Story Sensei

I was re-reading Write Better, Faster: How To Triple Your Writing Speed and Write More Every Day , and I realized that while I’ve tried the other techniques in the book, I never actually did a writer’s diary. She gives good reasons why it’s important, but I just never got around to doing it when I was setting up my spreadsheet to track my writing statistics. I think it will be good to do this diary because it will be raw data for me—a record of exactly what I did each day for my writing. A review of each day will enable me to record any insights I might discover about my writing habits. With that collection of raw data in my diary, I’ll be able to see larger-scale trends in my writer’s process so that I can adjust and correct as needed, and hopefully improve my productivity. But I thought that my normal Story Sensei blog readers might be annoyed at daily entries with minute detail of my day, so I repurposed one other Blogger blog I had lying around and made it Camy’s Writing Diary ...

I've just released my Story Sensei Deep Point of View worksheet on ebook! $2.99 on Kindle , iBooks , Nook , Kobo , Smashwords . As a writer, you can provide a richer emotional experience for your reader by utilizing a deeper point of view. Deep point of view draws the reader into the characters’ heads and can elicit a stronger emotional reader response to the characters’ struggles, decisions, and reactions to external conflict. Readers who have read a passage in deep point of view often talk about how the characters seemed more vivid, how the story and prose riveted them to the page. It is very easy for a writer to learn ways to draw the reader into the mind, body, and soul of your characters through deep point of view techniques. By the end of the worksheet you’ll have: 1) A basic understanding of different points of view so you can decide if deep or shallow point of view is best for your story 2) Ways to strengthen the emotional writing and draw the reader deeper ...

I’ve just published a revised edition of my Heroine’s Journey worksheet! It’s $2.99 on Kindle , iBooks , Kobo , Nook , and Smashwords . Here’s more information about it: I was asked to describe my Heroine’s Journey many times and I even taught several workshops on it at writer’s conferences, and so I decided to write a more detailed worksheet on the subject. I read about the Heroine’s Journey from several books and compiled what I learned here in one place. This is the same worksheet I myself use for my own novels. Why the Heroine’s Journey? Sometimes the story arc of a female character will differ from the traditional Hero’s Journey because culture and time period will affect the character in accordance with her gender. This will create specific psychological differences in how a male and female character will respond to conflict in a story. Joseph Campbell’s original book is based on the writings of psychoanalysts and the world myths. The Hero With a Thousand Faces is a psych...

I managed to update and add lots of new stuff to my Synopsis worksheets, and they are now available on Kindle , iBooks , Kobo , Nook , and Smashwords for only $0.99. There are new examples in the worksheet, and I also added an Appendix. Here’s the info on the updated worksheet: Has your fiction manuscript been rejected by literary agents or traditional publishing houses, and you're not sure why? Do you feel something's "off" with your novel, but you don't know what? Sometimes the problem isn't the writing—it's the characterization or the overall story structure. If you think this might be a problem with your manuscript, you don't want to pay for a freelance editor when you could fix those story elements yourself. The Story Sensei’s Synopsis worksheet was designed as a way for fiction writers to not only write a synopsis, but also doctor their own manuscript by utilizing a large-scale, bird’s eye view of their stories. This different way of l...

Hey everybody! I'll be releasing my Story Sensei worksheets as ebooks in a few weeks. I'll be posting about them here on this blog, but if you'd also like emails sent to you when they're available, feel free to subscribe to my Story Sensei newsletter below. I won't clog up your email Inbox--For the first few months, I'll send one email a month because I'll be releasing my worksheets about once a month, but then after that I will only send out emails when I have a new Story Sensei product or a sale. I tend to have new worksheets only about once a year. Thanks a bunch! Subscribe to Camy's Story Sensei mailing list * indicates required Email Address * First Name Last Name

Hey everybody! Some of you may have noticed that I took down the buy buttons for my worksheets on my website. I am in the process of formatting them to release them as ebooks on Kindle, Nook, iBooks, and Kobo. If you bought my worksheets, please email me at storysensei [at} gmail.com with the email address and/or name you used when you bought your worksheet(s) so that I can locate your order. Then I’ll be sure to email you an .epub or .mobi copy of your worksheets when they’re updated and formatted. Would you like to be featured in the description of the worksheets on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, iBooks, and Kobobooks.com? I am looking for endorsement blurbs to put in the description of the worksheets when they’re uploaded as ebooks. So if you bought my worksheets, please email me a one or two sentence endorsement blurb about them. If I choose your endorsement, I’ll contact you about how you want to be listed (for example, by your full name or by initials, with your blog or w...

