I recently participated in April Kihlstrom’s BIAW course. To say it was fabulous would underestimate this brilliant concept.
Writing a book – in a week?
I’d never heard of BIAW till the wonderful Anne McAllister posted her experiences on Pink Heart Society blog.
Did it sound interesting and exciting? Yes.
Did I think I could do it? No.
The writer’s self-doubt niggled me till I finally locked it away and contacted April.
What did I learn?
- I can write….fast!
- Doing a course with an on-line group is rewarding but can be confrontational – you have to share your work.
- Over editing means it’ll take three times as long to finish the book.
- Writing can be demanding (ok, I already knew this) but I did have to put some areas of my life on hold to fully participate.
- Develop the characters and then look at the plot.
Would I do the course again? Absolutely.
April has an amazing insight and her ideas were absolutely golden. I learnt so much from her. She really pushes you to look at your characters, plot and conflict. I definitely believe my book will be so much better because of the course.
And for non-romance writers – April’s course is not just for romance writers, it’s tailored for all fiction and non-fiction writers.
So if you’re wondering how to push yourself a little more with your writing, I’d highly recommend April’s BIAW.
Joanne Dannon, Romance Writer 
That sounds fascinating Joanne! During the writing week, how many hours a day are you supposed to dedicate to writing? How many words did you end up writing (if you don’t mind me asking!).
Glad you found it so useful!
Thanks Leah 🙂
During the writing week you dedicate as much as you can. I would have loved to have taken time off work but alas I coudn’t. I also had less time because the final week clashed with the start of the RWA conference.
So in half a week, I managed 13K words. I was really happy with this. I also found myself typing really fast – the words just flowed onto the keyboard.
April also gave me a great idea which I used to increase the conflict between my H&H and I think this will ensure the middle (approx chapter 7) isn’t saggy.