I refuse to believe anybody actually reads my blog, so I use it as a space to declare intentions and organize my thoughts. Recently, I asked my audience about whether they’d like some kind of online summer writing camp or workshop and what I should focus on – that gave me some clarity on my own goals and summer projects, so I’m going to list them here to make them real.
1. Free summer writing camp
Although I’m not famous, my guides to writing books have inspired thousands of authors and I’ve even seen them get built into some of the bigger writing tools and platforms. A few years ago, I decided to have a summer writing camp for teens and created some very in-depth videos to help new writers plan, write and edit a satisfying novel. Those youtube videos are still up so I thought I’d remind everyone they exist. I’ve also organized them together into a more structured online course with some deeper examples and case studies from my own writing. So while you can watch the videos for free (and please share them with younger writers who are looking for help!) I’d appreciate any support, since I give away most of my materials.
Updated Resources: I’d also love to give a face-lift to some of my best resources, and that will be one of my major summer projects. Specifically, my book about writing “BookCraft” (a title I never really liked) will get restructured to remove a lot of the fancy veneer I’d tried to wrangle within the umbrella of that magical title (comparing the craft of writing to actual witchcraft), and I’ll republish a tighter, cleaner version under the new title.
I also have a free plotting guide called the Plot Dot, which is really not much more than an explanation of my simple Plot Wheel. I’d like to turn that into an actual writer’s notebook, with some extra bits focusing on character, description, etc. A simple printable guide you can use to sketch out your ideas and keep everything in one place, maybe to offer on Etsy or something.
And THEN, I’d like to generate some YouTube books, basically an audiobook or chapter excerpts, for my YouTube channel. That’s a bunch of stuff but it’s basically just getting organized on my end. You can still grab all my current resources for free, or what until I’ve remastered them.
Technically, I should do this with all my other nonfiction books on writing and publishing as well, to modernize them and spruce them up, but that would probably be too big a stretch.
2. Online Writing Workshop (Coaching/membership)
This summer though, actually, I’m going to avoid writing. I’ve spent most of this year so far, writing – trying in vain to finish another fantasy series which just does not want to end – and I’m exhausted. So I’m going to focus on editing, which takes a lot of time, concentration and focus, but less creativity.
To that end, I’d like to offer some kind of writing workshop for authors who already have a rough draft (even an incomplete one) but are struggling to actually finish it. I have a handful of written manuscripts that are Very Good, but just not quite done. I realize I’ve been a bit overzealous with my editorial rigor. I like my stories to be satisfying, complex and deep. But 90% of the story is there, and with editing I’m mostly just adding in the juicy emotional bits that make the story matter; add in some stunning and vivid description; and remove weird little plot holes and inconsistencies, picking at gaps in logic until things fall apart.
I don’t plan to change that exactly… but I thought it might be very useful to help authors understand this process. I’ve talked about it a lot, and all the common writing mistakes most authors make, but I’d like to commit to make a big series of posts and videos about each single sign of weak writing or flaw, to show how to spot it and fix it, so authors will feel more confident and comfortable editing their own work.
(I’m not saying don’t hire an editor, by the way, but an editor will never be able to fix or improve all of these facets of your book the way you can; it’s too time and knowledge intensive.) I’ve started a new website, where I will host all this stuff, to match the rebranded title of my book… fixyourfiction.com.
And while I plan to make most of that content available for free, I’ll also package it up into a course membership or coaching program for one important reason: because I know a lot of authors need real help and support, and actual feedback and commentary; as well as a structured timeline and deadlines so that they actually do the work!
This is something I’ve avoided for a long time, because I personally hate deadlines, appointments, or anything I have to schedule. But I’ve decided to give it a shot this summer, in a few different formats, for a limited number of people who are looking for that kind of online writing workshop. I do have a PhD in Literature and I am pretty comfortable leading a classroom, so I expect it will have a ‘back to school’ appeal.
Like I mentioned, I’ll be using the time to edit two of my own nonfiction books and at least one (but hopefully 3) novels as well. One is pretty clean but I have some very big ideas of how to improve it, and two are half-edited already. The important one though, will be the end of one of my series, which will mean I have 2 complete boxsets and I aim to finish at least 3 full series this year.
That way, I can record the process of what I’m working on, and also give feedback and support on what you’re working on (especially if you get stuck, demotivated, overwhelmed, don’t know what to fix or work on, etc). I might, possibly, offer a very exclusive small classroom offer to 10 people, but I’m not sure about that yet.
PS I’m currently figuring out where to host all this, I may try something new or just keep using Teachable, which is increasingly broken and frustrating. Spots will be limited so stay tuned!
3. Book Marketing Tips
Hopefully, that’s enough for the summer, and we’ll all have a clean manuscript ready to publish. I have TONS of guides and resources for that, but might make some new ones. It would make sense, like I mentioned, to rewrite GuerrillaPublishing and Book Marketing is Dead, at least a little.
But since my first major course on book marketing is a little dated (and the newest one, is not), I’m thinking of doing a back to school offer, to get both my courses and 3 months of coaching and support, which will carry us into the fall, which is when I at least, tend to be more productive.
I actually have a TON of valuable resources I made for my flagship course earlier, and then just kind of let it quietly die out because launching courses is exhausting, which is a shame because a lot of people have said it’s my best material. So rather than try to gut it and refresh and it and make a whole new marketing course… I’m going to do a final relaunch and squeeze the life out of it.
Once I get all this stuff organized, I’ll create the pages and things so you know where to find all the new content, and send out a newsletter with more details – so make sure you’re subscribed or at least follow me on YouTube, which is about the only social media platform I ever post anything on.
4. How to be human in the age of AI
As a final project, I’m a bit nervous about speaking at the “Author Nation” conference in Vegas this November. It’s been years since I’ve attended a writing event, and it feels like so much has changed. I feel like a vampire emerging after decades, to face new tech and challenges.
I am however, quite pleased with my presentation, which will be a deep historical dive on creativity, artificial intelligence, and art in general. I have a tight outline and a ton of research, and I’d like to spin it up altogether into a nonfiction book which will actually be the guide or manifesto I plotted out over a decade ago when I started this blog, but never finished.
I feel like, it’ll be good, and I’m excited to work on that because I *love* philosophy, research and big-picture issues, and there’s so much amazing stuff to talk about. I won’t be pro or anti-AI exactly… it’ll be about authenticity and creativity, and what that means in a world when robots have unlimited resources and potential to replace you.
I *hope* I’ll have this book ready this fall and it would be great to publish this year, but we’ll see how things play out. The only other huge, massive project, is my package of templates for DIY book covers which has been a floundering, unfinished project for 1/3 of my life. I’ve run out of energy for it, but there is still so much demand there and too few tools to solve the simple issue of getting your book cover sorted. That needs to get finished, and maybe this will be the year I dedicate some extra time to it.
Derek Murphy has a PhD in Literature, is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and has spent over a decade helping authors write, publish, and sell books through Creativindie. When he’s not critiquing manuscripts or building writing tools, he’s probably in a castle somewhere with cats.
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