MasterClass lockdown series: Learning to become a stronger writer with Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell’s MasterClass is valuable for writers or writers to be. Photo by MasterClass I wanted a MasterClass subscription to learn how to make sourdough from word-class bread maker Apollonia Poilâne . MasterClass is an online platform that offers classes in cooking, painting, singing, writing, science and tech, home and garden, and other teachable areas. The instructors are the best in the world in their field, like these familiar faces: Instructors who teach on MasterClass Photo by MasterClass Last time — my first time — I logged onto MasterClass to take Poilâne’s course and was immediately derailed and ended up binging David Sedaris’ series ( MasterClass lockdown series: Learning how to write better ). Sedaris is one of my favourite writers, so there was no way I could enjoy bread with his series remaining unwatched.
So, I returned to MasterClass and beelined for bread. I watched the series and am writing this over a perfectly baked sourdough. All lies. Poilâne is a third-generation Parisian breadmaker. I thought after watching the video and taking a quick trip to the grocery store, I’d be signing the rent agreement to open a bakery.
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Sourdough starter takes five days to make. I had just enough energy to buy the ingredients.
About Malcolm Gladwell.
Gladwell is an English-born Jamaican-Canadian best-selling author who lives in the States. He’s been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996 and has five books that have been on The New York Times Best Seller list including, The Tipping Point , Blink and Outliers .
Gladwell covers a lot in his series. If you want to become a stronger writer, you will find value in his classes. If you want to become a stronger non-fiction writer, you should watch his classes. If you want to become a stronger analogous writer, drop what you’re doing and watch his series immediately. Malcolm Gladwell teaches writing Photo by MasterClass There are so many things that I’m currently doing, even in this sentence, that Gladwell cautions against. Of course, we’re all going to take different ideas away from his series. I’m going to focus on three ideas that will impact my writing. These are just my takeaways. Writing is like a puzzle, kind of
Do you know when you’re doing a jigsaw puzzle and you try to convince yourself a piece fits when it clearly doesn’t? Everything is misaligned, but still you self-congratulate. Writing allows you to make that piece fit. So does a hammer.
When you’re constructing a narrative, everything doesn’t have to fit perfectly. If you want to talk about dogs and then (*looks around the room to find a random object…) a carnivorous plant, they may not be a perfect narrative “fit,” but you can write everything into place.
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