Back To School: Taking Writing Courses

As a teacher, I'm pretty much a life-long student. I love taking classes and learning about pretty much everything! Over the last few years I've taken writing courses through universities near and far to practice the craft of writing. I enjoy writing and when someone tells me I have to write a story for homework, I'm actually excited about it!

I took classes at DePaul University in Chicago about 2 years ago. I took three classes in total, one on editing (which was priceless), one on fiction writing, and one on children's lit. I took something great from every one of those classes. I learned to be a better critiquer and much better at editing my own work before passing it on to betas.

For a multitude of reasons, I decided not to continue with the master's program. But I always kept looking at ways to continue working on craft.

Recently, a friend recommended the UCLA Extension Writer's Program. They offer extensive courses in fiction and non-fiction writing, as well as screenwriting for TV and film. I decided to try out a class this summer.

www.uclaextension.edu

For me, having already competed a few novels, the fiction writing classes weren't necessarily for me. They focus on writing and completing your first novel. There are some other classes within fiction I'd like to try, like mystery writing. So I'll be keeping an eye out for those.

In order to try something new and learn a new skill, as well as learn things I could apply to my novel writing, I took Beginner's Screenwriting I. I love movies and would love to learn how to write one. The class is great, all online, which is cool because I live near Chicago, not LA. But they also offer live classes in LA if you're nearby. I did visit the campus a few weeks ago when I was out there on vacation. It's gorgeous!

My thoughts on the class so far are that it's a lot of fun. I wouldn't say it's challenging being that I have writing experience, but in the class we have everyone from high school students to lawyers and business people trying their hand at being creative. The class takes me about 1-2 hours a week, so it's not a huge time commitment. I've learned quite a bit about structure, which is really helping me with plotting out novels. Also, we've worked on character development. It's also somewhat affordable.

I hope to take more courses at the UCLA Extension Writer's Program, although I'll be taking the fall off  from classes because I do work full time at a school and have another book to finish before the end of 2012. I would highly encourage anyone interested to check it out!

Karly Kirkpatrick is the author of five novels, including those in the Into the Shadows Trilogy, and Bloody Little Secrets. You can find out more about her and her books at www.karlykirkpatrick.com!

Writing A Sequel...Yikes!

I recently published the sequel to my first novel, Into the Shadows. I took awhile to get it out -- it's been 18 months! My biggest mistake was following the traditional publishing route in the sense that when I start writing, I wrote Into the Shadows, and then moved on to something else. At that time (2008) the standard was to do that -- write the book and then keep writing other things. Writing a sequel was seen as a silly idea. Why write a sequel if no publishers buy the first book?

But now the game has changed and in epublishing, you really need to get the next book out as soon as you can.

This brought up my second problem. It's easy to SAY you're writing a trilogy, it's another thing to actually figure out what the other books are going to be about. I said it was a trilogy, but other than knowing how I wanted the second and third books to end, I had NO idea what else I was going to write. And I was completely terrified I wouldn't be able to come up with anything good. Eventually, I was able to brainstorm my way through it, and have already started the third book and have a solid list/outline of how I want it to go. I keep adding to that weekly as well! My advice...really plan that trilogy/series out if it's going to continue the story.

I have a second series that is not a trilogy. Bloody Little Secrets was initially written as a stand-alone novel, but the interest is there and I had already been taking notes for a sequel, which I hope to write this summer. I'm approaching this one differently than the Into the Shadows trilogy. My plan is to write another stand-alone novel, using the same characters. I don't want to leave cliffhangers or anything. It'll just be another story with a solid ending. That way I'm free to either continue the series with as many books as I choose, and really, whenever I want. Or I can stop at 2 books and not feel guilty that I left anyone hanging.

It has been quite the experience and although I swear I'll never do another trilogy again, I'm sure I will! Happy writing!



