Have I hit peak nerdiness? Yes, yes I have.

Fall goals + a syllabus(!) = freaking magic

Sep 12, 2023

Ever come across a post or an article that makes it feel like a literal lightbulb went off inside you?

That’s the feeling I got last week when I ran across a combination of two posts. First, I was going through my Substack feed and saw the headline Back to School Energy for Writers by Hurley Winkler. I, of course, clicked to read it because I adore back-to-school energy and thought, at the very least, I’d get some recommendations for office supplies—which was part of it—but oh, that wasn’t what captured my imagination.

No, what got me was when she mentioned that she and another writer friend had created a fall syllabus for themselves.

What??? ←my brain

A syllabus, you say?

She linked to an article by Kara Cutruzzula called Hit Your New Goal by Structuring It Like a Syllabus. Here’s what Kara said:

A syllabus sets expectations and gives you tools for moving forward, while deliberately learning something new. The practices and guidelines common in higher education are available to all of us—you simply have to set them yourself. And you can apply their principles to any project, starting now, with the intention to learn, discover, and build.

The concept seems so simple, but I’ve never thought of using a syllabus in this way. When I was a student, I always loved a fresh syllabus at the beginning of a semester, especially if I was excited about the class. What are we going to learn? What are we going to read?? I couldn’t wait to see. (If you’re not a person who loved school, you’re probably now thinking there’s something wrong with me, lol.)

But I’ve been out of college a long time now, and I miss that atmosphere of always diving into new topics. Learning is my jam. (If you’re familiar with the Clifton Strengthsfinder personality framework, my #1 strength is Learner. So it’s quantifiably my jam, lol.) I often get the urge to go back to school or to take a class or to apply to an MFA writing program. But going back to school takes time, money, logistics—a whole lot of complicated things.

Here’s where this concept of a syllabus comes in. We can make our own “class.” If I have a goal to deepen my knowledge about something, why can’t I make my own course of study? It’s goal-setting in a different way.

That’s why this concept set my creativity on fire.

The Fall Semester Is in Session

I had recently decided that I wanted to learn more about horror writing. It’s a genre I grew up loving, and it’s had a resurgence in the past few years (plus there’s been some interesting horror/romance blending.) I knew I’d missed a lot of good books, and I wanted to dig deeper into what modern horror lit was like.

Turns out, learning more about horror writing is a great fit for testing out the syllabus concept. Plus, it’s the beginning of spooky season so it’s the perfect time to dive into this topic.

The best way to learn about writing in a genre is to read, read, read in that genre. (This is what I preach in my class for beginning romance writers.) And, to a degree, it’s also important to watch, watch, watch because you can learn a lot about story structure from movies/screenwriting. So, over the past few days, I’ve developed two classes for myself: Roni’s Modern Horror Writing 101 and Roni’s Horror Film Study 101

I cannot properly express the joy I found in developing these curricula and syllabi for myself. It filled my nerdy heart up. Research! Hand-selecting what to read/watch! Coming up with categories! Sorting into said categories!

So. Much. Fun. And…because it’s MY syllabus, I don’t have to put anything on there I don’t want to read/watch (because you know in college they always put in that one long, usually classic book that was just a slog to get through.)

So how far did I go?

If you’ve read this far, you may be nerdy like I am and want to actually see what these things look like. So here’s page one of the film one:

Here’s page one of the writing one:

Of course, there are also projects and grading because I went DEEP into this rabbit hole. When I sent this to my friend Dawn Alexander, she said, “WOW, look at you!” like a mom who doesn’t know what to say to her child who’s dressed up in a weird outfit, lol.

Projects and grading, which I know is probably taking it too far #extra

Sidenote: For those of you looking at the actual books/movies on the list, I’m not saying that these are THE choices for a class for the general public. The beauty is that I got to personalize it completely. These are books I have not read but are already on my TBR, and the movies, except in a few cases, are ones I haven’t watched. That’s why you don’t see some classics on there like Halloween or The Exorcist.

Why should you care?

So, why am I exposing my nerdy underbelly to you? Well, I’m sharing because I bet many of you have some project or thing you’d like to learn more about or dive deeper into, some goal you’ve been putting off that you might be able to apply this method to.

We find ourselves saying “Oh, I’d like to do this thing one day or I’d like to know more about this craft/skill/job/hobby/whatever,” but then we don’t have a step-by-step plan to get there. So, inevitably, decision fatigue sets in.

For instance, “I’d like to learn to cook more healthfully” might be a goal. Okay, well that vague concept probably won’t get you very far. You’ll get into the kitchen on a Tuesday night, exhausted, and be lost in a fog of depleted willpower and too many decisions. Where do you start? Are you going to use a cookbook? Watch TikTok videos? Take a class? Watch Food Network? Call and get a recipe from your grandmother? Do you have the stuff you need to cook?

A syllabus could help. Week one I’m going to work out of THIS cookbook and cook at least TWO new recipes and focus on GRILLING. I will check that I have all the necessary ingredients and equipment on THIS day. Whatever works for you.

And yes, you can do this in a more traditional goal-setting format. Make a list. Jot stuff down in your planner. But a lot of us are already doing that and have been for a long time. A new method like making it into a syllabus/class can inject some new energy, a more playful energy, into it.

This isn’t going to be for everyone, but if you’re the type of person who used to love getting fresh pencils and pretty notebooks at the beginning of each year and got excited when you got to see the reading list for the semester, maybe this might be fun for you.

It almost has that same vibe as the Julie & Julia type project. You have a path to follow, less decision fatigue, and a sense of accomplishment as you move through it. It’s kind of like a game.

So, if this concept sparks your imagination, I’d love to hear what kind of “class” or syllabus you could imagine creating for yourself. Let’s be nerdy together!

Happy release day!

On a different note, I’m excited to share that my friend and fellow author, Sierra Godfrey, has a new book out today that is definitely not a horror novel, and I can’t wait to read it!

Accidental marriage? Inheriting a hotel on a Greek Island? What more could you want? Plus, what a bright, fun cover!

About the book:

It's all fun and games until you accidentally marry a stranger in Greece and inherit a hotel.

Amelia Lang's life is kind of a mess. She's stuck living at home with her narcissistic mother. Her tech bro ex-boyfriend deliberately sabotages her at work, and she gets fired after throwing a mug at his head (it's okay! She missed.) Then she has a major falling out with her best friend. So Amelia does what Amelia does best: She runs away.

After traveling around Europe for three months, she settles on a small Greek island to reset her life and figure out what's next. But after too much retsina, she gets tricked into marrying James, another guest at the hotel, who is perfectly nice—but perfectly boring. To top it off, they are gifted the very hotel they're staying in—a hotel they don't want that is in desperate need of some TLC. They agree to keep the hotel open through the busy summer season for the sake of the island's quirky but well-meaning residents, after which Amelia plans to return home to start rebuilding her disastrous life.

Amelia and James must work together to determine how to get out of their situation—easier said than done for Amelia, who's started to feel a strong spark of attraction for James. But Amelia is sure her real life is waiting for her back in San Francisco. Is it time for Amelia to return home or could this be the second chance at a new life she didn't know she wanted?

Get your copy

That’s all I have for you today! I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment or hit reply if you want to respond to me directly from your inbox!