“If we are going to write our whole lives, we’d better remember to have some fun.” This captures the essence of Carl’s approach to writing. It must be fun. 

This course is about allowing ourselves to write as an act of joy, without giving it too much weight. If we can get comfortable with that, all our writing improves. 

By allowing yourself the freedom to just write, you’ll find that you surprise yourself! All you need is a line, image, or word that excites you. That’s what you’ll find in this week’s writing game.

Falling in Love With the Act of Writing

This weeks’ game is all about finding the time in between tasks that we never consider. This game will teach you how to make the best of your “in-between” times.

Waking Up the Dead Time

Weekly Prompts

Week 2: Inanimate Witness

Week 3: I Knew the World Outside Had Ended

Week 4: Kid Among the Pigeons

Week 5: Furious Rewrite

Week 7: Random Chat

Week 9: Dandruff Catcher

Week 11: Daily Dice

Week 13: One Person's Junk

Week 14: Soundtracking

Week 15: Wish We Were Here

Week 20: Sexy Saucepan

Week 23: Instrumental

Week 25: I Sentence You to an Argument

Week 27: Repeat and Delete

Week 28: Strangerpedia

Week 35: Chuck It List

Week 37: Embarrassing Pride

Week 38: Quick Catch Up

Week 39: Rub-A-Dub-Dub

Week 42: Write All About It

Week 44: Send ASAP

Week 45: I Woke Up This Morning With

Week 48: Seven Months

Week 50: There Once Was A...

Week 51: Skinny Oat Milk Latte

Week 52: I Kept Going

In this lesson, you’ll learn what this course is about; having fun with your writing and learning to enjoy building a writing habit. It kicks off with your very first writing game, which you will work on every day, for a week.

Smacking the Football

Writing habits are all about small, daily wins. This week’s game is all about writing just for you, so you can build a habit that lets you be you, without the mess and judgement of sharing your work with others.

Creating a Writing Habit

Writer’s block happens to everyone at some point, even if it’s just a state of mind. This week’s game is all about generating ideas from nothing to help kickstart your creativity.

Discovering Fun Techniques to Get Unblocked

With 52 writing games included in this course, you’ll have a new game to every week for a whole year. These games are designed to help you reconnect with your love of writing, and have some fun while you do it.

A Year’s Supply of Writing Games

Week 1: Big Yourself Up

Week 6: The Moon Is

Week 8: Rainprose

Week 10: Say What You See

Week 12: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Week 16: Ingredients of You

Week 17: Do You Have a Butter Story to Tell?

Week 18: I Am the Only Alive Person

Week 19: Dream Job

Week 21: The Pig and Wig

Week 22: Doppelganger Q&A

Week 24: Celebrity Fall Out

Week 26: A Word and Its Friends

Week 29: Text Search

Week 30: Who Lives in a House Like This?

Week 31: Married at First Sight

Week 32: Half Time

Week 33: Reboot

Week 34: Home Cooking

Week 36: New Familiarity

Week 40: Manifesto for Blorb

Week 41: I’m Coming For You, Brother

Week 43: Emoji Reality

Week 46: Snow Write

Week 47: Fairytale Terror

Week 49: Youlogy

Write to Play: Rediscover the Joy of Writing

In this 8-week audio course, brought to you by writer and poet, Tim Clare, you’ll find inspiration, encouragement, and daily writing exercises that take just 10 minutes a day. 

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced writer, this course will get you writing. And best of all, it’s completely free!

Intro to Novlr Writing Course

In the first week, Tim Clare will lead you through simple, fun, stress-free techniques to generate dozens of ideas for your fiction.

Week 1: Let 1000 Flowers Bloom

Week 1 / Day 1

Week 1 / Day 2

Week 1 / Day 4

Week 1 / Day 5

Week 1 / Day 6

Week 1 / Reflections

This week, Tim Clare shows you techniques for overcoming paralysing self-doubt and teaches you to tap into content and voices you never even realised were there.

