I’ve had this idea about helping people create their stories from the beginning, about coaching them along from start-to-finish. To figure out what works best for them and things of that nature. I’ve had it in the back of my head for a while. Then when I started to post my word count every day and really focus on sharing the process, I’ve received messages and comments about it. Some are the “you inspire me” posts, which always make my day and I’m extremely thankful for. Others that I’m equally grateful for are just the encouraging words that I get. I also receive those who ask about whether I’d consider a collaborative effort with another author/writer. Those I appreciate too, but will always end up as a “no” right now.

Then come the coaching and mentor comments. Now, for me this is nothing new. I think I’ve always had a teacher’s heart. It comes naturally and I have the patience for it. I used to teach people how to do HTML when they’d never done it before. Thank you MySpace! lol Since it’s that little niggling voice in the back of my head working and persisting regarding writing a story, I decided to just do it. Ridiculously, (shocking, I’m sure) my little perfectionist side always wants things perfectly in order, straightened up and prepared for, before I begin anything.

It works GREAT for my books. I get them as close to perfect as I can, then publish. And move on after.

BUT. If I wait for that, I’ll never have things perfect and I don’t know where best I serve. As in, where should I focus my effort, what subjects specifically, and the like, about story creation. That is where you come in.

I’m going to start an interactive blog series. This can be considered the very first of those posts. Your participation will be a huge part of this. It’ll be done in my normal ridiculous manner. This won’t be some uptight school lesson telling you how to do what I do. I’m a machine. I sit down, work on hour, get up, then go do housework. Next day, same process. Like clockwork. What I want, is to help you decide how best you work, encourage you, and then work along with every single person who comes to participate. It’ll be more like coaching. I will cover topics that I have planned, but I will also work along with each person and cover topics that come from you. So we work together.

I’ll keep my work separate too so that I can completely focus on helping you.

Your experience is not important in this. I may say something that even very experienced writers can learn from. That’s the point. We can learn from on another.

I wrote two posts on Facebook regarding this. First one was to ask about the process of story creation to get some ideas. Find that here. Second was in regard to whether I’d have people interested in this I’m talking about. Find that here.

Where I think I’ll start is to figure out which writer you are. How best do you work, and whether you’d be better off outlining versus “pantsing” it, which just means having no outline and sitting down to write with no clue where the story is going. Or sometimes even having an idea OF a story.

If I ask a question, you’ll have a full week to comment and get my help before the next post comes along. During that week you can come back and forth here, or work on the past projects/posts. NO TIME LIMITS for that. But I would like you to be serious about this.

I’m obviously not a “teacher” so it’s me asking, not demanding. It’s just that the participation will help me to help you and the other participants. This is free. I’m using my time to help you. Please respect that and come back here to at least show up and offer encouragement to others, or your thoughts. You’re still welcome even if a certain topic doesn’t help too much. Share with your friends who’d like to participate.

What else.

Oh.

Why should you listen to me? You have no reason to. How’s that for truth?

I won’t even list any semblance of qualifications. There are plenty of true-to-life teachers out there you can buy courses from. I’m coaching and helping along, telling you how to come up with an idea from your blank space mind, then develop it into something to write. I’m going to give you the craving to write, but I can’t write for you. I can’t tell you why you need to put scene one after scene none, or scene five after scene nine instead of one.

What I can do is get you to trust yourself so you know where to put your scenes. And I think the best stories are told when we trust ourselves to know what’s right. Sometimes we need outside eyes. That’s where beta readers come in, editors. But mostly it’s our creative brains who know what the hell we’re doing, and we need to trust them. Get rid of the critics in your own head and let go. The more we practice writing (as in: write) the better we get.

What I can do is to give you the tools to work with, help you figure them out, and inspire you to do it. What I can do for you is individually focus on you and make you my entire focus and get those training wheels off your brain. What I can do for you is give you the push in the back to start riding down the hill, and making you brave enough to just do it.

What I can do is give you the courage to let the story out, then help you write the story you have to tell.

People can disagree with me, can say my process isn’t right, and they’d be correct. It’s right for me, and I want to help you figure out what is right for you, not them. I have spent a long time learning how to do what I’ve been doing. And guess what? The majority of it? Thrown out the window. I learned all the rules I could and I still am learning every. single. day. And guess what? The majority of it? Thrown out the window. Because it doesn’t fit me. And I finally have the courage to tell my stories how I not only want them to be told, but how they should be from me as the writer. With my voice.

You will learn processes here, then you have to decide which works for you. Even coming up with your own from the other comments/participants. That’s why this is interactive.

This will be ongoing. There is no time limit. But I will try to post something once a week. Find the index with all the posts here – Story Creation Magic. I’ll mark what’s new so it’s easy to find. The link is also up there in my navigation bar so it’s always easy to find. 🙂

This entire series is based off your participation.

If you have a question post it. Don’t feel dumb. We’re all hanging out casually on a porch with snacks and thoughts. Think about it that way. Like the porch below!

This is not a professor’s stuffy cold classroom. This is my style. Casual, relaxed, happy.

Lemme repeat: If you have a question, share it. Even if you’re new, we’re all friends here.

Next week’s topic:

We’ll discuss what kind of writer you are. Are you better at outlining, pantsing it, or both?

 (Posting next week.)

You can subscribe to this by subscribing to my blog on the sidebar, or you can subscribe to my newsletter if you’re not on it. In any newsletter, scroll to the bottom and you’ll have all recent blog posts listed there.

In the comments below, give me some ideas to work with, to include, where to go after our first topic. Or comment on this post in general. Ask me a question that I didn’t cover. Let us see who all is participating. 🙂

Your participation makes this series work!

Find the index with all the posts here – Story Creation Magic. The link is also up there in my navigation bar so it’s always easy to find. 🙂

continue to the next post in this series