BOOTCAMP FOR NOVELISTS SUMMER COURSES

JUNE 17 TO JULY 1
HAIKU MADNESS with Connie Flynn

Connie is offering the Bootcamp's first off-topic course, called a Sidebar, which is a quick two-week course that will cover creative writing areas that are outside the usual areas of novel writing. She's starting with Haiku poetry, where students will learn the basics of this often misunderstood poetry form.

What is haiku? It's a Japanese poem structure that is measured by syllables. Traditionally only three lines long, each line is a specific length — line one is five syllables, line two is seven syllables and line three is again five. Click this link to see a sample haiku: http://www.bootcampfornovelists.com/cf-courses/c-course-csb1-haiku-sample.html

So why haiku? I think it also frees the creative mind, kind of like mental doodling. In this course we will write haiku on various topics, starting with the classic season/nature themes, then moving on to satirical haiku, and then free for all haiku on topics far and wide.

It's a two-week course. You can come in once a week for the lessons or pop in an out every day. There is no constructive (or non-constructive) feedback. You just take your bow each time you post. At $15, this course is a steal, and just what many of you need to relax those overworked mental muscles of yours.
FEE: $15
ENROLL NOW

JULY 15 TO AUGUST 12
A NEW AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
The Return of Ever Popular Historical Author
DENISE DOMNING!

BRING YOUR HISTORICAL TO LIFE

Learn to weave historical facts into your novel so deftly that readers
feel they've entered a time machine while reading your book.

In this course you'll learn how to create your characters' world view and create conflict by letting some of them rise above the "truth" of their time period. You'll also learn how to balance historical fact and events with your fictional story to make them seem true to their time. Finally, you'll learn what in their environment they need to see and interact with so you can create a bridge between our time and theirs, the bridge that will take your readers on their journey into the past.

But don't think that these research tools are for historical authors only. Any author who writes about an unknown setting or occupation will find this course invauable for creating a believeable world.
FEE: $28
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JULY 22 TO AUGUST 5
7P THE ART OF PACING
A 2 week mini-course taught by Linda Style

Pacing isn't all about speed. It's also about moving readers along. And even more. Pacing has many facets and involves everything from the tone of your book to the language you use. In this class you'll learn the ins and outs of pacing from story to scene to paragraph to sentence and how to use pacing to benefit your story.
FEE: $15
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JULY 22 to SEPT 2
SUMMER SPECIAL BOOTCAMP CLINIC taught by Connie Flynn
C1 APPLYING THE HERO'S JOURNEY
Mythology was made famous by Joseph Campbell and later applied to screenwriting and storytelling by Hollywood, yet the principles of this powerful tool to a reader's subconscious common links are only vaguely understood. Learn that archetypes are actually placeholders and how the journey itself takes many forms. This course is six weeks long and features considerable discussion as well as exercises for employing the "Journey" method.
FEE: $48
SAVE $5 ENROLL BY 6/24 Fee: $43
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AUGUST 5 to SEPTEMBER 16
SUMMER SPECIAL BOOTCAMP CLINIC taught by Linda Style
LS1 SECRETS TO A KILLER SYNOPSIS
Includes: query letter, voice & style
A unique voice and style can make your synopsis stand out among the hundreds of submissions editors and agents receive. In this class you'll learn all the elements necessary for a successful synopsis and receive direct feedback on your work. In order to get the most from the class, it is recommended that you have completed at least half of your manuscript.
FEE: $48
SAVE $5 ENROLL BY JULY 15 Fee: $43
ENROLL NOW

Bootcamp for Novelists is has been online for over two years. Instructors Connie Flynn and Linda Style teach step-by-step novel writing that starts at the beginning and takes you through the polish. Enroll at http://bootcampfornovelists.com

APPLYING THE HERO'S JOURNEY TO YOUR BOOKS

By Connie Flynn

Many people who read Chris Vogler's THE WRITER'S JOURNEY for the first time find themselves forgetting it's about writing. Vogler's world seems so real. We know these people–the threshold guardians who block our way, the shapeshifters who betray us, the mentor who guides us. We've experienced the hero's reluctance to start, the setbacks on the journey, the moments when all seems lost.

By the same token, many writers puzzle over how to apply this material to their own writing. The possible reason is that we take a literal approach and think of archetypes as characters and the stages of the journey as plot points.

HOW THE JOURNEY REALLY WORKS.

The Archetypes
The Campbell archetypes are story roles and placeholders more than characterization. Many of the archetypes can be held by more than one person. Some of them can be held by an animal, an object or even a place.

A character could be a feisty nine-year-old boy and still alternately assume the role of shapeshifter, threshold guardian and mentor through his actions and dialogue. Writers must still build a unique personality for the characters and overlay them with archetypes as the story dictates. By using the roles to aid or present obstacles to the hero as he travels, we can combine their function with other characterization techniques that create rich and textured characters.

The Journey
The stages of the journey are events that should meld into your story, rather than become plot points themselves. It helps to divide the journey into four stages.

In the first stage the Hero, transitions from the known (ordinary) world to the unknown (special) world. The archetype used to create the call to action (Herald) doesn't necessarily require a character. It could be a letter, a dropped object, a barking dog that draws the hero from his bed into a pack of monsters.

The second stage has the Hero fully entering the special world to face tests and enemies, and gains allies. Here, the Mentor is most visible, and the Hero will never depend on him more. A trusted ally or love interest may become a betraying Shapeshifter, the Trickster may show up as capricious weather or the town idiot. The Shadow pops up to test the Hero's resolve. The Hero is beaten down.

In the third stage the Hero faces the Supreme Ordeal. Escape comes only by seeing the danger through. An old ally may return. A loved one may die. The Hero experiences a near-death or a psychological death. Something will be lost, a sacrifice made. Reward comes in the form of new knowledge or a weapon that foretells success.

In stage four the Hero escapes. Guardians and Shadows are hot on their heels. The Hero again stares death in the face and is resurrected through a new skill or perspective. The prize is seized. The love interest is won. The Hero's acts have transformed the ordinary world and he returns to accolades.

During all these events the archetypes and stages of the journey exist only as pressure points to create story conflict and contrast. If they don't serve that purpose, they should be skipped.

Endings do not have to be happy or details nicely tied up. The journey itself is circular and can lead into a new journey. But in classic romance fiction, the Hero always gets the girl. And the bad guy always gets punished. Unless, of course, there's a sequel in the works.

Connie Flynn is a co-founder of Bootcamp for Novelists Online and will teach Applying the Hero's Journey, a six week clinic, beginning May 23rd.