Novel Academy Home Page
Check below for scheduling and links to resources and assignments!
Module 7: Advanced Worldbuilding
Pre-Kickoff Homework:
1. In Module 7, watch the first three videos: More Than Window Dressing, Every Story Has a World and Putting Your World to Work. (About 35 minutes viewing, total)
2. We’ll be using three worksheets during the meeting. Feel free to print them:
- Where Should Your Story Happen?
- Brainstorming a ‘Real’ World (We’ll use questions from this even if you have a created fantasy world or not.)
- Brainstorming a Created World (optional)
3. Optional: Send in 200 words of worldbuilding for Sarah to discuss during the last 30 minutes of class. Here’s what you need to do:
- Email the dialogue to team @ readychapter1 dot com
- Be clear about whether you’d like it to be anonymous or not.
- State what you’re worried about, wanting help with.
April 14, 7 – 8:30 pm, EST: Module 7 Kickoff: Advanced Worldbuilding
Post-Kickoff Homework:
1. Post a scene in Critique Central.
2. Insights into your scene? Let us know in the Novel Academy forum!
April 16, 1 – 2 pm, EST: Office Hours
April 22, 10 – 11:30 am, EST: Module 7 Check-in
In Module 7, watch the last three videos: Every Scene Has a Setting, Putting Your Setting to Work and Putting it All Together (About 30 minutes viewing, total)
2. We’ll be using one worksheet during the meeting. Feel free to print it:
3. Optional: Send in 200 words of setting for Sarah to discuss during the last 30 minutes of class. Here’s what you need to do:
- Email the dialogue to team @ readychapter1 dot com
- Be clear about whether you’d like it to be anonymous or not.
- State what you’re worried about, wanting help with.
April 24, 10 – 11 am: Office Hours
Module 6: Dialogue Decoded
Pre-Kickoff Homework:
1. In Module 6, watch the first three videos: Say What?, Dialing Up Your Dialogue and Intensify Internalization. (About 30 minutes viewing, total)
2. We’ll be using three worksheets during the meeting. Feel free to print them:
3. Optional: Send in 200 words of dialogue for Sarah to discuss during the last 30 minutes of class. (Thanks, Rufus, for the suggestion.) Here’s what you need to do:
- Email the dialogue to team @ readychapter1 dot com
- Be clear about whether you’d like it to be anonymous or not.
- State what you’re worried about, wanting help with.
March 31, 7 – 8:30 pm, EST: Module 6 Kickoff: Decoding Dialogue
Post-Kickoff Homework:
1. Post a scene in Critique Central.
2. Insights into your scene? Let us know in the Novel Academy forum!
April 2, 1 – 2 pm, EST: Office Hours
April 8, 10 – 11:30 am, EST: Module 6 Check-in
In Module 6, watch the last two videos: Supercharge Your Subtext and Character Voice. (About 20 minutes viewing, total)
2. We’ll be using one worksheet during the meeting. Feel free to print it:
3. Optional: Send in 200 words of dialogue for Sarah to discuss during the last 30 minutes of class. Here’s what you need to do:
- Email the dialogue to team @ readychapter1 dot com
- Be clear about whether you’d like it to be anonymous or not.
- State what you’re worried about, wanting help with.
Things we talked about:
1. Resources for body language:
- The Emotion Thesaurus
- Any book about body language. (There are lots by law enforcement officials and folks in legal fields!)
2. Questions I asked:
- How does this emotion feel in your body?
- How does this emotion affect your thoughts? (Focused, scattered, hyperfocused, etc.)
- How does this emotion make you move/ act? (Do you try to take less space or more? Get louder or quieter?)
- How do you express this emotion? (Talk or don’t talk or demand that it be addressed right now?)
- How do you express this differently w. different people and in different environments?
3. I read from The Disappeared by Rebecca J. Stanford.
April 10, 10 – 11 am: Office Hours
Module 5: Discovering Voice
Pre-Kickoff Homework:
1. In Module 5, watch the first two videos: Author Voice Demistified and Head and Heart. (About 30 minutes viewing, total)
2. We’ll be using three worksheets during the meeting. Feel free to print them:
3. Come ready to work!
- Folks with an entire draft: bring one or two scenes from your story that may not go as deep into your voice as you’d like.
- Folks who are drafting: come with a scene or the beginnings of a scene that you’d like to write “in voice.”
March 17, 7 – 8:30 pm, EST: Module 5 Kickoff: Discovering Voice
Post-Kickoff Homework:
1. Post a scene in Critique Central.
2. Insights into your scene? Let us know in the Novel Academy forum!
March 19, 1 – 2 pm, EST: Office Hours
March 25, 10 – 11:30 am, EST: Module 5 Check-in
Time to finish Discovering Voice!
We’ll be using several worksheets during the meeting. Feel free to print them ahead of time!
March 27, 10 – 11 am: Office Hours
Module 4: Scenes, the Building Blocks of Story
Pre-Kickoff Homework:
1. In Module 4, watch the first three videos: From Scene to Sales, Scene and Sequel, and Goals & Motivation. (About 30 minutes viewing, total)
2. We’ll be using two worksheets during the meeting. Feel free to print them:
3. Come ready to work!
- Folks with an entire draft: bring one or two scenes from your story that need work. (They may feel clunky or boring or perhaps you want to crank up the tension a little more.)
- Folks who are drafting: be ready to write the bones of a scene! Have an idea of where it is in the story and what you want to accomplish with it. (For instance, this scene is where a character discovers important info and must decide what to do with it.)
