This January, I joined a free online class in novel writing at the Forward Motion for Writers community, and I’m glad I did. Its timing is perfect to help me write The Myth of Merula. It’s a two year novel writing class with weekly assignments that cover every aspect of novel writing, from idea to characters to worldbuilding to writing to editing to submission and publication. Lazette Gifford, a very prolific author with many published novels under her belt, is the teacher. Her attitude is practical and experienced. I sense that this gal knows how to go through all the steps of writing a novel without wasting her time. I could use some o’ that.

The classes follow a simple system that works quite well. Each week’s assignment begins with a description of what you’re being asked to do, along with two examples provided by Lazette. Students each have their own thread for their assigments, and they comment on each others’ threads.

The Forward Motion for Writers community has a lot more to offer than the two year novel writing class. Among other things, it offers crit circles with very clear guidelines on how to critique and how to receive criticism. One guideline is reciprocation. If somebody takes the time to give you thoughtful feedback on your work, you’re expected to return the favor. As I accumulate more writing, I intend to participate in a few crit circles.

If you check out this community, don’t be fooled by the way that the Website looks. The content and community features are a lot better than the design of the site. Expect to have to spend some time learning to navigate the site. Also, remember to scroll down a lot. When you get to a page that you would like to return to later, I suggest that you bookmark it, because you may have trouble finding it again. In spite of all that, the content and community are worth it, and you get used to navigating the site after the first few visits.

Other Posts Categorized as Myth of Merula:

• The Philosophy Wiki is Back - December 31st, 2007
• Getting Caught Up on My Online Novel Writing Class - July 4th, 2007
• The Myth of Merula Expands from Fictional Story to Fictional Website - April 8th, 2007
• I Rewrote the Beginning of the Myth of Merula - February 10th, 2007
• Why I Named Her Blackbird - December 28th, 2006
• The Myth of Merula Story Begins - December 17th, 2006

Other Posts Categorized as Writing:

• Getting Caught Up on My Online Novel Writing Class - July 4th, 2007
• The Myth of Merula Expands from Fictional Story to Fictional Website - April 8th, 2007
• Writers as Myth-Makers, Artists as Shamans - March 31st, 2007
• Heroes and Heroines in Romance and Other Genres - March 24th, 2007
• Anais Nin, Science Fiction Prose Style - October 28th, 2006
• GAM3R 7H30RY - May 28th, 2006
• Without Gods - A Blog to Book Experiment - May 28th, 2006
• Literatronic Software for Online Writing - May 27th, 2006
• simply7 by Deena Larsen - April 5th, 2006
• Quantum Writing - March 16th, 2006