Hello and welcome to the Write for a Reason blog! Thanks for joining us.
My family is now out of self-isolation. Two weeks after returning from China my son and daughter-in-law are well and we can now all sit and eat at the same table! Thank you so much if you prayed for us. It was a strange experience, and all the time there was uncertainty in the air: would either of them go down with the coronavirus? Or would we? I’m so grateful none of us had even a hint of fever. 🙂
There’s no doubt we are living in unusual times; the spread of the coronavirus is suddenly affecting us all. A friend from Belgium told me this morning that they no longer greet friends with a kiss! Shops have sanitising gel on the counters and supermarkets have empty shelves as people stock up.
For some of us the virus is unsettling… for others, it is a tragedy of immense proportions. The truth is that suddenly none of us are immune and fear is in the air.
Children have vivid imaginations, and pick up on the worries and fears around them as they hear the news, listen to conversations, see frightening images. A book that brings hope can be a beacon in a dark place. If you have been thinking one day I’ll write that book, perhaps this is your one day?
Fortunately for us, as Christians, our hope is beyond any hope this world can offer. This really is good news to share for young and old – and stories are a great way to share it. 🙂
Talking of which, I have once again opened up registration for the Write for a Reason Academy. The next course will start on Monday 6th April. Do take a look! The idea behind the course is to give you everything you need to write a successful novel for children/teens (story structure, characters, theme, setting, narrative voice, etc). Throughout the course you will build on an outline for a story (maybe that one that has been mulling around in your head? :-)), so by the end of the course you will have a complete story framework, and your novel all ready to write – overwhelm beaten!
There are assignments to do and teaching to digest. The course is online, so you can access it 24/7 and go at your own pace. There are ten modules, so if you do one module per week, by the end of June you will have your story plan completed and ready to write in the summer…
Do pray about it.
Each time I open the course people ask if I will be running the course again, because they’d like to do it, but not necessarily right now. Here’s the honest answer: I hope to run the course again many times, but I’d hate to guarantee it, so if you know you want to do it, it would be better not to put it off. I have included an option for you to pay monthly instead of a one-off fee, which I hope will help.
Click here for more detailed information, and to join up if you should wish to do so. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I am passionate about getting good stories into children’s hands, and if I can help guide you with your novel, I would consider it a privilege.
Right, better get on – I didn’t mean to write that much!
See you next week,
Janet
P.S. Please share news about the Academy with writer friends. More successful writers = more successful stories = more children enjoying good books. 🙂