Wall of Love

I've attended a number of these summits now, and I continue to sit in awe of the presenters and their generosity. I am blown away each time by how many new things I learn, and I've made a lot of wonderful connections through the summits. Thank you, Daniel, for yet another fabulous offering! You are a superstar.

Well, I had no intention of buying the All Access Pass for this summit. After all, I'm still working through some courses by Daniel that I already purchased and "free" is great. But I've heard SO MANY priceless concepts I want to hear again and put into practice ... that I just can't let them become inaccessible. Thank you so much, Daniel, not only for your own stellar teaching, but also for assembling a constellation of truly brilliant teachers.

Thanks so much, Daniel! This was my first time at a conference like this, and every session was really helpful and inspiring. I appreciate how you made it a safe place for us to grow as writers. I wish there were more sessions, but now I need to get back to completing my novel. Thanks to this conference, I have many tools in my creative tool belt. I will recommend this to my friends. Thanks again! Let us know when your ghost story gets published!

So many wonderful, insightful, generous people Daniel gathers together in his summit. No exception here. From D'Costa to Rebecca Pickens! Each one has given me something to chew on. In the middle of a bathroom redo, I watched many videos at night, staying up til midnight. Tough to choose with such good choices. Thank you Daniel!

Thanks for Escape the Plot Forest, Daniel and speakers! I knew I'd be pressed for time with this one (for my own reasons) but I've been visiting each talk at least briefly and still got a lot out of it. Great speakers, valuable Freebies, and really friendly vibe. Much appreciated!

Thank you so much, Daniel! The content was, as always, amazingly rich and informative. But the biggest thing for me was the feeling of community. This is inherently a lonely pursuit, and it was just nice to be with so many in the same boat. I wish you all the best, and hope it's as rewarding for you, as well. --Dave

Danel, as a first-time summit attendee, I’m impressed with the high caliber presenters you’ve curated and the relevancy of their topics. I’ve learned so much. I can’t imagine the energy it takes to be present every day, all day. Bless you and thank you, thank you, thank you.

I am writing to praise Amy Z. Chan, who has just finished being my coach in the Autumn Residency Program. My book is called Good Mother Lizard, and I brought it to the Residency with it messy but finished. Amy brought order to the book, mainly by recommending more internal text by Phoebe, the main character. I have always operated on the notion that the characters don't say too much about the doubts, the worries, the hopes that they have. But I followed Amy's reactions, and it works. Phoebe has worries about her graduate program in paleontology, and doubts about her mother, the artist, and hopes about her grandmother, the scientist, going senile. It's fun! I have always written and have always been successful. I am a retired librarian, who did many things and wrote grants. One of those grants garnered three years of funding for our adult literacy program, and another was awarded $1 million to build a children's library in east Oakland. But that wasn't a novel. Amy Z Chan is just what I needed!

This great course helped me learn vital skills like how to keep my readers emotionally connected to my main character, how to prepare for twists, how to design scenes that include forward momentum, how to deliver information in sneaky and clever ways, and how to weave in worldbuilding and moments of transcendence. Daniel's courses are always a delight. I love his teaching style and consider myself a superfan. I can't recommend him and his courses enough.

This summit was amazing! I loved watching all the presenters pick apart the ideas and enjoyed the lenses each individual brought to the premises and the process. Very cool experiment. Thanks to Daniel and all the presenters for engaging in such deep discussions (and to Dwight, for holding us all together with her magic, lol). My brain is buzzing with directions for my story!

This was inspirational and educational. Thank you🤩

This Develop Your Premise 2026 summit was enormously helpful in getting me to redefine my premise and what I wanted to say in my novel! I loved Allison K Williams's talk about how to get unstuck when you are writing, and found her advice particularly liberating in terms of giving myself permission to have fun with it and revisit other scenes later. There were other good talks, too, but that stood out to me. Thank you, Daniel for coming up with these summits, as they always provide some good resources I can turn to in my writing journey!

Kudos again Daniel for another just-in-time summit for me. The concepts around premise promise, letting of 'obligatory' inciting incident, and reducing back story to get to story right away are perfect for my current revision stage. THANK YOU! I like the the combination of theory and specificity with support examples in the sessions and highly recommend this summit.

I have been following Daniel for a while. I don't remember how I found him, but I'm happy I did! He's a fantastic teacher and has quickly become someone whose advice I often follow. His course made me think more deeply about character choices and their implications. This opens paths forward. Choosing paths and inevitable ends is a great way to overcome writer's block. Thank you, Daniel!

I have enjoyed several of Daniel's summits the past few years, engaging deeply with two or three each time, finding speakers I follow in areas of focus I'm working to improve. One of the gifts of these summits is the way they flow in themes with speakers chosen for specific areas of strengths, at times presenting ways they work through their own challenges generously engaging with attendees during the presentation. As someone who works a variable schedule, I choose to pay the (very reasonable) fee that offers bonuses whether I'm present or not, and the ability to discover and review as often as I like. I find the dynamic between Daniel, invited speakers, and attendees to be open and encouraging of learners who are there for the first time. It is a supportive community; encouraging those who wish to keep connection afterwards. Daniel is gifted in many areas of teaching and gathering writers in supportive community. I look forward to his summits each year.

