SIT IN ON A SERIOUS WRITING CLASS DURING THE SELF-QUARANTINE

Hi folks,

I’d like to throw out something for your consideration. We’re in a national crisis as you know where an awful lot of us are staying home to do our part in defeating the Coronavirus, To make our self-imposed exile from each other even worse, our entertainment options have been severely curtailed with the cancellation of most sporting events, concerts, plays and many of the normal outlets we enjoy. As a writer, one positive thing is that people are reading more and book sales are up.

There is one thing that is available to those of you who are writers or have often wondered if they have the skills to be a writer. As most of you know, I host an online novel-writing class. We’ve had enormous success over the years with nearly three dozen people who’ve attended our classes and/or been coached by me privately having succeeded in publishing their novels over the years. I don’t know of any other class with our kind of class record.

Class members of an early class, all of whom became published (with the exception of Joe who is the husband of Maegan Beaumont whom he's standing next to.)

We also have another service we offer. For quality control, each class is restricted to ten people. That way I can spend sufficient time with each classmate and they can spend time with each other as well. So we can’t add new classmates. But we have another popular feature. We often have class auditors. Those are folks who sit in on our class and see everything we’re doing. The only difference is they can’t participate actively. They’re observing just like auditors in any college course. It’s extremely valuable to every level of writer—from the raw beginner to the polished professional. We’ve even had agents audit from time to time. Agents audit to scout potential talent and are the only people we don’t charge. They provide a valuable service for our participants.

All writers make the same errors that prevent them from getting published. Over and over, we see the same mistakes repeated. That’s why auditing is so valuable. Writers often don’t see their own flaws, but when they see the same things they do repeated in other writers and see why it’s not a positive trait and why, it informs their own writing tremendously. I had one auditor who held an MFA from a good university tell me after auditing our class that he’d learned more in ten weeks than he had in the entirety of his university experience. That’s probably because our only goal is to see each of our classmates become published and published well.

Two of my books we use in class.

There’s another benefit to auditing. Whenever we have an opening, we go first to our auditors and offer them the opportunity. Also, many times a newer writer is unsure about their ability. Sitting in class and watching everyone else’s work and approach is an eye-opener. Very often, they see their own level of ability reflected in others and it raises their confidence. By the same token, often auditors see that they have holes in their writer education but see clearly how to fill those holes. All in all, it’s a great experience for a writer of any level of experience and/or ability. It’s simply demystified.

Okay. Sales pitch over. Just wanted to let folks know of our existence and availability. We’re just beginning the second week of this session and everything we’ve done to date is always on the site to study. The cost for full membership in class is $400, but the fee for auditing is only $50.

This is a great time to join us! Just seeing what we do will give many a sound idea where they are as writers and for advanced writers, you’ll see work that will inform your own work and take you to another level. And, for not much money at all!

If interested or if you have additional questions, please shoot me an email at butchedgerton@comcast.net.

Hope to see some of you looking over our shoulders soon!

Blue skies,

Les

Just a couple of the novels written in class.

Openings available in our online novel-writing class!

Hi folks,

We’re going to extend the beginning of the next session of our online novel-writing class to next Sunday, June 2. I had a really bad attack of the stomach flu last week, ending up very dehydrated and weak and it’s taken a bit more time than I would have thought it would to recover. I’m getting better, but still need a few days to get back closer to normal. So…

This will also allow those who are contemplating joining us a few extra days to do so.

For details, just read the blog post preceding this one which lays out everything you need to know about class. Basics are the cost of becoming a full class member for our ten-week session is $400. We also have another entrance into class as an auditor, where you sit in class with all of us—see everything we’re doing—but just like an auditorship in an on-ground college course, you don’t actively participate, and the fee for that is only $50. Believe me, that’s a bargain. I’ve had former auditors tell me things like they learned more about novel writing just by watching the class for ten weeks than they did in the entirety of their college experience or even their MFA experience. Plus, it’s the first place we go to when we need to fill vacancies—auditors always get the first shot at joining the class.

It’s very easy to join us. Just email me at butchedgerton@comcast.net and let me know you’re interested and if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them. And, it doesn’t matter where you live—our students come to us from all over the world—from Europe, Asia, the U.S. and just about every country you can imagine. Time zones don’t matter.

Give me a shout!

Blue skies,

Les

Two of the many novelists who wrote their first books in our class--Maegan Beaumont and Linda Thompson. Both now superstars!

One of the texts our class is based on.

We leave politics at the door--all we're concerned with is doing everything we can to help get your novel published and published well.

