Can writing be taught? Well, language is taught—partly by immersion in a world of talk and partly by more formal instruction. Even learning to walk as a baby involves encouragement, helping hands and occasional rescue. The passion for walking and talking sparked by living in a community that thrives on movement and language joins with the creative coaching our families and teachers provide. So it is in the Book Writing World. Community and coaching create writing success.

What goes on in the classes of the Book Writing World?

The Book Writing World is a community and a place to learn and write. One member called it “a fun, intimate graduate school.” The current class offerings are “Plan Your Book,” “Write Your Book,” “Revise Your Book,” and “Finish Your Book.”  The next round of courses begins Sept. 12, 2010.

There are 6 major components to our online teaching:

  • Short, practical lectures on craft and process for people working on book-length projects: novels, memoir, narrative non-fiction.
  • Assignments that move your book forward with personal feedback from a published author.
  • Weekly goal setting and a free Motivation course.
  • A free Publishing course.
  • Community support and conversation among writers.
  • Monthly Q & A with a visiting published writer in fiction or non-fiction.

Each course has a weekly video mini-lecture, 5 – 10 minutes in length, and an assignment to post in the group forum. The assignments give you the opportunity to work directly on your book and strengthen your craft and process. I give feedback on all your assignments.

Every Monday, we post our goals for the week and check in about last week’s goals. In the fall, we will offer a free Motivation course. In the Write Your Book course a program of “interval training” builds up to the NaNoWriMo sprint. (Yeah, we used to think it was a marathon, but you should see our writing muscles now that we’re doing it year-around!)

Every week, an intimate group of writers from around the world attends a coaching and craft conference via computer video conferencing. These calls catapult your writing power and your book project forward. And we make sure you are on track with your goals—planning, writing, revising, finishing and publishing your book.

Monthly publishing conferences, free for students, prepare you to succeed in the marketplace.

But first, you have to get that book written and make it great. We help you do that, too.

Take a look at this video and let me know what you think and how this will help you write your book. And keep an eye out for our free four-part mini-course on Motivation for writers that will launch later this week.