Wow! This summit has been amazing! These are the kinds of deep craft discussions I live for as a writer. I've learned so much, and now I can't wait to sit down and put these tricks to use. Many thanks to Daniel, Dwight, and their team.

It’s a wonderful summit with a variety of topics and speakers all dedicated to great writing. I learned a lot and especially enjoy Daniel’s lessons. I definitely would —and have — recommended Perfect Your Process to a friend.

The variety of teachers, coaches and writers creates a smorgesboard of learning at any level of experience. Topics for where ever you are at as a writer, allow participants to dip back into their earliest days as a writer, and still find a fresh tip or process. Daniel, thank you for your efforts to nourish and teach those of us afflicted with the urge to mold the clay into words of story. Gratitude !

My brain is stuffed full, and this was one of the best summits I've ever attended. From the amazing talks to the incredibly generous tools and gifts the speakers gave us, it's just an embarrassment of riches. Thank you so much!

I have really felt inspired by the presenters, by the other writers which is what I need at this time to start getting my priorities and boundaries set to write. I appreciate so much Daniel doing these summits, of which this is my first, and look forward to future opportunities. My recommendation to anyone doing this is that if you don't have the time to actually watch all the presentations and participate, pay for the pass as it's well worth it to be able to watch the ones you miss and rewatch the ones which you want to focus on more closely.

Thank you so much. The last three days have been like an ongoing treasure hunt picking up one piece of gold after the other. It has been like drinking from a fire hose and I feel so inspired! Can't wait to implement some of these great ideas, to map out my story, to box times and create task lists and celebrate "presence", to start tracking time and learn how to celebrate and reward myself as I progress. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity all through these last couple of days, Daniel. You are amazing! I hope there will be many more summits to come. Can't wait for the next one!

This is my first time "attending" and I only used a free pass. Still, this summit has been wildly satiating. I intend to attend next year, but get a paid pass so I can enjoy all the talks forever and enjoy the freebies.

This was an awesome experience! The only thing I would change is getting the classes on outline first - in the initial day of the classes.

I've attended 3 of the Escape the Plot Forest events and now the Perfect your Process event. These summits are such a gift to the writing community. I always come away having learned so much, and with tools that I can implement in my writing.

This is my first time attending the Perfect Your Process Summit and it has been so helpful! I was a bit stalled in my writing, paralyzed really. This has reinvigorated me - Daniel and all the speakers have provided some great tips and have gotten me excited about my writing again! I will be checking out Daniel's other offerings as well as the offerings from many of his speakers - newsletters, classes, etc. I'm so thankful to have found this - what a great event!

"Practice what it feels like for you to finish something. And you can practice really small, just to know it in your body."--Sarah Selecky Such simple advice--but amazing. I wish I had heard that years ago. It's already transforming my brain and my writing projects.

I signed up for the Daniel David Wallace Newsletter some time ago while reading an article about writing techniques. The most enlightening part of the course was the discussion about the character-first approach to plotting. At a recent critique workshop, I listened to readers' comments on my first chapter. I came away trying to figure out how to fix my first chapter. After learning about Wallace's recommendations for a character-first approach to plotting, I finally understood what the readers' responses were about: a story opening that was too dense, with the protagonist lost in the weeds. I broke up the wordiness and the mountains of new character introductions, and trusted my protagonist to take the reader on a journey so the reader could stick close through every twist and turn.

Best place, nicest place to learn about writing and be inspired. And challenge my writing too. One of the most important scenes in one of my novels came from a talk in one of the private rooms a few years ago. Thank you for bringing so many wonderful speakers to us and for trying something new every time.

Daniel's Escape the Plot Forest endures as a place to find just-in-time lessons and encouragement for my novel writing journey. The speakers excel at delivering content in digestible ways, and provide comprehensive, user-friendly bonus materials. Thank you everyone!

I'm so grateful for this amazing event! ❤️ Huge thanks to Daniel, all the brilliant speakers and everyone who took part. I learned so much and loved every moment. Take care and keep rocking! ✍🏻🎉

Escape The Plot Forest summit is intensive and so informative! Daniel David Wallace finds the best presenters for a great flowing course of five days. I believe now that buying the ETPF all-access pass is the best way to go because we are treated to some extras by most of the presenters. It's like reading a 550-page writers' training book in five days AND you get to ask questions. So many opportunities besides that, including community, and upcoming courses and workshops.