NEW CLASS SESSION TO BEGIN - TAKING NEW STUDENTS

Hi folks,

Well, we’re just finishing up our final week on the current session of my online novel-writing class, “Les Edgerton’s Bootcamp for Writers,” and find ourselves a couple of openings. Our next session will begin on Aug 5 and consists of a ten-week session, with the probability of taking a week off sometime during the term to recharge batteries.

This is a call for new class members. Not sure how many openings we’ll have as we offer vacancies first to our auditors.

The basics are the course costs $400 and it’s limited to ten people. The $400 is nonrefundable, as if a person quits during the session it would be impossible to fill that vacancy. As this is my primary source of income, it would be detrimental for myself and my family. It’s very rare that anyone opts out once begun, however. In over five years, there have only been three.

We’ve had a remarkable history of success. Nearly three dozen writers over the past ten years who has become a part of our class or whom I’ve coached privately has gone on to being legitimately published and/or secured a good literary agent. In fact, that is our only goal—to become legitimately published.

I try to warn people who are thinking of joining us, how tough the class is, but I know from past experience that even so forewarned, at least some are going to be in for a shock when they see that we really don’t hold hands, pat people on the back for minimum efforts, or overlook writing that doesn’t work. I’m not cruel (at least I don’t think so) nor are any of the oldtimers in class, but most new folks haven’t been exposed to a class like ours. The truth is, most writers who haven’t had a class like ours have been praised in other classes or most likely, have been in classes that use the “sandwich” method of teaching. You know—that deal where the teach applies a bit of praise, then a bit of criticism, and then a bit of praise. Well, that ain’t our shtick. Not even close. The comments we all provide on everyone’s work fit one definition only.

They’re honest.

This isn’t to be mean or to act like we’re the only folks around who know what good writing is. Except… we do. I’m not aware of any other class out there with the kind of track record ours enjoys. Virtually every writer who stays the course with us ends up with a top agent and/or a book deal. That doesn’t happen in a single ten-week session. About the earliest anyone has earned an agent or book deal in our class has been about a year. And, that’s reasonable.

The thing is, our writers don’t expect things to be easy.

I figured I’d let some of the class members give you their take on our class. They don’t hold back and they all have tough skins. They will all tell you the same thing. It isn’t a class for sissies or for those who need their hands held or lots of pats on the back. Becoming published is hard, hard work and isn’t an undertaking for sissies. To get there, our students know they have to put on their Big Boy and Big Girl pants and expect to work harder than they ever have in their lives—and to never, ever “settle” their standards of excellence.

From a student several years ago:

Hi ________. Since Les opened the floor for comments from the "class veterans" I'm chipping in with my two cents. I have a file cabinet filled with stuff I sent Les and then needed asbestos gloves to take the paper off the printer. When I started this journey, I'd never taken an English class past high school. (I was pre-med in college) I figured I love to read, so how hard can it be? Okay, quit laughing at me. Clearly, when I wrote my first version of my first novel, I had no idea about story structure, POV, any of that. I figured I'm pretty articulate and therefore I can write?

Les quickly set me straight. All of this is to point out that we've all been on the receiving end of Les' brutal honesty. I will find some of the comments he made on my work and post them but phrases like "throwing up in my mouth now" and "bury this so deep in the yard no one ever finds it" are seared into my brain and I don't have to look to find those!!! The point is, I took other classes before I met Les and the teachers were kind and gentle and never told me I sucked. If it weren't for Les, I'd still be churning out awful drivel that makes people want to throw up instead of trying not to throw up while I wait to see if my agent is able to sell my book. I would never have gotten an agent without Les. So hang in there. Listen to everything he says and if it doesn't make sense, ask away.

From another student:

The novel that I am currently trying to sell has been a work in progress for several years. The first time Les saw it he sent it back and told me to re-write the WHOLE thing!!! My character was a wimp. She sat back and let things happen to her. I argued a little, rewrote a little and then moved on to another book. After a year, I went back and reread it and saw the truth. It was awful. So I took a deep breath and started over. Page one. First sentence. Re-wrote the entire thing. It took a full year and then I revised it again. It's definitely a process. But once you get the inciting incident and the outline steps down pat, it's a whole lot easier. Trust me!!! And you'll never graduate completely. A few months ago, Les and I went head-to-head on one single passage. I was trying to be lazy and take the easy way out. He called me on it and I resubmitted three or four weeks in a row, revisions on the same passage. I was sure my classmates were so sick of it they were going to stick needles in their eyes rather than read it again! But in the end, the passage rocked!! So hang in there!!!! It'll get better. (Note: This novel sold and the writer is currently working on her fifth novel.)

