the Story Magic Academy 🌲 Self Study
the Story Magic Academy 🌲 Self Study
Summon story seeds you can’t wait to write, and transform them into powerful plots which light you up.
The Story Magic Academy is an 8-week, video-based training program that teaches smart, effective storytelling strategies to writers who want to craft resonant, satisfying narratives more easily.
Through the Story Magic System, you’ll learn how to generate more story ideas than you’ll ever need, and use the plot embryo method to turn them into concise, compelling tales which really matter to you and your story’s audience.
HOW IS THE SELF-STUDY VERSION OF THE ACADEMY DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS SEASONAL ENROLLMENTS?
The self-study version of the Academy is different in two ways.
✔️ 🌲 EVERGREEN & AVAILABLE YEAR ROUND
This Self-Study Academy course is now available all year round! No more waiting for the next seasonal enrollment period. Instead, you can sign up whenever you want and each module will unlock weekly as you go through the course at your own pace. You are the master of your time. Once a module unlocks, you have permanent access for the lifetime of the course.
✔️ 📚 COMPLETELY SELF-STUDY, NO LIVE SESSIONS
Rachael will not be holding live sessions to answer your questions for this self-study program, and we have reduced the price to $495 down from $997 to reflect this.
However, you will have access to all previous, pre-recorded Q&A sessions (45 hours of video total), and a community forum to chat with fellow students and other story magicians that have gone before you.
Do any of these writing problems sound familiar?
your characters sit around in cool places waiting for something to happen - they have a lot of bad days but it doesn't seem to add up to anything bigger
your story sometimes feels hollow - you're not sure why you're writing it or if it's even worth writing
you have lots of ideas, but deciding which ones to use is overwhelming
you struggle to figure out your themes
if you DO figure out your themes, you have no idea if they’re actually coming through in the writing
you feel like you’re at the mercy of inspiration, stuck waiting for the right ideas to come to you
you’ve found yourself 50,000 words deep into a NaNoWriMo novel that's going absolutely nowhere
you imagined a totally epic story, but when you write to the end it just kinda fizzles out
IT'S OKAY!
ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS ARE SO, SO NORMAL
It's okay if you...
have been totally stuck in the past
have felt like you are only making glacial progress in your writing
have a drawer full of abandoned stories you just couldn't figure out
Nobody is born knowing how to properly craft a narrative, nobody taught you this in school!
I struggled with exactly the same things, just like most writers do.
But crafting brilliant stories doesn't have to be this hard, it does NOT have to be a total headache.
it’s time to turn over a new page
IN THE STORY MAGIC ACADEMY, YOU CAN LEARN…
how to manage and shape your ideas into a powerful, compact story you can actually finish
how to craft a strong central conflict that gets the audience engaged and invested in the protagonist's journey
how to create a potent, satisfying climax that is true to your original vision
a simple, practical method to weave the themes you're passionate about seamlessly into the narrative
how to conjure and develop the ideas you need, WHEN you need them
how to create a solid but flexible roadmap of your complete story, to guide you while you draft
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
hey! 👋 i’m rachael, your friendly neighbourhood creative witch.
I've been described as the mountain guide of NaNoWriMo, the queen of brainstorming and biggest Plot Embryo nerd on the planet.
I wrote fiction and made YouTube videos on storycraft for several years, garnering over half a million views and reaching thousands of writers.
The Plot Embryo System changed my life, and that's why I created the Story Magic Academy, to help other storytellers get extraordinary results with it and finally nail plotting once and for all.
I taught the Academy as a live, seasonal course for years and now that i’ve moved away from fiction writing in my personal creative practice, i’ve turned it into a self-study program.
if you want to learn more about me and how the Academy was created, you can check out this video.
WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THE ACADEMY?
The course includes:
video lessons (now with closed captioning available)
Q&A archive: 45 hours of previously recorded office hours
community discussion on Discord
words from our students
“There will be people who will think, ‘I've done sessions with Rachael, I've watched her videos and so I get this,’ and I'd just say that you don't know the half of it! In a really good way. The videos are just the tip of the iceberg. And the Academy is everything underneath that. It's so worth the investment to get the bigger picture.”
MIKAELA CHARBONNEAU
Writer and Academic Writing Consultant
“I am so incredibly glad that I jumped into the Story Magic Academy. It answered so many questions that I've been struggling with. It's been that missing link between everything I've read and everything I've been trying to learn, and it's all right here in a practical, easy way for you to understand it.”
Tabetha Hedrick
Writer and Design Director
“The course was 100 percent worth it, despite my insane schedule. Especially for somebody like me who hasn't written anything and didn't know what the hell I was doing. I learned a lot. This is stuff I'll be able to use forever.”
TATIANA MEJIA
Writer and Social Worker
BUYING & REFUNDS
➣ what if i want to withdraw from the course and get a refund?
If you're unhappy for any reason, you can withdraw from the course and we'll give you a full refund up to 30 days from the date of purchase. Just contact us within 30 days of purchase to request your withdrawal and refund. After the 30 day refund period expires, refunds will only be issued if the product can be shown to be faulty or mis-sold (not as advertised). Request a refund on the basis of faultiness or mis-selling by contacting us here. The above applies on all payment plans.
➣ i'm trying to pay and enroll but my payment won't go through?
this happens sometimes, don’t worry. head to our troubleshooting guide here.
➣ i've got another question i can't find the answer to
no worries! check out our FAQs on this page, and if you still haven't found an answer please contact us here and we'll reply as soon as possible.