My First Month In The Author Conservatory

Photo credit to Kenny Eliason on Unsplash.

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If you didn't see my post at the beginning last month, I just joined the Author Conservatory (authorconservatory.com) and have officially been in the program for four weeks! I never imagined I'd learn as much as I did so fast, but suffice it to say, it's already been a hard but wonderful experience for me and my stories.

The first week was mostly getting situated, listening to trainings, and posting takeaways. I got to connect with some students that I had interacted with a little before, and got to meet some new ones as well. It was a bit overwhelming to get used to how everything worked, but the week passed quickly and I was still filled with excitement about what was to come.

The second week is when I actually started writing things that would be used in the program. I had to come up with three concepts (a few paragraphs explaining your story - beginning to end) and edit a chapter that the editors on staff would assess.

I don't normally plot my fictional stories, so the idea of creating concepts was daunting at first. However, I was able to finish the first draft of all three by the middle of the week and found out that I actually highly enjoyed the process! Sure, they weren't perfect, but creating something new is so exhilarating and fun.

The third week, I got to attend my first critique call, and it was amazing! Getting twenty minutes one-on-one with an instructor, just getting to talk about my stories and hear their thoughts and suggestions, was really unlike anything I've done before. The fact that I get to attend these every week and that the instructors are so accessible has been one of my favorite parts so far.

The fourth week, I just continued to work on my concepts with the feedback that I'd gotten from my call and listened to more trainings. I was also preparing for a violin audition, so I didn't do as much as I would have liked, but the great thing about Author is that you can get caught up on your own time if need be.

The Conservatory takes you step by step through the process of writing a good, sound novel, and even though it's slow, I have really good feelings about all of this. There have been some frustrations with keeping everything in the complexity level that they require, but I'm so excited to see what my first novel ends up being!

Now that it's October, I get to start the business track alongside the writing one! Author wants to teach its students not only how to write well, but how to market and make money too. This is something I've been looking forward to ever since I joined, and I can't wait to see what the other other side is like and what I learn next.

If you have any specific questions, I'd love to hear them in the comments below!