Are you ready to finally get that novel out of your head and on the page?
Welcome to the Six Month Novel
Monday 4th March – Sun 1st Sept 2024
Applications closed
Hands up if you swore you’d write your novel last year
But it didn’t quite happen
(again)
There’s no getting away from it. Writing a novel is a lot of work, especially if:
- You feel guilty for spending so much time on something ‘selfish’, then guilty, frustrated and ashamed for not writing.
- You’ve lost faith in your ability/the idea, and now your novel just sits there silently judging you.
- You wrote 26,000 words in then decided they were hopeless and realised you don’t actually know what happens next.
- You’ve taken so many writing courses but none of them help you to actually finish your draft, so now you wonder if you’re actually capable.
Are you ready…
- To get clear on what your novel’s about and how you want to tell it.
- To embrace a new process of deadlines, writing fast without judgement and crummy first drafts process that will help you actually reach the end.
- To stop making excuses and commit to yourself and your novel.
- To get support from people who are 100% behind you.
Just imagine
It’s this time next year, and sitting on your desk is a pristine manuscript, ready to be sent to agents.
Next to it is an early draft covered in red pen, and you remember that feeling as you typed The End. You did it! There were moments when it felt like a mammoth task, but you kept writing one word after another, kept submitting your work, and it’s here. It’s real.
It’s your time…
Join us on the Six Month Novel, a small group online programme to help you finally reach the end, with plenty of accountability and cheerleading along the way.
Applications closed
Testimonials
How does it work?
4-Week Plotting Bootcamp
Comprehensive story exploration and plotting course
Make sure your plot and characters work before you start writing, with videos and tasks that explore everything from character, point of view and setting to conflict, structure and subplot. Most of the course is asynchronous, meaning you can join online from anywhere in the world.
A plot outline that works for you
Build a plot outline that will be your map, saving you from the swamp of saggy middles and that awful ‘but I don’t know what to write’ feeling, done in a way that works with your brain.
Plot outline review
You’ll also get feedback from Amie, our tame editor, to make sure your plot outline is solid with satisfying story and character arcs.
4 Writing Months
Tappity tap tap tap
An average-ish length novel of 80,000 words would take 5,000 words every week. That’s 715 words a day with one day off per week, or one really solid day of work each weekend.
Four months somehow manages to feels like ages and no time at all. Writing a novel in that time is a tall order, but we’ll be there to guide and encourage you all the way.
Personalised targets
We’ll help you plan your writing, break it down into manageable chunks and set monthly targets based on your novel, how you write best and what’s realistic for your life.
Mid-point plot review
Even with the best plan things can change as you write, so we’ll take a week in the middle to make sure you’re on the right track and add depth to your plans for the second half.
Support, Structure and Encouragement
Personal accountability
You are entering a no excuses zone! Nothing motivates a writer like a deadline, and submitting words monthly is a non-negotiable condition of the Six Month Novel (we don’t read them though, don’t worry!).
Weekly motivational emails
Every week you’ll get a pep talk email from us to help you keep going. We may even occasionally tell you to eat cake or take a day off.
Regular video mini-classes
Covering everything from storytelling techniques to mindset troubles, at the time you’re most likely to need them. These all live on a course website so you can watch whenever suits you best.
Weekly accountability check-in
Every week you’ll keep yourself on track by setting goals based on your monthly targets in the online forum, and cheering on your fellow writers.
Group Motivation
Private online group
This is where you and your fellow writers will support each other and discuss the relative merits of hob nobs vs custard creams (chocolate hob nobs every time).
We’ll also be available to answer questions in here.
Monthly online writing retreats (Get It Done Days and word races)
Working alongside other writers will boost your motivation and help you hit those deadlines. Log in once a month on a Tuesday evening or Sunday morning, set yourself a target and write like the wind.
Monthly live online group mentoring
Once a month on a Tuesday evening we run a live Zoom mentoring call where everybody checks in with their progress. We’ll have space to talk about any concerns you have and answer questions, both general writing ones and specific ones about your work, and send you off with a big dose of encouragement for the coming month.
