Ever had that thought, ‘I’d like to write a novel someday, I just can’t find the time and I don’t know where to start.’? I wonder if all writers begin there. The thought of writing a novel can be challenging. There’s so much to bring together; the scene, the characters, the plot, the timeline… it can all feel a bit overwhelming. The good news is it needn’t be. You’ve got the idea; I’ve got the skills and techniques to help you think about what you need to combine and the ideas you need to explore so that you’re ready to set off into that long manuscript wilderness. During this short course we’ll develop your writing skills and think about the techniques required to provide you with a scaffolding from which to create your novel:
Course Outline
Week One: Characters, not caricatures
“There is nothing either good nor bad but thinking makes it so.” William Shakespeare. If you want to write a novel people want to read, you are going to need three dimensional characters, not idealised protagonists who never make mistakes, nor evil stepmothers who ever show a bone of kindness. In this session we’ll explore what it means to be human, through use of a feelings wheel, consider different kinds of personality traits and how you can use conflictual traits in your characters to drive your plot forward. We’ll also use a Character Profile to begin shaping your imaginary constructs.
Week Two: Plot and plotting
With your characters beginning to come to life, we’ll move into thinking about plotting. You may already have an idea of where your story starts and finishes, but using Character Arcs and a Three-Act Graph, we can begin thinking about how to shape your ideas into an actual plot. And that most useful tool in any writer’s toolkit; conflict to drive the plot forward. Not to mention that all important ‘hook’ to pull your reader in. We’ll also think about techniques to aid writing the plot and finding space and time to successfully manifest your ideas into an actual manuscript (i.e. how to avoid procrastination; a writer’s favourite pastime).
Week Three: Setting the scene
Perhaps the most understated and yet skilled technique for a writer is setting the scene. Relatable characters and an addictive plot will drive your story and reader along but to make a story fully three-dimensional you are going to need to be able to evoke in your reader’s mind how it feels to be there alongside your characters. Using bilbilo-inspo, we’ll explore how other writers illustrate with words and help you to develop your own writing style to fully immerse your reader in your character’s imaginary world.
Week Four: Synopsis, reflection and next steps
Thinking of the elevator pitch, the two lines which sum up your novel, we’ll work towards a one-page synopsis summarising your novel, as well as thinking about edits and rewrites in order to work towards that all important polished manuscript which you can submit to agents and publishers or consider self-publishing.
Lisa Hill 