Title: Beginning Novel Writing
Instructor: Patrick Nevins
Dates: 8 Thursdays: October 8, 15, 22, 29; November 5, 12, 19; Skip 26 for Thanksgiving; December 3
Time: 6:30-9:00 EST
Location: Zoom
Cost: Nonmember: $500; Writer/Reader Member: $320; Senior Member, Student Member, Librarian Member, Teacher Member, Military/Veteran Member: $280
*Payment plans available! Email sarah@indianawriters.org for more info*

This class is designed to help aspiring writers generate 10,000 words* of a novel. Participants will learn strategies for getting started, persisting through tough spots, and maintaining focus. Sessions will combine craft talk, discussion, and practice. Participants should aim to write about a page a day while enrolled in the class.

*Why 10,000 words? Assuming that your finished novel is between 50,000 and 100,000 words, 10,000 words represent 10-20% of your draft. And you can reach this milestone by the end of this class by writing only about 200 words per day!

Session 1: Overview of the novel form and getting started on your novel.
Session 2: Character and points of view. 1,500 words.
Session 3: Key scenes. 3,000 words.
Session 4: Mid-point check-in and getting unstuck. 4,500 words.
Session 5: Discourses. 6,000 words.
Session 6: Motifs. 7,500 words.
Session 7: One great page. 9,000 words.
Session 8: Celebrating your progress and looking ahead. 10,000 or more words!

About the instructor:
Patrick Nevins is the author of two novels, Pretty Joey Ross and Man in a Cage, and a collection of short fiction, The Commission of Inquiry. He is a professor of English at Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus, Indiana.