Class members come from all over the globe. We’ve had students from the UK, Ireland, Taiwan, Spain, all parts of the U.S., Canada, Australia, Luxembourg and many other places. We work with writers in virtually every genre on the bookshelves.

The way class works is that the class is divided into two equal groups. We used to have just one group, but it got to be too much for many students. In the past, everybody in the class was required to read everybody else’s work each week and provide in-depth comments on everyone’s work. That meant they had to read nine other class members’ work and deliver intelligent commentary on each one. We’ve since evolved to a more manageable number where now each class member reads and delivers comments on just four other classmates’ work. I provide comments on everybody’s work and that’s why the class is limited to only ten. With ten writers, I can give each person the quality of time and analysis each deserves.

Each week begins on Sunday evening, when people can begin submitting their weekly pages from Sunday until Thursday. If it’s a new writer to the class, they are allowed to submit their first five pages of their novel, plus an outline which consists of five statements and a total of 15-20 words. Oldtimers in class call this “inciting incident hell.” If the outline isn’t working and their beginning doesn’t represent the inciting incident as provided in their outline, they are required to keep submitting each week until it does. Our feeling is if they haven’t thought through their novels sufficiently and provided a publishable novel structure (evidenced by the outline), then they most likely don’t have a novel ready to be written and to simply plunge ahead will almost invariably lead to an unfinished novel. We don’t want that.

Once they’ve been okayed for the beginning, from thereafter they can submit up to eight pages per week, along with the others in class.

Time zones don’t matter. Everybody’s work, including everyone’s comments and my own comments on each person’s work each week is posted on the class site and folks can go to it any time of the day or night. Class members can begin sending back their comments on each others’ in their group from Sunday through the following Sunday, when it begins again. Although, in practicality, most members send in their work each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It’s like being in an “on-ground” class in that everything said or done in class is seen by everybody.

We do have a chat function and people use it all the time, even though they’re in different time zones. One of the best things about this class is that we have lots of oldtimers who know from their own experience what works in a novel and what doesn’t and more importantly… why it works or doesn’t work. It’s like having a group of seven or eight other professionals helping you with your own novel. Probably at any given time in class, there will be four or five who already have had a novel or several published as a result of being in class, so it’s a really rarified group. And, if you think that you couldn’t operate in a situation like this because you’re a beginner, that simply isn’t the case here at all. Nearly every single person in each class began just the way you did, as a rank beginner. And, they remember and they have complete empathy for your situation, if you’re a beginning writer.

It’s not a situation of simply saying, “This doesn’t work.” Myself and others in class will surely say that, but we then let you know why it didn’t work and give you solid suggestions on how to make it work. We collectively have a nurturing nature and all of us want the newcomer to succeed just about as badly as that writer wants to.

If you are still interested but still feel intimidated, I think if you simply look at how the class works, you’ll quickly see how you’ll fit in comfortably. Since we’ve got a couple of weeks left in class, for anyone who would like to see up close and personal how we work as a class, I’d be delighted to give you auditor status for our last week. Besides class members, we also have an auditor function which works the same as it does in a “regular” college class. You’re admitted to class and can view every single thing we’re doing and the entire class session is archived and easy to access. Normally, the cost of auditing the class is $50, but for our last week, for those interested in simply getting a look at how we work, just email me at butchedgerton@comcast.net and let me know and I’ll have our class administrator, Holly, get you on board asap.

I know there are no doubt a lot of questions you may have. Please feel free to contact me at any time and ask me anything you’d like.

From past experience, when we’ve had openings like this, they go quickly, so if you are interested, please get in touch, okay?

For those interested in such things, here are a few of my own qualifications to teach writing.

MFA in Writing from Vermont College

Taught writing for the UCLA Writer’s Program

Taught writing via Skype for the New York Writer’s Workshop

Writer-in-Residence for three years for the University of Toledo

Writer-in-Residence for one year for Trine University

Taught writing classes for St. Francis University

Taught writing classes for Phoenix College

Taught writing for Writer’s Digest Online Classes

Taught writing classes for Vermont College

Published 20 books, including craft books on writing, novels, sports books, YA novel, historical nonfiction book, humor nonfiction, black comedy novel, noir, thrillers, literary and existential fiction.

Dozens of short stories published in such publications as The South Carolina Review, High Plains Literary Review, Aethlon, Flatmancrooked, Murdaland, Best American Mystery Stories and many others.

A lot of living… much of it as an outlaw…

Blue skies,

Les

Some of our classmates meet up in Denver

New Online Class and a Couple of Openings

Hi folks,

Well, we’re just finishing up our final week on the current session of my online novel-writing class, “Les Edgerton’s Bootcamp for Writers,” and find ourselves with a couple of openings. Our next session will begin on Feb 4 and consists of a ten-week session, with the probability of taking a week off sometime during the term to recharge batteries.

