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Flex Creative Writing: Write a Chapter Book or Book of Stories

In this 14-week flex (asynchronous) class, I help students finish a chapter book, novel, or novella, developing their writing skills and building their creative confidence to help them achieve a huge life goal at a young age.
Kim Purcell MFA
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:
(247)
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What's included

74 pre-recorded lessons
average 2 mins per video
14 weeks
of teacher support
2 hrs 28 mins
total video learning hours
1 year access
to the content
Homework
2-4 hours per week. Learners will be watching the videos I'll post every week and completing the lessons in the weekly guide. I suggest about 2 to 4 hours of writing a week so that they can successfully finish.
Assessment
I give encouraging feedback on their writing throughout the class and I focus on positive feedback with the goal of building their creative confidence and inspiring them to write enthusiastically to the end.

Class Experience

US Grade 3 - 6
Intermediate Level
Are you ready to write a novel?  You can do it, and I would love to help you. I've helped hundreds of kids and teens finish and publish their books. 

This is an asynchronous class, which means all lessons are video lessons, not live online. You watch them, write your chapter, and then send your chapter to me each week. 

You can write your novel or chapter book in 14 weeks or even faster. If it's summertime and you need to do it in four or eight weeks, please pick the self-paced option instead of the weekly one. 

I recommend a shorter book so that students finish and feel that boost of self-confidence. Also, they will need to edit it to improve their skills, so a shorter book helps them improve more. I recommend 25 to 50 pages for your first book. For this class, I give feedback on up to 60 double-spaced pages. This is a lot for most kids. It needs to be 25 pages to print it out in a paperback or hardcover book. The moment they get their book in the mail is huge for them - kids GLOW. I wish every parent could see it. 

I'm a published novelist, and I've been teaching writing to kids and teens for over twenty years. Penguin and Disney Hyperion have published my young adult novels, and Penguin is also publishing my writing craft guide: The Busy Writer's Guide to Finishing a Novel in 100 Days. That's for teens and adults. This class is an easier version of my very popular class for teens and adults. My books are available in bookstores and online. 

This flex class will guide you from the beginning brainstorming of your book to the first pages, through the middle, and to the end. I'll teach you how to keep writing through any blocks, using your imagination, so that you make it to the end. You'll finish your book, just like me!

I will use examples from popular kid's books like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Wings of Fire, Keeper of the Lost Cities, and many more. If you have a special book that you want me to talk about, let me know. I'll make a special video about that book! 

If you follow the fourteen-week schedule, you brainstorm in the first week, then you write twelve chapters for the following twelve weeks, and finally, you edit in the fourteenth week, and you're ready to publish your book! Woohoo! Let's have some fun.
Learning Goals
Students will develop storytelling and writing skills through the process of writing a novel. See the specific focus for each week: we will cover every element of storytelling including characters, setting, plot, tension, scene-building and literary devices.
learning goal

Syllabus

Curriculum
Follows Teacher-Created Curriculum
Standards
Aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
6 Units
74 Lessons
over 14 Weeks
Unit 1: Introduction and Brainstorming Your Book
Lesson 1:
BRAINSTORMING WEEK: Welcome to the Chapter Book Class
 Today, you'll learn everything you need to do when writing a chapter book. I will answer any of your common questions and explain how you can finish a book in twelve weeks. 
6 mins of video lessons
Lesson 2:
ALL VIDEOS FOR THIS CLASS IN ONE PLACE
 In case you are looking for videos all in one place or the uploaded videos don't work for some reason, here are all of the links on YouTube for these same lessons. 
Lesson 3:
Brainstorming Your Story Idea
 You will come up with a solid story idea today, one that will be exciting to write. 
Lesson 4:
Brainstorming Your Characters
 You will decide on a main character and brainstorm the other key characters, figuring out their details. 
9 mins of video lessons

Other Details

Learning Needs
This is great for kids who may feel stressed with social interaction but are good at working independently. If your child is sensitive to feedback, please let me know. I always aim to be encouraging, but I will be extra careful.
Parental Guidance
In the workshops, I'll be sharing slides on Canva, sometimes using excerpts from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling and Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. The daily prompts will have examples from a range of appropriate children's books. Students can either share their Google Docs with me or they can copy and paste their writing over Outschool. Students will not have to have a Canva account, it is simply part of the screen sharing in the videos. On the last day, I'll teach them how to prepare their books so that they can be printed out on Lulu.com, which is a child-appropriate site for designing books. This part of the class is optional, it will just be part of the last video so that you have this information should you choose to do it. The first part of that day will be on prepping their book to print no matter what format you choose. If you want a hardcover book from Lulu.com, copies range in cost from 10-20 dollars plus shipping. There are other book printing sites, I've just found this one the easiest. Parents will need to help their kids set up the account, upload their work and purchase whatever copies they want. It's really amazing for them to get their own hardcover book, so I wanted to show you how to do this as part of this class.
Supply List
The students need to have a word document or a google document so they can type their book. They also need a notebook, pens and markers. All other curriculum will be provided.
Outschool is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., owner of the Harry Potter® mark and related Harry Potter marks.
Joined January, 2022
4.9
247reviews
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Teacher expertise and credentials
Master's Degree from Vermont College of Fine Arts
I'm a writing teacher with over twenty years of teaching experience and also a young adult novelist with two acclaimed young adult novels, Trafficked and This Is Not a Love Letter, published by big 5 publishers. Trafficked made Columbia's Bank Street Best Books list and top lists for several states. This Is Not a Love Letter was one of NPR's top books of 2018 and a Twirly Girl Book of 2018. Both books have received starred reviews from top reviewers and made top lists for books. 

I'm here on Outschool because my other passion is helping as many kids as I can write books. I have over twenty years of teaching experience, teaching creative writing, novel writing and English as a Second Language. I've taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District and to homeschooled kids in both New York City and Los Angeles. I was the first curriculum director of the famous non-profit, WriteGirl in Los Angeles, and I helped build it into the multi-sensory interactive writing program it is today. I have a journalism degree and a Masters in Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults from VCFA. I also teach writing at a public Waldorf-inspired K-8 school in the Los Angeles Unified School District and I run a successful in-person after-school writing program. 

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Self-Paced Course
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$15

weekly or $200 for all content
74 pre-recorded lessons
14 weeks of teacher support
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1 year of access to the content

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Ages: 6-12

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