Week 1 : Welcome, Introductions, and Constructing a Scene
Week 2 : Characters
Week 3 : POV & Style
Week 4 : Setting
Week 5 : Dialogue
Week 6 : Plot, Part One: Overview and Beginning
Week 7 : Plot, Part Two: The Low Point
Week 8 : Plot, Part Three: Climax and Ending
Week 9 : Those Connecting Scenes
Week 10: Editing, Part One
Week 11 : Editing, Part Two
Week 12 : Wrapping Up

Goal: To produce a 40 - 50 page (double-spaced, 12 point font) piece of writing.

Requirements and Workload:

Writing: You’ll write anywhere from 20 K to 30 K words over the course of 11 weeks. It is essential all assignments are turned in on time so others have time to critique.

Critiques: After the course max is reached (or enough time has passed), I will close the course and designate critique groups. You will share your work each week with your partners, and you will in turn receive their work. Please provide a minimum of 1 page of comments to each of your
peers no later than the week after you receive the work. Etiquette: be respectful and constructive; no piece of writing is ever truly finished.

Daily Logs: Everyone should keep a log (or journal) each day on the writing process, their advancements and difficulties, questions and concerns, and general thoughts. This is also their opportunity to ask me direct questions privately. Comments will be returned.

Reading: There are two components to the reading. First, a reading will be provided each week on that lesson’s topic. Second, each student should pick a book in their genre that they are willing to dissect over the course of the class. There will be an assignment each week  picking apart certain aspects of that book.

Discussion: After reading the week’s lesson, everyone should post one or two questions they have to be answered by fellow students and myself. Answers to the personal book questions will be posted here as well.

Writing Notebook: Everyone is encouraged to keep a writing notebook. They are a writer’s most valuable tool. They hold your insights and observations, descriptions of that guy on the bus, lyrics to a moving song, passages from your favorite books, and your writing exercises that may or may not lead to a scene/story.

Google Docs: Many assignments will be shared this way, so please get comfortable with the program. https://docs.google.com

Remember, work hard and have fun! We are all in this together, and I am here to learn as much from you as you from me.