The Advanced Novelist: Write a Novel That Actually Works
Go beyond the basics and learn the craft-level techniques professional novelists use to build complex structure, layered characters, and prose that earns readers' trust — then finish your novel.
Perfect for: Writers who have already completed at least one novel draft, short fiction, or significant creative writing study — and are ready to operate at a professional craft level.
Most writing advice is aimed at beginners. You've already read those books, taken those courses, and written your million bad words. You know what a three-act structure is. You understand "show, don't tell." What you need now is something harder to find: honest, specific guidance on the problems that stop experienced writers cold.
This course is built for writers who are past the fundamentals but still struggling to finish, sell, or truly satisfy themselves with a novel-length work. We tackle the questions that actually haunt advanced writers — how to sustain narrative tension across 90,000 words without manufactured conflict, how to make a complex non-linear timeline feel inevitable rather than clever, how to write a villain whose worldview is genuinely persuasive, and how to revise at the structural level without losing your voice.
Each module pairs craft theory with ruthless workshop practice. You'll analyze published novels as working documents, dissect what makes specific scenes succeed or fail, and apply every concept directly to your own manuscript-in-progress. No prompts about imaginary dragons. This is real work on real pages.
By the end of this course, you'll have a completed or substantially advanced draft, a revision plan grounded in structural thinking, and the diagnostic tools to solve your own craft problems on every novel you write after this one.
What you'll be able to do
- Architect a novel-length structure that sustains tension and momentum across every act without relying on plot tricks
- Build psychologically complex characters whose internal contradictions drive the story forward organically
- Write and revise scene-level prose with intentional control over rhythm, distance, and point of view
- Design and execute a non-linear or unconventional narrative structure with clarity and purpose
- Develop a villain or antagonist whose perspective is genuinely compelling, not cartoonish
- Perform a structural revision pass that identifies and fixes deep story problems without line-editing busywork
- Diagnose the specific craft weakness stalling your current manuscript and apply a targeted fix
- Complete a polished, submission-ready synopsis and opening chapter package
Curriculum
6 modules · 16 lessons
Your teacher
Vivian Lee
I've been writing and studying fiction seriously for over a decade, and I've spent most of that time asking the same question: why does this scene almost work? I've written novels that failed in interesting ways and a few that finally didn't. Along the way I've workshopped manuscripts at the advanced level, studied under published novelists, and become obsessed with the specific, diagnosable craft problems that stop good writers from writing great books. I created this course because the advice I needed at the intermediate-to-advanced stage simply didn't exist in one place — so I built it. Everything here is what I wish someone had told me five drafts ago.
FAQ
Ready to start your journey?
Join get instant access, forever — learn at your own pace with an AI coach in your corner.
This school isn't accepting enrollments just yet. Check back shortly!