Fellowship of the Pen - Signum University

– By Barbara L. Quaale

“The fact is, creativity itself is a messy business.”

Bandersnatch: What They Did,by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Have you ever been enchanted by the idea of a story, a really long story, and decided that you would like to write one yourself?

Did you look at your stockpile of notions and say, “But how? Where do I start? How do I finish? Am I doing this right?

“If only I had a group of experienced fellow writers with whom I could chat things through! Like the Inklings did for Tolkien!”

If you have, then you are not alone.

That is precisely where I started, and my quest landed me in the middle of Signum University‘s Novel in a Year SPACE Program (Signum Portals for Adult Continuing Education).

Signum is a unique university as it takes place entirely online, and its continuing education offerings (the SPACE Program) are completely modular.

Rather than impersonal info-dumps via video, where the student labours to take notes while eyes glaze, six lively preceptors (a friendly and encouraging crew of skilled writers themselves) guide small classes through a Zoom Chat environment to discuss key topics on what a writer needs to do. And then we do it!

The Novel in a Year program begins in January, but fear not! Due to the modular nature of the SPACE Program, you can jump in at any point along the cycle. Each of the 12 modules runs for a month, with two classes a week, on a central writing topic.

Some modules are feedback focused, others are more instructive, with in-class practice exercises where the student can apply their new knowledge to their own project, and have other writers respond to their work.

“Going to a writing workshop is like going to a vampire convention, opening a vein, and handing out straws!” –Space Channel: Conspiracy Guy

If the idea of getting feedback on your fledgling work causes you concern, you can relax. Signum classes follow the Collaborative Feedback Method with a focus on kindness, support, and helpful suggestions to grow your story from Seedling, to Sapling, to full grown Tree. They use a specific set of Tools designed for this method and geared to each level of story development.

When I first joined SPACE, it was with a good dose of doubt and trepidation. I am not tech native, and had very few spoons to lend this new endeavour. And I, an introvert, was facing a room of complete strangers. Would the content be too light? Would the feedback be too harsh? Would my fellow writers understand what I was attempting, even if I had not quite got there yet?

For me, the magic happened in that first class. All the other writers read my material and then poured on the praise, focusing on what was working, what they liked, what they noticed, and why they wanted this story to thrive.

After literally years of toiling away in (sometimes bleak) solitude, I saw my characters come alive in the eyes and imaginations of others. I got to experience the delight of knowing that what I had pictured was making it across the divide to other minds and hearts, and landing precisely as I had hoped.

This was the singular most revivifying moment for me in terms of motivation for my monster of a project!

Insightful analysis was not lacking either. As the classes progressed, not only was I helped along the tech path by every preceptor I encountered, but my fellow writers helped me see where I could make improvements, all couched in kindness and offered with useful tools to get the job done.

I also got to see a hoard of intriguing new student projects, hear of other writers’ struggles, see how they resolved them, and know I was not alone on this journey.

The beauty of the modular model is its flexibility. Modern life is fast paced and complex. If you must skip a month, you can come back later. Each module is designed to stand alone without prerequisites.

(The only exception is Tree Workshop (Novel in a Year: 11) which, while open to all who have a mature writing project ready for close scrutiny, is designed specifically for students who have completed at least 4 previous modules in the Novel in a Year sequence).

So if your Muses have been hounding you to get your ideas on the page, and you would like to be part of a fellowship of intrepid writers on this novel writing adventure, pick up your class tokens, and join the merry marauders in Signum Univerity’s Novel in a Year SPACE Module. They helped me see the impossible as possible again.

The Twelve Modules of Novel In A Year:

Preceptors:

Sparrow F. Alden: Encourager of Stories

Dr. Julian Barr: Specialist in Creative writing, Classics, and Literature

Christopher Bartlett: A writer and poet who wants your story to thrive

Catherine Conners: Story crafter and squirrel watcher

Will Estes: Brewer of coffee, one of the dialogue brethren

Dr. Carol Oliver: A Writer analyzing how fiction works