the greatly simplified programming and access that Steve saw was needed.
So, from 1998 to now, from Writers Club University to WritersCollege.com, it's been the same school, same teachers, same "dean" and, we're proud to say, many of the same students have stuck with us throughout.
Where is your headquarters? Where is the school?
In your computer, in a way. Our office is in Tampa, Florida, USA. But we have no brick-and-mortar classroom and our teachers and students are scattered around the world. We provide the classes by email. You provide the classroom.
Where do your students come from?
Students have come to us from almost every country in the world. Most are from English-speaking countries, and we do require students to be able to read and write in English.
Should I even take a course? What part do courses play in the process of learning to write?
Strangely, while we are in the business of teaching classes, We do not think that all writers or would-be writers should take classes. Here is some very general advice on where to learn writing:
- Go to the public library and read all the free books there.
- Once you have done this, then you can buy books to fill in any gaps. We recommend the Writer's Digest Book Club and your nearest large bookstore.
- At this point, and especially if you have done some writing, we recommend that you at least try one or two weekend conferences. These cost more but are very stimulating. Some people love them, some people think they are a waste of time. Try at least two different ones and decide for yourself.
- Along the way, join your local writing club. Your public library usually knows where they meet. If there is no local writing club, start one. Writing is a lonely endeavor and non-writers have no clue what you are going through. Create a regular group that can share experience and support.
- Along the way, consider writing classes. There are local classes you attend in person, correspondence courses you take by postal-mail, and online classes you take by computer. Some people find classes, like conferences, educational and stimulating, others find them unnecessary. It's a personal decision.
My friends say that writing can't be taught. You either have it or you do not.
Your friends are probably repeating something someone told them and, in the process, belittling you and your aspirations. Writing is a set of skills that interact with your physical and mental abilities, with your life experiences, with your imagination, and with your other education. The skills and rules required vary with the many forms writing may take. You can learn a set of skills and rules for, say, magazine article writing or for poetry, two very different forms. Whether you, personally, have what it takes to use those skills, and whether you wish to follow the rules or not, are individual factors and decisions.
As with any learning, using your new skills soon and often is important too. Only with long and hard work do new skills become automatic and fully integrated into your writing. Writing can be taught, but the skills can also be quickly forgotten if not used and used extensively.
Finally, anyone who says writing cannot be taught is ignorant of history, education and, presumably, still draws pictures of mastodons on cave walls. Sorry, didn't mean to get so carried away.
I'm not yet 18 years old. Can I take a course?
Many young people have more than enough education and intelligence to enable them to participate in WritersCollege.com classes. There remains the issue of the legal age. Only a person of legal age (usually 18 in most countries) can enter into a contract. And buying a course from us is an implied contract. So what to do?
What we do is let the young student take the course. But we need parental permission. You can take our courses IF we receive an e-mail from a parent or legal guardian saying that he or she has looked over the school and the course and that you have permission. The parent or guardian should sign the note (spell out his or her name, please) and we'll keep that on file. All our web pages have our contact e-mail in the upper left corner.
|
