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Skillshare

Creative Writing Masterclass: Start Writing Your Own Stories

via Skillshare

Overview

Write your own stories, essays, books. Learn grammar, structure, and how to publish with this creative writing course.

Have you ever wanted to write? Do you have ideas for stories but don't know exactly how to tell them?

Creative writing is how you do it, and this course will teach you everything you need to start writing today.

This creative writing course is perfect for you whether you want to write short stories and essays, fiction or nonfiction books, novels or novellas. If you're curious about writing but need to learn how to get started, we invite you to join this class.

WHY TAKE THIS COURSE?

This course is taught using real world writing experience as well as analysis of professional and historical fiction and nonfiction work.

This course is also highly actionable. Throughout the course you'll be practicing all of the concepts. By the end of class, you should be well on your way to writing your own story.

WHO IS YOUR INSTRUCTOR?

Brian Birmingham is a writer in the Film and Television Industry working as a screenwriter & copywriter. Brian is passionate about all kinds of writing and is excited to show you modern writing techniques.

MORE ABOUT THIS COURSE:

Start with an introduction to creative writing including why we write, the reasons to write, and how to find ideas for your stories. The first part of this course lays the groundwork for being a good writer. This includes:

  • Learn why we write, and the key elements of great writing.

  • Learn grammar, an essential aspect of good creative writing.

  • Learn what a writer's style, which includes things like point of view, theme, grammar usage, economy of words, and more. You'll learn how to find and develop your own style.

  • Learn the core elements of storytelling, and creating drama through conflict. Learn the structure of a narrative (inciting incident, rising action, climax, and resolution). Learn different common structures, settings, and character development.

  • Learn the difference between writing for fiction and nonfiction, and how storytelling elements remain similar in both forms.

  • Learn how to choose the right medium for your story.

The later part of this course covers the process of writing. This includes:

  • Learn tips and strategies to write more and create a writing routine.

  • Learn how to outline your story from plot, character, synopsis and formatting.

  • Learn how to write your first draft, then how to edit your work.

This course concludes with lessons on how to find a home for your work. In today's world you have many options for sharing your stories with the world from self-publishing to working with a publisher.  This course even contains step-by-step tutorials on how to self publish your book with Amazon.

If you want to quickly and easily learn creative writing, this is the course for you.

Cheers,

Brian Birmingham

Syllabus

  • Welcome to Class
  • What is Creative Writing & What is the Course Project?
  • Exercise 1: Choose Your Story Prompt
  • Elements of a Great Story & Why Do We Write?
  • General Grammar Rules & Rule Breakers
  • The Core Elements of a Story
  • Characters - What Makes a Strong Character?
  • Characters Types - Protagonist, Antagonist and Supporting Characters
  • Character Analysis - Harry Potter
  • Conflict: Building Drama in Your Story
  • Plot: The Beginning, Middle and End of Your Story
  • Setting: Where Your Story Takes Place
  • Theme and Point of View
  • Story Analysis: The Great Gatsby
  • Story Analysis: The Great Gatsby
  • The Differences & Similarities of Fiction and Nonfiction Stories
  • Writing Creative Nonfiction Stories
  • Nonfiction Analysis: Prompt
  • Nonfiction Story Analysis: Father Time
  • Exercise 3: Brainstorm Your Story Elements
  • What Medium is Right for Your Story?
  • What is a Writer's Style?
  • Style Analysis: Ernest Hemingway
  • A General Overview of the Writing Process from Idea to Publishing
  • Outlining: How & Why We Outline
  • Writing Your Synopsis
  • Building Your Story in Your Outline
  • Exercise 4: Outline Your Story
  • Tips for Writing Your First Draft
  • Exercise 5: Write Your First Draft
  • Goals and Key Elements of Editing Your Writing
  • Edit the Aesthetics
  • Show Don't Tell
  • Assess the Goals of Your Story
  • Strengthen When Necessary
  • Exercise 6: Edit Your First Draft
  • Methods for Sharing Your Writing + Getting an Agent
  • Self Publishing Your Writing
  • Submitting to Literary Journals and Magazines
  • More Recommendations for Publishing Your Work
  • Self Publishing eBooks and Printed Books Can Be Easy
  • Amazon Kindle Tutorial: Publishing Your eBook and Print-on-Demand Book
  • Seeing Your Book Sales & Amazon Marketing Best Practices
  • Final Thoughts on Creative Writing
  • Thank You

Taught by

Brian Birmingham

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