Military Class in November

[Linda Adams]

I’m going to be teaching a Back to School Class for Busy Writers starting November 5. If you’ve ever wanted to use a military character or a veteran and have gotten lost trying to figure out the culture, it’ll be your opportunity to ask questions. Here’s the upcoming agenda:

• Lesson 1: Overview of the Military. This topic will include research tips and common myths about military. We’ll also be digging into rank! I promise not to get too jargony. Much.
• Lesson 2: The Civilian Enlists. To help you understand the culture, we’ll start with what a potential recruit sees.
• Lesson 3: Basic Training. Going through Basic Training is the ultimate immersion into military culture, since the drills sergeants have to take teenagers and adults and teach them the discipline of how to be a soldier.
• Lesson 4: Soldier Life. The most common image of a soldier is from Basic Training, and the day to day life of one is a much different experience. We’ll also drop in on the very different experience of war.

[Wandering Author]

Will those of us on the East Coast be allowed to jump in late, once we return to the modern age?

By the way, Linda, I’m pretty sure I saw a comment of yours on one of the Gawker sites this morning. One of the better ones, I might add.

[Linda Adams]

Wandering Author wrote:

Will those of us on the East Coast be allowed to jump in late, once we return to the modern age?

I’m in the Metro Washington area, so I’m hoping I won’t have problems with the power either! Of course you can never tell with DC. But yes, I’m flexible.

Quote:

By the way, Linda, I’m pretty sure I saw a comment of yours on one of the Gawker sites this morning. One of the better ones, I might add.

Thank you!

[ConnieCockrell]

Is this going to be posted in the Classes section? Do we need to subscribe?

[Linda Adams]

It is going to be posted in the Back to School classes section. The subscription part is more of a personal preference.

[T.Trian]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I’m new here and didn’t find an answer to my questions from the BtS section: how could I subscribe to the class? How does participation work, i.e. will it be a series of posts in a topic posted on BtS or will it be a “real time” class held in a chat room?

Also, me and K.Trian have an almost ready story about a civilian enlisting and joining a military force (granted, in a sci-fi-esque setting) so all of the stuff has already been written. Can we adapt the existing writing to the given assignments or do we need to improv something totally new? We do have a lot of questions though since neither of us has been in the military and while we’ve talked to a few professional soldiers about the things we’ve written into our story, new perspectives are always more than welcome and we’d really like to participate in this class as the subject matter interests us a great deal and would undoubtedly help our story.

[K. Trian]

I too would be interested in participating in this class though I’m around as confused about how this works as T.Trian above

[Ashe Elton Parker]

There’s information on how BtS classes are run under the Back To School for Busy Writers header under Workshops and Classes on the index page. Look there to find out how to participate.

Ashe Elton Parker
"Just love me, fear me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." ~ David Bowie as Jareth in Labyrinth
~*~
Member since 1998.
~*~

[T.Trian]

Thanks for the tip though I already read through all topics there. I’m sorry, I may be a little dense or alternatively it may be a language barrier thing as English is my second language but even a second read through the threads in the BtS room didn’t reveal to me how to subscribe to a class. Or is it nothing more official than posting here that, yes, I would like to participate? Sorry for the hassle

[Linda Adams]

You’ll find the link when it’s posted by clicking the Recent Topics tabs. You’ll want to subscribe to the Intro post because everything will be posted in a thread under that. Just open the intro post, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. Look on the left for the Reply Topic button. Next to it is the Subscribe button. Click that, and you’ll be subscribed to the topic.

[T.Trian]

Ah, right, that I know how to do. Thanks for explaining it though I’m looking forward to the class.

[ConnieCockrell]

Is there a start time established? I saw November 5th but if it was there, I totally missed it. Sorry if I zoned it. I’d love to join in.

[Linda Adams]

Chaos is going to post the intro — not sure when that will be done. Figure on after 5 pm ET for the first lesson, and after that 6 am ET for the remaining ones. But no rush on it either — the class will be available for questions all month.

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