Nichola Meyer has been the principal of The Writers College (SA Writers College, NZ Writers College and UK Writers College) for the past thirteen years. With a background in lecturing at secondary and tertiary institutions, she’s also a journalist specialising in parenting and women’s issues for several magazines, including O, The Oprah Magazine, Femina and Baby & Me.
Nichola is interviewed here by writer, TRISH NICHOLSON.
Trish: Hi, Nichola. I’d like to jump straight in with the obvious question. Can writing really be taught? As someone who has set up a successful online writing college, what are your thoughts on this?
Nichola: That’s an interesting question, and there are a few sides to the answer.
Trish: Hi, Nichola. I’d like to jump straight in with the obvious question. Can writing really be taught? As someone who has set up a successful online writing college, what are your thoughts on this?T: I think many writers would agree with what you say, and the point made by Robert McKee in his classic on writing, ‘Story: yes, you can write a story without going into the theory – even a good one – but to write consistently good stories you have to learn the craft’. Which leads me to the next question. The Writers College has students from different countries. Does this pose additional problems for teaching?T: Interesting that you mention the internet as changing the writing scene; right now it’s exposing the publishing industry to rapid change. Every week, new writers are by-passing traditional gateways to publish themselves online. A few are remarkably successful. Others clearly are not ready for that tough world. What advice would you give to emerging writers to prepare themselves for this volatile environment?T: That sounds like excellent advice. And on the subject of change and its attendant risks, I’m intrigued to know why, as a successful journalist with teaching posts in top colleges, you took the courageous step of starting your own writing college?T: I imagine that many of your students have full-time jobs or are caring for children at home, sometimes both, so how do you do it – balance all those different demands on your attention?T: Want to share those interests with us?About the Author
Great painters apprentice under a master; musicians study their instrument for years before they stand on a stage; most well known novelists have studied writing. I believe every art form can be taught. Writing is no exception.
There are, of course, issues around how writing can be taught. Most would agree that sitting in a class absorbing hours of theory is not going to give you the results you want. You have to practise your craft, over and over. You need someone focusing intently on specific writing skills: your sentence lengths, your style, structure, content, and the logic in your writing. Your teacher needs to point out things to you like, ‘Here you have used dangling participles four times in one paragraph. Get rid of them. You’re using passive voice. Shift to active voice. Here are five clichés.’
Finding your voice as a writer is a different matter – usually a personal journey accompanied by not just a little pain and frustration.
Finally, there’s the question of ‘Can writing be taught to anyone’? And here the answer would be, almost anyone. Writing is a craft with a specific skill set that can be studied. So it really depends on how far the writer is willing to go with the training.
T: I think many writers would agree with what you say, and the point made by Robert McKee in his classic on writing, ‘Story: yes, you can write a story without going into the theory – even a good one – but to write consistently good stories you have to learn the craft’. Which leads me to the next question. The Writers College has students from different countries. Does this pose additional problems for teaching?
N: Good writing skills are universal, so for the bulk of our courses, it’s not problematic. Where a match between article and target publication is vital, we use online research to check format, tone and style of writing for a particular publication. Thanks to the internet, this is now easily done.
T: Interesting that you mention the internet as changing the writing scene; right now it’s exposing the publishing industry to rapid change. Every week, new writers are by-passing traditional gateways to publish themselves online. A few are remarkably successful. Others clearly are not ready for that tough world. What advice would you give to emerging writers to prepare themselves for this volatile environment?
N: Well, firstly, I am inspired by the changes. It is probably the most exciting time to be alive for a would-be novelist, poet, blogger, journalist, or any writer. The entire industry is in flux. Even copywriting is in transition as old forms of advertising are less effective with an info-weary public.
Blogs have encouraged more people to write, thanks to the ease of hosting sites like WordPress and Blogger, but the sheer volume of online content means it’s harder than ever to make your writing stand out. The demand for excellence and originality is huge. Quality is essential – if you choose to publish your work online, even on a blog, your writing has to be word-perfect.
For writers who are serious about developing their talent, online writing communities and publications offer access to critiques and a supportive audience.
For commercial publishing, if you are not following the traditional route of using a professional publisher (who oversees editing, proof-reading, design, page-setting, marketing and distribution of your work), then you have to assume all of those roles yourself. Hard work is an understatement! To be successful, you must become a business: marketing and selling your wares online in a global market. With this amount of exposure, your online reputation as a writer has to be impeccable.
If you want to self-publish in print or online using a self-publishing company, researching the field before making your choice is critical. Get recommendations from other authors. Do a thorough Google background check to determine the reputation of the company. Shop around. Find guidelines on the going rates, and if it feels like you’re being ripped off, do more research before you sign any contract.
T: That sounds like excellent advice. And on the subject of change and its attendant risks, I’m intrigued to know why, as a successful journalist with teaching posts in top colleges, you took the courageous step of starting your own writing college?
N: Actually, the word I would use is perseverance, rather than courage. I started with one course – magazine journalism. I didn’t anticipate adding over 30 more courses; it just happened. Back then I hadn’t heard of Google ads and there was zero budget for marketing. I relied on student feedback, and somehow the word just spread.
I think the writing college took off because the timing was perfect. There was a gap in the market in 2004. To become a journalist involved four years of study at university, and many of the university students signing up on our course said that their formal education wasn’t equipping them to write articles and break into the writing industry. They wanted practical training in a real-life scenario. So really, we designed the course to answer all the questions we had when we began as writers.
What excited me when we launched in 2005 was the thought of reaching people living in small towns and deep in the rural areas, people who might dream of selling an article or story to a magazine, but who couldn’t get to a university to study. We have students living in remote areas with sometimes not the most reliable internet, but they manage to complete their courses!
T: I imagine that many of your students have full-time jobs or are caring for children at home, sometimes both, so how do you do it – balance all those different demands on your attention?
N: It’s a tricky one. Working in different time zones means I often work long hours. I have two children, and being present and enjoying them is a big priority in my life. I often have to re-focus and ask myself: did I talk work at the breakfast table? Or did I spend time enjoying them?
I currently oversee the content development for all our courses – something I enjoy doing. I’d love to be writing more, but it’s an ongoing and demanding job that leaves little time to pursue my personal interests.
T: Want to share those interests with us?
N: Given the chance, I’d be writing about psychology, youth well-being and environmental sustainability. Australian scientist, Clive Hamilton’s Requiem for a Species is the book that I didn’t get to write yet!
As for fiction, I did sign up for our Write a Novel course. I am currently a third of the way through the course, have already applied for an extension, and find myself deleting more sentences than I’m writing. For all those students who fly through this course, kudos to you. I am so impressed by the dedication and slog it takes to get to 60 000 or 70 000 words.
T: That’s some challenge. I wish you success with it.
About the Author
Trish Nicholson began writing 30 years ago as a columnist and feature writer. More recently, she has authored travelogues on the Philippines and Bhutan, and the cautionary tale: From Apes to Apps: How Humans Evolved as Storytellers and Why it Matters.
She is the author of several non-fiction books, including Writing Your Nonfiction Book, and a travel memoir of Papua New Guinea. See her other books on Amazon here.
Trish is passionate about writing short stories, some of which have won international competitions and been published in anthologies. Trish lives in the ‘winterless’ far north of New Zealand and has a tree house in her garden.
Read her blog: www.trishnicholsonswordsinthetreehouse.com
