The Secrets of Storytelling
36-Week Course
Unlock the Secrets of Master Storytellers
A 36-week course with award-winning author A. R. Levett is offered at the Peter Cowan Writers Centre.
Gaining the structural tools used by best-selling authors, weekly classes will motivate you to start, or finish, that novel you want to get on the page. Working alongside peers in a supportive, encouraging environment your work will develop, layer by layer, over four structured terms.
Classes will deliver:
1. Discovery of techniques used by writing masters;
2. Examination of popular stories and how they work;
3. Development of these for your story;
4. Professional guidance for your individual story.
The course is an ongoing, 36-week commitment for new, emerging, and experienced writers to develop their stories. Payment options are available.
Course Outline: Term 1
Module 1: The Premise
Class 1: 4 Feb 2024
Receive an introduction to the course, learn why it's important to write about something important, and explore your story's possibilities and challenges.
Class 2: 11 Feb 2024
Locate your story's theme, its most interesting character and their central goal.
Class 3: 18 Feb 2024
Establish the story's main opponent, character values, and central conflict.
Class 4: 25 Feb 2024
Create the protagonist's character growth equation, final moral choice, and your story premise.
Module 2: The Conflict
Class 5: 3 Mar 2024
Map out your story's main events, inciting incident, and climax.
Class 6: 10 Mar 2024
Determine your protagonist's self-revelation, inner weakness, and central goal.
Module 3: The Characters
Class 7: 17 Mar 2024
Determine each character's story function and begin to individualise them from each other.
Class 8: 24 Mar 2024
Continue to individualise your characters and use four-corner opposition to determine how each opposes the others.
Course Outline: Term 2
Module 3: The Characters (continued)
Class 9: 21 Apr 2024
Learn about archetypes, archetypal journeys, and discover which archetypes are the most and least dominant in your characters.
Class 10: 28 Apr 2024
Chart your protagonist's ego archetypal development.
Class 11: 5 May 2024
Determine your protagonist's soul archetypal journey.
Class 12: 12 May 2024
Create your protagonist's self archetypal journey.
Class 13: 19 May 2024
Chart your protagonist's character change arc by establishing the lie they believe, their wants and needs, and their past.
Class 14: 26 May 2024
Keep determining your protagonist's character change arc by creating their characteristic moment, their normal world, and their state in the first act.
Class 15: 2 Jun 2024
Continue mapping your protagonist's character change arc by looking at their first-plot point, who they are during the first half of act 2, and at the story's midpoint.
Class 16: 9 Jun 2024
Keep mapping your protagonist's character change arc by creating their state during the second half of act 2, their third-plot point, and act 3.
Class 17: 16 Jun 2024
Finalise your protagonist's character change arc by determining who they are at the climax, and resolution.
Module 4: The Theme
Class 18: 23 Jun 2024
Discover the theme of your story & how to play it out through character oppositions.
Course Outline: Term 3
Module 5: The Symbols & Setting
Class 19: 21 Jul 2024
Develop symbols for your story and discover how settings are forms of symbolism in storytelling.
Class 20: 28 Jul 2024
Discover the purpose of setting in story and the meanings of multiple human-made settings.
Class 21: 4 Aug 2024
Discover the meanings behind multiple natural settings & weather & how to use them in your story.
Class 22: 11 Aug 2024
Determine the symbolic value of the tools and technology in your story.
Class 23: 18 Aug 2024
Uncover how using setting can help convey the protagonist's development during the story.
Module 6: The Plot
Class 24: 25 Aug 2024
Discover how to create an organic plot & how to plot the story's opening and backstory.
Class 25: 1 Sept 2024
Learn how to implement the setting, problem, inner weakness, inciting incident and central goal in your story's plot.
Class 26: 8 Sept 2024
Develop your story's allies, sub-plot character/s, main opponent & fake-ally opponent in relation to plot.
Class 27: 15 Sept 2024
Implement a reveals sequence, first major reveal & decision, and the protagonist's training.
Course Outline: Term 4
Module 6: The Plot (continued)
Class 28: 13 Oct 2024
Discover the long sequences of opponent's attacks & the protagonist's counter-plans.
Class 29: 20 Oct 2024
Determine the attack by an ally, apparent defeat & the second major reveal & decision.
Class 30: 27 Oct 2024
Develop the third major reveal & gate, gauntlet, & visit to death.
Class 31: 3 Nov 2024
Implement the climax, self-revelation, moral decision, thematic revelation, & new equilibrium into the story's plot.
Module 7: The Scenes
Class 32: 10 Nov 2024
Create a scene breakdown for your story.
Class 33: 17 Nov 2024
Discover the most powerful way to write scenes for your novel.
Module 8: The Writing
Class 34: 24 Nov 2024
Discover how to use showing to make your story so much more powerful than telling.
Class 35: 1 Dec 2024
Examine the different types of point-of-view, how to use them in a story, & which one works best for your story.
Class 36: 8 Dec 2024
Develop strong dialogue for your scenes & create dialogue tracks to give it more depth.
"Empowering stuff. I’m going to be able to write stories more easily now."
— Lynne Deperas
Details
When
Term 1: 4 Feb - 24 Mar 2024
Term 2: 21 Apr - 23 Jun 2024
Term 3: 21 Jul - 15 Sept 2024
Term 4: 13 Oct - 8 Dec 2024
Where
Edith Cowan House
20/270 Joondalup Drive
Joondalup, WA
Cost
$1,500 for full course (Save $300!) / $1,400 PCWC members
or $400 per term (save $50)
or $50 per class / $40 Peter Cowan Writers' Centre members
Bookings
https://www.trybooking.com/CLMNP
Booking essential.
Bookings close 27/01/2024.
Enquiries
andrew@thestorymentor.com.au
Flyer
"A great opportunity to flesh out and focus in on a story idea."
— Garry Winterton