“A real writer is one who really writes,” Marge Piercy said. How, then, do you make the time and wrangle the self-confidence to do the deed? How do you turn the dream into a daily practice, the wonderful idea into an actual book? As a published author, I have been working on those questions for a lot of years now, and I built the Book Writing World to be a system that would give folks just the support, motivation and smart, warm community to succeed.
But recently I had a transformative experience I’d like to share with you.
After years of struggling with a book I shelved and then writing various drafts of a book I was determined to complete—and sell—I found a method that allowed me to make choices I felt confident about, to design a book structure that was strong and powerful, and, pretty quickly, to write that book and find an agent for it.
As I said, I built the Book Writing World to provide myself and others with just what writers need to . . . well, to plan, write, revise and finish the best books they could write. I provide mentoring to a group I adore. But despite years of teaching, an M.F.A. degree and a published book, I found I needed my own mentor, my own writing coach. After searching far and wide, I was surprised to discover her . . . right next to me. My partner, Angie, lead me through a dynamite series of exercises and conversations that allowed me to leverage a strong work habit, commit to my deadlines, build a great structure for my book and then write it and find an agent for it—quickly.
It should have been no surprise to me. Angie has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Mills, where she won the thesis award her year for her historical novel. She went on to get a certificate in Screenwriting from UCLA, and she’s already gotten noticed in several key contests for her early screenplays. (It’s pretty cool when agents start cold calling the house, asking to read more of her work.)
So of course I said to myself and then to Angie, I cannot keep this gold mine all to myself. Not when it comes to making great, saleable books. I am, after all, a reader before I am a writer.
I am happy to announce that our prize new course for the fall quarter, starting Tuesday, Sept. 20, will be Structuring Your Story and Your Time: A Guide to Planning and Writing a Saleable Book You Love. (Too long a title? We’ll short-hand it as Structure for Success.) The class will meet online via video conference from 5:45 – 7:30 p.m. PT on Tuesdays. Classes will be recorded in case you have to miss one.
Here’s the catch: we are limiting it to only 6 people, so that Angie can give personalize guidance to each and every one of you. (And we only have 2 spaces left!) You will do six weeks of intensive planning, finding the strong shape of a book you love, and then begin to write in November. Some of you will be doing NaNoWriMo, and Angie will guide you through that. Some of you may be setting your own writing goals, but all of you will be writing your way along a well-planned, clear and wonderful path. The writing and strengthening of your story and structure will continue to mid-December, when the course will end.
Bonus: If you sign up by Friday, Sept. 9, you will also get a free hour of private coaching with Angie, worth (at least) $50
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