Karly Kirkpatrick is an obsessed Harry Potter fan and the author of such books as Into the Shadows, Darkness Rising, The Green, and Bloody Little Secrets. She likes her pizza hot and her beer cold. You can also visit her and her books and wave hello at www.karlykirkpatrick.com.

The Writing Monster

There are some people who write every day. As a full-time teacher and a mom of one, I don't always have the luxury of time available to do that.

I do, however, have ideas all the time. Stories are always floating just under the surface, just waiting to be developed while I drive to and from work, or daydream at lunch. I carry around two black Moleskine notebooks, one for Into the Shadows Trilogy notes and one for notes for other projects.

When I actually sit down to write, look out. Writing for me is a super intense process. Once I dive in, I'm totally stuck there until it's over. It almost becomes an obsession. I can understand why they say writers must suffer from a certain amount of madness because all I want to do is work on what I'm writing. I don't want to work or go out with friends, I just want to write. I get crabby when the phone rings or someone interrupts me because I'm so in the moment, I don't want to get pulled out of it. That's probably why I did okay with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It's a rush!

I'm almost done with my latest novel, Darkness Rising. In fact, hopefully by the time you read this post, it will be done. I've been writing like a crazy person over the last week and a half to make a final push to get the book finished. The good thing is that I can write anywhere, provided I have headphones. I need the music to block out all the distractions. My album choices on Spotify for this book have been Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Mumford and Sons, and Ellie Goulding. Without them, there would be no book!!!

So what kind of writer are you? Do you write every day? Or do you have bursts of writing madness?

Karly Kirkpatrick loves reading and writing YA lit. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, daughter, and two dogs and teaches high school German and French. She is probably one of the world's biggest Harry Potter fans. Her current books include Into the Shadows (Book 1 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) , Bloody Little Secrets, The Green, and EIGHT. Coming Summer 2012 - Darkness Rising (Book 2 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy).

Ladies: Takin' Care of Business

Being that I have the post the day before Valentine’s Day, you’d think it would be the perfect opportunity to come up with something very lovey dovey. Well, I’m not that kind of girl. Today we’re gonna talk all about ladies. Yeah, that’s right. Strong ladies.

I was recently introduced to a show on PBS called Downton Abbey. While there are many reasons to watch it, as it’s a great show, I came away from it thinking about women and our roles in society. The three sisters on the show, Mary, Edith, and Sybil Crawley, are coming of age in England in 1912. Their struggles on the show, while fictional, are a very important reminder to women.


I think we as women often forget that for our mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers, the world was a very different place. The Crawley sisters really were not given the credit or the options of doing anything for themselves. If anything, their main value is what they can bring their families by marrying well. Their parents are pretty much parading them in front of every wealthy man in the country. A little further into the show, I was happy to see the girls start to find their way and become a little more independent.


My readers seem to appreciate my approach to the strong female characters. My fictional ladies know what they want, are independent, confident, and don’t have to rely on men, or anyone else, for the most part. I think many of The Indelibles can claim the same regarding their female characters. That's not to say they don't have fierce love for their family and friends. It's important to be balanced!


Here are a few other strong female characters that I admire:


Hermione Granger/Harry Potter Series: She’s a true bookworm, but is proud of her intelligence and uses it to help others. While sometimes hard on herself for breaking rules, as she gets older, she gets a little less cautious and more adventurous, as we all know.

Katniss Everdeen/The Hunger Games: Katniss is the ultimate bad ass. She hunts and takes care of her family and is brave to boot. How many girls do you know that would volunteer to join a death match?







Emer Morrisey/The Dust of 100 Dogs: She’s a reincarnated pirate on the hunt for her long lost treasure. Emer knows how to protect herself. Be sure to hide your swords.

















Kendra Sorenson/Fablehaven Series: She has some special fairy-given gifts that give her powers some extra kick. Kendra isn’t afraid to get down and dirty and fight off gross demon baddies.








So Happy Valentine's Day to all my strong ladies out there!




~Karly