The goal of this class is to write a complete novel or screenplay. We will cover plotting, characterization, setting, conflict, dialogue, writing, and editing. This class is held three times during the year to correspond with the three National Novel Writing Month events in November, April, and July.

This class makes an excellent middle school/junior high/middle years elective in Creative Writing. The class meets for about 20 hours during the 10 weeks, but the student will spend many other hours working on their own writing and doing the homework assignments. If you need to spend a certain amount of hours per semester or trimester for it to qualify as an elective, please let me know, and I can give you an estimate on how many hours you will work on the class based off your word count goal and if that won't meet the requirement I can provide additional activities. Keep a writing log for the month of NaNoWriMo to help you tabulate if you have worked enough hours to meet your state/province/territory/country's requirements for an elective. 

**Screenwriters can also you use the NaNoWriMo challenge to complete a first draft of their screenplay. A few items will be slightly different as far as writing style and formatting, but the planning is very similar to planning a novel. Screenwriting techniques will be included in the lessons when there are screenwriters in the section. **

Week One - Covering the principles of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). How to let your creativity flow and turn off your inner editor. Understand what a novel or screenplay actually is. Discuss and share a novel/screenplay of their choice with the class. We'll cover what makes a good novel and what makes a bad novel. The class will have a discussion about books they've read and whether they considered the books to be successful (good) or unsuccessful (bad). We'll learn how to let go of our inner editors. We'll talk about how to receive and give constructive criticism. Make an account and register your story idea on NaNoWriMo's Young Writer's Program website. Decide how many words you plan to write in the 30 days. 

Week Two -  Students will decide what they are going to write about. We'll cover how to take an initial story idea and develop it into a novel. We'll go over characters and how to make them living breathing people. The students will begin to craft and create their characters. 

Week Three - We'll cover creating conflict in their stories. What is conflict? How does it move the story forward? The difference between internal and external conflict. Students will work on the conflicts in their stories. We'll start going over plotting,  including set-up, inciting incident, and rising action. The students will work on their plot.

Week Four -  We'll cover the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. Decide on the conclusions of their story and create an emotionally satisfying end. We'll discuss the difference between first person and third person point of view. Students will decide which point of view they will use for their novel. Screenwriters will talk about writing in present tense and choosing which characters to follow in which scenes. 

Week Five - Students will start writing their novels and screenplays!  We'll cover how to begin your novel/screenplay. What are the best places to start your story? The students will create several beginnings for their stories. Setting and mood help to set the stage of their stories. We'll go over how the students can use the setting to set the mood and reinforce the characters. The students will do a writing assignment on details and setting.

Week Six - Keep writing!  Work on the settings in their own stories and how it reinforces their characters. The students will work on the settings of their stories. 

Week Seven - Keep writing! We'll go over the difference between real life conversations and dialogue in a novel/screenplay. How do they develop the characters and events through dialogue? We'll cover the use of dialogue tags and conventions (character cue and parentheticals for screenwriters). We'll focus on how the writer could add more sensory detail to make the pages longer. We're gonna talk about adding details, details, details to create a richer experience.  Any left over time will be spent doing writing sprints. 

Week Eight - Keep writing! How to use movie writing techniques to add more depth to your story. Zoom in and slow down. Any left over time will be spent doing writing sprints. We'll cover what is a sub-plot. Work on the sub-plots in their stories. Play with the pacing of action for sub-plots. Developing and adding more supporting and minor characters in their stories. Other tips and tricks to reach the student's word count goal especially if they feel they have reached "the end" but still have several thousand words to write. Any left over time will be spent doing writing sprints. 

Week Nine - Congratulations on writing a novel or screenplay! Releasing your inner editor (self-revision). How to identify the areas of your novel or screenplay that need work. We'll go over basic ground rules on how to provide constructive criticism. Students will provide the first five pages of their novels or scripts for workshopping. Students will provide feedback to their classmates on their first five pages. 

Week Ten - Students will discuss traditionally publishing or indie publishing their work. We'll cover looking for markets that publish children/teen work, how to write a query letter, and the steps of how to independently publish. Screenwriters will learn about festivals and contests for their work. 

*Some lessons might be shifted around based on student need and interest.*

If the class has already started and you want your child to be guided through NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo, I am alright with student's enrolling late as long as the month of NaNo hasn't started. If the Enroll button is no longer present, please message me for a special link to enroll your child late. If your child wants to do NaNo, but not necessarily in a structured class, I do offer a class with less structure that occurs during the month of the event. 
Creative Writing: Write Your NaNoWriMo Novel and Screenplay Club (13+) - https://outschool.com/classes/creative-writing-write-your-nanowrimo-novel-club-FaOsTVAJ
Creative Writing: Write Your NaNoWriMo Novel and Screenplay Club (8-13) - https://outschool.com/classes/creative-writing-write-your-nanowrimo-novel-club-L4UGK5ay