Novel Writing 101 Series with Terri Main

Bundled Series includes 6 two-week workshops, and 1 three-week workshop.

Novel Writing 101: From Concept to Story Arc
January 15 - January 28

Every novel begins with a concept. Taking that concept all the way through to a workable idea for a novel takes work. Even before you begin working on fleshing out characters, developing a plot, building the world of your story, you must have a robust concept for the story. In this course, you will learn how to turn your basic idea into a solid story arc you can use to build the rest of your story.

Topics Include:

• Pre-Writing: What it is, and What it means to you
• Finding story ideas
• The difference between a story idea and a story concept
• Shaking hands with your protagonist
• A first look at your fictional world
• The twenty-five word bridge between idea and novel: Creating a story concept or premise
• Creating a Story Arc

Novel Writing 101 : Populating your Story. Creating Believable Characters. * 3-Week Course *
February 19 - March 11

The simple definition of a story is someone faces a problem somewhere and must attempt to solve it somehow. Whether you emphasize what a character does or you emphasize how she or he develops, it still begins with a person. The choices your characters make drive the plot. If you try to push a plot forward without considering the type of people who are taking those actions will result in the action feeling forced and unrealistic.

In this course, you will learn how to create believable characters. Topics include:

The function of character in fiction

• Character Backstory
• Interaction between appearance and personality
• Mannerisms
• Character demographics
• Cultural Influences
• Goal Driven Character Development
• Motivations: Needs, Fears, and Desires
• Relationship Dynamics
• Attitude

Novel Writing 101: Building the Story. Essentials of story structure.
April 16 - April 29

Whether you prefer to create a detailed plot outline, jot down just a few notes, or just sit down and begin writing, you cannot ignore story structure. You might perfect it before you begin to write or during the editing process. Most often, you will need to do so both in planning and revision.

This course explores key concepts in building a story line that will keep your reader engaged. We make no judgments about whether detailed plotting or a more improvised approach is best. That's your call. This course just looks at what the finished product needs to look like regardless of your planning strategy.

Topics Covered include:

• Classic plot structure
• Stories in Three Acts
• Character-driven and Situation-Driven Stories
• Goal Orientation in Story Structure
• Four Classic Conflicts and One Modern one

Novel Writing 101: Making a scene. The Basic Building Blocks of a Story
May 21 - June 3

Your story largely takes place in a series of scenes. Each scene is a story within a story that moves the plot ahead in some way. In this course we will look at how to create effective scenes. We will also explore considerations for different types of scenes you might encounter.

Topics Include:

• What is (and is not) a scene?
• How scenes function within a story
• The Elements of a Scene
• The basic structure of a scene
• Conflict: The fuel that powers a scene
• Types of scenes
• Entrances and Exits

Novel Writing 101: Worldbuilding
June 18 - July 1

It's a term often used in science fiction, but every writer even those writing Amish romances create a world in which their readers live, work, play, fall in love, fall out of love, and do all sorts of marvelous things. This course explores those elements of world building common to all types of stories.

Topics include:

• Physical setting
• Social Setting
• Temporal Setting
• Institutional Setting
• Architectural Setting
• Meteorlogical Setting
• Geographical Setting
• Science Fiction Worldbuilding
• Fantasy Worldbuilding
• Paranormal Worldbuilding

Novel Writing 101: Getting it Done
July 9 - July 22

You have your novel planned. You have the characters developed so completely you expect to see them walking down the street. You have the plot all worked out. You go to sleep and dream you are in that world you created. There’s only one problem. How do you go from a plan to a novel?

This is something frequently overlooked by writing courses. So, this class will deal with the nitty gritty work of actually writing the novel. We will dig into some of the basics of creating a writing plan, dealing with the realities of life, setting up your workspace, creating a writing discipline and more.

Topics include:

• An Overview of the Writing Process
• Pre-Writing
• Your writing environment
• The Ten-Minute-A-Day club
• Creating a realistic writing schedule
• Time Management for writers
• Caging your inner editor: Learning to write fast and dirty and not mind if you do.
• Some writing tools.
• Dealing with Writer’s Block
• Playing to your strengths

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Novel Writing 101: Become your own Plot Doctor
August 8 - August 19

Once you have written your first draft, you know you are not done. You understand that you need to fix everything from plot holes to punctuation. The starting point is Macro-Editing - Editing the Big Picture. Many spend $1000s on Book Doctors, Finishers, and Developmental Editors to do this work for them. Unfortunately, they are not YOU. Fixing your plot is very different than catching punctuation errors. Your plot is an expression of your own creativity and vision for the story. Too often, developmental editors encourage a vision quite different from yours.

YOU ARE THE BEST PERSON TO EDIT THE BIG PICTURE ISSUES IN YOUR BOOK. YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW HOW.
This two-week course teaches you what you need to know to be your own book doctor.

Topics Include

• Creating a Plan of Action
• Examining Story Structure
• Fleshing Out Characters
• Making the World of your Story Believable
• Addressing Consistency
• Fixing Plot Holes
• Nine Questions to Ask