Golden May's Courses

I was so close to giving up, as I believed I’d never truly understand what created a strong story, and how. A massive thank you to Emily and Rachel, who proved me wrong through their incredible and detailed lessons. The descriptions they provided were invaluable and I’m amazed at how much I learned throughout the course. The further I got into it, my love for writing returned and continued to grow. I’m confident that I have a strong basis to draft my story, but not only that… I understand why I am writing what I am. Every single lesson provided so much insight, description, explanation, and it was presented in a bitesized, engaging, manageable way. Although I have a complete rewrite on my hands, which I am NOT complaining about, I am happier with the goals, obstacles and major plot points my Main Character will face. I’m SO excited to start drafting (again) and it’s all thanks to the amazing Emily and Rachel.

A story is made up of character and plot, a GREAT story is one where character and plot are so entwined that you can’t tell which is which. This course shows you how to do that by tying the character arc to the plot beats, giving you a solid structure to build your story on. It doesn't matter if you are a plotter, a pantser or somewhere in between -- this class is for you.

Emily and Rachel’s positive energy really shines in each video of this self-driven course. There’s a deep sense of one of one. Throughout the course, I felt like the three of us were on a constant call. It’s like getting together with two old friends while simultaneously learning (so, so much!). This course allows you to figure out your hidden WHY, not just your character’s why, but your why, why are you telling your story. By far my most favorite part was to learn to craft characters, because I knew what all of them were going to do, but studying the why, made the writing flow! The character table is just genius! This experience was filled to the brim with powerful breakthroughs, but I don’t have space to list them all. Just trust my word and, regardless of what stage your story is currently in, take this course.

I'd read Save the Cat! and Story Genius (and McKee's Story) and they all made reasonable sense to me... but I was floundering around trying to fit all the pieces together. I had well-developed internal character story arcs (that admittedly needed more work than I was willing to admit) and a rough idea of the external plot (aka glimpses of epic scenes without clear story structure to progress from A to B to C)--but I didn't realize I was struggling because I was still missing some pieces. Maybe I would have figured it out on my own eventually through more months (...years...) of trial and error, but I didn't have to! This course filled in those missing pieces, helping me tie everything together. Also, it was like having the warm and thoughtful support of story coaches, without the discomfort of having someone else tell me what's specifically wrong with my story at the early stages when I'm still uncertain and defensive about all the unknowns. Instead, I was handed all the tools I need to take my story to the next level, and right now that feels pretty amazing. To the parchment and quill and beyond!!

This course takes a deep dive into how stories work, how to create complex characters and plotting! Emily and Rachel are engaging as they give you examples and lead you through this detailed course. I’m confident that I can begin to draft my story with the wealth of knowledge and resources provided! You won’t regret it!

It's always hard for me to invest in courses like these because they usually cost a lot of money. But this course is worth every penny! I've read Story Genius and Save the Cat before but the principles didn't register or change my process nearly a much as this course has! I finally, truly, understand those principles and will use them to shape every story I write! Thanks Emily and Rachel!!