Writing Workshop ~ Ongoing

🌺 Schedule

Week 1: Nov 18 - Nov 24
Focus on Story Ideation & Plotting Foundations.

- Daily Writing: Writers work on their story outlines, refine their plot concepts, and start writing the opening scenes.
- Lesson: Introduction to different plot structures (e.g., 3-act structure, hero's journey), and the diverse world of openings.
- Daily Activity: Create a story outline (simple bullet points or using a plot template) for their story.
- Mentor Feedback: Mentors give feedback on plot outlines and story concepts.
- Peer Review: Writers exchange and review each other's outlines, ensuring their plot makes sense and is compelling.

Week 2: Nov 25 - Dec 1
Focus on Character Development

- Daily Writing: Writers continue working on their opening chapters, with a focus on introducing characters and their motivations.
- Lesson: How to develop multi-dimensional characters (motivation, desires, internal conflict).
- Daily Activity: Writers complete character sheets for their protagonists and antagonists, focusing on their arcs.
- Mentor Feedback: Mentors focus on character development, checking that characters are well-defined and have clear motivations.
- Peer Review: Writers review each other's character profiles and give feedback on the depth and believability of the characters.

Week 3: Dec 2 - Dec 8
Focus on World-Building & Setting

- Daily Writing: Writers work on scenes that highlight the setting and world in which their characters live. This week's focus is on immersive details.
- Lesson: How to create a world that feels real, from cultures to landscapes, and how the setting influences the plot.
- Daily Activity: Writers create a world-building document describing key locations, cultures, magic systems, etc.
- Mentor Feedback: Mentors give feedback on world-building elements and how well they are integrated into the story.
- Peer Review: Writers exchange world-building documents and feedback on consistency and immersion.

Week 4: Dec 9 - Dec 15
Focus on Dialogue & Conflict

- Daily Writing: Writers focus on writing dialogue that reveals character relationships, pushes the plot, and builds tension.
- Lesson: How to write engaging dialogue that feels natural and purposeful.
- Daily Activity: Writers write dialogue-heavy scenes with conflict, such as arguments, negotiations, or character confrontations.
- Mentor Feedback: Mentors help writers polish dialogue, ensuring it reflects character personalities and builds tension.
- Peer Review: Writers exchange dialogue scenes for review, focusing on tone, pacing, and authenticity.

Week 5: Dec 16 - Dec 22
Focus on Pacing & Plot Development

- Daily Writing: Writers work on progressing their plot with well-paced scenes that move the story forward, including action, reveals, or emotional moments.
- Lesson: Techniques for maintaining good pacing (mixing fast and slow scenes, balancing action with introspection).
- Daily Activity: Writers review their current story progress and adjust scenes to improve pacing.
- Mentor Feedback: Mentors help writers analyze pacing in their chapters and suggest improvements.
- Peer Review: Writers give feedback on how well each other's stories are progressing in terms of pacing.

Week 6: Dec 23 - Dec 29
Focus on Wrapping up - Climax, resolution, ending. // Technicalities.

- Daily Writing: Writers refine existing drafts, focusing on improving clarity and tightening prose. This is the time where they focus on the conclusion.
- Lesson: Introduction to the editing process (how to spot weak spots, passive voice, unnecessary adverbs, etc.). Introduction to writing climax, and a smooth ending.
- Daily Activity: Writers edit their chapters, focusing on grammar, sentence structure, and readability. They take their stories towards a logical, and sensible ending.
- Mentor Feedback: Mentors focus on editing, providing in-line suggestions for improving the quality of writing.
- Peer Review: Writers exchange edited excerpts for review, focusing on clarity, conciseness, and style. They review the ending chapters for coherence. <<[Password 2: Universe (required during sign-up form filling)]>>

Week 7: Dec 30 - Jan 5
Focus on Polishing The Story

- Daily Writing: Writers continue revising their chapters, focusing on fixing any plot holes, inconsistencies, or awkward transitions.
- Lesson: How to polish final draft-how to work on the voice, tightening dialogue, and eliminating weak phrases.
- Daily Activity: Writers work on a self-editing checklist (voice consistency, grammar, etc.) to refine their stories.
- Mentor Feedback: Mentors offer deeper editing feedback, focusing on high-level storytelling (theme, structure, character arcs).
- Peer Review: Writers exchange chapters for final review, focusing on high-level feedback and ensuring the story flows smoothly.

Week 8: Jan 6 - Jan 12
Focus on Final Touches - Formatting & Presentation

- Daily Writing: Writers prepare their stories for publishing-final revisions and formatting for Wattpad. Graphics included.
- Lesson: How to write a catchy story description, select appropriate tags, and choose an effective cover.
- Daily Activity: Writers write a blurb/description for their story and create their Wattpad cover and taglines.
- Mentor Feedback: Mentors give feedback on the presentation-title, cover, and description-ensuring they're attention-grabbing.
- Peer Review: Writers exchange descriptions and covers for peer feedback.

Week 9: Jan 13 - Jan 15
Focus on Final Showcase & Publishing

- Daily Writing: Writers make any final adjustments to their story, ensuring they are ready for publishing.
- Activity: Writers publish their story on Wattpad and share the link in the group for final feedback.
- Celebration: A final showcase where writers share their completed stories with the community. Everyone provides positive feedback and encouragement.