This didn’t occur to me until just now, but back in July I gave a workshop on Harlequin.com’s forum boards on Self-Editing, and I featured 5 of the points on my Self-Editing worksheet for free. (I also gave feedback on homework on the forums, but the forum is now locked.) So if you were wondering if you wanted to buy my Self-Editing worksheet, head over to Harlequin.com to check out the forum. Here’s the link to the Self-Editing workshop forum. You’ll need to register (it’s free) for the Harlequin forum boards in order to read it (I think) so you can register/create a Community membership here . If you like the 5 free tips, you can buy my Self-Editing worksheet for $20 for all 11 tips. Note : If you've bought my Deep Point of View worksheet , there are some of those Deep POV tips here in this worksheet. However, the Deep POV worksheet goes into more detail and depth whereas the Deep POV tips in this worksheet are not as extensive. If you're on the fence about if you...

Heroine's Journey worksheet $5 I was asked to describe my Heroine’s Journey many times and I even taught several workshops on it at writer’s conferences, and so I decided to write a more detailed worksheet on the subject. I read about the Heroine’s Journey from several books and compiled what I learned here in one place. This is the same worksheet I myself use for my own novels. Why the Heroine’s Journey? Because sometimes the story arc of a female character will differ from the traditional Hero’s Journey because of the affects of culture and time period upon the character because of her gender. This will create specific psychological differences in how a male and female character will respond to conflict in a story. Joseph Campbell’s original book is based on the writings of psychoanalysts and the world myths. The Hero With a Thousand Faces is a psychological analysis of the classical myth formula that breaks down the myths into a basic structure, showing the psychological...

Self-Editing tips at eHarlequin I forgot to post this earlier, but I'm posting Deep Editing tips over at the eHarlequin forum boards. I'm going over 5 of the points that are in my Self-Editing worksheet and giving some feedback. I'm only online there until the end of Saturday (sorry for the late notice) if you'd like feedback. Since I'm doing 5 of the points in my worksheet, this will give you a chance to see a sample of my worksheet in case you're still on the fence about buying it. Here's the direct link to the forum: http://community.harlequin.com/showthread.php/1441-Camp-Gonnabe-Self-Editing-with-Camy-Tang Register for my next Synopsis writing class in August I'm not doing as many online classes these days, but for those of you interested, now's the time to register for a Synopsis writing class I'm giving through the Oklahoma Christian Fiction Writers group: Synopsis writing online class ($20 (OKC member) or $25 (non OKC member)) A...

My wrists are feeling pretty good, so I'm going to be open to scheduling some one-on-one email coaching services. However, because of book deadlines, I won't be able to start any coaching until October. If you know you want to take some coaching from me and you're okay starting later this year, let me know so I can schedule you. In addition to Synopsis one-on-one coaching ($35) and Characterization one-on-one coaching ($35), I am also adding Deep Point of View one-on-one email coaching for $45 and Self-Editing one-on-one email coaching for $45. All my one-on-one coaching lasts four weeks, which gives you a bit more time to get in your homework for the lessons and revise them and resubmit them for additional feedback if you desire. The structure of my one-on-one coaching is the same as my worksheets, but with the addition of my personalized feedback on your specific manuscript. Only one manuscript/character per coaching session, please. Again, I will not be schedul...

NEW SELF-EDITING WORKSHEET! After Katie commented on my author blog about my Self-Editing class, I realized that I could just offer a self-editing worksheet for those of you who wanted to take my online class but couldn't because of timing or cost. So here it is! Self-Editing Worksheet $20 You've finished your novel! How do you make sure you have a good character arc, strong story structure, good pacing? How can you smooth over rough writing patches, eliminate episodic writing, or increase emotional intensity? My Self-Editing worksheet combines a variety of techniques that I have taught in online workshops into one place, with tips to help you refine and polish your manuscript. By the end of the worksheet you'll have: 1) A good large-scale view of your story structure and character arc, and knowledge about how to fix any problems in that area 2) Tips for how to revise more emotion into your writing 3) Tools for solving pacing issues 4) A deeper look at tech...

Online classes in August My wrists are starting to feel better, so I’ve decided to hold four online classes in August for anyone who’s interested: Synopsis writing online class ($30) August 1 - 15 Characterization online class ($30) August 1 - 15 Self-Editing online class ($40) August 15 - 30 Deep Point of View online class ($40) August 15 - 30 Each class (except for Self-Editing) is essentially the same as my worksheets, but in the class, I’ll be giving individual feedback on your homework. Many people have taken my classes multiple times, each time using a different manuscript, because they found the personalized feedback more helpful than just using my worksheets. At the bottom of the post is more information on each of the classes. Pitch Coaching For those of you going to RWA conference at the end of this month or perhaps ACFW conference in September, I am now offering pitch coaching to help you write your pitch and even practice it if you’d like. You will email...