Ok Ok OK! FOLKS🙂 everyone whose ever attended any DDW or Escape The Plot Seminar KNOWS they are by far THE BEST, MOST INFORMATIVE formats - that KEEP on GIVING long after the seminar ends- enabling Wonderful, Long Lasting Affiliations (&sometimes friendships)! With some of the most productivly beneficial, enthusiastic-willing to help coaches/editors on The 🌏! INCITING INCIDENT: I procrastinated/didn't plan & miss the early All Pass.😕 ESCALATING, NEGATIVE COMPLICATIONS/CONSEQUENCES: My arm hurts from taking So Many notes- you just CAN'T screenshot ALL the Wonderful highlights either! 🙅🏽‍♀️ TURNING POINT-Even The Jubilee was graciously extended past 11 AM to exactly 12:39 PM-But Quickly vanished. Ask me how I know.🙄 INTERNAL CHANGE: "I can't Afford NOT to purchase Early ALL PASSES." The stakes are too HIGH! CLIMAX: WILL be paying the $147 "Tardy people's Fee." It's just too rich to pass up! 🏆 Tune in later to see my 'Denouement - The brave new world of me producing THE BEST Novel possible. 📚💁🏽‍♀️

Daniel, I love your style and humor. Your questions and thoughts about the topics truly made the interviews more valuable. I loved the variety of speakers and learned something from each one of the dozen or so I listened to. I now have pages of notes and resources to turn to. I would totally recommend your summit for wannabe writers and those further down the path of writing. Thanks a million!

This summit was an enlightening experience to say the least. As a hobbyist writer for many years, I joined because I was curious. Now, walking away, I have a lot to consider and feel a bit more confident in my writing, ways to improve, as well as what to expect for the future when I try to publish my own work. Each speaker was super thoughtful and well spoken, and the host Daniel, was always a joy. The love of the craft was obvious with each and every person who spoke and it made me feel renewed in a way. I've been alone in my writing journey. I haven't had people who really support my creative endeavors. But to hear that the writing community is full of such wonderful and optimistic people really put some things into perspective for me. I will definitely attend future summits/seminars that Daniel hosts. This was a wonderful week of learning. And I now have a fire under me now more than ever, to finish my drafts and get going. Cheers to all the Speakers, Professionals, and of course Daniel himself for all the hard work and prep this must have taken! You are all incredible!

There are SO many of these summits now, they pop up like mushrooms. This one stands head and shoulders above the rest! Daniel packs a ton of great speakers into a few days, and it's all worthwhile material. The treasure hunt is a fun and creative beginning, and there are little extras thrown in all over the place, right up to the end. The time and effort it must take to put this together can only be imagined. This one above all others I wouldn't miss!

Every one of Daniel's summits has taught me something new! I think this is the third one I've attended, and each one has been so well curated, with top-notch speakers and timely, relevant topics. I really appreciate the professional and respective atmosphere and the ability to connect with other writers.

Hello Daniel, Thank you for creating such an informative summit! This was my first time attending (partially) your event. I found your presenters to be very knowledgeable and sincere in their desire to help fellow writers. I look forward to watching presentations on Jubilee Day that were recommended by fellow participants in Happy Hour chat rooms. I'll be registering for a full pass next time! Nancy Bordine, YA Hist Fict

I am so glad that I'd attended the Summit. A world of knowledge and tutoring. I've learned much beyond what I knew. Grateful. Helen

Escape The Plot Forest is a celebration of learning, writing, and camaraderie; it’s a joy to participate in this event. Three years in, I’m taken by how the summit evolves to meet my changing needs with diverse topics and excellent teachers. Every year this summit gets better, and I’m grateful to Daniel, his team, and the presenters for challenging themselves and all of us to keep improving. Every year there are fresh techniques to learn with creative approaches that help us deliver a fulfilling experience for readers.

This is my third year and I always learn so much. I also love that Daniel has introduced me to many fabulous writers, coaches and editors that I now follow. I highly recommend Escape the Plot Forest and Daniel's other conferences too.

I felt discouraged and lost writing for a long time, and almost gave up on it. Even with publishing a book years ago. This Summit w-o-k-e me up. Got several ideas now for books. Thank you Daniel and everyone on your team!

I learn a lot from these summits and am grateful as can be that there are so many tools available that we can add to our boxes that can help us write ourselves through to a finished draft. I normally get stuck in the saggy middle, but a combination of these talks has reignited that spark for my story, and the determination to see it through!

I always enjoy the summits. No matter the level of one's writing or marketing experience, there is always something new to learn.

Hi Daniel - thank you so much for the time and attention you put into this summit. It is my first time, and it has been absolutely amazing. I originally was planning to continue with the free version. But the talks and content have been so impactful and filled with such great information that I purchased the all-access pass, so I can rewatch the sessions I attended and dive into the ones I couldn't. All your guests and speakers were so knowledgeable and kind. I will definitely be back next year!!

As always - incredible wealth of knowledge and talent to tune in to at the Summit. Daniel your sessions are like goldmines! Every year i take away different information helping me become a better writer. This year, I understood stakes in a much easier way than before. I find it hard to pick a favourite seminar but I have managed to hook up with different authors through their mailing lists and been able to make good use of their resources. Being in Australia meant that i had to stay up through the night to catch all the talks but it was most definitely worth it - that gave me time to review the replays too. I look forward to this every year. Thank you Daniel for organising and presenting it. I learn sooooo much even though i have been writing for years and am published - this can only make me a more proficient writer. Learning the craft, that’s what I get from it. Oh and I made a few new friends too. Thank you.

This summit opened my eyes to so many things about the craft and the business. The presenters were without exception amazing teachers. The variety of subjects was wonderful. I am so grateful to have found Daniel David Wallace's Plot Forest Summit. It is the best I have ever attended, bar none.

To have all this valuable information from such skilled and talented presenters has been uuuuuuhmazing! My writer's toolbox is bulging at the seems with everything I've learned from this Summit. I would highly recommend it to any writer.

