I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us - Franz Kafka
This is a 3.5 month online mentorship with Sarah Bullen that will prompt, push and hold you to your promise to write your NOVEL. Sarah Bullen - international writing coach and mentor working with authors and publishers.
"I have been running this course for eight years and I can honestly say it is just fantastic. It will teach you to write a novel and push you the entire way to your first draft with daily emails, lessons and deadlines."
* Every day for the first month you will be given a short 2 min lesson via email to read, or to watch.
* Each day has exercises that takes you systematically through how to plot your book.
* At key points you will be asked to send some work for feedback and review.
* The lessons will show you how to plot your story, step by step, beginning to end, going over what the story is about, who the characters are, where the story starts, how it reveals itself and how it ends.
* The format of the course will make sure your story is set up right (the beginning hook) and has the dramatic momentum (the middle build) to carry it through to a fulfilling ending.
* You start actually writing after Day 10 and then the course will take you deeper into advanced plotting, storytelling, characters, dialogue, style, theme, genre and writing.
* Each stage of the mentorship has a task and word count targets for you to reach.
* You are part of our closed FB group of writers in various stages of the publishing process where you can get advice, support or a reader
* You block book your own writing time when it suits you, using the prompts that I send you to know how far your writing should be at each point.
We know most writers need a few things to make real progress in their writing:
- An experienced mentor to give you the right advice.
- Someone to hold you accountable and make sure you get it done.
- A place to ask experts questions when you get stuck
You are getting these three key elements in this mentorship. I set the targets and deadlines and show you how to move forward and write with clear focus and intent. This is the first step all writers must take down the path to publication. Without your first draft, you cannot progress to the next stage.
Easily the most practical and useful writing course I’ve ever done and certainly most reasonably priced. I not only read all the modules - I studied them and was delighted because they answered most of the questions that arose when attempting to write a book before.
WHY ARE SO MANY OF OUR WRITERS PUBLISHED?
SARAH BULLEN is a writing coach with 15 years of getting writers to produce the most publishable version of their books and selling these to publishers. She is a literary agent and editor and really will support you to write your book.
WHAT HAPPENS - PRACTICALLY?
In a nutshell, you will plan, write and produce your first draft over 100 days (realistically about 4 months with all the planning)
- You pay for your mentorship
- You will receive a confirmation mail with an author appraisal form to fill in
- The mentorship starts on the first Monday of the month.
- You will receive some prep the week before, to get yourself ready to start
- The group officially kicks off on Monday and you will be guided for 4 months on how to write your book.
- You will join our private Author Support Group - for our serious, paying writers only.
- You update weekly for writing accountability – and we keep an eye on your word count each week to move you forward, word by word
- The core of the communication happens via very structured email lessons. Novelists will be put on a fast-track to plot, plan and write and will receive an email instruction every day to get your plot points adequate and your words flowing from the start.
During the first four months, the entire focus will be on your word count and getting your draft down (aka writing your book).
The 100-Day course was invaluable and it provided me with the structure and action they loved in the book. I have a publisher! |
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ARE YOU EXPLAIN IN ONE OF THE WRITER'S BLACK HOLES?
1. The idea
It is so easy to get stuck on just the IDEA of your book. So many possible stories swirling in your head….. Should he be a banker, werewolf or a lawyer? Should it be a crime or a romance? Should it take place in the future or present day? Chicago or Germiston? Should you actually write about yourself? All writers have so many choices. Let’s get some focus. Your very first choice and task is to move what is simply AN IDEA into a PLOT. You have to make some very clear decisions and stick to them. I always say, “that all stories are just a series of thumb sucks”. That means you just come up with an idea… and run with it. Yes, he’s banker, it’s crime novel set in the future and the book starts as he lands a big client but knows he is going to pay in blood money. Now plot THAT BOOK. Do the work to make a plot and stick to it.
2. The first few chapters
And here so many writers get stuck. Some for years! Chances are it will all change in your second draft so just do your best in the first round and move forward.
