An Awesome Testimonial

Thanks so much to Joanne Ross for her comments concerning "The Reel Deal: Writing about Movies,” my online course for the LSS School of Writing. Below are excerpts from her feedback e-mails.

Betty Jo, thank you for a wonderful experience.

I love the topics and the progression, the way one lesson builds on the other. For such a brief course, you manage to cover a lot of ground and in a way that makes perfect sense. I especially love starting out with first lesson on developing a reviewing philosophy… I'll only add a request that you don't ever change this lesson -- it is the perfect starting place and chance for each student to take his or her "reviewing pulse" at the outset.

The content is rich, yet delivered concisely. You somehow managed to impart a lot of information in each lesson in a clear, succinct, and enjoyable way, while keeping the lesson brief and manageable. That is a special talent. You have a humorous, engaging touch to your writing that is very appealing and made me feel that I could learn to write reviews. Your inclusion of links, recommended reading, and references to other critics was very helpful by way of illustrating the points you were making--not to mention just furthering our movie review education.

I’ve always wanted to write film reviews, and what I learned in this course has helped me make it a reality. I know I have a big learning curve in front of me, but I feel better prepared to meet the challenge.

To sum it all up: studying with you has been a real pleasure and a fruitful experience as well—I learned a great deal. Even more, it is a start for something new for me, so I can add “life changing” as well.

Joanne Ross, San Francisco
January, 2008