Story Makers Class
News about our Story Makers Class will be posted here!
Also consider our Story Makers book club (details below), a writing-focused challenge
book club, which meets once a month on the third Tuesday and is free to everybody.
Thank you all for your interest and support.
BOOK CLUB
Kickstart your creativity with our Story Makers book club, a challenge book club of twenty categories. Each category focuses on aspects of writing to encourage reading like a writer. Discussion at the meetings will focus on creative and critical thinking about the books participants have read for the challenge. The group will look at why and how books are effective, or how they are not.
Story Makers book club is an offshoot of our Story Makers class. The book club is free for everyone and is not mandatory for Story Makers students. Story Makers book club does not include instruction, only thoughtful discussion with other writers and book lovers.
Story Makers Challenge 2023
- January: Nonfiction book on writing, creativity or procrastination to kickstart your writing
- February: Book with a plot you can use as a model to plot your own novel, or a nonfiction book on plot development
- March: An author’s first book and their twentieth book (or beyond) to illustrate how the author’s writing style develops and progresses over time
- April: Book with strong characters or a nonfiction book on writing and developing strong characters
- May: Independently published book in your genre
- June: Traditionally published book in your genre
- July: Book in the sub-genre in which you write
- August: Book that is a cornerstone of the genre in which you write
- September: Book in your genre that follows a trope that you want to use
- October: Book written in the tense and POV that you write
- November: Book you would use as a comp to your own work
- December: Nonfiction book on self-editing or marketing
A PDF Version of the 2023 challenge is available here.
A PDF version of the 2022 challenge is available here.
A PDF version of the 2021 challenge is available here.
A PDF version of the 2020 challenge is available here.
Terms Used in the Challenge
WIP: work in progress
Independent Publishing: when an author publishes their work on their own, taking on the expense of editing, design, printing, and advertising; often referred to as self-publishing
Traditional Publishing: when an author is represented by a major publisher that takes on the expense of polishing and producing their books and often the majority of advertising costs
Window: a book that presents characters or ways of life that are outside of the reader's lived experiences
Mirror: a book that presents characters or ways of life that are comparable to the reader's lived experiences
Sliding Glass Door: a book that invites the reader to experience ways of life that are outside of the reader's lived experiences
Genre: category of book (e.g. mystery, romance, nonfiction, etc.)
Trope: any type of literary device, figure of speech, theme, character type, etc. found across many works (e.g. the evil stepmother is a fairy tale trope)
Comp: comparable work (e.g. Percy Jackson is a comp to Harry Potter, Pride and Prejudice is a comp to Jane Eyre)
POV: point of view (e.g. first person, third person close, third person omniscient, second person)
Novella: a work between 17,500 and 40,000 words
Short Story: a work less than 7,500 words