Create a Foundation
for a Series

🗓️  Saturday, April 13, 2024 at 12pm Pacific/3pm Eastern

When writing a series, you have more artistic decisions to make than when you’re writing a standalone novel. And if you don't make these decisions before you begin, you may end up with more work down the line. In this webinar, authors Kristina Stanley and Lucy Cooke will cover:
-The differences between writing a standalone novel and a series.
-The decisions you should make before writing that will set you up for a successful series.
-How to choose what type of series you'll write.

In this event, they’ll explain how to make the first of those decisions. They’ll set you up, so you're writing your series from a place of strength!

Kristina Stanley is the founder and Fictionary and is the CEO. Fictionary helps writers and editors create better stories faster with software, an online community, and training. She is the co-author of Secrets to Editing Success, The Secrets to Outline a Novel, and Secrets to Writing a Series. Her novels include The Stone Mountain Mystery Series. Her first novel, Descent, was nominated for the 2014 Arthur Ellis Unhanged Arthur for excellence in crime writing. Descent is also published in Germany by Luzifer-Verlag. Blaze was shortlisted for the 2014 Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger. Her short stories are published in The Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and Voices from the Valleys. Her short story When a Friendship Fails won the Capital Crime Writers award.

Lucy Cooke is a Fictionary Certified StoryCoach Editor and Head of Community and Training at Fictionary. She is the co-author of Secrets to Editing Success, Secrets to Outlining a Novel, and Secrets to Writing a Series. She is writing her first novel, My Fairy Assassin.

Save the Cat! A Conversation with Jessica Brody and
Jamie Nash

🗓️  Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 12pm Pacific/3pm Eastern

In this special live webinar, join WMA Founder Jessica Brody, author of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Save the Cat! Writes a YA Novel, alongside bestselling author Jamie Nash, known for his work on the acclaimed Save the Cat! series including Save the Cat! Writes for TV and the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet Workbook. Together, they will delve into the intricacies of the Save the Cat! story structure, sharing techniques for brainstorming and outlining powerful novels and screenplays. Gain invaluable insights into their creative processes and have your burning questions about crafting unforgettable stories answered by two storytelling experts!

Jamie Nash is the author of the best-selling Save the Cat! Writes for TV and the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet Workbook. Jamie has written and sold almost every type of story under the sun, including the horror films Exists, V/H/S/2, The Night Watchmen, Altered, and Lovely Molly, and the family films Santa Hunters and Tiny Christmas. He has written the Middle Grade novels Bunk!, Monster Stompers, and The 44 Rules of Amateur Sleuthing and the sci-fi novel Nomad. Jamie knows what it’s like to make a living as a writer. When he’s not writing and selling work, he teaches screenwriting at Johns Hopkins University and MICA and co-hosts the podcast Writers/Blockbusters.

Fight Write: What to Consider Before Writing Fight Scenes, Battles and Brawls

🗓️  Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 12pm Pacific/3pm Eastern

Fights begin long before the first punch both off and on the page. Learn what to consider before writing a fight scene including the why, the where and the three whos. Learn how a character's reason for fighting impacts the style, speed and severity of the fight, how a location of a fight is more important than who is fighting, and how to fit the scene to the character's natural abilities as a fighter and your ability as a writer. Finally, learn how to combine all of these factors in a way that appeals to the most important participant in the fight scene: the reader.

Carla is the author of the Writer’s Digest book Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes. Her blog, FightWrite.net, has been named in Writer’s Digest Top Websites for Writers five years in a row and is a two-time CAN Gold Crown Award winner. Carla is a Writer’s Digest University instructor, a writer for the WD blog and is a correspondent for Rolling Times magazine. She teaches the craft of writing fight scenes as well as the mechanics of fighting for writers. Carla is a world champion jiujitsu fighter and has experience in almost a dozen fighting styles and is a brown belt in Brazilian jiujitsu. She lives and trains outside Houston, Texas.

Build A Thriller Backwards with Alexa Donne

How do you write a compelling, compulsive mystery/suspense/thriller book? What are the components to keep in mind as you are brainstorming and planning, whether you are an outliner or a pantser? Alexa Donne will share how she approaches planning and writing a thriller–backwards! (Don’t worry it sounds scarier than it is.) She’ll go over essential components of a mystery/thriller, key thriller beats, popular tropes, pacing tips, and more that you can apply to adult, YA, or MG suspense books.

The Five Point Finale

If you've ever felt your endings don't feel earned, or that things get "wrapped up too easily" in the end, you won't want to miss this webinar. Join Jessica for a discussion about the Save the Cat! Five-Point Finale and how you can use it (for any genre!) to make your Third Act more compelling and dynamic. Jessica covers the Finale beat, the five points of the Five Point Finale, and gives examples from popular movies and novels. 

