“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 we are repeating our prize course for the winter quarter, starting Tuesday, January 24: Structure for Success. The class will meet online via video conference from 5:45 – 7:17 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 as you develop a detailed plan for your book.
Bonus: If you sign up by Saturday, January 7, you will also get a free half-hour of private coaching with Angie.
“Angie has a gift in guiding a story, getting all those wayward lambs of ideas back to the flock of the overall trajectory of theme. This class is great for shaping a diffuse idea into a real story, using all the main ‘seven’ steps (archetypal story points) to anchor plot into place. Giving up nothing creatively, gaining everything (a real working outline). A process that could take years, fit into twelve painless weeks.” –Christine O’Brien
Here’s what people are saying about Angie’s classes –
Angie has a gift in guiding a story, getting all those wayward lambs of ideas back to the flock of the overall trajectory of theme. this class is great for shaping a diffuse idea into a real story, using all the main ‘seven’ steps (archetypal story points-) to anchor plot into place. giving up nothing creatively, gaining everything (a real working outline). a process that could take years, fit into eight painless weeks. —Christine O’Brien
I recently participated in the Structures for Success Class, which was a real mind-blower for me. Angie took a small class of student writers through a rigorous couple of months envisioning and then filling in the structure of our books in order to make a working outline we could follow when the class ended and we were on our own, ready to dive in to drafting or revision. I tell anyone who asks that the Structures class saved me at least a year if not two of writing and rewriting time, that moving scene summaries around in an outline is so much easier than moving the actual written scenes in a
manuscript, and that the class was fun on top of all that. —Leslie Rodd
Thinking ahead is not my long suit–in writing or in life–but by sticking with the Structure for Success class, I was able to write a sturdy, comprehensive outline for my novel-in-progress. Before taking this class I’d wasted a lot of time rewriting and re-rewriting the scenes in the first seventy pages of my book, unable to imagine what might come next. However, with Angie’s help I learned to step back from my original impulses, entertain new possibilities, and consider the story as a whole. By teaching me new ways to swing back and forth between my analytical abilities and my intuition, this class has given a huge boost to my writing life. —Janet Thornburg
I got a huge boost from Angie Powers’s Structure for Success class. Over the ten weeks, I went from vague idea to fully structured outline, with intensifying conflicts and clear arcs and developed characters, all the things that makes a good novel strong. Through assignments and probing questions, Angie gently but firmly teased from me a solid armature to hang my novel on. As a former “non-outliner,” I’m convinced Angie has saved me years of work. I strongly recommend this class. —Ericka Lutz
Non-Member Prices:
Payment plan: three payments of $155 = $465
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Single payment of $425 — Save $40!
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BWW Member Price:
$135 a month for 3 months = $405
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One-time payment of $370 = Save $35!
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