Novel Boot Camp is a stand-alone track of eight workshops that covers everything you need to write a novel, from the story idea to completion. Using concepts from the popular Novel Intensive, this track will combine informative lessons with hands-on writing, beat dissection, and read and critique. Novel Boot Camp will give you all the tools you need to write a sellable story: plot and story structure, character development and transformation, dialogue, pacing, scene construction, heart, message, voice, and much more. This track is perfect for any novel writer, whether you’re thinking about a new project, already in the trenches of a current WIP, or starting the arduous editing process on a first draft. Novel Boot Camp will set you up for success.
Novel Boot Camp includes a one-on-one meeting with Janis before the conference to analyze your logline and concept, as well as a Boot Camp-designated open session in which you can work on what you’ve learned, ask Janis questions, or simply commune with other Boot Campers.
Participation in Novel Boot Camp requires attending all six workshops. Boot Campers are free to attend all other SCWC functions, such as special guest speakers, agents panel, Rogue workshops, etc., when Boot Camp is not in session.
Please be ready to write. Bring pen and paper. Laptops are highly recommended.
Please note that this track requires a minimum number of participants and will be removed from the schedule if not met.
The Novel Boot Camp consists of the following sessions:
- What’s it All About, Author?
- The Structure of it All
- Who Comes First?
- The Beats Go On
- We’ve GOT the Beat
- Brass Tacks and Hard Facts
- The End–We’ve Only Just Begun
- Post Mortem
Staffed by Janis Thomas
Janis Thomas is the author of such domestic suspense novels as All That’s Left of Me and What Remains True, both with Lake Union, and three critically acclaimed humorous works of women’s fiction—Something New, Sweet Nothings, and Say Never—as well as the mystery Murder in A-Minor. She has written more than fifty songs and two children’s books, which she created with her dad, is a passionate writing advocate, a popular workshop leader, speaker, and editor. Her latest novel, the thriller Finding Grace, is now out from Blackstone Publishing.