Write Your Novel in 16 Weeks!

Maybe you’ve heard the saying that the only thing a first draft has to be is finished. But that’s easier said than done. How do you go from writing a beginning to writing “The End?”

In this course, we’ll support each other in taking our novels from premises to hundreds of pages. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing suspense, horror, fantasy, or some other genre; with a weekly 5,000-word writing goal, you’ll be able to complete a first draft of an 80,000-word novel.

And, while you’re writing, I’ll give you readings from craft books like Save the Cat Writes a Novel! and The Breakout Novelist, as well as encouraging written lectures, to help separate the goals of drafting from the goals of revision, while still working on craft skills.

Together, we’ll read and critique one another’s work. You’ll receive feedback from me and be paired with one other student from class for encouraging peer critiques. Come start a novel that you want to finish!

Learning Goals

By the end of the 16th week, you will:

• determine what your first draft focus should be, as opposed to your revision concerns
• understand “show vs. tell,” and its purpose in courting the reader
• develop pacing, thinking critically about the purpose of backstory and exposition
• reflect upon your reasons for writing your story, and how to keep those reasons in sight
• learn strategies for building a writing practice, and exercises for future revision

Writing Goals

By the end of the 16th week, you will:

• build a premise for your novel, as well as opening and final images, as a working, loose outline for your drafting work
• complete a short first draft of your novel (about 80,000 words)
• write through plot problems on the fly
• offer and receive thoughtful reflection upon yours and others’ writing

Zoom Schedule

Each Wednesday I will provide a written lecture to get you thinking, and a plotting or writing assignment so you can apply the lecture to your craft. Plus, I’ll hold an open office hour on Zoom once a week (3pm EST, every Friday), for anyone who wants to drop in to ask questions or chat about the weekly lecture, the assignment, or the direction of their writing.

Please note: this class will not meet during the weeks of December 25^th OR the week of Thanksgiving, so the course is 16 lectures/office hours spread out over 18 weeks.

Course Syllabus

Week One:

First, we’ll focus on premises—and what separates a good one from a great one. We’ll share our premises with one another, so we have a sense of the stories we’ll be reading

Assignment: 5,000 words

Week Two: 

Using the barest bones of the Save the Cat beat sheet, we’ll begin to think about the prospective beginnings and endings of our novels, and what they have to do with one another. We’ll also consider what twists and turns are possible between those two points.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Three:

With a vision for where our stories might begin and end, and also having taken some time to dream about middles, we can set up “tent-poles” for our plot. This will serve to give malleable structures to our stories, without entrapping them entirely in an outline.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Four:

As an author, you make promises to your reader. This week is all about the secret to keeping those promises—performing that magic that makes a story satisfying.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Five:

By now, we’ll have had the urge to go back and fix something at least once. This week, we’ll look at the difference between drafting and revision, so that we don’t get overwhelmed trying to do both.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Six:

By now, our energy might be flagging as we move away from our draft beginnings. This week we’ll explore some strategies for building a regular writing practice, and see if any of them help you.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Seven:

This week we’ll focus on getting the reader to buy into our stories—and what “show, don’t tell” has to do with that.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Eight:

In this lesson on writing dialogue well, we’ll talk a little grammar, but mostly this is an extension of our discussion on showing and telling in narrative. This week will help you make mindful, effective choices about how you present speech in your story.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Nine:

It’s been a while, so this will be a good time to revisit the idea of story structure. We’ll take another look at beat sheets, but also talk about the value in bending or stretching structure to suit the story we’re telling.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Ten:

This week, we’ll check in with ourselves about the reasons we are telling our stories—and make sure that our insecurities are not shifting our focuses in a negative way.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Eleven:

This week will be all about backstory—its many uses, and the dreaded “infodump.”

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Twelve:

How do we deal with the “saggy middle” of a novel? That’s the focus of this week.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Thirteen:

This week will be about pacing. How to slow a story down, and how to speed it up. With the end of your story in sight, it will be worth looking over your shoulder to assess changes you might make in revision to affect pace.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Fourteen:

By now, you will have a sense of what plot points are working and which ones need some work. This week, we’ll talk about problem-solving for plot issues.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Fifteen:

If you are struggling to tell a story, there’s no better way to grow than to allow yourself to be told a story. This week I’m going to give you strategies for solving your own story struggles through studying what you read or watch.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

Week Sixteen:

You will either have completed a full draft of your novel, or else come very close. This week we’ll focus on the future—and your plans for revision.

Assignment: Write 5,000 words

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