diff --git a/neurodiffeq/callbacks.py b/neurodiffeq/callbacks.py
index 8361721..f5985fa 100644
--- a/neurodiffeq/callbacks.py
+++ b/neurodiffeq/callbacks.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import dill
 from datetime import datetime
 import logging
+from .utils import safe_mkdir as _safe_mkdir
 
 
 class MonitorCallback:
@@ -20,6 +21,8 @@ class MonitorCallback:
     def __init__(self, monitor, fig_dir=None, check_against='local', repaint_last=True):
         self.monitor = monitor
         self.fig_dir = fig_dir
+        if fig_dir:
+            _safe_mkdir(fig_dir)
         self.repaint_last = repaint_last
         if check_against not in ['local', 'global']:
             raise ValueError(f'unknown check_against type = {check_against}')
diff --git a/neurodiffeq/monitors.py b/neurodiffeq/monitors.py
index 515d7ad..a1cb4f0 100644
--- a/neurodiffeq/monitors.py
+++ b/neurodiffeq/monitors.py
@@ -28,12 +28,16 @@ class BaseMonitor(ABC):
         It blocks the training / validation process, so don't call the ``check()`` method too often.
     """
 
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.check_every = ...
+
     @abstractmethod
     def check(self, nets, conditions, history):
         pass
 
 
-class MonitorSpherical:
+# noinspection PyMissingConstructor
+class MonitorSpherical(BaseMonitor):
     r"""A monitor for checking the status of the neural network during training.
 
     :param r_min:
@@ -470,6 +474,7 @@ def max_degree(self):
         return ret
 
 
+# noinspection PyMissingConstructor
 class Monitor1D(BaseMonitor):
     """A monitor for checking the status of the neural network during training.
 
@@ -555,6 +560,7 @@ def check(self, nets, conditions, history):
             plt.pause(0.05)
 
 
+# noinspection PyMissingConstructor
 class Monitor2D(BaseMonitor):
     r"""A monitor for checking the status of the neural network during training.
 
diff --git a/neurodiffeq/utils.py b/neurodiffeq/utils.py
index 91b55e7..2ca3dc0 100644
--- a/neurodiffeq/utils.py
+++ b/neurodiffeq/utils.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from pathlib import Path
 import torch
 
 
@@ -32,3 +33,7 @@ def set_tensor_type(device=None, float_bits=32):
         raise ValueError(f"Unknown device '{device}'; device must be either 'cuda' or 'cpu'")
 
     torch.set_default_tensor_type(type_string)
+
+
+def safe_mkdir(path):
+    Path(path).mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)