This is a call for new class members. Not sure how many openings we’ll have as we offer vacancies first to our auditors.

The basics are the course costs $400 and it’s limited to ten-twelve people. The $400 is nonrefundable, as if a person quits during the session it would be impossible to fill that vacancy. As this is my primary source of income, it would be detrimental for myself and my family. It’s very rare that anyone opts out once begun, however. In over five years, there have only been two.

We’ve had a remarkable history of success. Nearly three dozen writers over the past ten years who have become a part of our class or whom I’ve coached privately have gone on to being legitimately published and/or secured a good literary agent. In fact, that is our only goal—to become legitimately published.

 Meagan Beaumont, me, and Linda Thompson, two of our students who've published books, at a meeting in Arizona

L-R Top: George Weir, Reavis Worthen, Scott Montgomery

Bottom: Me. At an event at the BookPeople Bookstore in Austin, TX

I try to warn people who are thinking of joining us, how tough the class is, but I know from past experience that even so forewarned, at least some are going to be in for a shock when they see that we really don’t hold hands, pat people on the back for minimum efforts, or overlook writing that doesn’t work. I’m not cruel (at least I don’t think so) nor are any of the oldtimers in class, but most new folks haven’t been exposed to a class like ours. The truth is, most writers who haven’t had a class like ours has been praised in other classes or most likely, has been in classes that use the “sandwich” method of teaching. You know—that deal where the teach applies a bit of praise, then a bit of criticism, and then a bit of praise. Well, that ain’t our shtick. Not even close. The comments we all provide on everyone’s work fit one definition only. They’re honest.

This isn’t to be mean or to act like we’re the only folks around who know what good writing is. Except… we do. I’m not aware of any other class out there with the kind of track record ours enjoys. Virtually every writer who stays the course with us ends up with a top agent and/or a book deal. That doesn’t happen in a single ten-week session. About the earliest anyone has earned an agent or book deal in our class has been about a year. And, that’s reasonable.

The thing is, our writers don’t expect things to be easy.

I figured I’d let some of the class members give you their take on our class. They don’t hold back and they all have tough skins. They will all tell you the same thing. It isn’t a class for sissies or for those who need their hands held or lots of pats on the back. Becoming published is hard, hard work and isn’t an undertaking for sissies. To get there, our students know they have to put on their Big Boy and Big Girl pants and expect to work harder than they ever have in their lives—and to never, ever “settle” their standards of excellence.

From a student several years ago:

Hi ________. Since Les opened the floor for comments from the "class veterans" I'm chipping in with my two cents. I have a file cabinet filled with stuff I sent Les and then needed asbestos gloves to take the paper off the printer. When I started this journey, I'd never taken an English class past high school. (I was pre-med in college) I figured I love to read, so how hard can it be? Okay, quit laughing at me. Clearly, when I wrote my first version of my first novel, I had no idea about story structure, POV, any of that. I figured I'm pretty articulate and therefore I can write?

Les quickly set me straight. All of this is to point out that we've all been on the receiving end of Les' brutal honesty. I will find some of the comments he made on my work and post them but phrases like "throwing up in my mouth now" and "bury this so deep in the yard no one ever finds it" are seared into my brain and I don't have to look to find those!!! The point is, I took other classes before I met Les and the teachers were kind and gentle and never told me I sucked. If it weren't for Les, I'd still be churning out awful drivel that makes people want to throw up instead of trying not to throw up while I wait to see if my agent is able to sell my book. I would never have gotten an agent without Les. So hang in there. Listen to everything he says and if it doesn't make sense, ask away.

From another student:

The novel that I am currently trying to sell has been a work in progress for several years. The first time Les saw it he sent it back and told me to re-write the WHOLE thing!!! My character was a wimp. She sat back and let things happen to her. I argued a little, rewrote a little and then moved on to another book. After a year, I went back and reread it and saw the truth. It was awful. So I took a deep breath and started over. Page one. First sentence. Re-wrote the entire thing. It took a full year and then I revised it again. It's definitely a process. But once you get the inciting incident and the outline steps down pat, it's a whole lot easier. Trust me!!! And you'll never graduate completely. A few months ago, Les and I went head-to-head on one single passage. I was trying to be lazy and take the easy way out. He called me on it and I resubmitted three or four weeks in a row, revisions on the same passage. I was sure my classmates were so sick of it they were going to stick needles in their eyes rather than read it again! But in the end, the passage rocked!! So hang in there!!!! It'll get better. (Note: This novel sold and the writer is currently working on her fifth novel.)

