Hey, gang. If you’ve been around a while, you’ve watched us grow from a small group of bloggers who wanted to take their writing to the next level, to a thriving community of writers engaged in a little friendly competition to grow their skills, to our latest “super challenge” with cash prizes. Now we’re adding a new tool to our pencil box: classes!
That’s right: you asked, we listened.
We’re rolling out our first class just in time for you to take advantage of it for the fall flash fiction competition season. Whether you’re a YW Super Challenge junkie, an NYCMidnighter, or a Fiction Warrior, you’ll want to get in on this one. And for you NaNoANYTHINGMo writers, you can get a head start on what you’ll need to market that book, anthology, or zine.
I’m ridiculously excited to be teaching the first YW class online, so let me tell you a little bit about the subject and format:
Our first class is (drumroll please)…
Summaries for Pitch and Page
Whether you write novels, essays, stories, or articles, you need to know how to produce an engaging summary of your work that intrigues editors and publishers without giving away the heart of your story. A good summary intrigues the reader and leaves them wanting more, but doesn’t hide the plot or retell the entire story. The summary is the first thing a judge sees, and the first thing an agent or editor reads, so it can be key to advancing in competitions or getting a contract. It’s also the basis for your “elevator speech” when someone says “oh, you’re a writer? What do you write? What are you working on?” Finally, it’s the thing on the back of your book that makes the reader want to read it, so if you’re thinking of self-publishing this is a great skill to develop.
In this class I’ll teach the basic framework for a good summary and how to hang your work on that skeletal structure. Almost every summary falls into one of just a few categories, and learning these categories will help you pick the best summary for your story. It will also – bonus!- help you identify other things about your story structure that will make you a better writer and reader.
The class will be taught in a private Facebook group via FB Live video. After talking to a bunch of writers, we decided that this format gave the most people access to the video and discussion. It also gives participants the ability to ask questions in realtime without interrupting the teaching flow, and leaves the archived video and questions available for participants. It will run approximately 1.5 – 2 hours (depending on how many questions y’all have)!
Schedule, Fees, Registration
Our coffeehouse poll put one time/date slot ahead by the narrowest of margins: 10am Eastern Time, October 7. The class will last an hour and a half to two hours, depending on how many questions students have.
If there’s a general uprising, we’re open to teaching a second session – just let us know. Team Australia, this might not even be much past your bedtime! Pacific Timers, we know it’s early. [At least you don’t have to wash your face before class. On Facebook, nobody knows you’re still in your jammies. /rbg]
To register, just follow this link to the registration form, then hop over to PayPal to complete your registration by paying the fee for the class tier you selected. (We know, Editor Stacie’s name is still on our PayPal link. Don’t worry: the money comes to us.) Please put the tier code (in brackets next to the name) in your PayPal notes so that we know why you’re sending us money!
Ok. Now that the boring part is out of the way, let’s talk registration tiers!
EDITOR ACCESS [SPP EA] $60 (CLOSED)
THIS TIER IS CLOSED TO REGISTRATION.
This tier is limited to 5 students, and you’ll need to send a story of no more than 2,000 words to rowan@yeahwrite.me a few days before the class starts so that Rowan can be as familiar with the story as you are. This tier gets access to the private FB group as well as a chance to work one on one with Rowan using your story as an example for the class. (Keep that in mind for your own comfort level if you plan to send NSFW material, ok?) You’ll keep your access to the discussion group after the class is over so you can re-watch the video as many times as you want to.
PARTICIPANT ACCESS [SPP PA] $25
There is no limit to the number of participants who can sign up for this tier. While you don’t send in a story for work, you get access to the private group while the class is going on, which gives you the ability to ask questions in realtime. Since the class is being taught via FB Live, you can type your questions as they occur to you rather than waiting till the end of class (don’t worry, we’ll stick around for some Q&A too if you have questions that didn’t come up during the class). You’ll keep your access to the discussion group so you can re-watch the video as many times as you want to.
VIDEO ONLY [SPP VID] $10/$5
The “video only” tier gives you post-class access to the discussion group and video. We’ll add you to the group once the class has concluded. You won’t be able to participate, but you can watch the video and see everyone else’s questions. YeahWrite members can sign up for this tier for $5 instead of $10.
Registration Checklist
Because it’s nice to have everything in one place!
Have you:
- Filled out the registration form?
- Sent in your payment?
- Remembered to include the tier code for your class with your payment?
- Sent your story or essay to Rowan, if that’s relevant?
If you’ve got all that handled, stay tuned for your add to our class group, and we’ll see you on October 7 at 10am Eastern.
