You get an idea for a story. You make a few notes, and then sit down and start writing. But as you’re writing along, you get lost. You’re not really sure which direction your story needs to take.
You keep writing, even though you’re not feeling very good about it. Things aren’t connecting like they need to be and the story’s all over the place.
When you finally make it to the end, you worry that you don’t have anything usable.
You might like your story. There are definitely some good parts to it. But most of it is a complete mess.
So you put it aside and try not to think about it. Maybe you even start something new to distract yourself from yet another wasted draft.
Sound familiar?
The reason you’ve never been able to write a draft you can publish is because you’re skipping an entire step in the novel-writing process.
Before you can write your draft, you have to develop and plan your story.
Plan Your Story Before You Write It
Before you waste any time writing a draft, spend some time digging in and planning it out.
Develop your characters. Transform your story idea into a full-blown concept and premise. Create your structure and build your scenes.
When you do this, you’ll have the ammunition you need to write a kick-ass first draft—a draft you can actually do something with.
Story planning makes the biggest difference in the quality of your draft.
And there’s no need to struggle with the planning process. The self-paced Story Roadmap Workshop will help you put together a full plan for your story, before you write a single word.
I used the exact process from the Story Roadmap Kit to plan and write my debut novel, SoundCheck.
Discovering story structure was the most important moment in my writing journey so far. Before that, I couldn’t write a novel worth publishing.
I had several attempts under my belt, but none of my stories ever moved past the draft stage.
And then I found Larry Brooks, his story structure articles and his writing guide, Story Engineering. And everything shifted. From Larry I learned all stories must have structure—all stories need to have specific elements in play and these elements (aka: plot points) must show up in the proper place in the story.
The best part was I found out I could plan my entire story out, in full, before I spent any time writing.
I took what I learned from Larry’s blog and books, and I created a process to help writers use this information to plan and develop their stories. This is the process I use with all of my coaching clients and with my own stories too. (And Larry himself refers clients to me when they’re looking for help with story structure.)
I’ve put this process into four distinct modules:
- Idea, Concept and Premise
- Character Creation
- Story Structure
- Story Roadmap (scene building)
And turned it into the self-paced Story Roadmap Kit.
Using the self-paced Story Roadmap Kit to plan your story before you write it allows you to:
- Only have to write one full draft—then you can tweak it, optimize the story and get it edited for publication (No more writing multiple drafts)
- Be able to write your draft easier and faster, because you’ll have a detailed roadmap of your story figured out ahead of time
- Have a repeatable process for developing and planning every story you write for the rest of your career
Jennifer has guided me to a solid story plan from a sad little outline. Although my story has a long way to go, I can now complete my first draft because of her great coaching”—Paul Swann
What You Get
This is what the self-paced Story Roadmap Kit comes with:
Start Here
This section will introduce you to the overall workshop, as well as offer up suggested books to get your hands on.
- Table Of Contents for the Story Roadmap Kit
- Recommended Reading
Module 1: Idea, Concept and Premise
This module will help you take the idea in your head and transform it into a Concept and Premise.
- Developing Your Concept and Premise (Video)
- Idea, Concept and Premise (Worksheet)
- Refine Your Concept and Premise (Worksheet)
Module 2: Character Creation
This module will guide you in creating your Protagonist, Antagonist and important secondary characters, as well as develop the character arc for your Protagonist.
- Character Creation (Video)
- Three Dimensions of Character (Worksheet)
- Character Arc (Worksheet)
Module 3: Story Structure
This module will help you create the structure for your story, including all the important moments: First Plot Point, Midpoint, Second Plot Point and Pinch Points.
- Story Structure (Video)
- Story Structure (Worksheet)
- Story Structure (Cheat Sheet)
Module 4: Scene Building
This module will help you build your scene plan (aka: story roadmap)–so that you know exactly what to write and where to write it in your story.
- Story Roadmap (Video)
- Detailed Story Roadmap (Worksheet)
Bonuses
Included with this kit are the following bonuses:
- Free 60-minute feedback call with Jennifer
- Access to the Students of Story Facebook Group (to get access to me for feedback, questions, etc.)
Investment: $197 or 3 Payments of $77
The self-paced Story Roadmap Workshop helps you take the story idea in your head and turn it into a fully developed plan you can use to write your first draft—a draft that’s an edit and tweak away from being publishable.
Upon purchase you’ll receive a link to download the Kit so you can get started immediately.
Pay-In-Full: $197
3 Payments of $77
Jennifer gives you the big picture, the little picture and shows you how it ties together. Unless you know about story structure and know exactly how to apply it to your work, you might waste weeks, months or years in your publication journey. Do yourself a favor and use Jennifer’s expertise and straight-forward teaching methods to show you the way”—Ute Rosenbilds