Class members come from all over the globe. We’ve had students from the UK, Ireland, Taiwan, Spain, all parts of the U.S., Canada, Australia, Luxembourg, Malta and many other places. We work with writers in virtually every genre on the bookshelves. Genre is unimportant as we recognize but two genres--good writing and bad writing.

The way class works is that the class is divided into two equal groups. We used to have just one group, but it got to be too much for many students. In the past, everybody in the class was required to read everybody else’s work each week and provide in-depth comments on everyone’s work. That meant they had to read nine other class members’ work and deliver intelligent commentary on each one. We’ve since evolved to a more manageable number where now each class member reads and delivers comments on just four other classmates’ work. I provide comments on everybody’s work and that’s why the class is limited to only ten or twelve. With a dozen or less writers, I can give each person the quality of time and analysis each deserves.

Each week begins on Sunday evening, when people can begin submitting their weekly pages from Sunday until Thursday. If it’s a new writer to the class, they are allowed to submit their first five pages of their novel, plus an outline which consists of five statements and a total of 15-20 words. Oldtimers in class call this “inciting incident hell.” If the outline isn’t working and their beginning doesn’t represent the inciting incident as provided in their outline, they are required to keep submitting each week until it does. Our feeling is if they haven’t thought through their novels sufficiently and provided a publishable novel structure (evidenced by the outline), then they most likely don’t have a novel ready to be written and to simply plunge ahead will almost invariably lead to an unfinished novel. We don’t want that.

Once they’ve been okayed for the beginning, from thereafter they can submit up to eight pages per week, along with the others in class.

Time zones don’t matter. Everybody’s work, including everyone’s comments and my own comments on each person’s work each week is posted on the class site and folks can go to it any time of the day or night. Class members can begin sending back their comments on each others’ in their group from Sunday through the following Sunday, when it begins again. Although, in practicality, most members send in their work each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It’s like being in an “on-ground” class in that everything said or done in class is seen by everybody.

We do have a chat function and people use it all the time, even though they’re in different time zones. One of the best things about this class is that we have lots of oldtimers who know from their own experience what works in a novel and what doesn’t and more importantly… why it works or doesn’t work. It’s like having a group of seven or eight other professionals helping you with your own novel. Probably at any given time in class, there will be four or five who already have had a novel or several published as a result of being in class, so it’s a really rarified group. And, if you think that you couldn’t operate in a situation like this because you’re a beginner, that simply isn’t the case here at all. Nearly every single person in each class began just the way you did, as a rank beginner. And, they remember and they have complete empathy for your situation, if you’re a beginning writer.

It’s not a situation of simply saying, “This doesn’t work.” Myself and others in class will surely say that, but we then let you know why it didn’t work and give you solid suggestions on how to make it work. We collectively have a nurturing nature and all of us want the newcomer to succeed just about as badly as that writer wants to.

If you are still interested but still feel intimidated, we have a second option. Auditing the class. I think if you simply look at how the class works, you’ll quickly see how you’ll fit in comfortably. The auditor function works the same as it does in a “regular” college class. You’re admitted to class and can view every single thing we’re doing and the entire class session is archived and easy to access. The cost of auditing the class is $50, and auditors always get the first shot at future openings. If interested in this option, just email me at butchedgerton@comcast.net and let me know and I’ll have our class administrator, Holly, get you on board asap.

I know there are no doubt a lot of questions you may have. Please feel free to contact me at any time and ask me anything you’d like.

From past experience, when we’ve had openings like this, they go quickly, so if you are interested, please get in touch via my email above, okay?

For those interested in such things, here are a few of my own qualifications to teach writing.

MFA in Writing from Vermont College

Taught writing for the UCLA Writer’s Program

Taught writing via Skype for the New York Writer’s Workshop

Writer-in-Residence for three years for the University of Toledo

Writer-in-Residence for one year for Trine University

Taught writing classes for St. Francis University

Taught writing classes for Phoenix College

Taught writing for Writer’s Digest Online Classes

Taught writing classes for Vermont College

Published 20 books, including craft books on writing, novels, sports books, YA novel, historical nonfiction book, humor nonfiction, black comedy novel, noir, thrillers, literary and existential fiction.

Dozens of short stories published in such publications as The South Carolina Review, High Plains Literary Review, Aethlon, Flatmancrooked, Murdaland, Best American Mystery Stories and many others.

A lot of living… much of it as an outlaw…

Blue skies,

Les

Another of our classmates sells her book!

Hi folks,

I love being able to report on great news like this. Yet another of our classmates in my online novel-writing class has sold her first book! This is the second one this year, following Todd Monohan’s success story earlier in the year when he sold his first novel, The Vexing Heirloom.

