This is a fantastic idea! I'm going to do this, but the night class edition for folks like me with day jobs. And it's an excuse to buy planner with all of the bells and whistles.
@@e_m_conley I did night class about 10 years ago when I was in grad school. I worked during the day and went to class in the evening. I’m structuring it like the semester I had an internship. Mondays are going to be a plot class because I’m horrible at middles. Thursdays are going to be set aside time for me to read some books that I know/have heard are like my WIP and make some notes on what the author does well, what could be improved, etc. My internship is going to be writing my book (I’m actually editing and doing rewrites). Wednesdays will be a check in and goal setting day. And I can make goals a week at a time. After that im going to write on the other days for 2 hours each night (I measure my writing sessions by time goals instead of making a word goal until I sleep. I need sleep.) My internship logged 10 hours per week. So once I get to 10 hours, I will tap out. Hope this helps.
I aim to get at least 1 hour of dedicated writing craft study every week. It's not much, but it keeps things going. Good luck with your semester! Very fun.
@@KateCavanaugh Mostly I work my way through writing craft books or websites, but if I get stuck while writing I give myself permission to research that particular thing for the week. I like the feeling of seeing my progress as I work my way through a big resource bit by bit.
Yay, fun! I too am designing a 12-week “term” for myself that includes writing/research, P.E., art, and ASL. I look forward to seeing how your semester unfolds in your future vlogs!
A Basement Brimming with Bodies is such an excellent title for a sequel! I love it! 🥰 I think creating your own writing semester is a really good idea! I might have to try it sometime. I just finished my PhD in Education/Disability Studies last year (and I have an MFA in Screenwriting). My PhD dissertation is a one-hour supernatural drama pilot that I adapted into an Adult contemporary fantasy novel. After 6 drafts, I’m finally querying the novel. I started querying in July and the script has been submitted to TV writing fellowships. Most of my formal writing training has been in screenwriting/TV writing and I’ve taken fiction writing workshops with Tin House and Futurescapes, which I think are valuable. I would love to apply to more genre fiction workshops like that! I think it’s harder to find genre fiction workshops and programs as most undergrad and MFA programs focus on literary fiction. However, there are a few MFA programs in genre and/or kidlit that look really interesting (that I wish I could do). I also teach workshops now, so I’ve been both the student and professor!
This is such a fun idea! I took a class in college where we focused on one specific writer that changed every semester (my class was Dickens) and basically did a deep dive into their work and looked at common themes and also historical context. I feel like it would be fun to do something similar with a specific book, maybe a comp title for your wip or even a book/writer you really love and feel inspired by and just do a really deep analysis of how everythings working to tell the story. Look at the first and last sentences (or paragraphs) and think about why they're so strong or maybe rewrtite them to try and make them even stronger? Track character arcs, voice, strong setting descriptions, track the outline through the three act structure and see if it sticks to it or where it deviates and why. Maybe even get a cheap copy of the book to annotate the heck out of or just transcribe certain scenes you really like and just obsess over every sentences and what its function is. Basically make yourself an expert in that specific book to better understand why it resonates with you and other readers
Ooooh, how cool! That sounds awesome. I do really love diving in and annotating books. I haven’t done it in a while, maybe this could be a fun “bonus” I’ll add at the end of my semester bahaha! Thank you for the inspiration! :)
I’ve wanted to do this since you did it last year! This time I’m going to join you! My classes are: - Adulting: learning to write adult because I’ve only ever written YA - Show & Tell: improving my showing skills instead of telling - Witty Banter: improving the wit and humour in my prose - Vampire Lore: new novel research 🧛🏻♀️
You have inspired me to make my own little semster! Both my kids will be in school full time (kindergartener and third grader waaaahhh) and while I'm looking for some part time work I also want to use that unemployed and un-parenting time to focus on writing and my craft and this is just genius. AND I'm not going to lie I have FOMO about the fun stuff I'm getting my kids for back to school, so like I want in. XD So thank you for this little break down! It helps. :D
I just started (last week) Sarra Cannon's Publish & Thrive course. I've wanted to take it for years, and finally enrolled. It's soooo much content, and 6 weeks of modules. I'm loving it, and can see how I'll definitely get my money's worth when I go to self publish my first novel. Have fun in your writing semester!