Probably the most welcoming online event for writers in every stage of their journey. Providing it free as it runs and a reasonable price for longer access makes it especially inclusive. Great speakers.

Enjoying the summit. So much great information.

I'm so glad I heard about this summit this year. I have so many practical takeaways to apply in my writing and editing and a trove of helpful information to mull over in the coming months. I can't wait to attend the next one!

Even though with a "free pass" one has only 24 hrs to watch the sessions, it's a true gift from Daniel to allow us this option. I always choose the ones that look interesting to me by their title. However, I do peak into every session. See which one really resonates with my needs. Each and every summit I find at least one session that is ground breaking! Daniel is super capable to gather those who can share with us some vital info that helps us become the writers we dream to be. :) THANK YOU!

I have never seen a better organized, proactive, interactive schedule like this. SO happy I bought the Pass. Some sessions I can’t attend because of a conflict. Others I KNOW I will want to listen to many times. Congratulations people for your outstanding prep work. I am so darn excited for the summit to start! Thank you!

The best part of your course was the way you were able to bend my thoughts into pretzels (like a Yoga guru who forces his students to stand on their heads to rebalance their chi) and pull out of my head the thoughts I didn't know were there.

Your techniques and insights have given me motivation to write/rethink my story and to recognize I'm not alone. Your direct response to my story gave me insights, plus recognition that I was going in the correct direction. I just wasn't trusting my intuition.

Constellation writing technique has been like opening a door for me in helping add depth and layers into my characters and scenes.

I have participated in several of Daniel’s writing courses over the last 12-14 months and I found his Plotting & Planning series, the Quarters Program lessons very insightful and extremely helpful In formulating my first novel. I like the the Character first idea, The Project concept and the idea of ABC plotting. The Writing Circle has the added benefit of not only live instruction, but also a student forum that offers additional insights to the day to day writing styles of others. I find it to be the cherry on top of Daniel’s presentation and instruction. I am super pleased with Daniel’s commitment to his students, his insight and skill as a writing instructor and he has added a bit of excitement back to my idea of writing my first novel. I’m not getting a head of my self. This takes hard work, but, his fundamentals are solid and I would recommed his courses to any writer interested in improving their level of expertise. Tony Emmi

Constellation writing is very helpful, and thinking about character first rather than plot first is also helpful and has gotten me to add more dimension to my characters.

The Summer Residency was a game-changer. It helped me pinpoint exactly what wasn’t working in the middle of my story and showed me how to weave exciting elements from the ending into the beginning. The program guided me to strip the story down to its core, creating a truly character-first experience.

Daniel's feedback is pure gold and magic! His ability to offer keen insights into my plot and character, to offer ideas for how to augment what is working and make it even better, and to gently (and dare I say lovingly) offer suggestions for improvement are the highlights of this program for me. I also have loved the prompt packs. Writing is such a vulnerable, brave, and at times scary act! And Daniel is a fantastic guide, holding a candle and lighting the way, quietly saying, "I believe in you. You can do this." And he gives you actual strategies and ideas for how to implement his feedback. I cannot recommend this program highly enough!

I really liked the prompt packs. Full of good information, step by step instructions that I can refer to in the future. I learned how much more there is to writing a novel than telling a story .

The Essential Residency helped me take a fresh look at my story idea, and most importantly, how my readers would experience it! It allowed me to uncover crucial gaps in the backstory of my main character and gave my story a solid structure that I can't wait to fill out. Now I have the tools at hand to to unblock me at any time I get stuck and dive right into my story.

"This program is the most flexible, inclusive and generative for me as someone with severe chronic illnesses and a neurodivergent brain. It’s hard to find and I am so thankful to Daniel for helping me to dream that I can do this despite being disabled. There’s nothing quite as inclusive out there.”

Daniel is an innovative teacher and thinker. The Essential Residency course was exactly what I needed to inspire me to write the skeleton of a new novel. The Orc system, which helped us to write three 7-minute sprints (similar to pomdoros, but easier), turned my whole idea of needing half a day to get any writing done. Whenever I had 30 minutes of free time, it was easy to sit and write for at least one 7-minute sprint. It also helped me write faster and messier, which is the opposite of how I normally work. The prompts were excellent, and even though I'm a 100% pantser and not a plotter, I was able to bypass some of the suggestions and get a lot done. I found the ChapGPT bot especially useful for helping me see the possibilities of who, what, where and how my story could progress. Thanks a million for a great program, Daniel!

From week 1 onwards, the Essential Residency has been amazing. I think I could have finished my draft based on what I learned in the first week alone, but as the weeks rolled on there was an abundance of unbelievable magnitude, and I don't see how anyone at all could fail to write their best draft ever, with all these resources to use. Every time I tried out one of the bots, I thought it was the best, but now I do have some favourites. These bots teach, they don't write for you, but they have so much of Daniel's knowledge programmed into them, that they can help with all kinds of writing questions and dilemmas. I had never used a bot before this training, and now am definitely a convert to these unique writing helpers that Daniel's created. Writing from all over my novel was huugely freeing and I even tracked back to Act 1 which I wasn't happy with and got advice and help to rework it. I think it can be hard to let go of one's own drive to just keep going, but I certainly found that pausing my wish to do that, and trying out all of the ideas Daniel was offering, turned out to be a great decision. I have learned so much, my characters have developed and grown, the story has taken shape, and is becoming so much better in it's depth and complexity. My top tip is, read all the handouts! They're amazing, don't miss anything Daniel says, he is equipping us to succeed.

