Start Here
  • Welcome to the course - start here
  • My three top tips to get started on a novel
  • Some freebies: extra content and downloads to help with your novel writing
  • Introduce yourself
  • How to get the most out of the course
Finding ideas and inspiration
  • Ways to find ideas and inspiration
  • Using writing prompts - lots of links and resources attached
  • Inspiration from real life
  • Is this really a novel? How to test your idea
Ways of working
  • Establishing a writing practice
  • Ways of working
  • Writers' Process Quiz
Planning your novel
  • Writing a premise
  • Writing a synopsis
  • Taking the planning further
  • Title, pitch and blurb
  • Mood board
Characters
  • Building characters
  • Character interview
  • Character doodles and arcs
  • Character profile
Starting the writing
  • Exploratory writing
  • Choosing a point of view and narrative style
  • Writing tips
  • Main tips for great dialogue
  • Novel opening
  • Cover
Some technical stuff
  • How to use the technical sections and structure models to help your writing
  • SImple models of story structure
  • The Seven Basic Plots
  • The internal 'beat' of your story
Drafting and editing
  • The first draft
  • Drafting and editing
  • Editing tips and tricks in MS Word
  • More useful MS Word functionality
  • Useful MS Word tools for working with an editor or another writer/beta reader
Some extra content - My YouTube videos on publishing
  • Traditional Publishing versus Self Publishing
  • How to get published with a big five publisher
  • How to get published with a smaller or indie publisher
  • Write a killer synopsis
Final thoughts
  • Final thoughts and tips
  • BONUS lecture