SHORT STORY SCHOOL
Join the waitlist!
Write better short stories
Do you dream of writing awesome short stories? Then instead of writing, you stare at your computer screen for hours… type a few words, only to delete them? Has your ‘Submit a Short Story Once a Month’ goal already failed? Do you think your writing is simply crap? And are you frustrated because you have no idea how to fix any of these problems?
Short Story School is designed to help you overcome self-doubt, procrastination, and perfectionism. It is a programme that will help you to master the theory of short story writing and help you learn how to apply the theory to your own writing.
You will also write more than you have ever written before.
How does it work?
There is no quick fix for writing. There is no magic ‘one-size-fits-all’ cure for procrastination. It takes time to learn, to shape your stories and to find your own voice. It takes time to overcome the doubts and devils that steal your time and to silence the inner critic, but the solution to these obstacles is also simpler than you think.
You need to learn how to write and critique short stories. You need to study the craft. You need to write.
A monthly membership, which includes a course, writing sessions, a reading challenge, community feedback and coaching, will help you do all of that, so that you can write better short stories. Usually, you have to choose between a course or a coach or feedback.
This unique membership offers all three. You don’t have to choose. We need different things at different stages of our writing journey. Each story is different. Sometimes we need to go back to the theory. Other times, we need feedback on how we applied that theory to our stories. Sometimes we simply need someone to cheer from the sidelines.
We all want results, and I am sure you want me to make promises about how quickly you will progress. In today’s instant gratification society, we want it all, and we want it now. Writing does not work like that.
You don’t decide to run an ultra-marathon the night before the race, right? Writing is the same. We need to build up our endurance. We need to work on our mental game. We need to train.
Sure, I can give you a few quick tricks that will produce fast results, and I will do that, but I’d prefer to teach you why and when and how you should apply a certain rule, but I also need you to know when and how you can break that rule.
Every story you write is different and requires something different from you as a writer. For my part, I want you to build a healthy, sustainable habit which will help you to write awesome short stories consistently and not in a mad rush that leaves you exhausted, dependent on false muses and burnt out.
Join the waitlist today!
A deadline is the fastest way to fill a blank page
and in this class I am going to tell you about 52 of them.
About Us
Deadlines are the solution.
In a perfect world, no writer would ever get stuck, be stumped or get sucked into the black hole that is the internet. We would sit down, the muse would descend and we’d produce literary magic, but this world is far from perfect. We get stuck, stumped and sucked in by hyperlinks. We need deadlines.
Deadlines for Writers is the kindest, most productive writing community on the internet. We kick procrastination butt by meeting daily, weekly and monthly deadlines.
Deadlines for Writers
Deadlines for Writers is the home to several writing challenges. We host the 12 Short Stories in 12 Months, 12 Poems in 12 Months and 52 Scenes in 52 Weeks novel-writing challenge.
We write together, critique each other's work and constantly improve our craft.
Write your book in a year
If you have always dreamed of writing a novel or if you have several incomplete manuscripts languishing in your drawer or if you need some extra help and accountability, well, this challenge is just for you.
Weekly deadlines, flexible prompts and a supportive community will make the challenge of writing a novel not only possible but fun.
Mia Botha
Founder
Mia has been a creative writing coach for more than 13 years. She created the Deadlines for Writers, which as the name implies, is a deadline-driven, online critique group that helps writers beat procrastination and perfectionism and overcome self-doubt because she has learnt that a deadline is the fastest way to fill a blank page.
©2024 Deadlines for Writers.