The Academy exists to make the process practical and magical.
Gathering with like-minded friends who have set themselves to study the arcane art in the spirit of curiosity will revitalize and inspire you again and again to keep on writing.
When the writing process becomes thrilling, you’ll write more than you could have ever possibly imagined.
The Academy is not just a get-together to give and receive “feedback”
After 7 years of coaching, speaking and co-developing a writing program, I am bringing you all of my knowledge and experience within the Academy.
To kick things off, we’ll be starting a brand new 6-month course where we take a project from beginning to completion.
Click to watch the full breakdown of the course curriculum:
How does it work?
For 6 months we will walk through the full process of taking a brand new work from beginning to completion with live workshop modules, Q/A's, a full resource library, and an archive of all live events!
In this month's workshop, we're starting at the beginning: how to develop an idea into a plot you can work with.
In this month's workshop, we're working with the plot we created and using the 4-Act Structure to create an outline.
In this month's workshop, we'll discuss the expectations to place on your first draft, writing process, and using your outline to create your first draft.
In this month's workshop, we're discussing what to actually do with your first draft, what information to pull from the experience of writing it, and how to use that information to prepare for your second draft.
In this month's workshop, we're going to take a look at how to actually tackle your second draft, focusing on using the information from your first draft and scene writing skills to produce an intentional second draft.
In this month's workshop, we're wrapping up our project by tackling line by line skills like dialogue and exposition.
It’s Dead Poets Society meets The Detection Club meets Hogwarts
Take the Campus Tour
A new teaching module every month where we will break down the steps of creating a new work from start to finish
Access to a growing library of articles and demonstrations covering topics from motivation, exposition, plotting, and character creation
We'll do semi-frequent check-ins as a community to breakthrough any road blocks you might be having on the spot
Every month we will gather to answer questions about the teaching module, reflect on our practice, and breakthrough any blocks we've run into
Every month you will receive a pre-recorded video demonstration of yours truly called Trial By Fire, applying the teaching material to my own project so you can see how it's done in real time
Engage with others who are in the same process as you: wrestling through through writing, generating insights, sharing inspirations, and book recommendations from people who "get it".
Join the Academy Today
Enjoy the Wonder of Writing
$3,900+ value for one-time payment of $600
Instead of $650 a month to work with me 1:1, the academy exists to create more accessibility and collaboration to meet the needs I see most in my clients: skills, support, and reinvigorating enthusiasm!
Registration reopens January 2026!
Topics covered within the Academy
Create compelling exposition
Knowing what type of crime story you are writing
How to build believable characters
How to select and study a masterwork
Dialogue that isn't two-dimensional
World building 101
How to set up the first book in a series
Incorporating themes without sacrificing your plot
and much more ...
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Do you offer monthly payment plans?For the beta run of the Academy, all workshops will build on one another in order to experience the full benefit of the beta run. The $600 upfront is only for the 6-month beta; we will have different billing cycle options at the end of the beta run. However, if you are passionate about joining the Academy and wish to participate for the full 6-month beta but cannot swing the $600 upfront, do email me at rachel@storycipher.me and we’ll work something out!
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What if I don’t have time to participate right now?I totally get it! Life is busy and that’s part of what makes it so hard to set aside time for writing. With that in mind, I’ve designed this community to be minimally invasive, while still giving you the information and touchpoints you need to stay on track. All of the workshop sessions and Q&As are recorded! So even if you can’t attend live, you can still view all of the teaching materials, and you can always pre-submit questions for the Q&A if you can’t attend. Check-ins will be done asynchronously through the General channel so you don’t have to worry about yet another call to fit on your calendar.
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What if I want to wait to join later?You certainly can! However, registration won’t open again until January, and this is the only time we’ll be going through this course live.
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What if I'm more introverted?I got you! I consider The Academy “lurker friendly,” to pull a term from Twitch. While community is a facet of the Academy, and one I strongly believe in, you can participate as much or as little as you want! You can watch the video replays, or attend live and leave your camera off. You’re welcome to pre-submit questions for the Q&A to ensure you get the answers you need without the pressure of attending live. I’ll never call you out or ask you to speak up if you don’t want to. If I don’t see you around, you may receive a private message from me checking in, just to make sure things are going okay for you! But if you tell me, “Doing good, just prefer to lurk,” I’ll happily leave you to your solitude!
Make it easier to prioritize your writing.
Life is busy and we all have responsibilities. The problem is, this makes it far too easy to de-prioritize and neglect our desire to write. The Academy exists to make showing up for your writing and yourself easier by bringing your writing back to the forefront of your mind and not the back burner of tasks by making it fun, practical, magical and communal.
Join the Academy to re-experience the wonder of being a storyteller.