Snapshot to Story

Transform Your Memories into Page-Turning FictionThis comprehensive mini-course not only provides you with knowledge, but also empowers you with essential skills to:

Understand the essential components of compelling storytelling. By doing this, you'll gain the ability to craft narratives that grab your readers' attention from the first page and hold it until the very end.
Balance factual and emotional truth effectively. This will enable you to create narratives that are both authentic and engaging, making your stories more relatable and compelling to readers.
Dodge common storytelling pitfalls. This will save you time in the editing process and increase your chances of crafting a successful first draft.
Harness your real-life experiences for inspiration. This will ensure your stories are unique and personal, helping you to stand out in a crowded market.
Transform personal moments into engaging fiction concepts. This skill is like having a secret weapon, it allows you to create an endless stream of story ideas from your own life experiences.
Prepare yourself to write about personal experiences. With this preparation, you'll be able to approach your writing with confidence, knowing you're ready to craft narratives that will resonate with your audience.
Reflect on your growth as a writer and plan your next steps. This will ensure you continue to develop your craft, bringing you closer to your goal of becoming a published author.

Bonus: Utilize the 'Mini Blueprint' tool to summarize the key elements of your story. This tool will make the writing process more efficient and enjoyable, allowing you to focus on what you do best: telling your story.

Right now, you're struggling with turning your personal experiences into a fictional narrative. You have a wealth of life experiences, but you're uncertain how to adapt them into a compelling story for today’s middle grade and young adult readers.

Imagine if you had a process to help you select meaningful experiences, change details for fiction, and shift timelines to suit your story. Think about the potential if you had the tools to reinterpret events, create composite characters, and identify the "seeds of truth" that can flourish into a unique narrative.

Start the journey from snapshot to story today!

“Christy’s techniques allowed me to turn a memory into an idea for a middle grade novel. The changes made during the course allowed me to play with the idea and see it as fiction rather than memoir or biography. This allowed a new idea to bloom, but the emotional core of the memory remained.”
Cindy L. Rodriguez, children's book author

This self-led course is for:

Aspiring authors who have a wealth of personal experiences they'd like to transform into a compelling narrative for middle-grade or YA novels.
Experienced writers looking for a fresh approach to infuse their storytelling with authenticity and relatability.
Anyone with a story in their heart, waiting to be told and shared with young readers.

Everyone has a story to tell, and this course is designed to help YOU find and refine yours.

Hey there, I'm Christy!

I’m Christy Yaros, an Author Accelerator–certified book coach and story editor who specializes in guiding writers of middle grade and young adult novels. I've dedicated my career to helping authors like you craft compelling narratives that resonate with young readers.

Over the years, I've found that writers who resist editing often have the same reason: “But this really happened,” they say. They want to share personal experiences with readers, but don’t realize that there is an art to translating those experiences into engaging narratives. Why? Because on their own, those experiences are just moments, devoid of the necessary ingredients that make up a captivating story: a compelling plot, relatable characters, and universal themes that today's young readers can connect with.

That's why I created Snapshot to Story: to help you transform your personal experiences into rich, compelling fiction that resonates with today's young readers—who, by the way, were all born in this century while most of us weren't. (Scary thought, I know!) This course is designed to give you the tools and insights you need to take those moments from your past and transform them into captivating narratives for the next generation of readers.

What we'll cover in this course:
Snapshot to Story is a comprehensive online course designed in three parts, each focusing on a critical aspect of transforming personal experiences into compelling fiction for middle grade and young adult readers.

With engaging lessons, reflective prompts, and practical writing exercises, this course provides everything you need to leverage your memories into narratives that resonate with young readers.

Module 1: Storytelling Fundamentals
Module 2: Transforming Reality into Fiction
Module 3: Reflection and Next Steps

This in-depth course ensures you have the knowledge and tools needed to successfully turn your life experiences into captivating fiction. Each lesson provides new insights and practical exercises that will enhance your storytelling abilities and empower you to write narratives that resonate with your young readers.

Lesson 1.1:

Crafting a Compelling Story: Key Elements
You'll learn about the key elements that make a story compelling, from plot structure to character development, and how they work together to engage young readers.

Lesson 1.2:

Truth and Facts: Balancing Reality and Fiction
This lesson will help you understand the difference between facts and emotional truth, and how to use both to your advantage in your story.

