Welcome to the Toolshed. Glad you’re here!

This page isn’t fancy like the rest of the house. But like any good toolshed, it’s well-stocked with quality tools, well-oiled, ready to go.

*Note: The Storywheel is being renamed StoryJoules. You’ll see both names here until the overhaul is complete.

The Storywheel (TSW) handbook. The Mothership. It used to be possible to download this without providing an email address, but then I didn’t have a way to know who had the handbook to let them know it had been updated. This way I do, because it puts your name on my mailing list for writers. Unsubscribing is a piece of cake. (We don’t typically eat cake in the toolshed, but maybe we’re having a party to celebrate the Storywheel! It would be flourless chocolate cake, garnished with a couple of chocolate-covered espresso beans and a spoonful of real whipped cream. Or if it’s summer, key lime pie. Mmmm.)

The Storywheel webinar with Jule Kucera & Jane Friedman. Story is complex but it need not be complicated. And if you’ve ever felt ignorant about how to structure a story, that’s not a reflection of your intelligence. It just means you haven’t—yet—found a method that works for you. The Storywheel could be your method.

I created this tool to help clarify for myself the confusing and sometimes conflicting advice I was reading and hearing about story structure. The goal for me and for you: to spend less time structuring and more time creating, and a story born into the world with more ease and assurance. Download the note-taking document to use while watching.

Me Before You StoryJoules Analysis. It’s easy to see StoryJoules at work in an action story, like Star Wars or Gladiator. With a more internal story, you might need to look a little closer. This takes Me Before You through every segment and jolt of StoryJoules, and includes the calculated balance. If you’re writing a quieter story, this will be useful. Lukashchuk

Storywheel Balance Calculator. Use this to figure out the balance of your story, and if that balance makes sense. It also includes the balance for Star Wars: Episode 4 and Me Before You. The balances for successful stories can be wildly different, depending on the story.

Hot off the press! A poster-sized version of the Storywheel Template (the one from the last page of the handbook, but in color!), so you can plot your story in a big size. It’s at Zazzle, which also has #storywheel merch, just for fun. Note: this isn’t laminated, so dry-erase markers will permanently mark it. Use post-its instead, and enjoy the flexibility of moving your thoughts around.

PS: A last inspirational quote. It sits on my desk because I need to be reminded. Often.

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”

-William Shakespeare

That’s all for now. Time to make stories!

Tally ho!!

Illustration by Krystyna Lukashchuk