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Short Story Incubator—Application deadline extended to Monday, July 29 at 11:59pm ET.

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  • Seminar
  • Online: Zoom
  • Adult (18+)

How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book

No Longer Enrolling

  • $130.00 Non-Member
  • $110.00 Member

Class Description

Books often start with a simple yearning to explore new territory, especially topics you find particularly fascinating, characters who won’t leave you alone, and good stories. But manuscripts get unwieldy--fast. Nine out of ten writers never finish their manuscripts because most first-time book writers get lost without good structure and planning.

Mary Carroll Moore, award-winning author of 13 books in three genres and a PEN/Faulkner nominee, will guide you through a simple and successful book-writing process that can take your book from idea to publication, a process using a three-act structure that eases organization and makes a manuscript vivid and engaging to readers. Find out why Aristotle believed that three acts formed a perfect structure for all stories; why humans lean toward beginning, middle, and end; and why we crave the emotional catharsis of that format in literature, too. For all levels of writers working on nonfiction, memoir, or novels at any stage from seed idea to draft. Learn why strong structuring is the key to selling a book in today's competitive publishing industry.

Scholarships Format/Location

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.

This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. Please visit the Resources tab to access the video-conference link.

Zoom Participation:

Students are not required to turn their camera on, but are encouraged to participate any way they feel comfortable through functions such as the live chat, emoji reactions, and unmuting the microphone. Learn more about using Zoom here.

Zoom Accessibility:

We ask that instructors enable closed captioning and send a transcript of the session after class. You can also enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting. If your instructor forgets to send the transcript, just send ’em an email!