Wednesday, March 12th, 2025

Live Seminar via Zoom from 6:00PM - 8:00PM Eastern 

Now Enrolling!

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Instructor April Davila is an award-winning author, speaker, and writing coach. Publisher's Weekly called her debut novel, 142 Ostriches, a "vivid, uplifting debut" and the book went on to win the WILLA Award for Women Writing the West. Writer's Digest listed her blog as one of the Best 101 Websites for Writers. She has taught at conferences and workshops online and in person in both the US and Mexico. She is a practicing Buddhist, a half-hearted gardener, and an occasional runner. Her second novel is forthcoming.

Writers often mistake story structure and plot as one and the same. However, understanding the distinction between the two is crucial for anyone seeking to craft a compelling narrative. By teasing structure and plot apart and looking at them individually, with specific examples, we can come to understand BOTH our story and how we choose to tell it. This course will deepen the writer's understanding of stories and inspire innovative ways to tell them.

When I was working on my second novel I really struggled with how to structure it, so I pulled all my favorite books off the shelf and studied how they worked. What I realized was that structure (how a story is told) is actually not the same as plot (what happens in the story). Exploring further, I found that every novel fit into one of 7 story structures, but the unique ways authors used those structures made every story distinct and interesting. I created this course to help authors understand plot and structure separately, so that they can more easily understand what it is they're trying to write and move towards a finished draft with confidence.

Technically, this is a lecture style class, but I don't like the term lecture. I like to imagine that I'm simply sharing something I have figured out that can make another writer's journey a little easier. So I leave lots of room for discussions and questions as I go along. It will be informal, but also highly informative. This class is for long-form fiction writers who have a pretty good sense of the story they're trying to tell. They are very likely well into a first draft, if not a second or third, and feeling a little like the story has gotten away from them, like it's some sort of unruly beast that they can't quite tame. Deciding on a structure is key. It helps us, as the author, to know what belongs on the page.

This, in turn, helps us get the draft done.

We will talk through the traditional story beats of three-act storytelling, looking at how to use plot to meet and subvert reader expectation. Then, we will move on to talking about structure and look at the 7 most used story structures as well as how authors are using them in unique and interesting ways.

Can't Make It Live?

No problem! The session will be recorded and available to watch after the seminar concludes. Reserve your spot now and take the first step towards transforming your writing!

COURSE TAKEAWAYS: