Escritura creativa: escribe una novela con la novelista juvenil Kim Purcell

This class will help you finish your novel, improve your writing skills, and build your creative confidence. My number one goal is to help you feel amazing about your creative work. As a published novelist with over twenty years of teaching experience, I've found this helps improve the quality of the writing more than any other element. 

** As soon as you register, you will receive an automated intro letter with a weekly guide and bonus videos so you're ready for your first class. If you don't receive this, reach out to me.** 

**Note that this class is for middle schoolers and high schoolers. I have a younger class too.** 

This novel writing class is designed to work for intermediate to advanced writers. It is fun and inclusive with a lot of writing time. My goal is 25 minutes of writing in every class because that's what my students want. I'm available during that entire time to help you if you get stuck and I have extra prompts ready to keep the ideas flowing. I will help you finish your novel!

At the end, you publish your book, and I show you how to do this. 

Writing a novel is an incredible way to explore creativity and achieve a huge and rare life accomplishment. For the rest of your life, you can say, "I wrote and finished a book!" It will not only improve your writing in every area, it'll make you a better storyteller. Even if you don't plan on becoming a novelist, most careers require some degree of storytelling. 

All students are all working on books at different points - beginning, middle, and end - in class, we focus on skills that apply to any chapter. I will help you plot your book outside of the class. I recommend brainstorming your story idea before your first class or you can do it in that first class. Send me an email about your story idea if you can before your first day. 

-----What is the vibe of the class?-----
My style is kind and fun. I've taught novel writing to all levels and all types of learners, neurotypical and neurodivergent, shy kids and outgoing kids, homeschoolers, traditional schoolers. I design the class around the students' needs, teaching in an uplifting way and helping you see your incredible strengths as writers and as humans in this world. Writing is about capturing humanity. I'm a novelist for this age group, and this is why I teach this class - I care about each student and their very important creative life. 

-----What is the typical structure of each live class?-----
For the first part of the class, we talk, I give some examples about the skill of the day, we do some brainstorming on characters/plan, verbally or in the chat, whatever you prefer. You can also stay silent. I want you to feel totally comfortable. We discuss for the first five minutes and then I give you a five minute sprint warm-up, which you may or may not insert into the book. Then we brainstorm, look at other elements of the topic of the day, and look at examples for the next 20 minutes. After that, you write for 25 minutes straight, and I give some literary devices or challenges in the chat to help you. Most of the teens prefer this solid chunk of time to write. During that writing time, I'm available to answer questions in the chat or jump into your document to help you brainstorm. Also, before the class, I will get you to read a page or two in the guide and watch a short five minute video on the topic of the day.

-----The class has already started. Can I still join? -----
Yes! This is an ongoing class, which means you can start it at any time and it never ends. For novel-writing, it really doesn't matter. Even if everyone started at the same time, very quickly one person would be in the middle of their book, another would still be at the beginning. You go at your own pace, follow the plot points in the guide, and write your entire first draft in the class. You can take a break at that point or start a new book or work on your second draft. 

-----I already started my book. Can I continue it? -----
Definitely! I can only read and give feedback on up to five double-spaced pages a week as a part of this class because obviously this takes a lot of time, but you can apply that feedback to your writing as you move forward. Usually, I find most students make the same mistakes throughout, and they also have the same strengths. My goal is to build on the strengths you already have and eliminate some of the problematic areas of your writing. If you have a hard time finishing a book, don't worry, you're not alone. I will help. 

------Do we share the writing out loud in class?------
No, we don't read out loud. In my experience, sharing can be a very stressful thing, and even when you get a positive response, it can slow down the writing because you then write in a self conscious way, becoming aware that others will read it. I want you to finish this book, and sharing can do the opposite. Sharing can add stress to a class, and our class is all about clearing stress and building creative confidence. Occasionally, I will offer the chance to share chapters in the classrooms, and others can read it, but the rule is that you can only give positive-only feedback to fellow students. Peer editing is quite destructive to creative confidence, and I work hard to build up your confidence. However, if you tell each other what lines you love, or what elements you love, it's helpful in the next draft because the writer won't change it or get rid of that part. 