I am Sooo... Grateful that you embraced  the Hebrew culture and extended that "Jubilee" re-broadcasting! I was able to glean a lot.  Who would've thought you could have presenters teaching the same topic, yet all dropping different gems & rich content (and Great Freebies)! And it's not just the info. You introduced us to people we can  form long lasting relationships with and Introduce to others.- #payitforward." Honestly, where do you find such excellent, multitalented guests? I've attended a whole lot of training sessions. None of them come close to the richness your summit  provides! "From new platforms, to new ways of thinking and approaching writing." Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

The best spot-on writing information I ever received. My second romance novel will not be good; it will be great! Thanks for the fantastic presenters and all the time that went into planning this summit. For sure, I'll be attending the next one. Kudos.

Daniel's summits are worth every minute and every penny. They are jam-packed with excellent presenters, carefully selected by Daniel to provide attendees with a wealth of knowledge and experience. I've attended every one he has ever given and I've never ever been disappointed.

There were so many great speakers who were all so jubilant and excited to encourage and empower us to go write better and share our excitement with a growing audience!

As soon as a Summit is announced, I block the days on my calendar. I can't think of a better way to learn the craft of writing from initial idea to published book. The pre-recorded lectures afford me time to take notes at my own speed. It's the best way I know to spend a few days absorbing tips and tricks about the writing process.

Daniel has gathered writers into a corral of knowledge, inviting us to lasso and learn. Each speaker never projected intolerable egos, and the participants were eager to acknowledge their efforts. I have decided to pick a handful of new ideas and apply them to my work. There is an overwhelming amount of input, worth every moment. Please do not stop offering the summits to us.

The great value of these summits is learning to think and execute in new ways. It leads to the light bulb moment where new possibilities pop up, and new ideas flow. The presentations add needed energy and focus to writing. They educate and inspire. My sincere thanks to the presenters and to Daniel for making this possible, and providing a free option for poor folks like me. I'd recommend this to a friend if I had one, ok ok, none of my friends are writers. I need to work on that. Thanks one and all for a job well done.

It definitely did give me a lot to think about when it comes to marketing and discovering my audience as a writer.

Another incredible summit Daniel! Thank you to you, your team and the speakers for their hard work and dedication. I always learn so much from these talks and come away feeling like I've leveled up as a writer and a creative

All of the speakers and presentations were excellent! I've attended before so my expectations were high, and I was not disappointed. For me, where I'm at in my writing journey is that my debut novel launched this past March, and I'm furiously working on a sequel to release next March. The information in this summit is a gold mine for helping me increase my readership. Bravo!

I've attended Daniel's summits before and this recent one, yet again, was invaluable. Every webinar I attended had very practical information, clearly explained, that I can use going forward. Thank you!

I truly enjoyed your writer's circle class.  It's been immensely helpful. I had a chapter-level plan for moving forward with the first half of the first book in a series. I'm now seventeen chapters deep into the story. Thanks to your advice about balancing dialog with description, and including the character's needs/viewpoints in the descriptive expositions, my chapters are SIGNIFICANTLY shorter than my usual writing.  The pace is now much faster. I'm really happy with the results!

This prompt forced me to understand more profoundly something @danieldavidwallace said when I was a student in the first Residency— something along the lines that “the work is separate from you, now you’ve created it.” (I'm sorry if I haven't quoted you precisely!! ) Now that it is being uncovered, appearing on the page, I am in service to it. In service to it. It can demand things of me that I’m not sure I am ready for, or don’t know how to do yet. My chapter begs for more—more emotion. Less restraint. It doesn’t want me to shy away from what is raw, uncomfortable. And the chain of the few chapters want to be woven into the whole. They want the type of revision that can only happen when the arc is finished. I am brought to understand more clearly that it has the right to insist on these things. This prompt was incredible in what it crystalized for me! So I rolled up my sleeves and started one of the hard scenes I've been avoiding--it is much harder to believe that's acceptable any longer. 💪

Thursday prompt helped me create a whole new chapter 7 to enhance my chapter 8! Chapter 8 is the story of how a main character, the protagonists brother, dies in an attack on their town. I realized that I had never given him a chance to speak to what kept him there when he and his family could have escaped. It was a hole in the narrative that needed to be filled

These lessons, and actually doing them, has been so helpful in how to think & feel about my story. Completing and revising a draft. I signed up for the Gift for Plot before but life interfered and I never finished it. I’m at a place now where I can give my writing the attention it deserves so will revisit a Gift for Plot asap.

