12-week novel building
course
for anyone writing
or planning to write a novel
The novel-building course
runs for 12 weeks, 1 evening a week, each week covering
a different element of building novels:
premise 
characters
plot point-of-view
place
time
plot-layering
tension & stakes
beginnings
sub-plots
symbols
detail
the grand finalé
We use games, activities,
and discussions; sometimes we'll write snippets in class,
but the focus is on practising these aspects, not your
prose style. Some sessions generate plots, which we
add to our plot-bank; in other sessions we take plots
from our bank to work on. We also practise writing synopses,
summaries, and cover blurbs.
Each session gives you
ideas, principles, and activities to apply to your own
writing, but you don't have to be writing a novel at
the moment.
Week
1: Premise
premise versus plot
building on a premise
overview of the course's elements
Week 2: Characters
creating richer, more complex characters
character developments
characters' theory of mind
Week 3: Plot point-of-view
first-person narratives & third-person narrators
unreliable / contradictory narratives
multiple points-of-view and choosing points of view
Week 4: Place
creating a richer sense of place
point-of-view place & changing perceptions
scene locations
Week 5: Time
creating a richer sense of time & setting
research & using signifiers
attitudes within a time
Week 6: Plot-layering
complex plots
genres with obvious endings
adding layers of plot development
Week 7: Tension & stakes
raising the story's stakes so it matters more
raising & developing the tension so the interest
keeps developing
ordering the narrative's events for high stakes &
high tension
Week 8: Beginnings
setting up the main plot
bridging tension to carry the reader through
first lines, first paragraphs, first scenes
Week 9: Symbols & theme
building a props cupboard
natural symbolism
themes that matter to you
Week 10: Sub-plots
creating rich, fully-fledged sub-plots
choosing sub-plots for contrast & impact on the
story
balancing & ordering sub-plot(s) and main plot
Week 11: Detail
using your novel's "dead space" for characters,
point of view, place, time, back-story, side-stories
& symbolism
using detail to convince
balancing detail & pace
Week 12: The Grand Finalé
reviewing & using all the course's elements to map
out a story
types of endings
the grand finalé |
