My grandparents escaped to Canada after their homeland of Estonia was invaded by Russia following World War II. 

That’s why I prefer to think of the toys that are often referred to as “Russian Dolls” as “Estonian Dolls” instead. 

And for me, Estonian Dolls aren’t just vintage toys; rather, they are a metaphor for the way we can use nesting story chunks to keep our novel-length stories manageable and avoid overwhelm and stress during both drafting and revisions.

Last weekend, I announced that registration for the April round of the free STORY PLAN INTENSIVE challenge is now open. As part of the challenge, we're going to combat stress and overwhelm so you’ll always feel in control of your story.

Here’s how:

• First, we'll develop a big-picture outline that will give you a macro-overview of your entire narrative.
• Then we'll break that outline into manageable-sized chunks so you can best take advantage of the underlying story physics inherent within each act of your book.
• Finally, we’ll drill down to the micro-level and identify your sequences, scenes, and story beats so that every time you sit down to write you'll know exactly what you need to put on the page.

Using my “Estonian Doll Method,” we’ll take the complicated and intricate process of story mapping and turn it into a manageable and workable outline that will guide your drafting process so you always feel in control of your story.

No more stress. No more self-doubt. Just blissful, confident writing.

Join the challenge today.

Your pal in writing,

Kevin T. Johns, writing coach