Runtime: 2:53:40 Original Class Date: 2/6/2021 Class Slides: HERE
Do you have a great idea for a novel but aren’t sure how to dive in? Or have you already begun but hit an early wall?
No matter what type of novel you’re writing, this video will increase your skills and confidence to jump in head first. In this recording, we explore the following areas:
- Foundational pre-writing, getting a clearer sense of our characters and their problems
- Roadmaps, whether they be detailed outlines or a handful of bullet points
- Crafting effective opening chapters
- Using craft elements to expand our drafts: stakes, theme, and setting
By the end of the video, your novels will have cracked their shells, ready to grow and fly to completion.
Stacey Swann’s debut novel Olympus, Texas—published in 2021 by Doubleday, W&N (UK), and Bompiani (Italy)—was a Good Morning America Book Club pick, an Indie Next selection, and longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Swann holds an M.F.A. from Texas State University and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her stories have appeared in Epoch, Memorious, Versal, and other journals, and she is a contributing editor of American Short Fiction.
