Is Masterclass Worth The Money For Writers?

I paid for a year of Masterclass, and this is what I discovered, alongside the fact that their homes are beautiful.

My goal in life is to be a published novelist. It took me years to admit that as I felt embarrassed, not of wanting to be a writer, but of claiming I want to be one and then failing. As if everyone would mock me in a year when my name wasn’t on a hardback or listed in the NYT Bestseller List. But in 2018 I lost someone extremely close to me, and I realised in the way that only people who have lost someone realise; life is so short. Like shorter than you could ever imagine. So why waste time being embarrassed? Why waste time doing anything but writing?

I realised that I had to make this happen, for him, for myself. My focus was to be a writer, and everything I did had to feed that. I worked in content marketing so I could be writing daily and getting paid for it — travel blogs, but words are words! I made a list of all the books I need to read and made it a part of my daily routine. I wrote and wrote and wrote; I’m three manuscripts further now. And I realised I need to learn as well.

I took a Creative Writing course in university and realised how much I have to learn. That’s a daunting thought, but also a necessary one for all writers. I need to improve, and never stop trying to. We have never “learned everything”. I developed more in that 14 week course (1 lecture per week and 1 working group) than I have in my 23 years of writing.

But I needed more. I started looking through possible writing courses, but as you probably know if you’re looking at this article; they are expensive! I’m not diminishing that, I understand time and resources etc. But I did not have that kind of money to dish out. Then I began being targeted for ads about Masterclass, and people would send me the link for it as well.

“Hey, I just saw this, don’t you like writing?”

“You’re always talking about Shonda Rhimes, right?”

Yes, yes, I do. I checked out the website, and noticed right away that it costs €200 for a year all-access or €100 for one class. I was thinking about it for a while, and then I got lucky as they had a sale, offering a year’s access for half the price. So I signed up, paid €100 and decided I needed to make the most of it in that one year. I’m 7 months in, and ready to discuss my experience.

1. Price

So I know my experience is slightly different, as I paid half the price of the usual fee. But I am extremely happy with what I received, and would definitely pay for another year, full price.

You have access to 80+ instructors, in various fields. Even if you just look at writing, which is the most developed topic on Masterclass, you have 12 different instructors at the moment. Each course is 2–5 hours long, and covers a huge range of topics, and not just the craft of writing, but the reality of it. Alongside this, you have a workbook for each lesson, to further guide you and practice with. You also receive access to an entire community of like-minded individuals. I noticed many forums and even groups that meet up to give feedback, practice pitches and more.

Masterclass offers an entire package, and I see it as an investment in my writing. We’re lucky as writers, we don’t have to buy fancy instruments or music software, we don’t need art supplies or cameras, we just need our laptop. So this can be our cost.

However, to purchase only one course costs €100, which I personally wouldn’t be comfortable paying for. I think you’re always better off with a membership so that you can enjoy new instructors that get added on and try different things without committing to only one course. You don’t know which teaching styles you’ll prefer or who could join a month from now.

You can pay monthly or annually. I do appreciate that they warn you before renewing your subscription so that you can cancel in time, as many don’t. They also offer a 30 day trial at the beginning, though I’m not sure exactly how that works.

2. Length

As I mentioned, each course is 2–5 hours long. The writing ones tend to go on the longer side, which is great. This consists of about 22–28 episodes, including an introduction and closing. Each episode is an average of 10 minutes. I found this format really helpful, as it was easy to fit in a lesson whenever my schedule allowed. It wasn’t a hassle, a large time commitment of forty minutes or so. I could sit down with my coffee, do a lesson, and then feel in the right mind space to start writing. Within each lesson, it is further divided by subheadings, which ensures the instructor is focused and never drifts off topic.

3. Accessibility

The issue with regular classes isn’t just the price, but also the commitment required. I’m happy to do the work, but many days I’m at the office till 5.30 pm, and I don’t want to spend my evenings travelling to and from for an hour's class. And many classes are held during work hours, creating even more issues.

