A one-hour self-paced workshop to find the plot arrow that carries your story forward and makes it matter. Video | Self-paced

If the central thread of your story or scene feels unclear, patchy, or sluggish, it’s much harder to write – or to know how to rework your first draft. This workshop will help you find:

• a clear plot arrow that carries your story forward
• a firm sense of why it matters.

You can then shape your story, act, or scene around that, whether you’re starting to write it or reworking your first draft.

This is a simple powerful tool which I return to at the start of every novel and short story, and whenever I’m struggling with an act or scene. Use it to plan, troubleshoot, or redraft: it always illuminates exactly which bit of the narrative drive needs work, and how to fix it.

Get the Narrative Drive workshop now
or read on for more details

What you’ll get to create your narrative drive

• An in-depth one-hour self-paced workshop with time to create your narrative drive within the hour
• A PDF summary to keep, so you can return to the same principles for future stories / tricky sections within your story

Want to map out your story as well? Get this together with Plot Tension Map and get 25% off both.

Will this work for me? and other FAQ

• Do I need to have a story? Yes – at any stage, from nascent idea to a finished draft you want to refine. If you don't have a story idea, you can start with Guided Story Creation: The Spices instead.
• I’m a beginner / experienced writer: will this work for me? Yes: like my other teaching, it’s multi-level. If you’re new to writing, it’ll start you off with clear guidance. If you’re experienced, it’ll help you troubleshoot familiar issues.
• Have I met this tool before? It’s used in the Page Turners and Planning A Novel workshops. You don’t need to have done those workshops. If you have, you can still do this workshop if you want to use it in more depth.

Choose the option that suits you

• Want a motivating deadline? Use It Now (£20) gives you one week’s access to the one-hour workshop, PLUS you get a summary PDF to keep so you can return to the principles.
• What to keep it forever? Keep It Forever (£50) means you can use it and rewatch it whenever you want. (And you also get the summary PDF, for quick reference.)

(Note: If you did the live version / replay and want to upgrade to Keep It Forever, it's £30 to upgrade Narrative Drive and £45 to upgrade both Narrative Drive and Plot Tension Map together. Email me and I'll sort that out for you.)

Any other questions? Email me: I’ll be happy to chat it through with you.

Get the Narrative Drive workshop now

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• You'll get an automated email from the web-platform (Thrivecart) plus an email from me with the link to bookmark.