Writing a Novel

Learn how to Write a Successful Novelist

Some say "everyone has a book inside them". Do you?

This short course will teach you what is involved in writing a novel, from conception to publication and marketing.  Don't waste time pondering how to proceed. Don't procrastinate. Get a clear understanding of what needs to be done to undertake, follow through and finish a project with the  best chance of success.

Success comes from completing your work and having it read by others. For some that might be no more than friends, family and acquaintances, and for others it may be thousands of people you have never met. Realistically, there are more people who aspire to be a roaring commercial success, than what there are book buyers needed to give them that level of success.  Don't let that dissuade you though. Writing a novel is often a very therapeutic and educational process. As far as commercial success - some do achieve it initially. Others take several books to achieve it. No one achieves commercial success as a novelist though if they don't give it a go.

Lesson Structure

There are 13 lessons in this course:

1. WHAT IS A NOVEL?
   • The Origins of Storytelling
   • Presentation of Novels Today
   • What Constitutes a Novel?
   • Genres
   • Audience and the Novel
   • What is Creative Writing?
   • Creative genres
   • Writing for Children
   • Categories of Children's Writing
2. STRUCTURE AND STYLE
   • Narrative or Story Structure
   • Other Devices Used in Story Writing
   • Style in Writing
   • Basic Rules of Style
   • Improve Your Writing
   • Collaborative Writing
   • What is a writer like
   • Writing alone or in a team
3. DEVELOPING A POINT OF VIEW
   • Introduction
   • First person perspective
   • Peripheral narrators
   • Pitfalls of the first person narrator
   • Second person perspective
   • Third person perspective
   • Advantages and Disadvantages of third person POV
   • Is failing good for you?
   • Do Children like to read about Fantasy?
4. DEVELOPING THE MAIN PLOT
   • The Plot
   • What is a Plot-Driven Novel?
   • Developing the Plot
   • Theme
   • Timelines
   • How to plot a story
5. WRITING A SYNOPSIS
   • A Matter of Words
   • Writing a Synopsis
   • The detailed synopsis
   • Motivating a child to read
   • Is daydreaming a bad thing?
6. DEVELOPING SUBPLOTS
   • Deciding on Subplots
   • Do I need a sub plot?
   • Weak spots
   • Types of Dramatic Stories
   • Plants - planting the seed of something that can grow in a story
7. CHARACTERS: HOW TO DEVELOP CHARACTERS
   • The Importance of Characters
   • Characteristics of a character driven story
   • Two dimensional versus three dimensional characters
   • Introducing your character
   • Character Development
8. DIALOGUE AND CHARACTERS
   • Dialect
   • Dialogue tags
   • How to set out dialogue
   • Voice
   • Character Language
9. MAINTAINING THE READER’S INTEREST – DEVELOPING PACE
   • Use of Pace
   • Creating the Pace
   • Cliff hangers and Emotional pacing
   • Prolonged outcomes
   • Jump and cut scenes
   • Rapid incidents
   • Short scenes
   • Engaging Readers
10. REVISING YOUR NOVEL – THE IMPORTANCE OF EDITING AND REVISION
    • How to Revise and Edit
    • First pass: Is the story working?
    • Second pass: Reworking
    • Third pass: Show don't tell
    • Fourth pass: Sentence structure, line edits
    • Fifth pass: Proof reading
    • Beta readers
    • Improve your Editing Skills
11. DEALING WITH WRITER’S BLOCK/MAINTAINING YOUR CREATIVITY
    • Writer’s Block
    • Not Writing a Novel: Tips to Get Started AND Finish that Novel
    • Avoiding Distractions to Your Writing
    • Don’t have time to write a novel?
12. MANUSCRIPT FORMAT AND LAYOUT
    • Preparation
    • Standard manuscript format
    • Standard query letter format
    • Standard synopsis format
    • The importance of the manuscript to getting published
    • Bloggers – Do you want to make money on your blog?
    • Purpose of blogging
    • Monetising a blog
13. MARKETING YOUR NOVEL
    • Marketing Options
    • Marketing Your Book
    • Marketing Elements
    • Projecting for the Future
    • Publishing: Electronic and Paper-based Works
    • Getting Published
    • Final Assessment

IDENTIFYING AND FOCUSSING ON YOUR AUDIENCE CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE

Books need a target audience in order to sell; a ‘target audience’ is the audience that is best suited to the book. A target audience may be adults, teens or children but because readers differ in their reading preferences it will also be a ‘type’ of adult, teen or child. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

There is absolutely no point in trying to target your book to the wrong audience. 

Why Do You Want to Write Novels?

Are you driven by a creative urge? Are you hoping for a big "pay day"? Perhaps you find writing therapeutic or simply need to release something inside you.

Many aspiring writers believe they have a novel in them. Whilst some manage to write a novel, many more fail to do so. Aside from the commitment involved, there are many other pitfalls which can derail even those with the greatest intentions.

• This course is designed to help would-be novelists to pursue their dreams.
• It nurtures your ideas and helps you explore ways to proceed.
• It helps you develop an ability to structure your approach, and plot the novel.
• There are ways of developing characters, revising drafts, editing and improving your novel that any successful novelist should understand and apply

By undertaking this course you can feel more confident in what you have written. Once you complete your work you will then understand how to approach making a submission for publication; and you will netter appreciate the marketing needed to improve your chances of success.