I’m a true millennial in that I want to do things in my time. That’s why I love moving into freelance, as I can work my hours when it suits me, and gravitate it around my creative writing. So I love short classes that I can access when I want to. I can pause if I need to, I can rewind if I got distracted or didn’t understand. I can do four classes one day when I feel motivated or need productive procrastination, and then skip it for a week when I’m at a dense part of my novel.

You make it work for you. Whether that’s before or after work, a night owl or a morning person. You can take a week off to go on holiday and not worry about lost tuition fees. You’re in charge of your education.

4. Instructors

It’s comforting to know that the people you’re learning from are truly experts in their field. They’ve been there and they have definitely succeeded. You can trust that their advice works, that they really know what they’re talking about.

Furthermore, they can give you insights that most instructors couldn’t have. They can tell you about the real world of publishing, show running, and more. Shonda Rhimes taught me about the writer’s room, how to get in one and how to stay relevant there. Judy Blume discussed finding an agent, pitching and rejection. They don’t just talk about refining your work, but getting yourself out there, having your work become important.

Here is a list of the current writing instructors on Masterclass:

• Margaret Atwood (Creative Writing)
• R.L. Stine (Writing for Young Audiences)
• Malcolm Gladwell (Writing)
• Judy Blume (Writing)
• David Mamet (Dramatic Writing)
• David Sedaris (Storytelling and Humor)
• Joyce Carol Oates (Art of the Short Story)
• David Baldacci (Mystery and Thriller Writing)
• Billy Collins (Reading and Writing Poetry)
• James Patterson (Writing)
• Shonda Rhimes (Writing for Television)
• Aaron Sorkin (Screenwriting)

5. Breadth

As you can see, there are a lot of writing instructors on Masterclass, this means that you get varied knowledge about several fields of writing. This can be within your own preferred type, such as different novelists, or it can allow you to become more generalised. I am far more focused on novel writing than scriptwriting, but I enjoyed and learned so much from Shonda Rhimes’ class on writing for television. I have incorporated her techniques and lessons regarding character building, plot development and consistency in my creative writing. You never know what will inspire you, what will resonate with you, so you should try a bit of everything. And with Masterclass you can do that. You can try a random episode of a course that speaks to you, without committing to the rest. You can also try non-writing courses, as they have culinary, comedy, dance, photography, leadership, science and more!

However, if you’re focused on a specific field of writing, it is worth checking the offering before you pay. I can imagine that short story writers would be disappointed to only have one dedicated course, similarly with poets. You could pay for just that course then, but you might find the price steep for that. So maybe wait first, and see if more are added. Decide if you’re a generalist or a specialist, and act accordingly.

Is Masterclass worth the money?

That’s really up to you, and what you do with it. You choose what you get out of it, just like with any in-person class that you take. I strive to do one course per month, which I’m not always achieving but having a goal helps. I also write notes throughout the class, to ensure that I stay focused and present. After each class, I read through my notes, highlight or add ideas. I find that it has helped with the curation of ideas, as well as further reading!

Another way that you make it worth the cost is whether you share it. This might be a bit cheeky of me to mention, but I think it’s beneficial for writers to know. So it’s clear that Masterclass borrowed a lot of its design and development from Netflix, so a great way to cut your cost is to share your Masterclass as you would a Netflix account. I do this with a friend, which ensures that I’ll be paying half the subscription next year. You can both follow whichever classes you like, log in to the same account, and it even seems like you can watch at the same time! Not sure if this is exactly permitted, but it does work, and will ensure you both get to enjoy the offering. So if you know anyone interested in music/ writing/ TV or a range of classes, why not share an account to both get what you want from it?

If you can’t afford Masterclass, then you can definitely find other ways to keep learning and growing with your writing. Youtube videos, websites, podcasts, Medium articles and more. As long as you set time aside weekly for self-growth, and realise a writer always has more to learn!

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