So, You Want to Write a Novel with Dr. Brian Johnson

Name: So, You Want to Write a Novel with Dr. Brian Johnson
Start: 2026-02-03T18:00:00-05:00
Location: 363 Market Street, Sunbury, PA, United States, Pennsylvania 17801

Schedule

Tue, 03 Feb, 2026 at 06:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

363 Market Street, Sunbury, PA, United States, Pennsylvania 17801 | Sunbury, PA

In this new year, have you pledged to write the next great American novel? Where do you start? This series of classes will help you on your way—from idea creation to keeping you main character the focal point of your story.
Class 1: Finding Your Spark (Creative Ideas) (February 3, 6-8 p.m.)
82% of people have said they’d like to write a novel (are you in this number?). This main idea for this class is finding your inspiration for a novel. Where do ideas come from? Your imagination can lead to very creative ideas for novels of any genre. We will explore various ideas to begin priming your pump for ideas. You’ll hopefully leave with new novel ideas that can spark a short story or even a full-length novel. Bring your pen or pencil along with your laptop and a notebook. We’ll practice together. We’ll practice creative writing and we’ll share our creations.
Class 2: Genre and World-Building (Feb. 17, 6-8 p.m.)
In this class, we’ll explore genres and how they create expectations for readers. For instance, the horror genre is typically set in an isolated place; readers often expect a haunted mansion or backwoods cabin. Your readers will envision a home invasion or a mysterious stranger. Create worlds for your readers early in your book so they can situate themselves in your story. We’ll practice drafting several different establishing scenes by writing for different audiences. We’ll share our practice trials to encourage each other.
Class 3: Mastering Point-of-View (POV) (February 24, 6-8pm)
Point-of-view (POV) is all about through who’s eyes is your story being told—through who’s eyes is the action of your story being seen. It’s very easy for new writers to fall into the trap of “head-hopping” or multiple points-of-view. This third class will concentrate our energies on maintaining one POV.
This 3 session course is taught by Dr. Brian Johnson. When he was an undergraduate in college, Brian was known by his professors as "the English major who hated to read and write." He was afraid of writing, he wasted years before he found he actually possessed the passion. He actually published his first book before he realized he could. Now, he has published six novels and a seventh novel to be released this summer. He now possesses a doctorate and was a college professor teaching writing at what was Bloomsburg University. A father of four and grandfather of eight, Brian is always thinking and writing.
3 session course. Tuesdays, February 3rd, 17th, and 24th 6-8pm. Cost is $60. Seating is limited. Register today at steaminnovationlabs.org/classes