Best Novel Writing Courses [Become a Bestseller]Are you hoping to write a bestselling novel? If so, you need to learn the major storytelling elements that many bestselling books share. Fortunately, you can learn them online, in just a few days. Below, find my list of the best novel writing courses, with their prices. Whether you're a beginner author or an experienced writer looking to refine your skills, these online classes can help.  Hit Writer Course for novelistsMy Hit Writer Course helps you turn your idea for a novel into a scene-by-scene outline, with a compelling plot and unforgettable characters, then provides guidance for writing the scenes, covering dialogue, description, and more. The online video lessons, which apply to any fiction genre, can be finished in just a day, or taken at any pace you'd like. You also get:
Get lifetime access for just $47.  Novel writing topics covered in my courseHere are just some of the writing topics you'll learn: MasterClass novel writing coursesThough I teach my own classes, I also encourage you to learn from other writing instructors. MasterClass is a subscription-based, online-education platform I recommend. It offers lessons in various areas, from famous experts. A focus for MasterClass is its novel writing courses.  How much does a MasterClass subscription cost?A MasterClass Individual membership costs $10/month, billed yearly. Once you sign up, you immediately gain access to all of its novel writing courses (plus all of its other classes). They offer a 30-day, money-back guarantee. I recommend you browse the MasterClass writing courses on their website. If just one of them seems like a fit for you, sign up for the 30-day trial, which you can take risk-free. List of MasterClass courses for novelistsJames Patterson
Judy Blume
R.L. Stine
Margaret Atwood
Dan Brown
Walter Mosley
Neil Gaiman
David Baldacci
Amy Tan
N.K. Jemisin
Udemy novel writing coursesAnother online-education platform I recommend is Udemy. They offer some great novel writing classes, plus courses in plenty of other subjects.  How much does Udemy cost?Udemy courses are offered individually, each with its own price. Many of the writing classes range from about $50 to $150 bucks. You also have the option to get a subscription, which gives you access to 10,000+ courses. You can try it free for 7 days, then the price becomes $16.58/month. List of Udemy courses for novelistsWrite a Bestselling Novel in 15 Steps
Novel Writing Workshop
Your Path To Writing a Page-Turner
Your Writer's Journey: 12 Steps to Write Your Hero's Journey
Skillshare novel writing coursesAnother online-education platform I recommend is Skillshare. They offer various novel writing classes, plus courses in many other subjects.  How much does Skillshare cost?Skillshare offers memberships. Once you sign up, you immediately gain access to all of the novel writing courses (plus all of the others). The first month is free. You can try it risk-free. Afterwards, it typically costs $14/month, billed annually, however, they're currently running a promotion for 30% off. Visit the deal page to claim their offer: List of Skillshare courses for novelistsNovel Writing for Beginners: How to Write Your First Draft
Nailing Your Narrative: Using Story Structure To Tell Irresistible Stories
How To Write A Book: Novel Writing
Write a Great Plot 101
Frequently asked questions about novel writing coursesHow can I learn to write a novel?Taking an online writing course can teach you the key elements of a novel. You should also read many books and start writing your own, even if you're not ready to publish anytime soon. The act of writing will help you develop your skills and style. Should I take a writing class before writing a book?Yes. First, learn the key elements of storytelling in a novel writing course. Without understanding them, you may spend months on a first draft that you find unworkable. Learn how to outline a story and structure a scene, then begin your novel, starting with an outline. Which genres are online writing courses for?Most online novel writing courses teach principles that apply to any fiction genre. Other classes cover these principles, while also going into writing advice specifically for one genre, or possibly a handful. If you write in any of the following genres, the courses listed in this article would be a help to you:
What's the difference between MasterClass and Skillshare?MasterClass has about 200 courses, taught by world-famous instructors. Though Skillshare's instructors tend to not be famous, the platform has over 30,000 classes, covering many narrow topics. To learn more, check out my article on Skillshare vs. MasterClass. What's the difference between Skillshare and Udemy?Skillshare and Udemy each offer a subscription option, with access to unlimited classes. A Skillshare subscription costs less than a Udemy one, about $10 per month vs. about $17. However, Udemy has more courses, over 200,000, plus lets you purchase any individually, without a subscription. To learn more, have a look at my post on Skillshare vs. Udemy. Is it worth taking a writing course?Yes. Online writing courses are a very affordable way to learn key storytelling elements. They are much cheaper than college creative writing classes. The small amount of money you'd spend on a course can be earned back very quickly in sales royalties from a book. This post contains affiliate links.
