Writing course - feedback on this idea please?

[QuestionableMouse]

I'm a published author who has recently graduated with a first in English. Been writing for 20+ years. Part of my degree course was creative writing based and I really enjoyed helping others improve their writing. I've also been part of a critique group online for years and I'm one of the top contributers.

Been thinking about ways I can make some cash from this and came up with the idea of starting a writing course based on the hero's journey. It would run for 14 weeks, to cover each stage of the journey with a couple of weeks for critique, feedback and polishing the work. It would be small, no more than five people (at least first time) so everyone received plenty of help and guidance. Thinking of changing around £150 per person. Online only at the moment, but with scope to meet in person down the road.

Would this be something you'd be interested in, if you were a writer who was looking to improve? Does the time frame and price sound reasonable?

Thank you

What is the hero's journey? The journey to becoming a successful writer? I enjoy writing short stories so the course sounds interesting to me but I'd like to know more about how you would teach. Would you be marking a piece of work? Would there be the option to try the class before paying as it is a large amount of money or could you pay weekly?
Good luck and I am sure many people will find your course interesting.

The hero's journey is basically stages that take place during a story. Not every story will have every stage and one stage can be a story in itself.

First week would be creating an idea and character - that could be for a short story, a novel or something in between. Each person would send me their work and I'd critique it, giving detailed comments, then send it back. Over the course we'd build a publishable portfolio.

Yes, happy for people to pay weekly and I could do taster sessions.

The group would spend an hour online each week in addition to the critical feedback.

Well it sounds great.

I’m a writer and also teach creative writing. There are zillions of creative writing courses, online courses, and workshops around - the main question is how you differentiate yourself and how you’ll market yourself in an over crowded market. It might be tougher than normal to launch it right now, because lockdown has inspired so many creative writing organisations to offer free Zoom workshops.

One option might be to contact organisations that already offer courses/workshops (like Arvon) and seeing if they’ll let you run a course or workshop through then, because that way you’ll have a known brand behind you.

On the other hand if you already have ties to a particular community/writing community, then it shouldn’t be difficult to sell out a small size class. The course content sounds really good.

Break a leg with it!

I like the idea from the prospective writer’s perspective, but I can’t see how you’d make it work for you financially.

It sounds like you’d be doing a lot of work for £53/week.

Also, do not allow people to pay weekly. They need to pay upfront.

I would do this course!

You could charge more for it though. And charge upfront for the full course.

Providing detailed feedback will take a lot of time. Make sure that you’ve included this time in your costs otherwise your rate per hour isn’t going to make it viable.

It sounds like a fantastic idea and exactly what I'm looking for at the moment. The only potential drawback I can see, would be that if you as a writer are known in a particularly niche genre, would that alienate other prospective writers who aren't appealing to that audience? For example, if you are a successful sci-fi author, would prospective authors of crime fiction steer clear? Just a thought.

You say you’re a published author, but from the way you talk about having done some creative writing in your degree, it suggests you’re not a published novelist? In which case I think it might be difficult to make this work, unless you have a following/your own local set of potentially interested people, when it’s a very crowded market, there are a lot of free online courses that are quite well-regarded (like Futurelearn), a fair bit of online free resources actually themed to the hero’s journey, free critique groups, and big name novelist tutors attached to recognised brands like Arvon.

I suppose what I’m asking is what would make people choose your course over other offerings?