Book In A Year Fall 2017 – ONLINE

Announcing Book in a Year 2017-2018!

We are so proud of the accomplishments of our 2016-2017 Book in a Year students. Everyone met their goals. You know why? Because we did the math on how the BIG, year-long, book-length goals broke down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals. We did the digging into individual processes to find the right fit for each writer–because creativity is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Accountability is another key to success that BIAY provides–teams and team leaders to inspire you and root for you and expect you to show up every step of the way. All the while, those teammates are running beside you, keeping up with their own dreams. It’s exhilarating!

Okay–we’ve laid out some of the secrets to success in this course. So what exactly is BIAY? Co-taught by both Angie Powers and Elizabeth Stark, the group meets one Sunday a month, from 10 am to 1 pm. This year, we will be offering one section in person in Berkeley and another section live online via Zoom video conferencing–you pick which one makes sense for your life and location.

We spend the first few months in story development. In a powerful series of assignments stemming from concise, inspiring videos available to you 24/7 as well as in lecture and discussion in class, Angie does her magic with laying out the relationship between character and plot in a way that allows people to use the constraints of their choosing–genre, plot points, expectations and twists, etc.–to spur their creativity to greater heights, rather than to limit it. Her methods provide footholds in the sometimes sheer surfaces we are scaling while keeping us climbing to the heights of our storytelling powers. She encourages a loose, free brainstorming attitude. Find what matters most to you about your book and how to make it come alive on the page.

We also set up a foundation–set goals, nail our own best process and do the math that will get us to a finished draft…first, revised, or done!

Then we start writing (or revising) on that weekly schedule, sending scenes to our teams, reporting our progress, following the blueprint we’ve so daringly and yet solidly created for ourselves, or using the story development skills we’ve learned to engineer effective changes if something better arises as we write. It’s an exciting and dynamic time. In our monthly meetings we workshop actual selections from the seven key steps of our books, step by step. This gives us a most resonant understanding of story and our stories as they get better and deeper. It also provides individual and direct response to your writing every month. And it puts up the markers that we progress along, month by month.

You also get two writing retreats during the year. This year we are keeping them separate from the regular class days and offering two: one in Sebastopol and one online.

Finally, we are adding more online accountability for weekly goals, including a word count meter as well as a place to post your scenes for your team and for the whole BIAY community.

Schedule: We meet monthly October through June, nailing the story and characters, finishing a draft or entire revision, and making a clear plan for what’s next. We then meet again in September after a summer of finalizing the draft or taking it to the next level–and we have a big celebration together. You wrote a book in a year!

This is a workshop that people can and do repeat as they move from planned and completed first draft through that deep revision through that final polish–or even to the next book. Each time through layers in a profound understanding of story filtered through a personal lens.

So…is it for you?

1) Do you have a book in you? Perhaps it’s an idea or a long held dream, perhaps its notes or a scene or two, perhaps it’s a draft or a partial draft laid aside for some time, perhaps a long time… If you think you have a book in you, this workshop is for you. It will take you from idea generation to complete draft. Or from rough draft to ready draft.

2) Do you thrive in community? Do you like to be part of a group that is doing something remarkable? Do you benefit from being held accountable, from supporting others, from cheerleaders and fans and colleagues?

3) Are you ready to stop putting it off and make it happen…this year? Book in a Year is an incredible framework for getting the work done–but only you can do it. Are you ready to build a foundation for your dream, to create a blueprint for your hopes, to get words on the page, and to offer the world this story that only you can tell?

If you answered yes to ALL of these questions, this course is for you. It’s limited to 12 participants in each section–so take your first crucial action now, and enroll below.

Dates (subject to change):

Online (via Zoom–live, video connection), third Sunday unless otherwise noted:

October 15 (10 am – 2 pm PT)

November 19

December 17

January 21

February 18

March 18

April 15

May 20

June 10* (second Sunday)

September 15

Writing Retreats (because you always get more done in a group):

Online, Sunday, January 14, 11 am –  4 pm

Sebastopol, Sunday, April 29, 11 am – 4 pm  (bring your own lunch)

Pricing

Single payment: $1895 for the year

Payment plan: $167/ month for 12 payments