Commitment and taking classes

One thing about commitment. (Not what you think, or maybe it is.)

My classes that have been free:

#romanceclass - Free, web-based, open to anyone in the world, 6 months long. 101 participants. 16 finishers. (16%)
#buqosteamyreads - Sponsored, web-based + face-to-face, open to 18 and above, 5 weeks long. 63 participants. 16 finishers. (25%)
#flirtsteamyreads Sponsored, web-based, open to 18 and above, 2 months long. 42 participants. 11 finishers. (26%)

Some of you have attended seminars where I've spoken, and spent P500, P1000, or underwent training and paid a little more.

The chances of you "succeeding" (accomplishing what you set out to do be it publishing or finishing a book) go up when you COMMIT.

It's totally up to you what that means to you -- is it committing your money? (I can tell you that EVERY single person who paid for the training is published now. 100%)

Is it time? #buqosteamyreads came with 3 face-to-face classes which I think helped push people to finish. Most of the finishers were also face-to-face class attendees.

Is it reward? #flirtsteamyreads comes with a potentially very lucrative worldwide digital distribution deal, and more than one author shared with me that this was why they were so motivated/compelled to finish a book.

I've stopped the long-running, free #romanceclass because while I learned a LOT, I can't keep putting in that much time only to have 16% of the students accomplish something. But you don't need me for this anyway, if you just want to "see if this is for you" -- I've printed the textbook, and you can message me here if you have any questions. No classes necessary. :) Let's call it fair trade -- if the student can only spare a few minutes a day to do this, then can I also spend the same number of minutes teaching?

In the meantime, let's experiment with the workshop system that demands 3 uninterrupted hours of our time per day, where you feel that you deserve that time because you committed to it. Let's see what the success rate will be for that. :)

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Reflecting on this because I'm teaching romance novella-writing for teens and adults at the Ayala Museum in September. Details here!