Writing Workshops

Dive In: Write the First 50 Pages of Your Novel with Melissa Larsen

$645

10 sessions

Out of stock

Once a week Sundays, 1:00 pm EDT - 3:00 pm EDT July 13 to September 21, 2025

Online via Zoom

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Do you have an idea for a novel that you just can’t seem to get down on paper? Does the actual thought of sitting down and writing a novel intimidate you? Have you written a killer first sentence, but don’t know where to go with it? Come unravel the mysteries (and fears) of writing the first fifty pages of a novel with me.

Our focus across these ten weeks will be establishing a sustainable writing practice outside of class, as well as a broader understanding of the building blocks of a narrative (devices like plot, character, setting and atmosphere, conflict, dialogue, and scene). Our class will contain structured, generative writing exercises, close readings of published works, and student-led workshops. We will discuss how to approach fiction as writers, so students can continue, after this course, to deepen their understanding of storytelling. Our favorite stories can be our greatest teachers.

We will also generate new writing—so you don’t have to come with anything more than a desire to write. Students will be expected to write outside of class, though there will be many opportunities to write in class, using exercises based on our readings. Students will have the opportunity not only to workshop their novel ideas with the class, but also to workshop their first chapter. By the end of the ten weeks, a successful student will leave class with at least fifty pages of their novel written, a plan to move forward, and a new writing community.

Course Outline:

Week One: Introductions and Breaking Down Structure
- How to read like a writer. There will be a presentation and a writing exercise.
- Story structure and brainstorming
- Writing Process assignments
- Workshop sign-up (discussion and pages)
Week Two: Inciting Incidents—Where Does the Story Begin?
- First Workshop Group, discussion
- Seminar discussion on Inciting Incidents and a writing exercise
- In-class reading and discussion, with writing time
- Writing Process updates
Week Three: Narrative Modes and Narrators—Who’s Telling the Story?
- Second Workshop Group, discussion
- Seminar discussion on Narrative Modes and Narrators
- In-class writing exercise and reading
- Writing Process updates
Week Four: What is a Scene? What Makes a Story?
- Third Workshop Group, discussion
- In-class reading and writing exercise
- Writing Process updates
Week Five: Dialogue, Rules, and Guidelines
- Fourth Workshop Group, last discussion
- First Workshop Group submits pages
- Seminar discussion on dialogue, in-class reading exercise
Week Six: Conflict
- First Workshop Group, pages
- Second Workshop Group submits pages
- Seminar discussion on conflict, in-class reading exercise
Week Seven: Structuring the Plot
- Second Workshop Group, pages
- Third Workshop Group submits pages
- Discussion of stakes and plot structure
Week Eight: Approaching Revision
- Third Workshop Group, pages
- Fourth Workshop Group submits pages
- In-class writing exercises, tools for handling feedback
Week Nine: Projecting Forward
- Fourth Workshop Group, pages
- Tying it all together, now that everyone has been workshopped. How do you braid these elements we’ve explored together?
Week Ten: Moving Forward and Publishing Discussion
- Takeaways and a presentation on the traditional publishing model. How a book idea becomes a manuscript, and how a manuscript finds its way to a shelf in a bookstore.

Level: Introductory

This course is held online via Zoom. Please note that this course will not meet on August 31st.

Led by

Melissa Larsen

Melissa Larsen

Melissa Larsen is the USA Today bestselling author of The Lost House and Shutter. Melissa received her M.F.A. from Columbia University and her B.A. from New York University. When she isn’t traveling somewhere to research her next novel—and somehow hurting herself in the process—she lives in New York City and teaches creative writing.

About this series

Writing Workshops

We strive to make our classes the most inviting and rewarding available, offering an intimate environment to study with award-winning, world-class writers. Each class is specially designed by the instructor, so whether you’re a fledgling writer or an MFA graduate polishing your novel, you’ll find a perfect fit here.

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