------Can I share my writing with you?------
Of course! This is a big part of this class. Every week, I want you to share your pages and I'll send you encouraging constructive feedback. I read up to five double spaced pages from each student every week. You can opt for positive-only feedback also. This can be helpful for a first draft. Remember, our goal is for you to finish this draft, and then revise it. Your first draft should not look like a published book - as a published author, I can tell you that most authors go through around 10 or more drafts. You can also wait to share it until your whole book is finished. In that case, I just look at how many weeks you've done and tell you how many pages of feedback I can do. 

------Do you give us any material or extra workshops to do outside of class?------
You will get a guide along with extra videos to help you brainstorm and work on skills. 

------How long does my book have to be?------
I think it's good to aim for at least ten chapters. Don't aim for four-hundred pages for your first book. A novel or novella can be 50 double spaced pages. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton was  40 pages when she submitted it to publishers. If you plan to submit your book to the Scholastic Book Awards, it should be around 100 pages. Plan your book (even a little) before you start writing so that you can be sure it has legs. I will send you a video on how to do this. It'll take you an hour and save you many many hours in the future. 

------What if I never finish my books? Will I finish one in your class?------
You aren't alone. This is one of the most common problems. Yes, most of my students finish, but of course, that's up to you. One thing that will help is a bit of planning. My weekly guide, if you actually follow it, has a very high success rate. In fact, a version of this guide will soon be published by Penguin. It's called The Busy Writer's Guide to Finishing a Book in 100 Days. Writing a book takes far longer if you don't take the time to develop characters and think up a basic plan. I also recommend my intense class if you really want to finish - this way your attention won't wander. 

-----What is the weekly class topic schedule for Dec-May 2025?-----
(NOTE: this schedule repeats in June, but no class repeats for the entire year. I use different examples and discuss different aspects of each one of these topics.)

Dec 9 - 15: DIALOGUE, REVEALS, AND PLOT TWISTS IN DIALOGUE

Dec 16-22: GOALS and OBSTACLES

Dec 23-29: DRAMATIZATION and MULTI-SENSORY WRITING

Dec 30 - Jan 5, 2025: CHARACTERIZATION and YOUR SIDE CHARACTERS

Jan 6 - 12: Plotting a Four-Act Structure, Key Elements of Every Scene

Jan 13-Jan 19: Characterization - Details, Dialogue, Save the Cat, Humor, Wisdom

Jan 20-26: Motivation, Agency, Scene-Sequel, Reactions, Body Language

Jan 27-Feb 2: Tension, Anti-Tension, Hooks, Foreshadowing, Reveals, Scene Questions, Cliffhangers

Feb 3-9: Descriptions and Multi-Sensory Writing

Feb 10-16: Dialogue - Core Rules, Subtext, Reveals

Feb 17-23:  Conflict - Antagonist, Internal vs External Conflict, Subplot, Conflicting Identity

Feb 24-Mar 2: Specificity and Details - Nouns, Verbs, Listing, Clincher details

Mar 3-9: Character Development - Trauma, Misbelief, Love, Power, Secondary Characters

Mar 10-16: Plot and the Midpoint: Love and Happiness, The Emotional Scar, Stakes, Shock Reactions

Mar 17-23: Scene Design, Dramatization, Multi-sensory Writing

Mar 24-30: Character Arcs at the Midpoint: Action-Reaction, Motivation, Plot complications, Goals

Mar 31-April 6:  Common Writing Mistakes

April 7-13: How to Get UNSTUCK, Exploring the Weird, Plot Twists, Show Don't Tell, Psychic Distance, Cures for Writer's Block

April 14-20: Tension: Mistakes, Twists, Subplot, Suffering, Mysterious Reactions

April 21-27: Character Growth: Trauma, Flashbacks, Misbelief, The Objective Correlative

April 28-May 4: Action Scenes: Physical Action, Verb choice, Crowd Scenes

May 5-11: Beautiful Language Devices & Emotion 

May 12-18: Planning Your Climax and Ending (Even if you’ve just started writing your book)

May 19-25: How to Edit

May 26 -June 1: Celebration of YOU, what you do well - We look at inspiration from students' writing and then use that in the writing.