Deciding to Share (Holly Schindler)

In honor of this month's theme (decisions), I'm sharing my own recent decision: to start teaching writing courses online.

Where'd this decision come from? I've talked about my plunge back into art preeettty often the past year and a half. But really, this plunge would not have been possible at all if independent artists weren't teaching online. It's how I've learned the software and beefed up my drawing and painting skills. 

I want to do the same for fellow writers. 

 

So I've decided I'm also going to start teaching online. I've got several ideas for courses. The first will be a plotting tutorial--specifically, on plotting an entire novel through backstory. 

(Yes! The entire thing. It's totally possible. Your entire book can be plotted using a character's backstory. I discovered that's what I was doing to plot this year's Ruby's Place Christmas installment. This is perfect for writers of character-driven work.)

But people all learn differently. So I decided I need to put my plotting-through-backstory tutorials up in as many different forms as possible. Right now, it's going up in small chunks, week-by-week, on my Substack. Once the Substack serial wraps, it will be available as an e-book and also as a video course. 

I also think it's incredibly important to offer tutorials online for the most affordable price possible. Price shouldn't be a barrier to creativity. It should be about your willingness to put in the work. Right now, my Substack posts are going up for all subscribers--including free subscribers--with nothing behind the paywall. If you'd like to support my work, though, I also decided to put my Substack on a kind of perma-sale. $15 for an entire year. 

I hope you'll decide to check it out: Subscribe

~

Holly Schindler is the author of the award-winning A Blue So Dark.