This has been such an energising week for my revision project! I now have a list of tasks to get on with and I know that if and when I experience that sense of overwhelm I can bring it back to repeating these prompts, one day at a time, one step at a time to get back on track. At present I'm moving forward and focusing on the middle of novel. I've already started to cut some of the boring stuff, because I have a clearer idea of what's more important and where I need to amplify emotions of not only my MC, but also those around her, as my MC questions and confronts the social norms. There are some brutal realities ahead for her, which I have been ignoring or at best minimising. As well as the really sweet wins - which is what I've focused on until this point. I now have to unmask those harsh realities (betrayal, threats and isolation) in more detail and write them! This has been a blast! Thanks.

This was (like all the other prompts this week) interesting to work on. I'm already in the midst of biggish changes to the second half of my story so considering what must stay was a good idea... Thanks Daniel! 🥳

I enjoyed this one. I often write my rough drafts bare-bones, with very little around my dialogue. So forcing myself to write a dialogue scene entirely in silence helped visualize everything so much better, particularly body language. This made the characters themselves more observant and the 'conversation' took a very different turn. The second exercise for today is great too, for the chapter I'm currently writing. It's a weird gap in my outline where there's an awkward break in the action and there's a jump forward to the next plot point. This exercise has smoothed that out.

I keep telling myself I'm stuck in the middle, but really @danieldavidwallace has given us so many other optional ways to creep around the problem.

I have to say, I'm really enjoying this process so far. It truly is stretching how I see my writing. What an amazing week! I've learned so much. I have 3 things I know I want to keep and 4 things that I will definitely be looking to change. Exciting times ahead. Thanks, Daniel , for offering this and thanks to all of you who had courage enough to share your writing and experience. Happy writing! -Bonnie

This exercise clarified the process for me. Thank you.

thought provoking prompt and questions that I can use to think more in depth about a scene

While I have a decent handle on writing a novel (I've drafted three), I still found a lot of value in this class. One of the AHA! moments is when Daniel teaches us ways to center the character and intersperse rumination with external observations. There were many other helpful parts that I can't list off-hand but that I hope I have absorbed internally so I can use them instinctively. I will have to rewatch this class every so often to refresh my memory though, I'm sure.

Most of the craft axioms one encounters when learning to write fiction are more problematic than helpful. Show don't tell. Every scene must raise stakes. The three-act structure is hard wired into our DNA as the only storytelling template and is inviolable. None of this is either true or helpful. What the beginning fiction writer needs is not worn out doctrine but a method. This is precisely what Daniel's courses provide. Daniel's flagship course, Plotting and Planning Your Novel, is both theoretical and practical, taking you through what you need to do in order to actually plot and finish a novel. The course addresses in remarkably useful ways both the big-picture level of story structure and the smaller elements that fluidly connect the major components. The course is intentionally designed with the writer's goals in view. Its purpose is to give you a clear plot design that works for your book and to provide a toolkit to actualize that plot design by getting words on the page. This is a macro-level approach to your plot, but it is in no way lacking in attention to detail. The course is not designed strictly for writers who like to outline their stories. Discovery writers will also feel very much at home when going through this course. Writing Great Chapters complements Plotting and Planning Your Novel insofar as this course is designed to help you develop your story at the level of the chapter and the scene. Here, you're going to find yourself structuring and writing effective chapters and scenes that keep readers turning pages. These courses are not cheap, but if you're trying to write a fiction novel and need help with plotting the book, or if you need help with crafting your chapters and scenes, these are great resources. If you're just toying around with fiction or the idea of writing a book, you probably won't get much out of Daniel's courses. But if you're very serious about writing a novel and if you're struggling with a story idea or a draft, Daniel will get you rolling.

This course busted through my writer's block. It was freeing, and I'm excited about my novel again. Thank you. I look forward to my next course of Writing Character First. Thanks, Leah Holbrook Sackett

All of these prompts are extremley helpful in allowing me to work through knots in my plot. They also help me to insert the right amount of info and lyrical moments to make the scenes robust.

You. Hey, there. This is class is just what I needed to get back into writing a novel. I had to take eleven months off because I had Covid, and I was sick for so long with long Covid. And then I did Nanoremo, and I came up with 70,000 words. But I didn't have a book. I didn't know where to break my chapters up because I've written short stories and very short stories. So this is helping me to expand in the writing, to connect everything. But the thing I want to point out is that everything that you're bringing up, everything that you're talking about, is somehow already within me, and I knew it. But sometimes you need someone else to tell you that you're right. And so that's one of the greatest gifts of your class. And when I can take the full book writing course, I will. Thank you.

It takes me a while to warm up to pay anybody for a course. I need to know that they are knowledgeable in what they're doing, that they present the work in a way that's understandable yet doesn't feel condescending. I need to know that they have a firm grasp of all the information they're imparting and it's also helpful when they have practices and prompts that will help me to put it all together. And Daniel has done that in very short classes. I also have to say I appreciate the way he speaks. Very slow, very calm, very measured, and that's good. I like it for honesty's sake. I am a New Yorker and I can comfortably listen to his videos at one and a half speed so that my New York brain can keep up with him. It's delightful. I do look forward to taking more classes with Daniel.

I love the fact that the questions you ask help me come up with new ideas that serve to enrich my story. Thank you, Daniel!

I so appreciate the way you present your material. You make it easy to understand, and the prompts urge me to develop my storylines in greater detail. This is a super fun course!

