How To Write A Novel (Beginners)

Our How To Write a Novel course (6 Weeks)

Next dates:  3rd September 2013

Welcome to novel-writing bootcamp! Aimed at beginners, and using a variety of writing exercises, this class provides a survey of what you need to know to write a novel. It looks at important aspects of craft and technique, and provides guidance on developing an ongoing writing practice.  We’ll also address some of the practical matters of getting published.

Course Syllabus

Introductory Period

Before the course starts, you’ll watch a brief video introduction from the tutor and get to know your fellow writers in our class’s dedicated area in the Word Cloud. You’ll be invited to think about some of your own inspirations and purposes in writing.

Week One: Ideas.
All professional writers get asked the question 'Where do you get your ideas from?' We'll start off the course by trying to answer it. We'll look at: Recognising and developing ideas; Reading as a writer, and getting into good writing habits; Defining your idea through titles and outlines, and the role of planning.

Week Two: Character.
Creating convincing, realistic characters that readers are compelled to find out more about is at the heart of successful novel writing.

We'll begin to build a character, looking at different ways you can approach this, what makes a successful character, how to develop your characters and begin to think about how character and plot interact - an issue that lies at the very heart of how to construct a compelling novel.

Week Three: Story, plot and narrative.
How do you create a compelling plot that keeps readers turning the page? We'll start to think about what makes a story a story as opposed to a series of events, introduce you to the idea of archetypal plots, and look at the roles of pacing, hooks and conflict all play in story-telling.

Week Four: Structure.
Once you know what your story is and who's in it, you need to start thinking about the best way to tell that story. Writing a novel means making a series of decisions about things like structure, point of view, genre, setting, time and place. We'll look at what the implications of these choices might be for your story.

Week Five: Style.
This is where we get down to the nuts and bolts of writing. Dialogue, prose style, the elusive concept of 'voice', description, and the much-discussed 'show don't tell' will all be covered.

Week Six: Editing and the business of publishing.
How many drafts should you write? How do you know when something is 'ready'? Many writers say that getting to the end of the first draft is just the start - that's when the real work begins. From structural editing to polishing your prose, we'll go through the stages involved in editing your novel. We'll also aim to give you a brief overview of how publishing works, and what to do with your novel once you've written it.

Course Tutor

Jessica Ruston's debut novel, Luxury, was published by Headline Review in July 2009, which has been described as a 'decadent blockbuster for the 21st century.'

She has written two non-fiction books, 'Heroines: The Bold, The Bad & The Beautiful', and 'How Small Groups can Raise Big Funds', as well as screenplays, magazine articles and stories for children. Her latest novel is 'To Touch the Stars'.