3. 20,000 words
You reach 20,000 words and you have told your whole story. So common. But a book needs to be longer and you can see that now. What happened? Plotting needs to happen! A book is a long form and that is why we require a certain number of plot points to take your story to the correct length. We do the plotting / outlining upfront so you can't go wrong.
1. The idea
It is so easy to get stuck on just the IDEA of your book. So many possible stories swirling in your head….. Should he be a banker, werewolf or a lawyer? Should it be a crime or a romance? Should it take place in the future or present day? Chicago or Germiston? Should you actually write about yourself? All writers have so many choices. Let’s get some focus. Your very first choice and task is to move what is simply AN IDEA into a PLOT. You have to make some very clear decisions and stick to them. I always say, “that all stories are just a series of thumb sucks”. That means you just come up with an idea… and run with it. Yes, he’s banker, it’s crime novel set in the future and the book starts as he lands a big client but knows he is going to pay in blood money. Now plot THAT BOOK. Do the work to make a plot and stick to it.
2. The first few chapters
And here so many writers get stuck. Some for years! Chances are it will all change in your second draft so just do your best in the first round and move forward.
3. 20,000 words
You reach 20,000 words and you have told your whole story. So common. But a book needs to be longer and you can see that now. What happened? Plotting needs to happen! A book is a long form and that is why we require a certain number of plot points to take your story to the correct length. We do the plotting / outlining upfront so you can't go wrong.
This is the course I did in 2008/9 and I wrote my first novel. I was sick of thinking about writing a novel and making false starts for years, so I took a week off work and did this course. By the end, I'd trashed the novel I'd been wheel-spinning on, and had a new idea. A month later I had a very dodgy first draft, which later became A Million Miles from Normal, published by Penguin Random House in 2010. Today I'm working on my 9th novel, and pretty much still using the same techniques Sarah taught me.
So, if you're thinking of doing a writing course, stop thinking about it and do it. I can't imagine you'll regret it.
Paige Nick, author of A Million Miles from Normal , UnPresidented, This Way Up, A Girl Walks into a Bar Series
“This was a very useful course to do, particularly the early modules that actually got me plotting and writing in two weeks. I had no clue how to even start writing and the clear information that you provided just mapped the way forward.’
Maria Phalime, author of Second Chances and Postmortem: The Doctor who Walked Away - Winner of the Maskew Miller Longman Literature Award in 2013.
Holy smoke Sarah, I actually sat and did it. It was a crash course in writing, but it worked like a charm. The plotting spreadsheets I got to the end, with a 60,000 word first draft of my book,”
Miranda Guest, New York 2010 on Write a Book in 100 Days
“....... easily the most practical and useful writing course I’ve ever done and certainly most reasonably priced. I not only read all the modules - I studied them and was delighted because they answered most of the questions that arose when attempting to write a book before. Those that were not specifically answered will probably arise when I actually write more scenes and then I will go back over the course and probably find the answers.-
Jane Vink
I did your 100-day writing course in 2015 for my novel, Gracie Stirling and the Whisper Horses. It's getting published! A small publishing house in Wales picked it up and will be publishing it. I have already signed the contract and they have sent their edits. I just wanted to say a big thank you so much. The 100-Day course was invaluable and it provided me with the structure and "action" they loved in the book. Thank you!
Jenny Kling, Gracie Stirling and the Whisper Horses, Gomer Publishing 2019
I want to tell aspiring writers that it's actually easier than they think - to write, that is. And that a course like this, with a deadline and access to writers and industry professionals is worth every penny!
Sandra Buckingham
Sarah and Kate’s writing mentorship is the stick of dynamite you need to stop gazing at your own navel and instead gaze at a finish line that gets steadily closer. If you’ve been struggling to get your ideas out of your head and onto the page, this mentorship will prove invaluable.
Meg Chronis
D-Day – Wow! What a journey. Yes I have a first draft! 89 000 words!
Carmen Tina Schneider.