Online Writing Course

Have you always wanted to write a book but don’t know where to start? Do you have an idea for a story but don’t know how to develop it? This interactive online writing course will bring my teaching and writing skills right to your desk to guide you through the process of writing the first draft of your novel, be it crime fiction, women’s fiction or fantasy - the principles are the same across the genres.

Consisting of lecture style lessons, exercises and critique of each exercise, this course will give you the information you need, the building blocks of a novel, and, with my personal coaching, will effectively take you by the hand as you use these new skills to write your novel.

Many of the lessons will have overlap with material on this website. That's because I've held nothing back in the website - it's a comprehensive online writing course by itself. But there will be new material too, along with exercises and above all, personalised one-to-one feedback from me as you make progress.

If you complete the full course, you will have an outline of your novel, well developed characters, your first chapter, and the knowledge required to complete your novel

This course comprises 8 lessons (details below), guidance and feedback from me, and two bonus e-books to help you on your journey: 8 Lethal Mistakes Writers Make, And How To Avoid Them, and my unique book on beating writers' block Unleash The Writer. I also include recommendations for other good resources which you might find useful.

The cost of the course is €250 (appx $380) which breaks down to just over €30 per lesson, including my personal time to critique each lesson’s exercises and help you on your way.

Course Length: 8 Weeks

Start Date: On Demand

Course Details

Week 1:
Creativity: The Writer’s Raw Material

• How to access it.  
• Exercises to limber up the creative mind.  
• Brainstorming.  
• Mind maps versus lists.  
• The power of the question “What if?”  
• Writing prompts to inspire you 
• Freewriting 
• The Inner Critic and how to tame him/her. 
   

Outcome of this week: You’ll have learned the skills and tools to have ideas on demand, and will have a selection of ideas from which to choose the plot for your novel.

Week 2:
Choosing your Plot 
 

• What are fiction genres, and why you need to write in a specific genre if you want to get published
• Structure of the novel including story arc.  
• Theme, and why you need a good strong one.  
• Plotting: How to plot 
• Creating an outline – how and why to do it.  
   

Outcome of this week: You’ll have a shortlist of interesting plots to choose from. And you’ll choose the best one to be the basis of your novel.

Week 3:
Characters: The Actors On The Stage Of Your Mind

• How to create complex, fully-rounded and believable characters who’ll almost write the story for you.  
• Conflict between characters as a driving force in the story.  
• How to get to know your characters fully.  
• Use character sheets (provided).  
• How to play with characters’ profiles to make them more interesting. 
• How character and plot are intertwined and how each contributes to the other

Outcome of this week: You’ll have rich and fully drawn characters who are the focus of your story, and who will experience, and contribute to, the plot. 

Week 4:
Doing the outline of the story:
combining characters and plot into a compelling story

• How to create an outline 
• The essential points you need to have on the outline 
• Organising your time line and notes 
   

Outcome of this week: You’ll have a detailed and intriguing outline for your novel, incorporating interesting characters.

Week 5:
Dialogue: Characters talking for themselves

• Using dialogue to develop character and move the plot forward.  
• Conflict in dialogue – why it’s needed and how to do it.  
• The proper use of dialogue tags, and when you don’t need them at all. 
• Interweaving dialogue and narration. 
   

Outcome of this week: You’ll have practice in writing good dialogue, further bringing your characters to life, and will have written a dialogue-rich scene for your novel. 

Week 6:
Setting and description: Where it all happens

• How to visualise your setting vividly.  
• How to describe it so the image gets intact from your head to the readers’.  
• The reader as co-creator. Join-the-dots description. 
• Avoiding clichés  
• Purple prose and how to avoid it 
• How to use character actions and dialogue to portray setting.  
• Show, don't tell 
   

Outcome of this week: You’ll have written description for each of the major locations of your novel, and have practice in describing well and vividly. 

Week 7: Scenes:
The building blocks of your novel

• The essential elements each scene must have.  
• How Point of View works in scenes, and how to get it right 
• How to make sure each scene is complete. 
• Hooks and cliffhangers
• Knowing your goal – what are the essential points to be conveyed in each scene 
• How to deal with transitions between scenes 
• How scenes are the building blocks of chapters (which of course are the building blocks of your story) 
   

Outcome of this week: You’ll know how to write scenes well, and will have written at least one key scene for your novel. 

Week 8:
Starting your novel: Putting it all together

• The best way to write a first draft.  
• The story hook: what it is, and why you need a strong one 
• The story question – how that’s different from the story hook, and why it too is essential 
• How to weave back-story while still progressing the story 
   

Outcome of this week: You’ll have written your first chapter, and will be well on your way, with a comprehensive road map, to writing the rest of your novel.

To sign up for this online writing course simply pay by PayPal (safe and secure):