Map Your Story

If so, you may have been caught in a web of thinking that well-known, published writers know something you don’t, or that there is some magic writer’s-elixir you don’t have access to, or that you’ve got writer’s block. I’m here to tell you, they do not, there isn’t, and you don’t. You are a brilliant and capable storyteller. If you were not, these ideas wouldn’t keep tugging at your sleeve like a small child who wants that Snickers bar at the checkout counter. Give her the damn Snickers! It’s delicious, decadent, and it’s damned inspired. Peanuts, caramel and chocolate? What would the world be without it? Let’s not go there…

My point is, you already know how to tell a story. You do it all day long. In conversation, in the way you do your job, in the way you parent your child. Watching movies, reading books, listening to podcasts = story. By consuming stories, we also learn how to tell one. How many books have you read in your life? All of them taught you something. Either how to tell a great story, how not to bore someone to death, or how to be completely floored by the depth of vulnerability and honesty someone was willing to put on the page.

I truly believe that when we follow, fiercely, our own inspiration and our own inner-storytelling wisdom, the rest (character development, plot, structure, genre and themes) falls into place. With hard work and investment of time and energy, mind you. I want you to experience the indulgence of satisfying your inspiration and letting that kid (your Story) have that candy bar.

Once you are willing to Inspire, Invest, and Indulge in your story, you will change the way you think about writing which, in turn, will change your experience of writing. I’ve done the research personally, and I’ve walked dozens of writers down this path and into a new perception of their writing.

The result will be that you will actually see results and enjoy the process. For the most part. It’s not all roses and unicorns, but it’s not a stale, old, boring seat-at-typewriter hoping that your muse will come either. No. Eff that. You’ll have laid all the groundwork, following the lead of your inspo and your vision, so that you’ll have a map to return to when you feel stuck.

What you get:

• Map Your Story Workbook including Jen’s accountability tools, lessons and specific assignments to push you towards getting your idea Unlocked and into Story form then an OUTLINE/Map
• Map Your Story Calendar to help you stay focused and accountable on your writing goals
• Audio Lessons to accompany the workbook
• 3 Video Lessons with Jen
• 3 Guided Meditations for empowering and strengthening your creative intuition
• Finish strong with an Outline in your pocket! From there, you can absolutely write your first draft with confidence because you’ll know where you are going. It’s impossible to write forward if you don’t know where you’re going. It’s like getting into a taxi and saying, “I don’t know where I want to go, but can you take me there?” You’ll get clear with your Outline and a plan/deadlines for yourself to write forward and get your draft DONE!

Who is Jen?

I’m a writer and a coach and a podcast host. I’m also a single mother. I’ve been a storyteller my whole life. I’ve lived on tv, movies, live theater and books and, uh, Snickers my whole life. (Although now I get those Justin peanut butter cups from Whole Foods. Yum double yum.) Ahem… anyway… I went to school for screenwriting. I took more writing classes after I graduated. I became certified in Avid editing. I was an actress and all sorts of other jobs I won’t get into right now. But, what I was never taught, not in any writing or acting class, was how to trust myself and my vision as the artist. How can I listen to the inner wisdom of my own story when I’m only learning the structure of how to tell it?

I learned, of all places, in a pole dancing class, how to listen to the story of my body. How I was called to move to the music. Not choreographed, not managed by some sort of system of rules. Just move your body how you feel it being pulled. I watched other women dance this way and their bodies told stories, countless stories. It was completely organic and wild and I was hooked. I wanted to test how this could translate into my writing as an essayist, as a script writer, and eventually, as a novelist. I learned that structure and rules have a purpose, but later, after we have let ourselves nurture the seed of the spark. The conception of an idea is a fragile, precious state that needs gentle fostering. If we introduce rules too soon, that baby-idea withers and conforms to whatever the other stories are that we are comparing ourselves to, or it dies on the vine. I’ve seen it time and time again.

As I started coaching writers, I began to articulate, unbeknownst to me, a set of principles that revealed themselves as my governing philosophies. So, the first thing I realized I was doing was to Inspire, and help my clients inspire, or breathe life into, their story. I discovered that smashing old, limiting beliefs was paramount to this step, as they often not only got in the way, but killed the thing altogether. I started looking at my own use of time and energy and found so many of the things I was giving my time to were neither nourishing me, nor producing the results I was wanting in my writing or in my life! So, I started choosing more wisely where I Invested my time. I tested these principles on my own work and I was able to Indulge my inspiration and finish the revision of the novel I had started 5 years earlier! I’m working on my second novel now, and a TV pilot when I’m not coaching or spending time with my son and our two dogs.