I'm majoring in English/Creative Writing and completing the last class I need for my major as we speak (all that are left are free electives) and it's been...an interesting experience. I have so many thoughts and opinions about it, but in general, I think I did/will get worth out of my degree. I certainly enjoyed the structure of going to school for writing. You improve quickly because you're writing and reading all the time, and getting feedback on your work is always important (I can write a whole essay about this though), but in all honesty, I don't think that it's necessary to spend thousands of dollars on a writing degree when the internet and books are at your disposal. What you're doing now works just as well so long as you have the discipline to stick to it, the important thing IS having goals and working to achieve those goals. This is to say, I don't regret choosing my current major, however, because what you can do with this major money-wise is such an open concept, I do wish I had gone for something a bit more practical. (I'm minoring in Graphic Design and I find the skills more useful than anything I've learned from writing.)
That makes complete sense!! Having that graphic design minor alongside your major will help you so much! Just curious, do you have a favorite class you’ve taken under your major??
I’m hoping to go into this major (and graphic design possibly-), do you have any advice for me? Or would you be willing to reach out and talk to me about this topic??
@@KateCavanaugh I think my favorite class had to have been the "Intermediate Fiction Writing" class. In this one, we had the choice to start a novel or a collection of short stories. I chose to start a novel (just to mess around with an idea that had been in my head) and in this particular class, I got a lot of GOOD feedback from classmates that perfectly allowed me to see what my strengths and weaknesses were. In this particular class, I could really tell the students were taking things seriously, and we all were really focused on being each other's cheerleaders and making each other's work better! I can't say this was the case for all of my writing-centered classes (you could certainly tell who was and wasn't trying based on how they followed the instructions) but this particular class was great! :)
@@hannahphillips500 Sure! What type of advice are you looking for? There is quite a bit I could say, so having something specific would help me not go on a tangent, haha.
@@hannahphillips500I regret only majoring in English Writing and Rhetoric. I graduated a year early, so I could and should have double majored in something useful. Unless you’re in a major city, writing related jobs are nonexistent. I am now an executive secretary but I dreamed of editing. Now I wish I did graphic design or something, haha.
Just love this. I followed last year and loved the concept but I missed this video completely until sarra cannon mentioned it in her latest video. I wanted to plan something for September, but wasn’t sure what maybe a mini nano but the idea wasn’t inspiring me. This DOES! I need to rewrite the last 13 scenes for my manuscript. I need to come put with a fun name. Then I want to start with the handwritten draft I did last year and make it digital. Research class: topic Jack the Ripper. Library trip ofcourse and new supplies. 🎉love it
Love the idea to write your own semester! I'm always move motivated to work in an academic environment, so this is a very appealing form of accountability with some fun rewards.
This could change my year. I've been feeling pretty detected because I have to defer going back to school for a year due to finances. But I can use the year to get some independent study done and get ahead of the learning I need to do next year. ❤❤❤ thank you.
I'm not a writer but I enjoy your videos because they're cozy. This video is getting me hyped to 'go to school' for reading. I like the idea of going to school and studying great or not so great books just for more knowledge but I wouldn't enjoy mandatory essays and I'm definitely too poor to go to school for fun. 😅
I am going to use this so thank you! But let me just say, I LOVE your personality!! You are so fun to watch. It’s like I am watching a friend talk about something she’s excited about and it makes me want to get excited too!
I've been wanting to do something like this since you did it last year. I think I might set up classes for worldbuilding, plot, and characters using Brandon Sanderson's BYU course as a rough guide, since I'm really weak at worldbuilding and fully fleshing out outlines and then write a novella in November as a final project, using the "homework" from September and October.
Love this! To be a little nitpicky… “back matter” is stuff like acknowledgements, about the author, also by (unless you put it in the front matter). The description that goes on the back of a paperback or flap of a hardcover or sales page is actually called 1 of 2 things (1. “description” in trad pub because “blurb”=praise from another author/review publication 2. “Blurb” in self-publishing).
I love back-to-school season! It is the time I usually stock up on cute notebooks for the year. Honestly, I have struggled with grammar no matter how many classes I take... for some reason my brain just can't hold the rules. I also need to work on subplots. I know I need them... I don't know how to come up with them and add them. Also, I need a class on torturing my characters. I love them so much that I just don't want to hurt them. I miss being in college and taking creative writing classes. They always pushed to try writing new things... it always seemed a good balance of what I wanted to write and what they wanted me to write. I should try doing this... not sure my memory/life will let me hold that much of schedule but it would be nice to try.