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How Long Does It Take To Write A Book? [Tips To Finish Faster]Are you interested in writing a book? Find out how long it'll take you with this simple online calculator. Learn the typical length of a novel and other popular writing formats like non-fiction books, screenplays, novellas, and short stories. Also, I provide five helpful tips for getting your writing project done faster.  Complete your book faster with an outline. Download my FREE guide. Typical time to complete a book's first draftA novel has a minimum of 60,000 words, which is also a common length for a non-fiction book. Let's assume you're writing a book of this length, you're able to dedicate 3 days per week to it, and, on average, you can write 3 pages per day. With double-spaced pages and 12-point Times New Roman font, the time to write the first draft of novel would be approximately 6 months. Use my calculator for a custom time for book completionAre you able to write more than 3 days per week? Can you finish more than 3 pages per day? Or maybe you're on a tight schedule and can only write a couple pages a day, once a week? Whatever the case, I put together a simple online calculator to let you estimate the time you'll need to finish the first draft of a 60,000-word book based on your own schedule: How many words on a page in Microsoft Word?Double-spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font, a page in Microsoft Word (or a similar program) contains about 275 words. This value considers blank space for paragraph breaks and dialogue. My calculator factors in a 275-word average per page in its time estimates. How long should your book be?The pages in a physical book are not necessarily laid out the same way as a page in a word-processing program. Pages of published paperbacks often have height and width dimensions that are quite different from other books', making page count a non-standardized measurement for length. Thus, when authors discuss the length of a manuscript with industry professionals, they often use the metric of word count, vs. page count. If you submit your manuscript to a publishing company, an acquiring editor likely won't ask how many pages your book is, but what its word count is. As mentioned, in general, a novel has a minimum of 60,000 words. Novels of 80,000-100,000 words are common. Novels of 120,000 words are surely published each year, however, are quite less prevalent than shorter ones. Not many novels exceed 150,000 words. Non-fiction books tend to be shorter, on average, ranging from about 50,000 to 80,000 words. Sub-genres within fiction and non-fiction have their own word-count ranges. When submitting a manuscript to a publisher, you may be given a required word-count range based on sub-genre and the formats the publishing company tends to market most (ex, e-book, paperback, hardcover, audiobook). In general, publishing companies primarily focused on e-books accept shorter manuscripts than those that invest in physical-copy marketing. Planning to write a longer book?If you're planning on writing a longer book than 60,000 words, just take the total my calculator gives you and multiply it by these numbers:
If you're a first-time author, you should likely avoid writing an extremely long book. Not only can the writing process become cumbersome, but most publishing companies won't even consider a new author's manuscript if it's over a certain length. Aim for at least three drafts of your bookMy calculator provides an estimate of how long you'll need to start and complete a first draft. Though finishing a first draft is a major step, your book will likely need to be polished through at least three drafts. These additional drafts tend to take a shorter time than the first. If you are planning on self-publishing your book, I recommend self-editing through at least three drafts, then finding another editor to review your manuscript before publishing. If you are looking to submit your book to publishing companies, you should definitely self-edit it through at least three drafts so you make a good impression. If your book is accepted, the publisher will then assign it an additional editor before release. Length of shorter fiction
Instead of jumping directly into a long format like a novel, many new writers begin their careers by writing short fiction. In no way is this a requirement, however, it can help you develop your skills before taking on longer projects.  Length of a screenplayUnlike books and short fiction, screenplay length is measured in page count, vs. word count. A film producer won't ask you the word count of your screenplay, but rather, the page total. As a general rule, one page in a screenplay equals one minute of run time within a produced film. For example, when filmed, a 95-page screenplay would typically result in a 95-minute movie. Films tend to run between 90 and 120 minutes, and thus, the typical length of a screenplay is between 90 and 120 pages. Yes, a movie can go over 120 minutes, and therefore, a screenplay can go over 120 pages. However, if you're a first-time screenwriter, you may have an easier job convincing people in the film industry to give your script a read if it won't consume a big portion of their day. Thus, I would suggest you keep yours between 90 and 99 pages. Tips to complete your writing project faster#1 - Create a great outlineYour first draft will go a lot smoother if you have a strong sense of what you're going to write each day. An outline will accomplish that. If you happen to be writing a novel, novella, or screenplay, I have a free outline guide you can download, which will help you create compelling story elements in a dramatic sequence...  