plotting

When we come to discussing plot, most of the time the discussion veers into a question about how to go about plotting. We have wagon wheels, heroes on journeys, snowflakes growing in a fractal universe and all sorts of other techniques. Often, it is a debate between planning approaches. Do you...

This workshop explores story structure models from Aristotle's and Sid Field's 3-Acts, to Shakespeare's 5 acts, The Hero's Journey's 12 steps, Save The Cat's 13+ Beats, and several other less well known ones. The genres and sub-genres best suited to each story structure model are suggested...

You’ve heard of “reverse engineering”, right? It’s when a company takes a product another firm has created and then tears it down to see how it works and then improves on it to tromp the original company’s profits nearly out of existence. Actually, the first time I heard the term was in the...

Love cozy mysteries and dying to write your own, but don’t know where to start? In this eight-week course, Lori Devoti (aka Rae Davies) USA Today Bestselling author of the Dusty Deals Mystery Series, will walk you through everything you need to know to plan and write and a successful cozy...

Write Through Fright By NY Times Bestselling Author, Kimberley Troutte Almost all writers have suffered some sort of fear associated with writing (fear of failure, sophomore book syndrome, impostor's syndrome...). Successful authors have learned to write through the fear. You can, too. This...

Are you seeking a coach and mentor who listens? Doesn't squash your writing style? And who provides positive, constructive feedback to meet your goals? As a certified coach with a background in education and over a decade of working with writers, my goal is to offer you an individualized...

You've probably heard of the Snowflake Method of writing, pioneered by award-winning writer Randy Ingermanson. Its premise is that you begin with a a single sentence that represents the theme of your book and then add complexity building outwards from that sentence until you have a full-blown...

Thanks to Deb Mc for referring me here. Hoping to break into the YA Fantasy genre this year. Would love to find some online courses/resources on improving craft/plotting/etc. Any recommendations are welcome and much appreciated! Thanks, Gloria

If you plan before you begin your draft or plan during the drafting part of your writing process, we’ll cover many of the techniques that you can use to help make your drafting go smoother. If you current do no or little planning before or during the writing of the story draft, we’ll explore...

Don’t let the plotting process get you down. It can seem like a major undertaking, but once you figure out what works best for you, you can let the real author in you come out and get down to plotting any type of story – from romance to thriller to fantasy, from short stories to a long series...

Don’t let the plotting process get you down. It can seem like a major undertaking, but once you figure out what works best for you, you can let the real author in your come out and get down to plotting any type of story – from romance to thriller to fantasy, from short stories to a long series...

The foundation of every functional novel is goal, motivation, and conflict. What your character wants, why they want it, and what they’re willing to endure to get it. Sounds simple in principle, right? But I’ve seen a lot of people struggle with this, so over the next few weeks, I’m going to...

Hello, my name is Beth and I’m a Master Procrastinator. Or at least I was. I’m a recovering procrastinator now, but you can’t become one of these until you do a few things. What are they? · Realize what is taking up so much of your time. · Clarify whether it really is...

Before the book, before a writer types a word on a page, there is an idea. And behind that idea are the characters, the background, the location. Research is an important aspect of any story. Whether the writer prepares their background information before they begin to write the story, or if...

What is the best way to plot your novel? Not every process works for every author. Sometimes you might find a combination of methods that can work for you. In this class we’ll take an in-depth look at the various plotting methods, and you can determine what might work best for the way you like...

Flying by the seat of your pants to write the first draft for your book feels so freeing. It’s a time to play, to experiment, to try out new ideas. What fun! But diving into a project as big as a novel without any plan at all often means a lot of extra work after the draft is completed as you...

Are your readers satisfied with your stories? Are they reluctant to put your story aside? At the end of your story, the reader should sigh, with a sense of satisfaction, when finishing your story, one which they will remember for a long time coming. So how does one create a satisfied reader...

Ever thought of writing books for teens? Young Adult (YA) fiction is a hot market, and many authors alternate their novel writing work for adults with YA. As vibrant as the teen book market is, there are some skills you’ll need to pick up to be a successful YA fiction writer. This two-week...

In this class, you will start with two pages of dialogue and transform it into a fully functioning scene. By adding each element of what needs to go into a story individually, you will see how it all makes the whole. You will also be able to add all the elements seamlessly, including description...

Every storytelling/screenwriting guru has their own outline of how Beginning-Middle-Ending unfolds, naming necessary beats/events and identifying when they should happen. The 16 lessons of this four week course will walk through the comparison-contrast of two: Blake Snyder and Christopher...