This is such a fun idea! I’m going to be signing up for masterclass again this year and I’m definitely going to use some of your ideas to make sure I stick to watching the classes. Thanks!
I am enrolled in Inkers con master mind class that has a book club for the month, multiple sprints, discussion groups and it is great. I am much more productive in the last two weeks than for the last five years. Also, we drove 1000 miles to the Buc Cees in Springfield, Mo. I live in Des Moines, Iowa and we took grandkids with us, heck of a trip but so worth it, got myself a lovely little buc cee boy to sit on my shelf and got me some heart burn to go with all the lovely food there. Going again next year when we do route 66.
THANK YOU!! I am not going back to school, but I've always been great at school.... just having a really tough time getting myself to write. I feel like this could help me.
I love everything about this! Also I'm currently reading "Entangled Life" small world. I don't structure into semesters I do "rolling quarters" where I have a craft focus and a subject focus. Right now I'm studying essays and flash non fiction on the craft side; on the subject matter side is plants, trees, and fungi. Because my subjects tend to cycle in and out the quarters help me delve into deeper study or move to a different subject.
This sounds like so much fun! I love doing new things. My latest project just went live. It's called The Writers' Planner, for all my RU-vid writer friends. Monthly, weekly, daily, insert your own dates. Shiny new idea boxes and gratitude boxes. Full color, paperback, 8.5x11 so lots of room for notes and appointments and special entries for live streams.
Have you ever read DIY MFA or listened to the podcast? I think you'd really like it. She talks about how to "write with focus, read with purpose, and build your community." It really aligns with with your plans.
Man, I haven’t written or watched writing videos in forever but I did make a mental note to come back at watch this one, and it was a great idea bc now I want to write again. I was seriously stuck in my editing of my latest draft because I need to draft so many scenes. But I think the ‘classes’ I want to take would be Bridging the Gaps (writing the scenes I’m missing in my draft), Read More (self explanatory), and Get Your Work Out There (also self explanatory). I’ll definitely work on subgoals and checkpoints as I work them out! Thanks for the video!
This is so fun!! I kinda fell off writer-tube/author-tube (is that what this corner of the internet is called? haha) after getting a new job back in like January, but I finally feel motivated enough to start writing again! I was supposed to be starting my master's degree this semester, but I have to put it off for another year, so I feel like this is the PERFECT time to do a writing semester. I remember thinking this was genius the last time you did it, and I'm so looking forward to making up a syllabus and everything tomorrow. I hope you give us updates on how your semester's going!
Had to add a note since you got a Peter Pauper Press notebook. The quality on those is great. I stick to the oversize (though I've journaled in the smaller sized ones as well). My oldest ones are going on 14 years and they hold up to regular journaling and all of the page turning of rereading, annotating, etc. This fall for my quarter I'm splitting it into 4 week sessions to see if it helps a bit with burnout since it'll be 12 weeks total. Switching between less and more structured writing. Nothing fancier than that but learning from winter, spring and summer from this year.
Omg the way I am literally doing this exact same thing as an experiment for August!!! Slay! (Also omg so excited to celebrate the release with you and then retreat afterwards!! It’s gonna be an awesome semester 😂)
Ooohhh I love this idea. If I could have a class on world building and showing not telling that would great. I think I'm going to try this. off to buy school supplies.
This is a really fun and interesting idea! I've been trying to figure out a schedule and how to break down my goals since I graduated from Uni in December, and I think this is my call that I need to "go back to school" to get my ducks in a row 😂
i'm still at uni, and today's literally my last exam for this semester, and this video made me so excited to get back into writing now that i have time!
Hi! I absolutely loved this video and just the idea behind it! I'm still in uni but I'm thinking about trying this anyway, so that I'm scheduling time for writing even with all my other classes.