4-Week Editing Bootcamp
Our logical, overwhelm-reducing editing system
We don’t want you to just spew out words for a few months then throw them away in horror. We’ll help you identify and fill in big-picture gaps before you gradually work in a logical progression down to the final polish. You’ll try out the whole system on your first 3,000 words.
You’ll leave with a system and tips for editing the rest of your manuscript and a plan for making it happen, and we’ll also cover publishing options so you know where you’re going next.
Professional edit of your first chapter
You’ll submit an edited version of your first 3,000 words at the end of the six months for review by Amie, a professional editor.
Bonus agent query letter and synopsis workshop series
We’ll demystify the process of querying agents and walk you through creating your query pack.
Testimonials
Hi! We’re Charlie and Amie
Think of us as your guides, cheerleaders and personal trainers.
Charlie runs Urban Writers’ Retreat. She’s been helping writers apply bum to chair and just write since 2008. Amie is an author, a professional editor who works with small publishing houses and independent authors, and director of an independent press.
We started The Six Month Novel in 2014 because we couldn’t find a course we were dying to take part in as writers. They all seemed to teach you how to write a novel and get you started, but there was no support to finish the bulk of the writing. We needed something that really supported us through the process of writing a whole novel draft, so that’s what we made.
We’ve worked with hundreds of writers in small groups to make sure there’s personal accountability. We break the process of writing a first draft down to make it easier, then guide you through with loads of tools and support. Oh, and did we mention the deadlines? Carrot and stick, folks, carrot and stick.
2024 Pricing
Regular Six Month Novel
Applications close 25th Feb 2024- 4-week intensive plotting bootcamp
- 4-week intensive editing bootcamp
- 4 months of writing time
- Editorial review of your plot outline
- Professional edit of your polished first 3,000 words
- Weekly progress check-in
- Personal monthly accountability
- Weekly motivational emails
- Monthly online writing retreat day
- Monthly live video hangout with Charlie and Amie
- Bonus: Access to a private Facebook group of supportive writers
- Bonus: Agent query pack workshop
- One-time payment option: £1195 (save £35)
We Wanna Hold Your Hand
Applications close 25th Feb 2024- 4-week intensive plotting bootcamp
- 4-week intensive editing bootcamp
- 4 months of writing time
- Editorial review of your plot outline
- Professional edit of your polished first 3,000 words
- Weekly progress check-in
- Personal monthly accountability
- Weekly motivational emails
- Monthly online writing retreat day
- Monthly live video hangout with Charlie and Amie
- Bonus: Access to a private Facebook group of supportive writers
- Bonus: Write your agent query pack workshop
- 1 x professional editorial review of 1,000 words of your choice
- 1 x 30 minute story planning video call, 1:1 with Amie and/or Charlie
- 2 x 30 minute procrastination-busting video call, 1:1 with Charlie and/or Amie
- One-time payment option: £1495 (save £35)
Looking for the scholarship competition?
We have one scholarship spot available, with applications closing on Sunday 28th January 2024. Click here for the scholarship details and application form (please do not use the main form on this page, you must use the scholarship application form to be considered for the competition). The 2024 scholarship is now closed.
I’m in! How do I join?
Applications are now closed
Just fill in this application form. Applications close on 25th February.
We can only work with a small group of writers to ensure that we can support you personally, and we work with you end to end, from idea to a finished draft (and beyond, in the editing bootcamp). This is a big commitment for both you and us, so we want to make sure that the places go to writers who are serious about finishing a novel and that we feel we can genuinely help. We don’t want you to waste your money on something that isn’t right for you any more than you do.
Things we’ll ask for on the application form include:
- Brief synopsis of your novel, 100-300 words
- Confirmation that you’ve done/can do all of your research in advance
- What genre and audience you’re aiming for
We’d also like to know:
- A little about your main characters
- A little about your setting
- What your fears and concerns are, what’s holding you back
The Mini Synopsis
We don’t expect your ideas to be fully-formed yet (what would be the point in a plotting bootcamp if it was perfect?) but we do want you to have given it some serious thought, and to see that your idea is or can become a workable plot.