Week 2: Breaking Through

Week 2 / Day 1

Week 2 / Day 3

Week 2 / Day 5

This week, Tim Clare will help you channel the voices of the dead, letting them take over your writing practice entirely.

Week 3: Ghosts

Week 3 / Day 2

Week 3 / Day 6

This week, Tim Clare teaches you to mould your writing into new, interesting shapes, and experiment with style and writing techniques.

Week 4: Elements of Style

Week 4 / Day 1

Week 4 / Day 2

Week 4 / Day 3

Week 4 / Day 4

This week is all about self work, and unlocking powerful techniques that not only supercharge your writing, but lifts your mood and help you practice self care as an author.

Week 5: Journey To The Centre Of The Author

Week 5 / Day 3

Week 5 / Day 4

Week 5 / Day 5

Week 5 / Day 6

Week 6 / Day 1

Week 6 / Day 3

Week 6 / Day 4

Week 6 / Day 5

This week is your last chance to pack your writer’s backpack with all the tools and weapons you’ll need to prosper on your writing journey.

Week 7: The Best Laid Plans

Week 7 / Day 2

Week 7 / Day 3

Week 7 / Day 4

Week 7 / Day 5

Week 7 / Day 6

Week 7 / Reflections

Week 8 / Day 2

Week 8 / Day 3

Week 8 / Day 5

Week 1 / Day 3

Week 2 / Day 2

Week 2 / Day 4

Week 2 / Day 6

Week 3 / Day 1

Week 3 / Day 3

Week 3 / Day 4

Week 3 / Day 5

Week 3 / Reflections

Week 4 / Day 5

Week 4 / Day 6

Week 5 / Day 1

Week 5 / Day 2

This week is all about using metaphors and similes to bend reality, and about controlling the consensual hallucination that is a novel.

Week 6: Mutate the Moon

Week 6 / Day 2

Week 6 / Day 6

Week 7 / Day 1

In the final week, Tim Clare marches with you through a full week’s worth of actual novel writing.

Week 8: Power Walk

Week 8 / Day 1

Week 8 / Day 4

Week 8 / Day 6

The Debrief

Couch to 80k Creative Writing Bootcamp

To get a non-fiction book published, you don't need to have written a whole book. in this genre, what you need is a book proposal. 

Book proposals give publishers a clear sense of what a book is about, what it will address, and why you are the best person to write that book. 

A book proposal is an essential part of getting a book published as it helps a publisher assess whether your idea has commercial appeal, and if you’re the right person to write this book. In this lesson, you’ll learn why a book proposal is important to a publisher.

Why is a Book Proposal Important to a Publisher?

When you submit a book proposal, there are lots of people who need to be convinced by what they read. Publishers typically receive 10-30 book proposals per week, so it is important to capture their attention. In this lesson, you’ll learn all about who your proposal must appeal to, and what part of the publishing process they cover.

Who Will Read My Book Proposal?

A positioning statement is a one-sentence summary of a book that is used to promote it and explain why it is likely to sell. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to write a positioning statement that will hook publishers.

What is a Positioning Statement?

A book blurb is designed to entice potential readers. It is important to include one in a proposal to show a publisher that you can write well for your target audience. In this lesson, you’ll learn the best way to write a book blurb that shows a publisher you know your audience.

Writing a Book Blurb

A table of contents is important for showing publishers the structure of your book. In this lesson, you’ll learn what a publisher expects from a table of contents, and how best to structure it to show off your work.

Competitive Titles

Information on the sales record of comparative titles, can be useful to show publishers that there is a market for your book. In this lesson, you’ll learn where to get sales data, and which data is relevant and useful to share with potential publishers.

Comparative Sales

You are as much as selling point as you work, so a publisher will be interested in why you are the best person to write this book. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to craft a killer author biography, and what information and achievements a publisher might be interested to know.

