Writing Your First Novel

Transform your idea for a novel from concept to 50 pages of your first draft.

This four-week course teaches you the essential elements that make up a strong beginning of a novel: setting, character, atmosphere, tone, and the promises made to your reader. You'll learn the core elements common to effective novel openings, so that you craft a compelling introduction that resonates with readers and how to avoid common pitfalls, such as aimless or excessive exposition. You'll engage with celebrated novel openings, ranging from the adventurous world of Percy Jackson to the nuanced beginnings of Jane Austen's works, to understand how they capture attention and set up narrative expectations.

Providing guidance and personalized feedback from a published author, the course emphasizes strategies for developing the discipline and focus necessary to write consistently and productively, even in the absence of inspiration or external motivation. You will also gain insights into long-term drafting strategies that sustain a novel from inception to completion, including how to integrate feedback and maintain narrative coherence over extended drafts.

What you will learn:

✔ Identify essential components of effective novel openings, including setting, character, atmosphere, tone, and narrative promises
✔ Determine the optimal starting point for your novel, one that engages with a compelling central question or theme
✔ Develop disciplined writing habits that facilitate progress towards completing a first draft, despite challenges or distractions
✔ Apply lifelong drafting strategies to sustain momentum and narrative coherence throughout the writing process

Prerequisite:

• An outline or first 5 pages of the novel you would like to write