Free courses
The courses, playbooks, and guides below are FREE for logged-in students. And Storysmith U is free to join. Click any course below to create an account and start learning.
But if you see something you like, don't delay. Some of the free courses are only free for a limited time, so be sure to click into them and work through at least a few lessons to reserve your enrollment spot.
Learn about the 6 types of beliefs that make up a character's belief system and how these beliefs can hook directly into your plot. When you enroll in this quickie, guide-style course, you'll get access to exclusive examples, charts, and discussion that will show you how to identify the different pieces of your characters' belief systems and how to leverage them for your story growth arcs.
6 lessons
Intermediate
Not started
Premium courses
The courses, playbooks, and guides in the list below are available for purchase. Some of them offer free, limited previews, so click through to the ones that catch you eye and enjoy the sample. You can purchase any of these from their course pages below.
Your hero's backstory is more than just a collection of memories and experiences. It is a powerful tool in your writing skillset, and a strategically crafted backstory can even help you break through writer's block. In the How to build a Breakthrough Backstory playbook, I walk you through the 6 steps that will simplify and focus your writing time. Stop chasing plot bunnies and writing random scenes, and zero in on the choices that matter most.
10 lessons
Easy
Not started
In just 30 minutes a day, you'll learn three powerhouse techniques for choosing smart verbs so you can write simple, clean prose that pops. Interactive quizzes at the end of each lesson show you where you need to focus your study. And you'll have the opportunity to see how other writers are using their verbs. The best part? You'll level up your prose in just three days.
12 lessons
Intermediate
Not started
Coming soon to Storysmith U.
Character is the heart of story
When you start writing at the heart of the story, you miss out on all the possibilities that can trickle down from the heart of the character.
In this series of articles, playbooks, and the final course, you'll learn how to funnel the breadth of your character's life experiences into the depth of the story you want to tell.
Good character-driven stories should always start with character, and I'll give you the tools you need to craft memorable, dynamic heroes that will captivate your readers.
- The foundation of this learning series starts with the Powerful Character Transformations collection of free articles on my public website.
- My playbooks will guide you through how to connect all those little bits of knowledge into focused strategies for each step of building your character profile. See the 2022 playbook release schedule below.
- Then, in my signature course, you'll learn how to apply everything you've learned to your own work so you can start creating captivating characters readers will always remember. The Creating Captivating Character Profiles course is coming this November.
Here's what's coming this year:
August 2022
October 2022
November 2022