The Psychology of Great Characters: A Conversation with Mary Kole

Join Jessica Brody and Mary Kole, Founder and Executive Editor at Good Story Company, and instructor of Crafting Dynamic Characters, as they discuss the psychology of great characters. After the conversation, they’ll be taking your questions on character development, the Crafting Dynamic Characters course, and all things writing. 

Writing with Scrivener with Michael La Ronn

In this session, Michael will cover what Scrivener is and why it is an essential writing app in your arsenal. He’ll cover both basic and intermediate features you’ll need to know to plan, write, edit, and format your novel in Scrivener, as well as some tips that will make you more productive. By the end, you’ll feel more comfortable with the app and how to write books in it effectively.

Cheat Codes for Creating Sympathetic Characters with Scott Reintgen

So much of writing comes back to a single question: is the reader interested in following the main character into your story? In this session, author Scott Reintgen will walk through 17 methods that will have the reader falling head over heels for your characters. With each “cheat code”, we’ll discuss examples from literature and film. You’ll be surprised how deftly some authors have wielded these methods to create the characters we love the most. But most importantly, you’ll be able to take these back and easily apply them to your own work.

Writing Sequels and Series

Learn how to write and plot compelling sequels and series using the Save the Cat! plotting method. In this webinar, Jessica covers the two main types of series, the series Beat Sheet, tips for going beyond the first book, and what to know before you start. 

Writing Multiple Points of View

Join Jessica Brody as she breaks down her best practices for juggling multiple points of view (and beat sheets!) in a single story. Jessica covers what multiple POV is, gives examples from popular novels, discusses why you would want to use multiple POV in your stories, the challenges and benefits, some best practices, and how to track multiple POVs in the Save the Cat! Beat sheet.

How to Write Page-Turning Tension with Jordan Rosenfeld

Just learning the basic building blocks of story craft is not enough to write a page-turning story; you need to master the art of tension on every page and within every element of the story. From the inner conflicts of a character’s deepest psyche, to the mechanics of how you reveal information to the reader, creating tension is critical to crafting a story your readers can’t put down!

Crafting Your Ending with Simon & Schuster Editorial Director Kendra Levin

How do you bring a piece of writing to a conclusion that your readers won’t see coming and that leaves them satisfied? Join editorial director and life coach for writers Kendra Levin in a deep dive into the craft of endings. We’ll explore how to find the answers within your characters, using mythic structure as a tool, and boots-on-the-ground approaches to tackling that final, vital part of your story’s arc.

Save the Cat! Novel Writing Course

OFFICIAL SAVE THE CAT! COURSE
Discover the secret storytelling code behind all great novels and use it to outline, write, or revise your own

Novel Fast Drafting Course

Stop stressing, second-guessing, and revising endlessly. Learn the fastest, most efficient way to write novels (and finish them every single time)

The Complete Novel Revision Course

Learn a time-tested, step-by-step revision process for taking your novel from first draft to final draft 

Crafting Dynamic Characters

Learn to create fully fleshed-out, dynamic characters and how to reveal them to the reader in a way that grabs their attention and captures their heart

Foundations of Fiction

Master the foundations of compelling fiction and use them to craft killer novels, memoirs, or short stories

Retail Price: $99
Included with Membership

Scene Crafting Masterclass

Master the art of writing scenes that hook, engage, and leave readers hungry for more

Retail Price: $199
Included with Membership

Level Up Your Writing

Challenge your creativity and sharpen your skills across seven key story elements in this interactive online course with bestselling author Scott Reintgen

Retail Price: $199
Included with Membership 

Productivity Hacks for Writers

Learn to "hack" your brain, space, and devices to stay focused, be more productive, and get the most out of every writing day

Retail Price: $99
Included with Membership

Secrets to Self-Publishing Success

A comprehensive, step-by-step guide to successfully self-publishing and marketing your novel, with bestselling author Bethany Atazadeh

Develop Blockbuster Ideas that Sell

Unleash your creativity and brainstorm "high-concept" book and movie ideas that sell

Retail Price: $99
Included with Membership

Conquering Writer's Block

Proven strategies, techniques, and tools to overcome writer's block (for good!), and become a Prolific Writer

Retail Price: $99
Included with Membership 

Sell Your Novel to a Major Publisher

A comprehensive, step-by-step  insider's guide to selling your book and becoming a paid, published author

Retail Price: $199
Included with Membership

Fiction for Young Writers

A fun, interactive workshop to help young writers unlock their creativity, improve their craft, and write better stories (ages 9+)

Retail Price: $49
Included with Membership

All Future Courses

Members of Writing Mastery Academy always get first-look access to all future courses, with no change in membership price