From Draft to Novel: The Momentum to Finish Your Manuscript

Whether you’ve got a project that’s been gathering dust in a drawer, or have fifty thousand brand-new words and need to build a sustainable writing practice in your normal life, this course will give you direction and accountability as you head into the new year.

In a private, half-hour long Zoom consultation, I’ll give you actionable notes on up to fifty thousand words you’ve already written. In the early weeks, I’ll provide inline feedback on up to twelve thousand new or revised words and two craft assignments. Halfway through the course, I’ll write you a detailed letter on writing areas that you can strengthen in your novel. The course will include two optional Zoom sessions to exchange tips and tricks for what is working in our writing practice and kvetch about what’s not. Weekly check-ins on the Wet.Ink platform’s message board will allow us to all be each other’s accountability buddies. You’ll get one last private half-hour meeting at the end of the course to wrap-up feedback and check in on your writing plan moving forward.

You will leave the course with a plan for finishing the draft you’re working on, and the momentum to keep writing.

Who This Course is For:

This course is fiction writers working on completing or revising a novel, and who want to set themselves up to have a polished draft. Whether it’s your first novel or your tenth, all levels are welcome.

Learning and Writing Goals

Learning Goals:

• Develop a writing practice that fits your life.
• Craft a realistic plan to finish the draft you are working on based on professional feedback.
• Gather an arsenal of tactics and tricks to get past the blocks and complications that are a part of any large writing project.

Writing Goals:

• Write or revise up to 12,000 words on your novel in progress.
• Create a plan and set a routine to complete and/or refine your draft. 

Zoom Schedule

We will meet for two optional Zoom sessions on Thursday, June 26th from 8-10 PM Eastern and Thursday, July 24th from 8-10 PM Eastern. During the first and last weeks of the course, you will schedule a private Zoom call with me to discuss your novel project.

Weekly Syllabus

Week One: Jumping In

This week, you’ll introduce your project and process to your classmates on Wet.Ink. Private Zoom feedback sessions on what you’ve already written will commence.

Week Two: Outline

How do you hold a whole book in your head? On Wet.Ink, we’ll talk using outlines to free your writing instead of constraining it. This week, you’ll submit an outline of your novel and comment on your fellow students’ work. If you didn’t have your private Zoom feedback session last week, we’ll get to it now.

Week Three: First 3,000 Words and Option Zoom Check-In

This week, you’ll submit three thousand new or revised words for feedback from me. On Wet.Ink, we’ll talk filling our creative wells: where do you find inspiration? Does reading in your genre feed or block you? We’ll have our first optional group Zoom check-in session.

Week Four: Second 3,000 Words

You’ll submit another three thousand words for feedback from me. On Wet.Ink, we’ll discuss tactics to build writing time into your life and what to do when life gets in the way of writing. 

Week Five: Scenecraft 

This week, you’ll analyze scene structure and apply what you learn to your own work. I will send you a detailed midterm letter with feedback on areas you could strengthen that I’ve identified over the first half of your novel and two writing submissions.

Week Six: Third 3,000 Words

You’ll submit another three thousand words for feedback from me. On Wet.Ink, we’ll talk tips and tricks for tackling writer’s block.

Week Seven: Fourth 3,000 Words and Option Zoom Check-In

You’ll submit your last three thousand words for feedback from me. On Wet.Ink, we’ll share our plans for continuing the work after the course ends. We’ll have a final group Zoom check-in session

Week Eight: Final Private Session

This week, you’ll have a final private half-hour Zoom meeting with me to discuss the work you submitted and your plans for continuing to write.

Why Take a Novel Writing Course with Writers.com?

• We welcome writers of all backgrounds and experience levels, and we are here for one reason: to support you on your writing journey.
• Small groups keep our online writing classes lively and intimate.
• Work through your weekly written lectures, course materials, and writing assignments at your own pace.
• Share and discuss your work with classmates in a supportive class environment.
• Award-winning instructor Paz Pardo will offer you direct, personal feedback and suggestions on every assignment you submit.