Ahhh I remember really wanting to do this last time you talked about it and then never finding the right time to start... Maybe I should try an extremely cut down version, but I don't think I could decide what to focus on, I want to do all the things! Also your names for the three classes are perfect! 😂
I don't have the time now, but what I would like to do at some point is to try and experiment with different concepts like "show not tell" or "world building" maybe take a class or read a craft book about it and also research what different writers think about that and how they go about it in different kinds of stories. Then it would be great just to try some of these different ways. I am just starting writing again and I need to learn so much. So learning by doing experiments seem like a fun way to me. I also have an idea for a theatre play but noticed very quickly that I need to learn about the structure etc. and also learn how to make something surprising and not give it away straight away. Sooo much to learn 😅
My stakes are not high enough or clear enough in my writing. (I've had author friends tell me that and I agree.) I bought H.R.D"Costa's book about Stakes, but I have not read it yet. I want my fall semester to focus on learning about stakes. I want to find some videos to watch that talk about stakes as well. Thank you, Kate, for sharing your learning plan.
@@KateCavanaugh Thanks! Just saved some videos to watch later and bought digital copies of KM Weiland's books as my texts. You've inspired me! :) Can't wait to go supply shopping.
I’m familiar with the DIY MFA but this feels so much more doable esp with a f/t job, family and pets to care for. I think I’d like to study plot and scene structure and go all in. I already have several books and RU-vid videos saved, it’s a matter of creating the syllabus and weekly lessons/deadlines so not to get off track 😬
I would give myself a class on blocking, I.e. movement and action during dialogue. I feel like mine is stale and boring and it’s something I should study more. But I am also taking an actual linguistics class so who knows how much time I'd have.
I’m really into the idea of studying the work of a writer, maybe someone like Isabel Allende or Julia Alvarez. I also really would love to get back into poetry. I had a few classes in my MFA program before I dropped from the program, but I still have those assignments I wrote. I think doing a writing/reading semester would be great for me to get back into the school mindset for when I go back to study :)
Ooooh, you’re inspiring me to add a whole class dedicated to a writer I admire the next time I do this! I think that’d be so fun to study their work. Let me know how your reading/writing semester goes! :)
Using this, the 12 week year, and Sarra Cannon’s HB90 class to make my own semester for Q4 (starting September 30th). I have three “classes”, but I might add one about front and back matter.
Omg Kate this was so very helpful. I want to give this experiment another try (not right this minute though lol) but seeing how you went about structuring your "semester" is a great guide. I think I would still focus on description (because I still have massive white room syndrome lol) and I think the back matter class would be helpful too because I hate writing blurbs but I know they are very important. I'm not sure what a third one would be, nope yes I do, something to do with marketing the book because I am also terrible at that too. Maybe I can do a winter semester (because if I remember anything about college Winter semesters don't start until January right? I'll check lol) Also I am very excited to Beta read your book (I saw my name there and I screamed lol) and I absolutely LOVE the title for book 2! Amazing! Thank you again for this insight into your process and hope you're feeling well. Take care Kate! ❤❤
Yessss, I love the idea of a winter semester!! And I think a single class would be such a fun choice too. I know there are “Maymesters” that are basically just one month long. That could be fun for a one-off “class” too! And oooh, marketing is a really good idea. Yesssss, thank you again for volunteering to read it! Hopefully I’ll get it to you soon! :)
If I had to teach myself in a semester, it would be writing better descriptions. I have a terrible case of white room syndrome 🙃 I am also considering going to film school in the coming winter, which will give me some proper training
how many W.I.P's do you have to begin with and how far are you in all of them? Just wondering because for how long I've been watching your videos I have heard of four of them in all different stages of completion.
Design a "map" for your current WIP. I am not sure what that means. Is this creating an actual map (of geographical locations)? Or is this more of a mind map?
I wonder if it's intentional that you've chosen hidden storage spaces for your titles. I keep thinking you need one about an attic. An Attic Stacked with Aces (tarot inspired) Or An Attic full of Auras.
After reading every craft book on writing by now - I wouldn't take any course (I could probably teach all this stuff). I will say none of the books out there teach everything needed to be a good fiction writer, too much to teach for just one book. I think it takes about 10 years to be really good in this craft to crank out some publishable stories. but if I had to start over from scratch, I would study how to use association diagrams. It's used for everything in the writing process from sentence structure up to Story outlining, It emulates how our brains work. All stories are multi-dimensional anyway so it's the perfect writer tool to bang out a finished story.
Ah, thank you sooo much for this video, Kate! “Make bats” sounds great … 🦇🦇🦇 PS: I'd love to take the course: “Fuck (scusi) Perfectionism!” I'm afraid I need to take some drastic measures to overcome perfectionism. Perhaps these applications can help: “The Most Dangerous Writing App” or “Write Or Die”.
