What you'll learn in this course
Class begins on June 1st and will last roughly three months.
Each week there will be a new video module and challenge, where we'll walk you through step-by-step how to outline, draft, write and edit your very own novel. We'll focus mainly on YA fantasy and scifi, but you're free to develop ANY story idea using our plotting resources.
You'll learn:
- How to write compelling fiction readers love
- How to outline a book and hit the right turning points
- How to increase stakes, drama and conflict
- How to design characters readers can't help but love
- How to keep the pacing tight so readers are glued to every page
- How to revise and edit your manuscript to make it perfect
- How to breathe life into your writing
Schedule & Curriculum
You'll be expected to keep up with the video assignments, and invest an hour or two a day working on your project. Our schedule will roughly follow a "plot, write, edit" format. During July, you'll be expected to write about 10,000 words a week, BUT if you want to go through the June resources quickly, you can start writing earlier.
June: Plot
Week 1: Fiction basics
Week 2: Your hero's journey
Week 3: Plotting your book
Week 4: Raising the stakes
July: Write
Week 5: Point of no return (10K)
Week 6: Midpoint (20K)
Week 7: Dark night of the soul (30K)
Week 8: Epic conclusion (40K)
August: Edit
Week 9: Describing Scenes (5K)
Week 10: Conflict & Suspense (5K)
Week 11: Repetition & Redundancy (5k)
Week 12: The final polish (trimming the fat).
Your goal will be a clean manuscript of roughly 50,000 words.