Lesson 1.3:

Overcoming Pitfalls: Avoiding Common Mistakes
Learn about common pitfalls that writers face when incorporating personal experiences into their narratives and how to avoid them.

Lesson 1.4:

Reaping the Benefits: Using Real-Life Experiences as Inspiration
Understand the benefits of drawing on your own life experiences for inspiration and how to use them effectively in your writing.

Lesson 2.1:

Digging into the Past: Selecting a Meaningful Experience
Get practical guidance on how to choose a meaningful experience to write about, with a particular focus on significant emotions, revealing details, and transformative events.

Lessons 2.2–2.7:

The Art of Transformation: Five Methods of Turning Real-Life Experiences into Fiction
This lesson introduces five key methods to transform your experiences into compelling narratives. Then Focus on each of the five transformation methods, providing in-depth discussions, examples, and practice exercises for each.

Lesson 3.1:

Getting Ready: Preparing to Write about Personal Experiences
This lesson helps you prepare for the writing process, discussing key questions to ask yourself before you start writing.

Lesson 3.2:

Reflective Journey: Understanding Your Storytelling Evolution
Reflect on your journey through the course and how your understanding and skills have developed.

Lesson 3.3:

Recap and Review: Key Lessons from the Course
A recap of the most important insights from the course, ensuring you are equipped to apply these lessons to your writing.

Lesson 3.4:

Onwards and Upwards: Your Next Steps as a Storyteller
In the final lesson, you'll receive advice on how to continue improving your storytelling skills at a pace that suits you, helping to make the writing process more manageable and less overwhelming. Plus, you'll receive the BONUS Mini Blueprint tool to assist in planning and drafting your novel, making the process even smoother.

Here's How To Get Started
Step 1: Click the “Buy Now” button to purchase the course.

Step 2: You will receive an email confirmation with course access details.

Step 3: Start learning at your own pace, with lifetime access to the course materials.

The Snapshot to Story course is entirely self-paced, meaning you can go through the materials and exercises on your own schedule. This gives you the freedom to take your time with each lesson, ensuring you fully grasp the concepts before moving forward.

$47

16 lessons over 3 modules
Reflection questions and writing exercises to transform memories into a novel concept
BONUS PDF journal of reflections and exercises
BONUS Mini Blueprint to get you started on the core elements of the novel you want to write

Buy Now (Instant Access)

Due to the digital nature of this product, there will be no refunds after purchase.

FAQs

1. What format is the course delivered in?

The course consists of video lectures, reading materials, reflection points, and writing exercises. You'll also receive a course workbook for note-taking and completing the exercises and reflections.

2. How long do I have access to the course?

Once you enroll in the course, you have lifetime access to the course materials. You can revisit the lessons and materials anytime you wish.

3. I’m new to writing. Is this course suitable for beginners?

Absolutely! This course is designed for both new and experienced writers. The lessons start from the basics and gradually progress to more advanced techniques, making it suitable for writers at all levels.

4. How much time will I need to dedicate to the course each week?

While the course is self-paced, I recommend setting aside about an hour per day to go through each lesson and complete the exercises and reflections. Giving your subconscious the space to do some of the work can help! Your time may vary depending on your individual pace and available time.

5. Can I apply these techniques to genres other than children's fiction?

While the course focuses on writing for middle grade and young adult readers, many of the techniques and lessons are applicable to other genres. The principles of storytelling, character development, and transformation of personal experiences into narrative form are universal to all forms of fiction writing.

6. Do I need to have a personal experience in mind before starting the course?

Not at all. One of the initial stages of the course will guide you through the process of identifying significant experiences from your past that you can draw upon for your writing.

7. What if I find that the course isn't right for me?

Due to the digital nature of this product, there will be no refunds after purchase.

8. Will I get to work directly with you?

This is a self-paced course that is done on your own. However, I do offer other personalized services for writers, such as 1:1 coaching, small-group coaching, and a 6-month group coaching program. To learn about my offerings, click here.

9. I often feel overwhelmed by the idea of writing a novel. Can this course help?

Absolutely! This course is designed to take you step-by-step through the process of transforming your personal experiences into compelling fiction. Each module builds on the previous one, making the task of writing a novel feel less overwhelming. Plus, with the self-paced nature of the course, you can take your time to fully understand each part of the process before moving on to the next.