Before the Academy, I ran other group coaching programs, as well as taught writing courses and workshops. But something new I added when I created the Academy was the concept of a monthly writer’s craft book club.
Each month, in Writer’s Craft Academy, we have a theme. The theme might be “Story Structure,” “Dialogue,” or “Genre.” I then
select a writer’s craft non-fiction book on that topic, which all the Academy members read over the course of the month. We then get together for a bonus call at the end of the month and talk about the book.
These book club calls have become one of my favourite parts of Writer’s Craft Academy.
Having a group of people working through writer’s craft books collectively allows us to develop a shared vocabulary. For example, one of the first books we read was Shawn Coyne’s The Story Grid. (We were lucky enough to have Shawn Coyne join us for our book club session, which was extraordinary.) Once everyone had read that book, I could then talk about the “five commandments of story-telling,” during our coaching calls, and everyone in the group knew what I was
talking about. We were all on the same page.
Another great thing is we record our book club calls and save them to the Writer’s Craft Academy video training library. If someone joins Writer’s Craft Academy today and wants to read The Story Grid, well, guess what? They can go and watch the book club discussion we had based on that book and continue the
discussion in our group.
It’s a cool thing.
I’ve found learning is accentuated when you talk about a book because you have to actually articulate your knowledge. Sometimes, if you just read a book alone, you’ll think to yourself, “Oh, that was great. I learned a lot.” The problem is, however, the
knowledge doesn’t get embedded and absorbed into your daily life if you don’t put it into practice and start talking about it and verbalizing it with other people.
The Writer’s Craft Academy book club also demonstrates how there’s no one right way to write a book. I have a perspective from my experience. I have recommendations I make to people, but I don’t know the one answer for everyone.
When we read a different book about the craft of writing every month, members come to recognize the way KM Weiland approaches writing is different from how Robert McKee approaches writing, which is different from how Natalie Goldberg approaches writing, which is different how Shawn Coyne does it.
The book club provides a myriad of perspectives and
approaches.
My role as a writing coach isn’t to tell my clients “THIS is the right way to do it.” Instead, I introduce them to the possibilities that are out there, the different ways of approaching things, so that they can find the one that’s right for them. The Writer’s Craft Academy book club is a great way to explore those possibilities collectively.
If you are ready to join Writer’s Craft Academy today and participate on our next book club call, you can click here to join now.
Use the coupon code “anniversary” and save 50% off your monthly membership for as long as you’re a member.
Our one year anniversary sale is this week only, so make sure you join today!
Your pal in
writing,
Kevin T. Johns, writing coach
P.S. You can listen to the podcast version of this email here. 