NVL 37 — Write a Novel in 30 Days: No Critics, No Fear
Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Samina Ali
Date(s): Oct 19—Dec 2
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Monday/Wednesday
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 5:30—7:00 pm (PT)
Please Note: Class schedule: 6 Mondays, October 19, October 26, November 2, November 9, November 16, and November 30, 5:30 – 7:00 pm (PT); 6 Wednesdays, October 21, October 28, November 4, November 11, November 18, and December 2, 5:30 – 7:00 pm (PT). No class the week of November 23.
Tuition: $560
Refund Deadline: Oct 20
Unit(s): 1
Enrollment Limit: 160
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Quarter: Fall
Day: Monday/Wednesday
Duration: 6 weeks
Time: 5:30—7:00 pm (PT)
Date(s): Oct 19—Dec 2
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $560
Refund Deadline: Oct 20
Instructor(s): Samina Ali
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Enrollment Limit: 160
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Registration opens Aug 17, 8:30 am (PT)
Please Note: Class schedule: 6 Mondays, October 19, October 26, November 2, November 9, November 16, and November 30, 5:30 – 7:00 pm (PT); 6 Wednesdays, October 21, October 28, November 4, November 11, November 18, and December 2, 5:30 – 7:00 pm (PT). No class the week of November 23.
Can you write a novel in just a month? Best-selling authors Sara Gruen and Hugh Howey are proof that you can. With determination and the support of this course, so can you. For November, a.k.a. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), we will form a supportive community in which everyone will fast-draft an entire novel. This process will be generative, playful, and necessarily uncritical.
In the first two weeks, we will plan and plot, revving our engines. Once November hits, you will write 1,500 words each weekday, outpacing your inner critic. Daily prompts will keep you rolling, along with craft lessons on topics including crafting the inciting incident, characterization, and plot. The instructor will provide two 90-minute live sessions each week, featuring brief lectures and guided exercises. While there is no instructor feedback, there will be a daily accountability thread and optional small-group sharing. We will end by celebrating your draft, discussing revision, and mapping the steps toward publication.
In the first two weeks, we will plan and plot, revving our engines. Once November hits, you will write 1,500 words each weekday, outpacing your inner critic. Daily prompts will keep you rolling, along with craft lessons on topics including crafting the inciting incident, characterization, and plot. The instructor will provide two 90-minute live sessions each week, featuring brief lectures and guided exercises. While there is no instructor feedback, there will be a daily accountability thread and optional small-group sharing. We will end by celebrating your draft, discussing revision, and mapping the steps toward publication.
Open to writers of all genres no matter where they are on their writing path.
SAMINA ALI
Author
Samina Ali is an author, curator, and speaker. Her debut novel, Madras on Rainy Days, received France’s Prix du Premier Roman Étranger and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award in Fiction. Her memoir, Pieces You’ll Never Get Back, was named a "Most Anticipated Book of 2025" by the San Francisco Chronicle, was the recipient of the APALA for Literature (Nonfiction), and was optioned for the screen. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, and more. Textbooks for this course:
(Optional) Matt Bell, Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts (ISBN 978-1641293419)