180 Days to Save the World: Plan, write, and publish your YA novel in one year. 9th-adult. 2026-2027

$600 covers the entire course. Additional materials required.

Crescenza Studio is pleased to offer the following course from Kids Write Novels (published by Innovative Learning Press):

180 DAYS TO SAVE THE WORLD! Plan, Write, and Publish your YA novel in one year. This is a class for highschoolers and adults who seriously want to write a novel!

Limited seats available. Minimum 4 students.

Instructor A. Bell

Times and dates subject to change if you purchase this class before April 1st, 2026.

Mondays @ 12:30-2:00pm CST (Classes may run 45-90 minutes, depending on number of students and difficulty level of homework during any given week.)

First semester: 8/31-12/14 (no class 9/7, 9/21, 9/28) 

Second semester: 1/4-5/31 (no class 3/29, 4/26)

Required materials: 180 Days to Save the World (Young Adult) Workbook (Your sign-on instructions will contain a discount code for 25% off the textbook.)

Once you purchase the class and fill out THIS REGISTRATION FORM, we will email you the Google Classroom code. That's where you'll find your link to Zoom, etc. If you register fewer than 24 hours before the first class starts, the class recording will be made available to you. Contact us if you wish to begin later in the semester. 

This interactive course will teach your child the basics of writing a novel from start to finish. For the first few weeks, students will spend a good deal of time brainstorming story elements and world-building. The textbook includes many worksheets to guide them on their way–everything from character sheets to loose-end trackers, and so much more! Textbooks are hundreds of pages long, and much of that is made up of practical, hands-on activities.

In addition to brainstorming and writing a full 12-chapter novel, with all the plot points generally included in a standard, full-length story, the student text contains many helpful chapters to level-up your child’s story-telling skills. Here is a sampling of what’s included:

• Industry terms
• Outlining
• Story beats
• Elements from the Hero’s Journey
• Character types
• Backstory
• Character development
• Research
• Literary techniques
• Grammar pages
• POV
• Dialogue
• Show, don’t tell
• Conflict/plot
• Climax/resolution
• Revision
• Formatting
• Self-publishing

Note: This is not an easy class, but it can be modified at home to suit personal needs and learning style. From day one, students will have assignments to complete between sessions. They can spend as much or as little time as they want to complete their homework as long as they have something to show for it and have completed the basic requirements. There are no word-count minimums.

A note about editing: Students are responsible for editing or finding an editor for mechanics although general advice and feedback will be given. Students will receive developmental editing advice from their critique partner and/or teacher. Developmental advice is covered in the lectures and textbook, and all students will have the opportunity to see it in action since the teacher will review and discuss portions of submitted chapters any time there is an opportunity to do so during class. In fact, a lot of class time (perhaps even most of the class time) will be devoted to student chapters during the second semester. However, class time will be split among all students who submit their chapters for review, so it is unlikely that the class will read and discuss any one student's entire book. That will be the job of the student's critique partner. In fact, all students should be prepared to be a critique partner for a fellow student. This isn't a big job. It mostly requires reading another student's book and identifying enjoyable parts and confusing parts. If you do not want or need a critique partner, you do not have to critique someone else's book. It's okay to ask a parent or friend for help instead.

180 Days to Save the World is a full language arts program available for 4th-5th (chapter book version), 6th-8th (middle grade version) and 9th-12th (young adult version). You are looking at the listing for the YA (young adult) version. Miss Amy, an affiliate of Innovate Learning Press (ILP), was personally trained by Sarah Reid, ILP's managing director and developer of the curriculum. Amy is an accomplished instructor with 30 years of teaching experience. In addition, she is an accredited teacher through IEW’s instructor program. You can view her instructor page here.

To see instructor credentials, check out our FAQ page.

Individualized private lessons may be available as an add-on.

Online classes meet via Zoom. Students must attend from a laptop or computer (no tablets).

No refunds unless the class is canceled. If a participant is unable to complete the series for some reason, they will still have access to our weekly class recordings. :)

See a sample here.