Welcome the world of published novelists, Linda Thompson, with her magnificent book titled, The Plum Blooms in Winter, to be published by Mountain Brook Ink.

Here. I’ll let Linda make the announcement in her own words as she did via an email to me yesterday when I asked her for details.

She said:

Hi, Les!

Yes yes YES, it’s true!! Sorry, I HAVE been meaning to write you… because I’m deeply, deeply in your debt—no one has meant more to my writing career than you have!

I have a three-book deal! The Plum Blooms in Winter is supposed to launch in January 2019, and I’m contracted for two more books after that.  I’m delighted to work with the team at Mountain Brook Ink. They produce outstanding books. 

Given that it took me six years to write book one, I am kind of nervous about having just 15 months to deliver book two. Granted, I’ve been well schooled now– I sure had a lot to learn when I started out! But I know I need to get really serious about my daily word count goals. And as always, there’s a lot of “life” going down, so it’s a challenge to balance everything.

Yes, please give a big shout-out to everyone in class, who’ve been so amazingly helpful in this process! And to yourself—I really do owe anything I’ve achieved as a writer to you.

Much love, Linda

And much love to you, Linda! It was Linda who found and arranged for our class’s site on the Intergnat, and who has maintained it for us for the past six years. She’s been one of our most faithful class members, showing up each and every week to send us her work and to provide her commentary on her fellow classmate’s work each and every week. She began with me when I taught the novel-writing class for Phoenix College way back when and came with me when I began our current class six years ago. She’s family!

Even though it took her six years to write her first book, it has nothing to do with her being a slow writer. On the contrary—it’s taken this long only because she’s a perfectionist. She has always made sure every word was the right word and she is a throwback to writers of yore—she has rewritten every page of her book until it was, indeed, perfect. That’s rare today in the modern world of people of little patience and a proclivity for instant gratification. Linda is a writer’s writer and that’s the highest compliment I am able to give. There are more than a couple more like Linda in our class and like her, their day will come, too.

A three-book deal is becoming a rare event in publishing, especially for a first-time novelist. I suspect they didn’t see her first book as what normally crosses their desk from first-time novelists—Linda just approaches her craft with the kind of care and attention that’s more associated with a generation known for their attention to craft.

When the publication day comes, I’ll be sure to post it here. It’s going to be a big book—that I can promise!

Blue skies,

Les

Taken last year on a visit to Scottsdale to visit my best fiend, 

Tom Rough and got to spend a day with a couple of our 

Bootcamp for Writers. On my right is one of our most esteemed graduates. Maegan Beaumont. and on my left is today's star--Linda Thompson.

P.S. Update on Todd Monahan! I got an email from him the same day I got Linda’s. Here’s what

Todd had to report—more exciting news! I’d asked him about a  report that his first novel was being considered as a possible film.

Les!

Great to hear from you, and I hope your recovery is progressing. 

Through a mutual relative, I was put in touch with a woman who works in Hollywood, as a contact and possible conduit to a studio that might be interested in the project. She wrote me a letter, which I posted on Facebook, saying that she likes the book, but that it would be a hard sell because it's not an established brand yet. But, she said, if the right producer/director comes along, she thinks it would be perfect for screen treatment. So that's pretty much where I'm at.

On another positive note, I am about 4/5 done with my next novel and I'm looking at a Summer 2018 release. It was originally intended to be a YA coming of age novella (think "Stand By Me" meets "A Christmas Story") but the project has grown and changed to the point I think it will be marketable to adults, too.

Another funny thing: a few weeks ago, my publisher asked me to review a potential author's manuscript and give critique, much like we do in your class. The woman has ability but the story was nonexistent, structurally, and needed a lot of work. I tried to explain the concepts as you taught me, of surface problem, story-worthy problem, inciting incident, etc. She got very angry, told me I didn't know what I was talking about, and pulled the project from us. Just underscores that not everyone is ready to hear the truth. I am glad I had you for a teacher.

How have you been? How is the class and how are the other writers?

Todd

Todd G. Monahan

Attorney-at-Law

Cool news, Todd, and we’re glad we had you for a classmate as well! As you can see, your classmates are doing well. Several more have finished their novels and we’ll be posting more success stories in the near future.

