Craft Studio
with Kathryn Heyman
Building Unstoppable Scenes: Mastering the Dramatic Chain
Narrative prose—novels, memoirs, narrative nonfiction—runs on drama. And drama lives in scenes.
But here's what most writing courses never teach you: a scene isn't just "something happening." It's a precise structure with its own internal logic, and understanding that logic changes everything about how you write.
The problem is, where do you learn this? A years-long "how to write" course covers too much ground too slowly; for example, you might spend months on character development before anyone mentions scene mechanics. But then piecing it together yourself from YouTube videos and writing blogs leaves you with scattered fragments that hardly cohere into a working method. What's missing is focused, structural knowledge: the specific framework that makes scenes build momentum rather than bleed it.
I've spent my entire adult life studying what makes scenes work. As a novelist and nonfiction author published in Australia and the UK. As a playwright for stage and BBC Radio (my audio drama series, Captain Starlight's Apprentice, aired to nearly two million listeners). As a dramatic writing instructor at the University of Oxford. And before all of that, as an actor, learning from the inside how drama builds and releases.
For the past several years, I've been teaching writers precisely how scene structure actually functions in prose, and the response has been extraordinary.
"Scenes! Mind-BLOWN! Holy SMOKE. You have just changed EVERYTHING for me. The simplicity of the idea of the building blocks, and the elegance of the insight has just cracked open my understanding of what a book is."
- Novelist, Kirsten Cameron
Master the craft in four weeks, not four years.
That's why I created the Craft Studio: a focused, four-week hybrid format designed for serious writers who want targeted and proven expert guidance, not generic curriculum.
In Building Unstoppable Scenes, you'll master the key links of what I call the Dramatic Chain: the Action Scene, the Reaction Sequence, and Narrative Summary.
You'll learn what makes the two essential dramatic units fundamentally different from each other—and from the connective tissue that links them. You'll master the three key movements of every scene, and the three-part internal sequence that must follow it. Once you see this chain, you'll understand why some manuscripts compel readers forward and others simply can't help but stall.
You'll discover what distinguishes a true scene from material that merely looks like one, transform your narrative summary into prose that propels readers forward, and understand how to sequence these elements to shape your entire manuscript.
"Of the five million craft classes I've attended over the years, this was the best! Even after two published books and a full draft manuscript, I didn't really understand how scene and summary worked. Now I do, and I'm so excited I've already started on a new chapter for my current work in progress."
- Amanda Webster
How the Craft Studio works:
To ensure you don't just learn, but immediately apply the material, the course uses a high-impact hybrid format:
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Immediately upon Registration: You'll receive the first of two content-rich videos - The Action Scene. The video comes with deep-dive exercises and examples to help you create the perfect scenes for your project.
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To give you time to digest the video and work through the exercises, you'll have a week between videos. So one week after registration, you'll receive your second video: The Reaction Sequence and Narrative Summary.
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On January 29th: We gather for a dynamic live Q&A to celebrate your progress and answer advanced questions.
This course will save you months of rewriting - and fundamentally change how you approach your next project. You'll have lifetime access to the videos (and you can rejoin any future live Q&As on this topic), so you can work through the process for each new project and check in when you need a top-up.
Taking the time to work through the steps will elevate your novel or memoir by tightening the momentum of your narrative. Once you 'click' with the dramatic chain and how it works in your story, everything will feel clearer. I've seen this happen so many times - as soon as you begin with this process, your writing unlocks. In other words - seriously, don't wait.
I hope you'll join me.
Price $590 AUD Including GST.
Have any questions? Contact us on admin@writermentors.com