An effective outline will not only help you with your first draft, but your later ones as well. Without an outline, you may reach the end of your first draft when finally realizing that a certain large story element - like a major character or plot sequence - doesn't work. Instead of your second draft being focused on tightening up your descriptions and dialogue, you'll be obligated to pull off a massive structural change, which can take a lot of time. Instead, if you dedicated some time to an outline upfront, you likely would've identified the unworkable story element before beginning your first draft. You'd start thinking of solutions early. An issue that may take a month to fix in a second draft could be resolved in a day in an outline. #2 - Get early feedbackOnce you come up with the premise of your project, you may want to share it with some friends to see what they think. They might point out some potential concerns, causing you to reconsider part of your premise. Reassessing your premise early on is much simpler than doing so after you've started your first draft. The latter could force you into a time-consuming structural edit. Though early feedback from friends can be helpful, if you're writing a novella, novel, or screenplay, you might want to consider partnering with a story consultant, especially if you're struggling to put together an outline you're happy with. A story consultant can help you shape your premise and outline. Unlike editors, who join a project after you've completed multiple drafts, story consultants can join a project early, before the first draft is even started. #3 - Stick to a writing scheduleIf you tell yourself you'll find time "here and there" to work on your first draft, you can easily get sidetracked by other commitments in your life (job, family, etc) and go weeks without writing. Instead, I recommend creating a writing schedule and sticking to it unless a genuine emergency arises. If you have a lot of other commitments in your life, that's okay - maybe your writing schedule will consist of just one hour, one day week. Whatever the case, find slices of time during the week where you can focus. If you happen to work a 9-5 job, possibly you can give yourself a nightly chunk of time to write, say from 8 to 10 PM, Monday through Friday. If your 9-5 job is exhausting and you don't think you'll be able to give your writing project quality focus on weekdays at night, consider a four-hour block of time every Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Whatever schedule you decide on, I recommend using a planning tool like Todoist - which has a free version - to set reminders for yourself and measure your progress.  #4 - Organize your writing projectWhether you're writing a fiction or non-fiction project, you'll likely be doing research as you create your outline and/or begin your first draft. Writing software like Scrivener - which offers a free trial - can help you store all your research content for easy access, cutting down on the time you spend looking up images, articles, etc. Scrivener has a bunch of other writing tools that'll help you, such as a nested folder system for adding scenes to relevant sections in your outline. Easily shuffle scene sequencing in your manuscript without spending time manually copying and pasting blocks of texts.  #5 - Focus on the story, not grammarThe purpose of your first draft is to get the main elements of your story onto pages. You want to focus on making sure major aspects like story structure, character development, and plot points come together in a workable way. Before writing a book, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the rules of grammar if you don't yet know them in depth. However, when writing, you don't want to spend time noticing and fixing small errors. Yes, there's a time for addressing these issues - during the editing phase after your third (or higher) draft is complete. Not during the first. I recommend using a tool like ProWritingAid - which has a free version - that'll look out for small errors so you don't have to. A ProWritingAid account can also give you helpful writing tips, like stylistic suggestions.  Time to start writingNow that you have my tips for completing a first draft of a book, you should begin making your writing dream a reality. Be sure to grab my outlining guide as your first step. This post contains affiliate links. MasterClass for Writing - Should You Try it? [Courses and Reviews]Are you hoping to write a hit book or screenplay? The writing courses on MasterClass can help. Learn writing techniques online, with self-paced video lessons from famous authors and screenwriters. In this article, I provide reviews of recommended MasterClass courses on book and screenplay writing from various instructors.  |