NVL 09 W — Writing the Novel from Back to Front
Spring
Date(s)
Mar 28—Jun 3
10 weeks
Drop By
Mar 31
3 Units
Fees
$805
Closed
John Irving said, “I don’t start a novel … until I know
the end.” Are you trying to write a novel but have
no idea where to start? Imagining your last scene can
lead to your first one, especially using story structure.
Structure is the spine of every novel, helping the “flesh”
of character, dialogue, and setting to hold together. In
this course, we will study story structure to find the spine
of your novel so you can get creative with it, helped by
John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story and Lisa Cron’s
Wired for Story.
Students will produce three pages of work (750 words) per week for the first six weeks, respond to reading and discussion questions, and complete exercises in mapping out essential plot points, outlining psychological and moral needs, and other tactics. In the final four weeks, we will be workshopping up to 5,000 words each from two or three students every week. By the end of the course, students will have a synopsis, techniques to map out their novel (including the use of reveals, reversals, and moral choices), and a last chapter from which they can work backward.
Students will produce three pages of work (750 words) per week for the first six weeks, respond to reading and discussion questions, and complete exercises in mapping out essential plot points, outlining psychological and moral needs, and other tactics. In the final four weeks, we will be workshopping up to 5,000 words each from two or three students every week. By the end of the course, students will have a synopsis, techniques to map out their novel (including the use of reveals, reversals, and moral choices), and a last chapter from which they can work backward.
This is an online course. For more information about the Online Writing Program, visit our FAQs.
Caroline Leavitt, Author
Caroline Leavitt is the author of ten novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You. Her essays, stories, and articles have appeared in Salon, Psychology Today, New York, Parenting, The Chicago Tribune, Parents, Redbook, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and numerous anthologies. She also teaches in the online UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and has reviewed books for People magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle.Textbooks for this course:
(Required) Lisa Cron, Wired for Story (ISBN 1607742454)
(Required) John Truby, The Anatomy of Story (ISBN 0865479933)
(Required) John Truby, The Anatomy of Story (ISBN 0865479933)