Perhaps I am different than your other students. All of your lessons are being placed against novels I have already finished in draft form to see how I'm doing. I have no formal writing/literature/english degree or training but have been writing all my life. During the lockdown I put out "discovery drafts" (read vomit) of seven novels, which will now have become nine because a stand alone worked its way into a trilogy. I needed to know if I was just throwing darts at the wall instead of doing good things. With this class, I have discovered that a life of reading does, indeed, give you skill at writing if your imagination travels with you. Therefore, I didn't do your exercises, but took to heart the lessons and applied them to my in-revision novels. Perhaps I am not different than your other students and we are all holding up the DDW mirror to our work. Go us! Having heard you speak in others' programs, and attending your Summits, I was drawn back to your voice after hearing many others. This is not because I am already doing what you encourage, some of which I am, but because you are also offering me new guidance which speaks to me as organic to MY writing. I don't know that I'll ever be published but I will be written and must get these fools out of my head. Your approach and ideas are helping me do that. To add insult to injury, while taking your class, two story ideas that have been sitting patiently without form have sprouted, sprung and are dashing away faster than I can catch them for portrait. I will, of course, catch them, and "discover" their first draft before revising prior work waiting for me. But this tells me you are a sower and your seeds have sprouted in my imagination's soil. Well done! You free us, DDW, from convention and expectation. You encourage us to discover our voice and its unique possibilities. You allow us to see ourselves reflected in example and lesson and in the end give us the structure we might need in this time and that to keep us on track and succeed as writers. I have taken Writing Great Chapters and Plotting and Planning Your Novel and would highly recommend them. Please don't create any more wonderful classes until I have time to finish a little of what I've started and hold it up to what I've learned from you. Everyone is a writer, if would seem, so you should never be want of students. I will continue to your Summits, though the more I attend the more it is evident to me your voice is the only one I hear and the rest is vibrant noise. Thank you so very much for sharing your talents with us. Your passion for the craft and your conviction to organic process is to our great benefit and worthy of keeping you as a constant resource. Namaste.

This course has been useful. Affirmed some things I am already doing in my work, and introduced other factors for me to consider. I think the key thing here is that I am not just crafting a story to suit myself --- I am writing for a READER. Good guidance on how to tell the story in a way that is clear and engaging for someone else, no just for me!

I haven't written anything yet, but this is giving me lots of food for thought, so thank you!

I was first introduced to Daniel in his recent "Escape the Plot Forest" session. I then also watched his "Character First" Seminar, which really opened my eyes to a different approach to learning how to write from what I had read in all the many blogs, articles and books I had read.. I wanted to know more about how to actually write sentences and scenes, and equally important, why to write them in the specific manner he recommends. He does exactly that with actionable recommendations, guides and exercises that I can apply directly and immediately to my writing. Daniel has a unique approach to writing, and after having gone through his sessions, for the first time I have confidence that I can write sentences and scenes that I know will work for my readers. Rick Dyer

I am loving the step-by-step, interactive nature of the course, with excellent prompts that leads to what should be a very thoughtful answer that can actually be applied to your novel.

I have found Daniels's sessions are always among the most helpful as well as being the best audiences in the chats or zoom sessions. I always come away from his summits with new knowledge and ways to better my craft. Thank you Daniel.

As a newly published author, I am grateful for your summit because it addressed many of the issues presented to me since publication. I feel a little more armed now to proceed with the information gleaned from your summit. It was great! Thank you for offering it. Penny Christian Knight

Thank you so much for this summit Daniel! It was great and it helped me to change my perspective about many aspects of marketing that used to frustrate me. For example, I used to let myself get down about losing a subscriber, but you helped me reframe that to see the positive (it's just weeding out the people that don't really want to be there in the first place). That has freed me to be much more excited about my emails and social media outreach. So again, thank you!

I find the Daniel David Wallace summits to be energizing and they help me focus on an area of my writing that may have been not getting as much attention as I should place on it. After a summit, I find I have more ideas and motivation to keep going with my writing. And I always learn something new and make some new friends who may live miles away but there is Zoom, Google Meet, etc to keep the friendships alive.

Great forum. Speakers were engaging and very helpful. I learned a lot about how to go about marketing my first mystery novel Venetian Bind. Thanks. Lawrence E. Rothstein

Hi, Daniel. I just wanted to thank you so much for the great summit that you just hosted. It was fabulous. As a nonfiction writer, I didn't know how much I would be able to glean from it, but I got something out of every single speaker I listened to. And the one in particular that I really wanted to hear about revising, according to Reading your reader's mind, was So. And of course, I'm a big fan of Chad Allen, so that was a great one, too. But all of the speakers were wonderful, and the community was terrific. And I learned so much just listening to your questions. I appreciated very much your kindness in community, speaking to each other, and I hope that you continue to do exactly what you're doing and be very successful at it. God blessings to you, and thanks again. Bye.

I have taken several classes and attended several writing summits hosted by Daniel and each one is outstanding. He is intelligent, professional, down to earth, and really has his finger on the pulse of what writers need and want to learn. The two things I like about him the most is that he's trustworthy and that he shares the latest information. I recommend him without hesitation.