This is 1-2 paragraphs (around 300 words max please) outlining the story. Tell us the big-brush strokes of your story, but make sure to include: who the main character is, what they want, what the central conflict/question is, who/what stands against them, what the key things that happen are, and how it ends. The more information about what actually happens within that 300-word limit, the better. You’ll have a separate space to tell us more about the characters, so focus on the story here.
Rules:
- Please don’t send us 1000 words! 300 should be enough, if you don’t have that many it’s fine.
- PLEASE TELL US HOW IT ENDS. We don’t want to be teased; we want to know about your story construction, so we need to know the ending.
If you haven’t written a mini synopsis yet, take a peek at our free Novel in a Nutshell idea development worksheets, which gives you an exact formula. You’ll probably want to add some more story detail to it, but the last exercises of this will make sure you include the essential information.
FAQ Videos for the Six Month Novel
Got any more questions? Email Charlie on hello@urbanwritersretreat.co.uk.
Is it for you?
The Six Month Novel is online and part time (but is a serious commitment, you’ll need to dedicate around an hour a day to your novel). We’ve had writers join us from California to Beijing, Amsterdam to Sydney, published novelists and complete newbies.
But now we know that expecting yourself to overcome all of the practical problems and insecurities of writing through sheer force of will is ridiculous, and that it’s much, MUCH easier to keep going with the right support.
This is perfect for you if
- You’re ready to dedicate the time and do the work.
- Maybe you’ve completed novel drafts before or even had something published…
- You know you can do it, but seem to have lost faith in yourself and you’d love a little extra help and support.
- You’ve done all of your research, or can complete it by the start date.
- Writing fast, not editing as you go, accountability, a group… all this makes you think yesssssssssss! If it sounds awesome then it’s probably right for you.
We’re not right for you if
- You’ve already got a draft and really want editing help; this is ideally for novels at the planning stage, though if you’ve done that thing of writing 20,000 words then stalling and think you need to go back and plan it’ll work.
- You hate planning. If you always stall though, it might be worth reconsidering your approach?
- Your creative process is to circle back and perfect small sections before you move on and you are able to finish work this way. If it works for you, keep going, but it isn’t really compatible with writing a draft in four months.
- Your aim is to write a Great Literary/non-narrative work. We find that the draft-fast-and-lock-up-your-editor approach isn’t as well suited to this kind of book.
- You don’t have the time. You’ll probably need to do equivalent to an hour of work every day. Yes. Every day. There are no shortcuts,
- You have serious mindset/emotional blocks stopping you writing. Trying to logic or power through this stuff without having addressed the root causes just doesn’t work, and you’ll end up disappointed. Only join once you’re ready – we’ll still be here.
Is it what I need right now?
Only you can decide that. Think about it this way… how long have you been wanting to write that novel? Months? Years? Are you going to actually sit down and write it in the next six months?
Our advice is to think about what you want and why, and choose your help accordingly. If you want the kind of literary theory, teaching and workshopping you want from an MA, do that. If you want to focus on getting an agent, look at the kind of course that will help you with that. If what you want is to get support that will help you complete your novel draft, rather than being left with 20,000 words and no motivation to finish, maybe we’re right. We think that what you’ll gain from focusing on actually completing that draft is priceless, and that pushing through and reaching the end is one of the best ways you can learn and improve your writing… but it depends on what you need most at this moment in your career. But you don’t need us to tell you that. If this isn’t for you then you’ll know, and that’s cool. There are many ways to write a novel and we wish you safe travels, friend. If you secretly reallyreallyreally want to join us though, you’ll already know that too. Maybe you just want a little nudge, or for someone to tell you it’s okay to take your dreams seriously.
If that’s the case, then nudge. We think your dreams matter. You should too.