March 3, 7 – 9 pm, EST: Module 4 Kickoff: Scenes!
Post-Kickoff Homework:
1. Post a scene in Critique Central.
2. Insights into your scene? Let us know in the Novel Academy forum!
March 5, 1 – 2 pm, EST: Office Hours
March 11, 10 – 11:30 am, EST: Module 4 Check-in
Time to finish Scenes!
We’ll go through a few worksheets, so please have printed:
March 13, 10 – 11 am: Office Hours
Module 3: Plotting with Malicious Intent
Pre-Kickoff Homework:
1. In Module 3, watch the first three videos. (One Story, Multiple Arcs, Plot Structure and Arcs: Creating the Framework for Your Story, and Creating Story Arcs.)
2. We’ll be using two worksheets during the meeting. Feel free to print them:
February 17, 7 – 9 pm, EST: Module 3 Kickoff: Plotting with Malicious Intent
Post-Kickoff Homework:
1. If you haven’t completed this form yet, please take two minutes and let me know what times are best for you if you want to attend Office Hours or Write-ins! (If you don’t want to attend, please open it, and write at the bottom that you don’t plan on attending.)
2. Watch the remaining videos in Module 3.
3. Insights into your character or plot? Let us know in the Novel Academy forum!
4. (Optional) Post in the February Challenge!
February 20, 10 – 11 am, EST: Office Hours
February 25, 10 – 11:30 am, EST: Module 3 Check-in
Time to finish Plotting! Please make sure you’ve completed the post Kickoff homework of watching the remaining Module 3 videos.
We’ll go through a few worksheets, so please have printed:
February 27, 1:30 – 2:30 pm: Office Hours
Module 2: Unforgettable Characters
Pre-Kickoff Homework:
1. Make a list of protagonists and antagonists that you can’t forget. Bring it to the kickoff.
2. In Module 2, watch the first three videos. (Introduction: Creating Characters that Leap off the Page, Character Roles and Archetypes, and Agency.)
3. We’ll be using several worksheets during the meeting. Feel free to print them if you like:
February 3, 7 – 9 pm, EST: Module 2 Kickoff: Unforgettable Characters
After-Kickoff Homework:
1. Watch the last two videos in Module 2. (Getting to Know Your Cast of Characters, and Making the Reader Care.)
2. Post the pages/chapter that introduces your main character in Critique Central. Remember, you’ll need to critique others before you post your work. (Please include [Novel Academy] in the title so we can find you!)
3. Questions? Want to let us know you’ve posted in Critique Central? Let us know in the Novel Academy forum!
February 7, 1 – 2 pm, EST: Office Hours
Have questions about the last meeting? Want to chat about what you’re working on? Have time to hang out with other writers? This is the place! Feed free to stay as long (or as short) as you want!
Pre- Module 2 Check-in Homework
We’ll dig deeper into our characters.
1) Be prepared to brainstorm about your characters!
2) We’ll be using a worksheet from Module 2 during the meeting. You can click below to download and print it:
February 11, 10 am – noon, EST: Module 2 Check-in
Module 1: Story Ideas That Sell
After-Orientation Homework:
1. Introduce yourself in the Pro forums. (If you’ve already introduced yourself, add [Novel Academy] to your title.)
2. Comment on four other folks’ introductions.
3. In Module 1, watch the first three videos. (The Structure of an Idea, What’s the Problem?, and Leading with Character vs. Plot.)
4.Come to Module 1 Kickoff with strengths and potential weaknesses of your current story idea.
January 20, 7 -9 pm, EST: Module 1 Kickoff: Ideation
1) Don’t forget to come with a sense of your story/ idea’s strengths and weaknesses!
2) We’ll be using 3-4 worksheets from Module 1 during the meeting. You can click below to download and print them:
3) Link for activity in workshop.
Module 1 Kickoff recording
After-kickoff homework
1)Visit a library or bookstore to find comp titles, stories similar to yours that have been published in the last five years. Look for a few things:
- How is your book different? How does it stand out?
- How are the comps described? Can you pattern your jacketflap copy off theirs?
- What do you think was done well in these books? Done poorly?
- What makes them popular?
- Optional: Post in the Novel Academy forum if you’d like help with comp titles.
January 23, 10 – 11 am, EST: Office Hours
Have questions about the last meeting? Want to chat about what you’re working on? Have time to hang out with other writers? This is the place!
January 28, 10 am – noon, EST: Module 1 Check-in
We’ll pull together what we covered in Ideation, make sure story ideas are polished, and prepare for Module 2.
1) Be prepared to write/revise your story’s jacketflap copy!
2) We’ll be using a worksheet from Module 1 during the meeting. You can click below to download and print it:
After Check-in homework (Click here to view slides used in video.)
1) Post your jacket flap in the RC1 forums by noon Friday. Aim for something between 150 – 250 words (this is a guideline; don’t stress if you’re a little over or under.) You have two options of where to post:
Pro Pitch and Query Critiques. You’ll get more feedback, including feedback from Pro members. Please put [Novel Academy] in your title so we can find you.
Novel Academy. This is a smaller category where you may not get as much feedback- a good place to post if you’re still sorting things out.
2) Watch the remaining videos in Module 1:
From Idea to Outline. (We hope “pantsers” will enjoy being referred to as Panthers by the close captioning software.)
January 30, 10 – 11 am, EST: Office Hours
Have questions about the last meeting? Want to chat about what you’re working on? Have time to hang out with other writers? This is the place!