Hey guys, If you've bought and used my worksheets and want to write an endorsement for me, please email me at storysensei {at] gmail [dot} com. I'll post your endorsement on my Endorsements page and also include your name and website if you want, just let me know. Thanks! Camy

Hey guys! I have a new worksheet available for download! I have had a lot of requests for my Deep Point of View online workshop, but I haven't been able to hold it because of time and because I've been trying to cut back on my Story Sensei stuff due to my sore wrists. So instead of holding my Deep Point of View workshop, I've made my notes and workshop into a .pdf worksheet that you can download for less than the cost of the online workshop. Those of you who have been hoping to take my Deep POV class can now download the worksheet and get all my tips and tricks. Deep Point of View Worksheet $15 Want to rivet your reader to the page? Want to make your writing richer emotionally? Want your characters to be more vivid? Learn ways to draw the reader into the mind, body, and soul of your characters through deep point of view techniques. By the end of the worksheet you’ll have: 1) Ways to strengthen the emotional writing and draw the reader deeper into the character’s ...

I feel extremely proud of myself because I figured out how to insert a PayPal button for anyone wanting to purchase my Synopsis worksheet or Characterization worksheet ! The process to buy one of my worksheets should be extremely streamlined now. You can pay via PayPal and immediately be taken to a page where you can download the worksheet. If anyone buys my worksheet and it doesn't work, please email me immediately at storysensei {at} gmail {dot} com.

Hi guys, My telephone mentoring schedule is free right now, but because of a limit on the time I can spend typing at the computer, I'm afraid I have cancelled all my critiques and one-on-one synopsis or characterization coaching for the rest of the year to try to help my wrists heal. If you'd like recommendations of other freelance editors who can critique your work, I can suggest: Mary DeMuth ( http://www.thewritingspa.com/ ) Cheryl Wyatt ( http://www.cherylwyatt.com/ ) Fiction Fix-It Shop ( http://www.fictionfixitshop.com/ ) Sharon Hinck ( http://www.sharonhinck.com/ ) Just email them through their websites and let them know that Camy suggested you contact them about critiquing.

Hi guys, As I mentioned last year in November, I'm raising my prices this month. You can check them out here . Also, my telephone mentoring schedule is free right now, but because of a limit on the time I can spend typing at the computer, I'm afraid my critiquing schedule and one-on-one synopsis or characterization coaching schedules are booked until July 2011. If you'd like me to put you on my schedule then, please email me. If you'd like recommendations of other freelance editors who can critique your work sooner than I can, click the link above for suggestions.

Hi everybody, I got several requests for another worksheet like my Synopsis worksheet, so I have put together a .pdf worksheet that combines all the lessons from my Characterization class. If you've already taken my Characterization class, this worksheet is exactly the same as the lessons you got, just without any feedback from me on your homework, naturally. :) This 35-page worksheet will help you develop your story characters. By the end of this worksheet, you will have: 1) a solid grasp of who your character is—and I’m not talking just favorite ice cream flavor 2) your character’s flaws and heroic qualities to make him/her truly sympathetic to the reader 3) the character’s unique qualities to make him/her stand out from all the other characters on the Barnes and Noble shelves. 4) your character’s desire and external goal (you’d be amazed at how this can change from your original ideas about your character as you dig deeper and discover who your character is!) 5) ...

After I posted about my Synopsis writing class, I got a few questions about how my online class works. The below is for my Synopsis class, and for my other online classes, the format is essentially the same although I might post lessons a different number of days per week depending on the class. The class is entirely on my StorySenseiClass YahooGroups email loop. I email the lessons to the YahooGroup, and you have 1-3 days to do the homework in the lessons. You can turn in the lessons at any time during the class and I'll still give feedback on it, so no penalty for late homework! :) There is no set time the class meets--you work entirely on your own time, at your own pace during the time period of the class. The only thing is that once the class ends, I won't be able to give feedback on any homework since all the YahooGroup members are purged from the group to make way for the next class. I always try to give targeted, comprehensive feedback on your homework to help ...

Hey guys, It occurred to me that you guys might have specific writing craft or writing business questions that I could answer for you. So, comment and leave your question, and I'll address the questions in posts on this blog throughout the month of July! Camy