Hi Daniel, I really appreciate that you made this event free to those of us who are fixed financially. I had high hopes of going to a few writing conferences this summer and none of them panned out. The one virtual one I paid for in May, I forgot to go to because work got so busy, I forgot about it completely. It was great to be able to watch them at my convenience, though I do miss connection in real time. Regardless, you had great speakers and it was very informative. I especially liked the Eva Langston's How to find a Literary Agent. She was super practical and helpful in her information.

I had an incredible time at the Reading Summit hosted by Daniel Wallace. Daniel always host wonderful Writing Summits where he provides awesome and knowledgeable speakers. The speakers at his Summits provide a wealth of information for writers. I am so thankful that Daniel takes the time to present and host these professional Presenters for writers. Thank you, Daniel for hosting these wonderful summits. Shasha

Thank you, Daniel, for a great summit! I have come away ready to tackle the revision of my wip with some new insight and energy. Thanks again!

[Transcribed] Florida. Thank you so much for your workshops. I found out about it through Mary Rose because I've been in her path of the storyteller for three years, and I'm on yet another revision of my middle grade historical fiction, and I'm hoping to be finished soon. And I shared the information with another write her who didn't know about it. So I'd definitely be interested in participating again. I didn't sign up for the paid one because I just felt overwhelmed with the amount of information that I could take in. I knew I couldn't do all of that at this time, but I did want you to know. Thank you, and this is a fun little way to give you the feedback. Even though I don't really care about seeing myself on a video, if get published, I might have to do that more often. So I hope it was a big success for you, and thank you very much. Bye.

Florida. Thank you so much for your workshops. I found out about it through Mary Rose because I've been in her path of the storyteller for three years, and I'm on yet another revision of my middle grade historical fiction, and I'm hoping to be finished soon. And I shared the information with another write her who didn't know about it. So I'd definitely be interested in participating again. I didn't sign up for the paid one because I just felt overwhelmed with the amount of information that I could take in. I knew I couldn't do all of that at this time, but I did want you to know. Thank you, and this is a fun little way to give you the feedback. Even though I don't really care about seeing myself on a video, if get published, I might have to do that more often. So I hope it was a big success for you, and thank you very much. Bye.

I was able to catch some of the events live but was very happy to replay ones that I missed. Honestly, I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t purchase the pass. There is so much value packed into the Summit, but the pass and the bonuses the presenters offer make it even more valuable. Thank you so much for your well curated presentations, the discussions, the daily emails prior to each talk commencing, and the emails with the replay links and bonus offers. So well done! Thank you for all of your hard work.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Readers Summit 2023—so many brilliant talks that shed light on so many different aspects of the publishing world. Things I hadn't even considered or thought possible. I'm feeling truly inspired, grateful and connected to a vast network of industry professionals who want to make book dreams come true. Thank you, Daniel and everyone who participated. Stay well.

[Text Answer] Yes, it is lonely being a writer. It takes it away as bit seeing the faces of people even if you are thousands of miles away.

Yes, it is lonely being a writer. It takes it away as bit seeing the faces of people even if you are thousands of miles away.

Daniel David Wallace's Find Your Readers Summit is a powerful tool for learning fresh new book marketing techniques, keeping up with fast-moving marketing trends, and sharing with other authors who are passionate about making genuine connections with readers and followers and upping their literary impact. It's immersive, eye-opening, uplifting and fun!

Kudos, for your Find Your Readers Summit! The first day, I attended all but one session live. I opted out of Pinterest, because multiple images scrambles my brain. Every session, I tuned into, during the entire four days, proved of great value to me as a writer and author. Deborah

Thank you for a wonderful, jam-packed summit. I learned a lot about myself, my readers, and my writing from the wide variety of speakers and topics. I appreciate being introduced to so many new experts and resources through your summit. It takes a lot of work to put these together and I really appreciate the thoughtfulness and effort you clearly put into it. I'll be integrating much of what I learned over the coming months. Thank you!

What a phenomenal experience! I went from a place of 'ugh....I have to actually put myself out there and promote my work?' to 'whoa...I can't wait to get started!'. Daniel's concept for this summit - connecting to your readers - was brilliant. Did attendees learn how to sell more books? Sure. That wasn't what this summit was really about, though. It was about writing and engaging with readers in ways that foster authentic connections, that give readers emotional experiences they want to have again and again. The discussions and questions led to me to think deeply about the kinds of emotional breakthroughs I hope my readers have, as well as the type of engagement I hope to have with my readers. What kind of writer do I want to be? How do I want to connect with readers? Instead of shying away from sharing with readers (go team introvert), I now realize that I do have life experiences worth putting out there - and not just through the stories I write, but through the stories we can all share about our lives. And as one presenter mentioned, Daniel is truly an incredible host. Kind, considerate - and he asks thought-provoking questions of the presenters. I've attended more than one of Daniel's summits, but this one - wow X 10. I can't wait to see what he creates next (no pressure)! Extreme gratitude for Daniel, all the presenters, and anyone else who had a hand in creating this experience.

I got so much good information and I am so excited to start using it, but there's so much I am not sure where to start! Definitely worthwhile as the information was extensive, the ideas prolific, and Daniel's interview style was entertaining. I look forward to more summits!