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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Write Your First Novel by Michigan State University

4.3
stars
340 ratings

About the Course

WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL From Inc.com - The 30 Most Popular Online Courses of 2020 "Write Your First Novel" made the list at #15 https://lnkd.in/gZqscmn If you’ve ever had the dream, the desire or even just a vague notion that you would like to write a novel, this course is for you. Whether you are a full-time student, have a full-time job, a family to take care of or all of the above, you can do it. Really! And I will help you get there. In this Course, you will write your first novel. Many people say they have often thought about writing a novel and are planning to do it someday, but very few ever actually do. However, in this course, you will do it. You will learn how to form a basic idea, any idea, into a structure and discipline that will allow you to create, write and complete a fully-realized novel ready to submit for publication. If you have any concerns regarding the protection of your original work, Coursera's privacy policy protects the learner's IP and you are indeed the sole owners of your work. Here is a link to a trailer for the course. To view the trailer, please copy and paste the link into your browser. https://vimeo.com/385761391/c5e7f873cf Learner review: "It was a great experience, I really enjoyed it." In Write Your First Novel, you’ll learn to break down your creative endeavor into components and you’ll discover a process that will allow you to do what few have done: produce and complete a full-length work of fiction in the form of a 50,000-word novel. Learner Review: "You teach storytelling like no other teacher. I cannot put in words how much I appreciate it. This daily writing, and the product that comes with it, have been a great mental support during the pandemic time. Art is a support for life, as Stephen King said, and thanks to you I experienced it first-hand during this time. I think I will keep writing 500 words per night for the rest of my life. I owe it to you. You taught me how to write a novel, and it works every time. Huge thanks, and wishing you all the best." I am a proponent of experiential learning (also known as active learning). My lectures are short and to the point, designed in a step-by-step process essential to your success as a writer. I will guide you, I will show you how to get there, hopefully I will inspire you. You will learn through your own activity - which is writing! I firmly believe that the only way to become a writer is to write, write, write! Learner review: "As a published author, I took this course to relearn the skills. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every lecture and quiz. This course was very, very helpful and the videos were very well executed. Cheers!" Writing fiction is a truly beautiful thing. Putting your own words on a page to tell a story which enters your readers minds and allows them to share the thoughts, emotions and lives of your characters is a very satisfying, rewarding experience. Learner review: "BEST TEACHER EVER! LOVE THE COURSE."...

Top reviews

C

Oct 10, 2022

This course provided the structure and accountability I needed to write my first novel. It was low pressure and fun. I loved reading the comments from my fellow writers and reading their submissions.

PC

May 1, 2020

This course helped me as a writer because of the teacher. He was not a quick talker, but he was not a slow talker. He was very understanding. I really would love to get teached by him again.

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101 - 125 of 148 Reviews for Write Your First Novel

By Dina H

Sep 17, 2021

Best course. Best professor.

By John W

Jan 27, 2023

Great course. Very helpful.

By Yijue L

Jul 14, 2024

Help me write long story.

By Harsha v r G V S

Aug 10, 2021

Absolutely Enriching!

By Winston A W

May 31, 2021

Excellent, thank you.

By Newt

May 18, 2020

Gooood. So very good

By Abdulaziz S B

Feb 20, 2021

Very good course .

By Elizabeth L

Dec 7, 2021

a Christmas story

By Estefani R

Apr 23, 2021

Excelent Course!

By agustina e

Jan 10, 2024

precius guide

By Deleted A

Jun 29, 2023

Best course!

By Carolyn P

Nov 27, 2020

i love books

By Sricharan

Aug 11, 2020

To The Point

By ELMER M P

Oct 5, 2022

excelent

By kolo k

Feb 19, 2022

EXELENTE

By Deleted A

May 27, 2021

6

By Diane D

Oct 15, 2021

The course helped me complete the first draft of a fantasy novel. I was lucky enough to connect with a wonderful group of participants who were supportive and encouraging through the entire process. Some of us will remain connected as we go through the first round of editing.

I would love Coursera to fix a couple of glitches in the system. One is the formatting when uploading assignments. Understand that HTML can be glitchy, but it was really annoying in the beginning until I learned that uploading from Google Docs was better than uploading from Word. The second thing is being able to continue reviewing the same student submissions. By doing so, we can provide better comments when we can follow the same story. It's hard to critique someone's chapter randomly if we don't know what occurred in earlier chapters.

By Susan H

Feb 3, 2021

The instruction was great; I gain some useful tools that I will be able to use in my writing in the future. However, what was frustrating for me was the fact that I could not receive one-on-one via chat, email or any other form when I felt only the instructor could provide the answer to my question. My other frustration stemmed from the peer reviews. In this class in particular, I was more comfortable in giving reviews to my fellow writers whose progress in their work I had been following since its inception. I was completely uncomfortable in critiquing my peers based on the chapter by chapter review process without knowledge of prior chapter work and was not appreciative of being review in that manner; something that may need consideration and perhaps revision,

By Katie M

Oct 13, 2024

The course itself is very useful, and a good help for getting a grasp of story structure. I also appreciated the aspects of pitching and logline's which I think are important if you plan to be a published writer. However, there's not much help with how to actually implemenet edits, not to mention that I don't think getting feedback on the first draft of a novel is particularly helpful. I eventually stopped posting my actual chapters because some other members of the course pointed out concerns about AI skimming. I think the info provided is good in and of itself, and I think this is a good way to keep on track and have a consistent schedule, but the course is not perfect and could use some tweaks. Still, I suppose you can't complain about something that's free.

By William B

Nov 9, 2023

Excellent course, which did a great job in helping me establish a consistent writing routine. My only quibble is with the times in the course that called for table reads. That really broke my rhythm. Also, the assignment at the end of submitting the entire manuscript and reviewing 1-2 entire manuscripts seemed like a lot at that point in the course. I would have also liked to have seen better resources in the course for establishing critique groups or directing students to them. Other than that, this was a very useful course that I would recommend to anyone starting out in the writing world.

By Raja' S

Jun 12, 2022

1. Helps you start and pick up the pace for writing.

2. A series of videos to help you stay on track.

3. Peer review assignments are hard to follow at some point. You have to read a chapter for five each time. The problem lies in having no criteria to give helpful feedback. You cannot stay on track for the same work you started reviewing except outside the platform.

4. The course might benefit from discussing the pros and cons of some known works.

Overall, it is a good experience for a novice and did help me sort my writing work properly.

By Allison C

Jul 2, 2024

This was a helpful course and it worked for me as a first time writer. The advice and guidance of the teacher is valuable and it helped me through my first ever novel. The only factor that makes it a four star instead of a five star is the part where we have to give feedback to other learners. Some of the feedback I recieved was great, but most of it was vague. Furthermore, sometimes only work submitted years ago was available for review. Overall, I'm glad I took this course and I'm very happy with the results!

By Ene G

Oct 16, 2021

I like that this course gave you directions without hand-holding and definite directions. The instructor pretty much pointed you in the right direction with great tips and let you explore on your own, allowing you to develop your own style. He gave suggestions on where to take each chapter that were unexpected and challenging, but definitely improved your writing if you followed his direction. Also, having a cohort to exchange ideas and give feedback was most valuable. I'm really glad I took this course!

By Scott P

Apr 3, 2023

The content from the instructor was excellent. Peer support was less than desired. However, there was good support from some dedicated students who actually knew what they were talking about. The constant signing of names for rights was ridiculous.

By Lucya S

Jul 5, 2021

I loved the course. It helped me complete my first novel. Id give it 5 stars except that the software was a bit glitchy at times, making it hard to upload my chapters or doing odd things with the formatting.