The Art of Novel Writing

Award winning writing teacher and author John Claude Bemis is leading a workshop on the art and craft of novel writing. Learn how to wow readers and meet the needs of publishers, all while honoring your vision as an author.

  • Four weeks of in-depth lessons on the art and craft of writing a novel that wins over readers and publishers.

  • Detailed feedback on your writing from John Clauce Bemis.

  • Meet one-on-one with John to discuss your work.

  • Meet an established literary agent in a live class meeting.

  • Access to live office hours with all of our instructors, even after the course has finished.

  • Full access to our private community of writers, so you can network with your fellow students.

Write Your Novel with Guidance from a Successful Author and Award Winning Teacher

Learn how to win over readers and meet the needs of publishers, while honoring your vision as an author.

You are invited to participate in the first ever session of The Art of Novel Writing with John Claude Bemis.

This course is designed to guide you through the process of writing a novel that readers love, and meets the needs of publishers, while still honoring your vision as an author.

This course is taught by John Claude Bemis, an award winning teacher, and a successful author with books published by Penguin Random House and Disney/Hyperion.

Many of John's former students have found success as well, with books published by Macmillan, Peachtree, and Penguin Random House.

John loves sharing his expertise with other writers. As one writer put it John “clearly loves writing and working with other writers. He’s always encouraging, tells you what works before he goes into what doesn’t. Specific advice. Nothing vague. He knows what he’s talking about.”

During this course, students will:

  • Learn how to meet reader and genre expectations without compromising your vision for the story.
  • Learn the fundamentals of what makes a story captivating, in terms of plot, scene, and your overarching premise.
  • Learn how to improve narrative voice using dialogue, actions, character choices, and sensory descriptions.
  • Learn how to polish your manuscript for submission, get valuable reader feedback, and know when it's time to stop writing and start submitting.
  • Get weekly feedback on your writing, directly from John Claude Bemis, in addition to the daily lessons and class discussion.

Ultimately, students will learn the fundamentals of writing a stellar novel, with guidance and feedback throughout the process from a successful author and award winning teacher.

This is a feedback centered course. John will be there during the entire course to answer your questions, discuss your progress, and help you overcome roadblocks.

In addition, each week of the course includes detailed feedback on your work, directly from John. You’ll get in-depth, written feedback from John on your novel concept, character development, and up to 3,000 words of your manuscript.

You’ll also meet with John one-on-one to discuss your manuscript in-depth, and make a clear plan for finishing your manuscript and moving into the publication process.

The course starts on Monday, October 28th and goes until Friday, November 22nd. For those who need extra time, you will have a full six months to submit your work for feedback. You will also be welcome to attend office hours after the course is officially over, so you can stay part of our community. (At no additional cost.)

Because of the intense level of personal feedback offered by John, this course is strictly limited to 20 students.

If you are planning on joining this course, I urge you to enroll right away.

Meet with Literary Agent Eric Smith

Literary agent Eric Smith will be visiting the class to discuss the process landing an agent, and getting your book published, as well as answering your questions about writing and publishing.

Eric Smith is a Young Adult author and literary agent with P.S. Literary living in Philadelphia. He’s worked with New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors across genres and categories.

Eric will be visiting the class on November 20th at 7pm ET. There will be plenty of time reserved to answer your questions. You're also encouraged to send your questions in ahead of time. The event will be recorded for those who can't attend live.

Workshop Schedule

The course starts on Monday, October 28th and ends on Friday, November 22nd, 2024. The course comes with daily lessons you can study on your own time, and interaction with John Claude Bemis. Everything is provided online, through the digital learning platform hosted by Thinkific.

Note that you will have up to six months after the course finishes to submit your writing for feedback. Also note that you will have access to office hours even after the course is complete.

  • Daily lessons, available to study any time on our online learning platform, hosted by Thinkific.

  • Personal feedback on every lesson via email, our online discussion platform, or our private Facebook Group.

  • Weekly opportunities to submit your work for detailed feedback from the instructor.

Enroll Now

Enrollment is strictly limited to 20 students.
The early bird tuition is available until Monday, October 21st.

What John's Students Have to Say

5 star rating

Exceeded My Expectations!

Lucille Payne

I don't outline. I'll bullet some thoughts then develop them into scenes. I'd gotten to the point where I wasn't sure where to put some scenes to make the story flow to both a satisflying character and book arc. John's course helped by making me ...

