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Tonight I am camping at a lake in the wilderness.

I used to compare camping to being on an unfilmed episode of Naked and Afraid. But then I moved to a cabin in the woods.

Anyway my family loves camping, and I love them, so I camp.

One year ago during our family’s first visit to this lake, a bear encroached main camp resulting in death by arrow. Later I witnessed its butchering.

But it’s not the wildlife that causes me to pause, it’s the humans.

You see, I love people. I just don’t always love being around them.

Because I’m a solo artist at heart who avoids small talk and social gatherings.

Instead of TSS, this newsletter almost became The Introvert Advantage. And I’ve self-diagnosed myself with a case of agoraphobia (a fear of crowded places).

So I freak my beak a bit prior to outdoor herding events during holiday weekends. 

It’s okay though. My approach is to gamify the experience.

I hope I win! 🤞🙏🏼😆

What I mentioned 1 week ago…

I committed to run a novel writing cohort.

Except why would I do the same thing again? Because I’ve done this before.

First it was Story from Scratch. Then Fast Draft.

So instead of staying in a time loop, I’ve decided to produce something different.

Of course, I’ll keep the best breakthrough lessons from those courses, but

I want to infuse more fun and originality into what you receive.

Plus I realized people want personalized experiences, many writers avoid zooms (or all human contact), and most digital courses are cookie cutter learning environments.

So imagine a custom learning experience guaranteed to free your fiction.

The sole purpose would be to create a cohesive story arc for your novel.

The plot you outline can be expanded to write during NaNoWriMo.

The one-sentence story summary you develop can be shared with friends and family or given to agents and colleagues.

Apparently I’m developing a creative guidance system that welcomes your feedback and delivers storytelling lessons based on your choices, needs, and curiosities.

This no-code storycrafting adventure is a fairly ambitious project so I will lead a beta cohort in early October to optimize success factors and functionality. 

Stop overthinking.

Start overcoming.

Please answer these questions now…

Why?

Why do you want to create a story that fans love?

Why do you want to share the story only you can tell?

Why do you want to hold a book with your name as author?

Your why is super important.

Your what is key, too.

What creative dream do you most to achieve most of all?

What drives you to fulfill it?

What does your reality look like when you reach it?

If you’re not clear about your why and what, you’ll lose momentum or quit before you make your dream come true.

Answer these two simple questions to create with extra clarity:

1/ What is your #1 creative dream?

Is it to make a living as a writer?

Is it to become a best-selling author?

Is it to share your message with the world?

Is it to write your debut novel by the end of 2022?

2/ Why do you want to achieve your creative dream?

Why do you want to change the world?

Why do you want to entertain or inspire people?

Why do you want to make money from your craft?

Why do you want to build and lead lead a community?

That’s it for this Saturday, one creative writing tip to help you build a story that connects with audiences.

If you found value in this post, would you consider sharing it? Maybe you’ll be helping someone create the story they’ve always wanted to write.

See ya next week!

— David