TWO OPENINGS IN OUR ONLINE NOVEL-WRITING CLASS AVAILABLE

Hi folks,

*Update: Folks, the openings have been filled so alas I can't take any more for this session. If interested, however, we can add as many auditors as there are applicants. If interested in auditing, please contact me. You see everything we do in class and although you don't participate, what you'll observe are usually the same mistakes almost all writers make and I've gotten nothing but positive feedback from those who've audited in the past. Typical is one auditor who told me that he'd learned more about writing in one ten-week session of watching us at work than he'd learned in the whole of his MFA experience. We teach with the sole goal of publication.*

Well, we’re just finishing up our final week on the current session of my online novel-writing class, “Les Edgerton’s Bootcamp for Writers,” and find ourselves with the rarity of a couple of openings. Our next session will begin on April 30 and consists of a ten-week session, with the probability of taking a week off sometime during the term to recharge batteries.

This is a call for new class members. Not sure how many openings we’ll have as we offer vacancies first to our auditors.

The basics are the course costs $400 and it’s limited to ten people. The $400 is nonrefundable, as if a person quits during the session it would be impossible to fill that vacancy. As this is my primary source of income, it would be detrimental for myself and my family. It’s very rare that anyone opts out once begun, however. In over five years, there have only been two.

We’ve had a remarkable history of success. Nearly everyone over the past six years who has become a part of our class has gone on to being legitimately published and/or secured a good literary agent. In fact, that is our only goal—to become legitimately published.

A couple of our current and former class members meet up in Scottsdale, AZ.

I try to warn people who are thinking of joining us, how tough the class is, but I know from past experience that even so forewarned, at least some are going to be in for a shock when they see that we really don’t hold hands, pat people on the back for minimum efforts, or overlook writing that doesn’t work. I’m not cruel (at least I don’t think so) nor are any of the oldtimers in class, but most new folks haven’t been exposed to a class like ours. The truth is, most writers who haven’t had a class like ours has been praised in other classes or most likely, has been in classes that use the “sandwich” method of teaching. You know—that deal where the teach applies a bit of praise, then a bit of criticism, and then a bit of praise. Well, that ain’t our shtick. Not even close. The comments we all provide on everyone’s work fit one definition only. They’re honest.

This isn’t to be mean or to act like we’re the only folks around who know what good writing is. Except… we do. I’m not aware of any other class out there with the kind of track record ours enjoys. Virtually every writer who stays the course with us ends up with a top agent and/or a book deal. That doesn’t happen in a single ten-week session. About the earliest anyone has earned an agent or book deal in our class has been about a year. And, that’s reasonable.

The thing is, our writers don’t expect things to be easy.

From a student several years ago:

Hi ________. Since Les opened the floor for comments from the "class veterans" I'm chipping in with my two cents. I have a file cabinet filled with stuff I sent Les and then needed asbestos gloves to take the paper off the printer. When I started this journey, I'd never taken an English class past high school. (I was pre-med in college) I figured I love to read, so how hard can it be? Okay, quit laughing at me. Clearly, when I wrote my first version of my first novel, I had no idea about story structure, POV, any of that. I figured I'm pretty articulate and therefore I can write?

Les quickly set me straight. All of this is to point out that we've all been on the receiving end of Les' brutal honesty. I will find some of the comments he made on my work and post them but phrases like "throwing up in my mouth now" and "bury this so deep in the yard no one ever finds it" are seared into my brain and I don't have to look to find those!!! The point is, I took other classes before I met Les and the teachers were kind and gentle and never told me I sucked. If it weren't for Les, I'd still be churning out awful drivel that makes people want to throw up instead of trying not to throw up while I wait to see if my agent is able to sell my book. I would never have gotten an agent without Les. So hang in there. Listen to everything he says and if it doesn't make sense, ask away.

The novel that I am currently trying to sell has been a work in progress since 2009. The first time Les saw it he sent it back and told me to re-write the WHOLE thing!!! My character was a wimp. She sat back and let things happen to her. I argued a little, rewrote a little and then moved on to another book. After a year, I went back and reread it and saw the truth. It was awful. So I took a deep breath and started over. Page one. First sentence. Re-wrote the entire thing. It took a full year and then I revised it again. It's definitely a process. But once you get the Inciting incident and the outline steps down pat, it's a whole lot easier. Trust me!!! And you'll never graduate completely. A few months ago, Les and I went head-to-head on one single passage. I was trying to be lazy and take the easy way out. He called me on it and I resubmitted three or four weeks in a row, revisions on the same passage. I was sure my classmates were so sick of it they were going to stick needles in their eyes rather than read it again! But in the end, the passage rocked!! So hang in there!!!! It'll get better. (Note: This novel sold and the writer is currently working on her fifth novel.)

From Les:

I figured I’d let some of the class members give you their take on our class. They don’t hold back and they all have tough skins. They will all tell you the same thing. It isn’t a class for sissies or for those who need their hands held or lots of pats on the back. Becoming published is hard, hard work and isn’t an undertaking for sissies. To get there, our students know they have to put on their Big Boy and Big Girl pants and expect to work harder than they ever have in their lives—and to never, ever “settle” their standards of excellence.

