Good writers plot before writing, right? Not necessarily.
Every writer has a different process for how they thread their stories together. Some outline ahead of time, some explore and find the story as they go, most embrace a process somewhere in between. There is no ‘right’ way or ‘right’ time to plot.
But all good writers understand how story plots work.
A plot is more than simply finding a formula (Heroes Journey, Save the Cat!, Three Act Structure, etc.) and filling it with ‘things that happen.’ A successful, moving story is actually a dance between the external ‘things’ that happen, how they affect your character, and how your character acts in the face of those events, influencing future ‘things’ that happen as the story progresses—and learning how this dance works will give you all the tools to make plot work for you, no matter what ‘formula’ you’re following, or if you’re even following one at all.
If you’ve ever…
✨ Stared at a plot structure and asked: “But HOW do I decide what goes in which box?”
✨ Plotted a whole story, only to throw out the outline the moment you started writing
✨ Drafted following an outline and felt like your story was missing its heart
✨ Tried to outline but only ended up tearing your hair out because ‘Catalyst’ and ‘Theme Stated’ and ‘Finale’ meant nothing to you
Then our upcoming two-day, LIVE workshop Novel Plotting Untangled is for you.
With a mixture of presentation, live practice, and QA, you will untangle all your confusion about plot structures you’ve encountered before and learn a step-by-step process to thread your character’s arc and plot events together seamlessly.
Plotter? Pantser? Somewhere in between? Doesn’t matter. This course is for anyone who wants to plan stories with confidence, so you can face your story ideas head on and know they work.
2-DAY VIRTUAL WORKSHOP
Novel Plotting Untangled
Sat & Sun, Sept 13-14th
DAY ONE
novel foundations
Saturday, Sept 13th
12-2 PM Eastern Time
You can’t outline a plot until you know whose story you’re telling. During this presentation & QA workshop we’ll look at how plot events and character decisions weave together to craft a cohesive novel, and unearth the core pieces of who your character is, which you’ll need to plot your novel.
DAY TWO
how plot works
Sunday, Sept 14th
12-3 PM Eastern Time
During this live workshopping session, we’ll give you our ‘Plot Summary’ tool and show you how to use who your character is to determine what happens in your story. We’ll give you tips and tricks for USING this tool—whether you’re a plotter or a pantser. After breaking down published examples, we’ll start to workshop our outlines together.
Yes, there will be recordings.
You can keep them forever! BUT the workshops will be highly interactive, so we suggest you commit to coming live if you can.
your workshop instructors
Emily & Rachel from Golden May
Hey hey! I'm Emily.
I’m your resident excitable, dirtbag, cat-lady coach. I’m a type-A perfectionist who played the hustle game for years, could never finish a draft, and burned out because of it. In my journey climbing out of that ditch, I tuned out the noise of what I should do, learned to love myself, and built a writing life that works for ME. As a result, my debut fantasy romance novel was published in 2024. Now I’m devoted to helping tenacious writers like you ditch the ‘shoulds’ and build a sustainable writing life that works for you, that brings you joy, and that fulfills you all the way to your bones. When I’m not writing, you can usually find me exploring the mountains of southwest Colorado with my husband and daughter, and sometimes our cats. You can find me on Instagram @ebgoldenbooks.
Hey there! I’m Rachel.
I’m your mac n' cheese loving, neurodivergent, book fairy godmother. As a coach and writer with ADHD, I understand how downright confusing craft can be and how much those "rules" can feel limiting. I understand what it’s like to struggle with your process and get hung up with mental hurdles. Throughout my journey, I've learned how to break past creative blocks and merge craft theory with my unique brain and body–and that’s exactly what I’ll help you do, too. Because of this eye-opening work, I published the first two books of The Shadows Syndicate series in 2024 and I’m looking toward the future with huge heart-eyes. I live in Colorado with my husband and daughter, dream of the perfect slice of pizza, and love staying up way too late to read. You can find me on Instagram @bookcoachrachel and @author.remay.
