Today I'm working on my 9th novel, and pretty much still using the same techniques Sarah taught me. author Paige Nick
I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us - Franz Kafka
The 100-Day course was invaluable and it provided me with the structure and action they loved in the book. I have a publisher!
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.