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I don't outline. I'll bullet some thoughts then develop them into scenes. I'd gotten to the point where I wasn't sure where to put some scenes to make the story flow to both a satisflying character and book arc. John's course helped by making me think further than the next few chapters without taking away my spur-of-the-moment creativity. The 8-box exercise was a challenge. So was writing the synopsis. But I persisted and now have an informal road map on which to pluck in ideas, conversations, scenes, etc. I've taken many classes. This one wouldn't have worked for me without John's personal, step-by-step approach and endearing personality. It's clear he wants you to succeed. And that's the reason I took the class. Well done, John Bemis. And thank you Jacob Jans at Author's Publish for presenting this course.

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5 star rating

Highly Recommended

Natalie Segal

Expert guidance from an experienced teacher and coach who clearly loves writing and working with other writers. Always encouraging, tells you what works before he goes into what doesn't. Specific advice, nothing vague. He knows what he's talk...

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Expert guidance from an experienced teacher and coach who clearly loves writing and working with other writers. Always encouraging, tells you what works before he goes into what doesn't. Specific advice, nothing vague. He knows what he's talking about.

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5 star rating

Key Points

Sue Bordwell

John Claude Bemis not only delivers lessons in a practical, insightful way, but works with his students to help their individual projects become better refined and better defined. I rate this course highly because it has strong value for the begin...

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John Claude Bemis not only delivers lessons in a practical, insightful way, but works with his students to help their individual projects become better refined and better defined. I rate this course highly because it has strong value for the beginning author as well as the seasoned pro.

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5 star rating

Best writing course on plotting I have found

David Jarvis

This is an excellent course for writers who are ready to learn about plotting. The techniques John Claude explores can be applied to any style or genre of fiction (or non-fiction). I have taken some good writing classes in the past, including some...

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This is an excellent course for writers who are ready to learn about plotting. The techniques John Claude explores can be applied to any style or genre of fiction (or non-fiction). I have taken some good writing classes in the past, including some in an MFA program, but this was by far the best and most useful for me.

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5 star rating

A Class Every Writer Should Do

julie ledoux

I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. I found every lesson useful and each one I could use towards my story. I now have a better understanding of the structure a story should have and how to develop each chapter in order to keep the reader intereste...

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I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. I found every lesson useful and each one I could use towards my story. I now have a better understanding of the structure a story should have and how to develop each chapter in order to keep the reader interested in my story. I enjoyed reading the lessons, as well as listening to the videos. I also found the feedback given by Mr. Bemis for each assignment to be constructive and positive, and I was always waiting impatiently until I'd receive them. I absolutely recommend this workshop.

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5 star rating

BEMIS THE BRILLIANT

Joseph Goldman

John taught the best course on Plot I've ever had anywhere; that includes the IOWA WRITER'S FESTIVAL. The lecture materials were well-developed in content, highly informative and inspirational, and just plain comprehensive. John has a wonderful ...

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John taught the best course on Plot I've ever had anywhere; that includes the IOWA WRITER'S FESTIVAL. The lecture materials were well-developed in content, highly informative and inspirational, and just plain comprehensive. John has a wonderful "writing desk side manner" about him. He is funny, serious, shares his curiosity and sense of discovery with student writers in his video presentations. He does his homework on our submissions w/o the usual "wonderful, wonderful" gloss. I learned a lot about the craft from John's perspective and attention to excellence. Joe G

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About John Claude Bemis

John Claude Bemis is an author, with books published by Penguin Random House and Disney/Hyperion.

Before becoming a full time author, John was an award winning elementary school teacher.  He now regularly visits elementary schools as a guest author.  

As a teacher, his passion for sharing literature with his students grew into a passion for writing, and, eventually, a successful publishing career.

He now lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina with his wife and daughter.

FAQ

  • What is the course schedule?

    The course starts on Monday, October 28th and ends on Friday, November 22nd, 2024. Each week, we will release five lessons that you can study on your own time. These will be a mix of text-based lessons, recommended essays, and pre-recorded lectures. Each lesson comes with text-based discussion with the instructor and the class.

    At the end of each week, you will have the opportunity to submit an assignment to the instructor for in-depth feedback.

    There will also be two office hour sessions held via Zoom, which will be recorded for those who cannot attend live. They have not yet been scheduled.

    Note, that if you fall behind on the course, you will have a full six months to complete the course and submit your work for feedback from the instructor.

  • How much time will the course require?

    Overall, expect to spend around 30 minutes a day on the course. Some days will require less work, some days will require more.

    Lessons are released weekly, which gives you flexibility. Based on our experience with other courses, some students do the bulk of their work in one or two days each week, while others spend a little bit of time each day on our courses.

  • How many students will be allowed to enroll?

    Because of the personal feedback John is providing, the workshop is strictly limited to 20 students. Once we reach that number we will immediately close enrollment.