So, You Want to Write a Book? Get the Answers with The Great Courses Plus

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. While it may seem like your list of questions about writing, editing, and publishing gets longer with every day of NaNo, The Great Courses Plus, a NaNoWriMo 2017 sponsor, is here today with some courses that may answer your most pressing creative questions: 

Where do I start?

What does it mean to show and not tell?

When do I use an Oxford comma?

How and when do I edit my own work?

Is this a dangling modifier?

Will my novel stand out?

What’s the best word for…?

Once I’m done, how do I (and should I) query agents?

When it comes to writing, there are lots of questions. And, luckily, we’ve got lots of answers.

The Great Courses Plus gives you unlimited access to streaming videos from the greatest professors in the world. These expert resources can help you navigate from the Once Upon a Time of sitting down and starting your novel to the Happily Ever After of your published work, and to each of the dotted i’s and crossed t’s in between.

Our esteemed selection of literature and writing professors know what it’s like to struggle, to get stuck in the details, to hit a wall, or to feel overwhelmed with possibilities once your book is actually done. We’ve curated a list of resources below to help you along for every step of the way, and the professors have provided some words of wisdom to help keep you inspired and motivated:

Need some inspiration? Check out “Mystery & Suspense Fiction”, “Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature”, “Folklore and Wonder Tales”, or “How Great Science Fiction Works”.

“Storytelling is core to the human experience––you shape your identity through stories. Who we are, where we come from, why we’re here––these are all life-shaping stories. If you don’t know your story, you don’t know yourself.”

––Hannah B. Harvey, professor of Folklore and Wondertales

Want to take your writing to the next level? Watch “Building a Better Vocabulary”, “Building Great Sentences”, or “Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques”.

‘Whatever your motivation turns out to be, and whatever struggles and triumphs you have with writing and publishing, I hope the act of creation provides … meaning in your life.”

––James Hynes, professor of Writing Great Fiction

Time to brush up on the basics? Try “English Grammar Bootcamp” or “Becoming a Great Essayist”.  

“Each of us has the capacity to write meaningful essays that tap into the heartbeat of humanity.”

––Jennifer Cognard-Black, professor of Becoming a Great Essayist

And when you’re done? Don’t miss “How to Publish Your Book”.

“There’s no single publishing path that’s right for everyone. The correct choice depends on your goals and your personality as a writer.”

––Jane Friedman, professor of How to Publish Your Book

30 days of writing and 50,000 words: that’s no small feat. But, with some help from The Great Courses Plus, we know you can do it.

Happy writing!