Class members come from all over the globe. We’ve had students from the UK, Ireland, Taiwan, Spain, all parts of the U.S., Canada, Australia, Luxembourg and many other places. We work with writers in virtually every genre on the bookshelves.

The way class works is that the class is divided into two equal groups. We used to have just one group, but it got to be too much for many students. In the past, everybody in the class was required to read everybody else’s work each week and provide in-depth comments on everyone’s work. That meant they had to read nine other class members’ work and deliver intelligent commentary on each one. We’ve since evolved to a more manageable number where now each class member reads and delivers comments on just four other classmates’ work. I provide comments on everybody’s work and that’s why the class is limited to only ten. With ten writers, I can give each person the quality of time and analysis each deserves.

Each week begins on Sunday evening, when people can begin submitting their weekly pages from Sunday until Thursday. If it’s a new writer to the class, they are allowed to submit their first five pages of their novel, plus an outline which consists of five statements and a total of 15-20 words. Oldtimers in class call this “inciting incident hell.” If the outline isn’t working and their beginning doesn’t represent the inciting incident as provided in their outline, they are required to keep submitting each week until it does. Our feeling is if they haven’t thought through their novels sufficiently and provided a publishable novel structure (evidenced by the outline), then they most likely don’t have a novel ready to be written and to simply plunge ahead will almost invariably lead to an unfinished novel. We don’t want that.

Once they’ve been okayed for the beginning, from thereafter they can submit up to eight pages per week, along with the others in class.

Time zones don’t matter. Everybody’s work, including everyone’s comments and my own comments on each person’s work each week is posted on the class site and folks can go to it any time of the day or night. Class members can begin sending back their comments on each others’ in their group from Sunday through the following Sunday, when it begins again. Although, in practicality, most members send in their work each week on Wednesdays and Thursdays. It’s like being in an “on-ground” class in that everything said or done in class is seen by everybody.

We do have a chat function and people use it all the time, even though they’re in different time zones. One of the best things about this class is that we have lots of oldtimers who know from their own experience what works in a novel and what doesn’t and more importantly… why it works or doesn’t work. It’s like having a group of seven or eight other professionals helping you with your own novel. Probably at any given time in class, there will be four or five who already have had a novel or several published as a result of being in class, so it’s a really rarefied group. And, if you think that you couldn’t operate in a situation like this because you’re a beginner, that simply isn’t the case here at all. Nearly every single person in each class began just the way you did, as a rank beginner. And, they remember and they have complete empathy for your situation, if you’re a beginning writer.

It’s not a situation of simply saying, “This doesn’t work.” Myself and others in class will surely say that, but we then let you know why it didn’t work and give you solid suggestions on how to make it work. We collectively have a nurturing nature and all of us want the newcomer to succeed just about as badly as that writer wants to.

If you are still interested but still feel intimidated, I think if you simply look at how the class works, you’ll quickly see how you’ll fit in comfortably. Since we’ve got one week left in class, for anyone who would like to see up close and personal how we work as a class, I’d be delighted to give you auditor status for our last week. Besides class members, we also have an auditor function which works the same as it does in a “regular” college class. You’re admitted to class and can view every single thing we’re doing and the entire class session is archived and easy to access. Normally, the cost of auditing the class is $50, but for our last week, for those interested in simply getting a look at how we work, just email me at butchedgerton@comcast.net and let me know and I’ll have our class administrator, Holly, get you on board asap.

I know there are no doubt a lot of questions you may have. Please feel free to contact me at any time and ask me anything you’d like.

From past experience, when we’ve had openings like this, they go quickly, so if you are interested, please get in touch, okay?

For those interested in such things, here are a few of my own qualifications to teach writing.

MFA in Writing from Vermont College

Taught writing for the UCLA Writer’s Program

Taught writing via Skype for the New York Writer’s Workshop

Writer-in-Residence for three years for the University of Toledo

Writer-in-Residence for one year for Trine University

Taught writing classes for St. Francis University

Taught writing classes for Phoenix College

Taught writing for Writer’s Digest Online Classes

Taught writing classes for Vermont College

Published 19 books, including craft books on writing, novels, sports books, YA novel, historical nonfiction book, humor nonfiction, black comedy novel, noir, thrillers, literary and existential fiction.

Dozens of short stories published in such publications as The South Carolina Review, High Plains Literary Review, Aethlon, Flatmancrooked, Murdaland and many others.

A lot of living… much of it as an outlaw…

Blue skies,

Les