Waiting . . .

Now’s your chance

Apply to take the next Novel Writers Academy course: How to Create Story Ideas That Beg To Be Written.

• Six-weeks
• Starts: Jan 2, 2022
• Ends: Feb 21, 2022
• Gobs of hands on practice
• One-on-one guidance from me

At the end of the six weeks you will be a story idea machine.

I will be working with only a small set of people. And so you need to apply to get in.

The deadline for applications is midnight, December 11^th. So contact me now to get the application instructions.

A cracking good story idea requires five critical elements.

Until you have all five, you’ll struggle to plot. You’ll write a few scenes and run out of gas. You’ll feel like the story just isn’t going anywhere.

And that’s because it isn’t. It can’t. A story isn’t a story without all five elements.

However, once you develop these five things, your story will suddenly roar to life. There are a few other elements that are important as well, but these five things form the core of the story setup. 

In this course you’re not going to merely learn about all of those story elements. You’re going to go deep and learn what can only be learned by actually doing the work and developing story idea after story idea with personal one-on-one feedback from someone who knows what they’re doing.   

When you finish, you won’t just know story theory. You will be a story idea machine. And you will be that because you have put in the work. The right work.  

Again, this is not a course full of lectures and videos. This is a course where you’re going to work. And develop the insights and skills that only come from doing the work.

You’re actually going to:

• Come up with story setup after story setup after story setup
• And improve them with one-on-one feedback. 

It’s going to:

• Eliminate years of you wandering about in the story wilderness trying to figure things out on your own. 
• Put you miles ahead of other writers who have no idea what’s really at the core of story. 

You are going to learn how to develop killer story ideas on purpose instead of on accident. Which means you’ll be able to do again and again. Reliably. Like clockwork. 

Course details

The focus of the class is not on learning about story, although you will do that. The majority of your time will be spent on developing stories. 

You can’t become a carpenter by watching videos and reading books about it.

You have to get out on the work site, cut wood, and pound nails. You have to make the mistakes all beginning carpenters make, get feedback, and improve.

The same goes for writing.

And you’re going to work in this class. You develop 21 story setups. In fact, you develop more because the 21 are just the ones you turn into me. And with each one your skills, insights, and abilities grow.  

In the beginning, your setups will be bare bones. By the end, they’ll be fully developed setups that beg to be written. Setups you can use to immediately write the first draft  of your novel, whether that’s in outline or chapter form. 

Here’s what you do each week. 

Week 1.

• Uncover the secrets of what’s really at the heart of story and how to generate ideas. 
• Define your genre requirements
• Create story setups 1-3

Week 2.

• Uncover the secrets to compelling characters 
• Create character sketches
• Create story setups 4-7 

Week 3.

• Uncover the secrets to formidable obstacles
• Create story setups 8-11 

Week 4.

• Uncover the secrets to interesting casts
• Create story setups 12-15

Week 5.

• Uncover the secrets to managing multiple storylines and series
• Create story setups 16-19 

Week 6.

• Create story setups 20-21. These are your capstone projects where you apply everything you’ve learned and take it to the next level

In this class you develop story idea after story idea after story idea. You are going to be marinated in the work of developing characters, THOMs, goals, obstacles, settings, casts, and more. And because of that, each week will not only bring an explosion of insights, but new skills and abilities.

Every week you get two private, one-on-one, live sessions with me where you get encouragement and feedback on what you’ve developed. And you’ll have access to a private Facebook group where you can apply the principles to brainstorm even MORE ideas for each other’s stories. 

At first you might feel a bit shy and worried about your ideas and abilities. But you’ll soon get over that. By the end of the course you’ll be one of those people that can generate terrific ideas easily. And you’ll be able to do that because you will have put in the work to become a different writer.  

What’s the price?

Hours of one-on-one instruction from a professional editor or author costs thousands of dollars. An MFA program can cost $25,000 to $30,000 or more!

But this course won’t cost anywhere close to that.

Plus you’re going to learn things here you’ll never get in an MFA program (I know. I was accepted into a top-ranked program).

The cost of this course is $799. And I personally guarantee your results. You’ll be totally oh-my-gosh-I’m-so-happy-I-took-that-class satisfied, or I’ll give you your money back. No questions asked.

Now’s your chance to stop spinning your wheels. I can’t tell you how much I wish I’d had something like this when I’d started:

• The secrets about the true core of story.
• The secrets about how to come up with ideas. 
• Actual work with personal one-on-one feedback. 
• Laser focused on what actually matters, not a bunch of ridiculous writing rules. 

When you finish, you will be a story idea machine. 

You won’t know plotting. That’s a different course and set of skills. You won’t know how to write chapters. But you’ll know how to create the engine that powers all the rest of that. You’ll know how to create the core that makes awesome plots and chapters possible. 

If you want to take this course, click the button below and contact me. I will tell you exactly how to apply.

I’m not going to be able to accept everyone who wants to take the class. I have a very strict limit on the number of students I can work with. So you need to get your application in before the deadline of midnight, December 11^th.

Don’t wait!

Contact me now to get application instructions.