Author Biography

Publishers want to know that you’re prepared to help your book’s success. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to show a publisher that you’re engaged with the marketing and publicity of your work, and how to come up with ideas that you can share to make your work successful.

Ideas for Publicity and Marketing

A book proposal allows agents and publishers to assess the potential of the book idea. In this lesson, you’ll learn what a proposal is, and what it needs to contain.

What is a Book Proposal?

An aspiring author can create a book outline or proposal and submit it to an agent or editor without an agent. In non-fiction publishing, many editors and publishers are open to receiving proposals directly from authors. In this lesson, you’ll think about whether an agent is right for you and your book.

What Role Does a Literary Agent Play, and Should You Get One?

When a publisher is considering a book, they will look for the author to demonstrate an understanding of their potential audience. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to identify your target audience.

Target Audience

It is important for authors to be as precise as possible about the intended core market for their book when publishing. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask some demographic, interest, and book habit questions to narrow down a target audience.

Your Ideal Reader

Understanding your reader's demographic, likes, consumption habits, and reason for reading your book is vital. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to explain to publishers what the reader may experience and take away from the book.

Why is Your Ideal Reader Reading Your Book?

When writing a book proposal, you should identify multiple potential audiences who could buy your book to ensure that the book reaches multiple potential readers. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to draft audience profiles for your primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences.

Beyond The Ideal Reader

Giving different segments of your audience names and referring back to them when writing can help make sure your book is targeted at the right audience. In this lesson, you will learn how to personalise your audience with narratives, to help you keep them in mind.

Personalise Your Audience

Publishers will want to assess the value of your book to audiences, to determine if there is a viable market for your works. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to collect and present supporting evidence to show why readers need your book.

Illustrating the Need for Your Book

Creating a unique selling point (USP) for a book is important to differentiate it from other books in the market. In this lesson, you’ll learn what questions to ask to determine your book’s USP.

Demonstrating the USP of Your Book

A book summary is a description of the book that expands on the positioning statement. It is important to make a good first impression, as publishers might get up to 15 proposals a week. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to craft a book summary that will get publishers to take notice.

Writing a Book Summary

Chapter summaries detail the topics and perspectives addressed in your book. In this lesson, you’ll learn what content publishers expect to see in summaries, and how best to spark their interest.

Chapter Summaries

A publisher will do some promotion for you, but they will also want to know how you can promote your own work. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to leverage your network and give publishers information on how you can help sell your published work.

Your Network

In this lesson, you’ll learn about the technical details of what goes into book production, and how to share with a publisher that you have thought about these elements, and what they can expect from your book.

Book Specifications

It is important to include sample writing to give publishers an accurate impression of your writing style. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to choose sample chapters that are the most compelling and best represent your understanding of your ideal reader.

Sample Writing

In this lesson, everything you’ve learned over this course will be brought together into one handy summary that you can refer back to whenever you need it.

Course Summary

Non-fiction Book Proposal Template

Write a Non-Fiction Book Proposal

Publishing

Advice and insight for everything post-novel writing. From that last word to first edit and beyond. Experts guide you through some of the processes and authors share their experiences.

Publishing Archives | Novlr - Novel writing software built by writers for writers

Self-Publishing

Tips from writers and authors on how and where to self-publish your work.

Self-Publishing Archives | Novlr - Novel writing software built by writers for writers

Traditional Publishing

Find helpful advice and insights into traditional publishing and how to get your work into bookshops.

Traditional Publishing Archives | Novlr - Novel writing software built by writers for writers

Reviews for indie authors - Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Audience Building

Putting yourself out there as a writer is hard. Successful publication isn&#8217;t just about writing a great book — you also need to find readers. Here you&#8217;ll find resources about audience building, and how to find and grow your readership.

Novlr Academy

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Writing Tips

Sep 29

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Sep 11

Publishing Tips

Aug 25

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Jul 28

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