A few of you have emailed me asking for a sneak peak of my new workbook, Find & Refine Your Story.
The lessons in the step-by-step guide are essential for writers who want to commit to their craft, so I’m pumped to share a sneak peak and with you today!
Why Is It Important To Refine Your Story Idea?
1) You're going to spend a LONG time with this story
Many writers want to be traditionally published (meaning they want to see their book in Barnes & Nobles or in an airport bookstore). The journey to traditional publication is a lengthy one, and even if you got a publishing deal today you would still spend a minimum of two years with this book.
Other writers prefer self-publishing options, which allows writers to electronically publish their stories and is much faster than traditional publishing. But even this option still means you're going to have to spend time writing and polishing your story.
No matter what way you want to share your story with the world, you're still going to have to spend a lot of time with this idea if you're serious about writing. And you're in this course, so that means you're serious!
2) You don't want to waste your time
For the same reasons as above, you will be spending a lot of time with this story!
How would you feel if you spent the next year writing and editing your novel, only to realize you're not working with the most exciting, most original, or most marketable version of your idea?
Trust me - it won't feel good!
Save yourself the emotional trauma and take the time now to refine your idea so you know every hour you spend working on your story is worth it!
3) Every story has already been written once
The number one mistake several writers make is embarking on the lengthy writing journey without taking the time to make sure they're writing a story people haven't read before.
Even if you're the most brilliant writer, you'll never get someone to the first page if you've written a story they've already seen.
And no matter who you are or what your story idea is, some version of it exist in another book, television show, or movie. Humans have been creating for a long time, so no matter what story you're going to write, a version of that story already exists.
Now this might sound depressing, but it's really an opportunity. You should definitely write the story you want to write, but you first have to figure out why your story is new and exciting so every reader wants to buy it!
Let's look at a real life example of an author who refined a well-known story idea and made it unique. This author wanted to write a book about a boarding school for wizards.
And now you're thinking, "Hm...that sounds very familiar, why that sounds exactly like Harry Potter!"
Unfortunately Harry Potter has already been done (and done well!), so what could you do to make that concept new and exciting?
What if you change the location? What if you shift the age range? What if instead of Yule Balls and dragons these wizards used magic to have sex and do drugs?
That would be interesting, right? A college for wizards?
That's exactly what Lev Grossman did with his best-selling series and newly adapted television show, The Magicians.
He took an exciting concept people loved and made it fresh - the series is literally pitched as "Harry Potter with Adults".
The lesson to learn from this is don't be discouraged that so many stories have been written - rise to the challenge and figure out how to make yours unique!
Alright, that’s it for the sneak peak! If you want this full lesson you can get it now with my step-by-step workbook, Find & Refine Your Story. Learn about it here!
Have fun refining your story ideas and let me know if you have any questions!
