Welcome to the Block!

Great writers need to sharpen their skills, but conferences and travel fees can be expensive and inconvenient. Writer’s Block lets you take advantage of the collective knowledge and industry experience of bestselling authors from the comfort of your home!

With no subscriptions or commitments, getting the instruction you crave is just one click away.

We invite you to:

Browse our class list
Watch some sample videos
Buy credits for the classes that will help you most!

It’s that easy.

Let us help you tackle your writing goals today!

EXPLORE THE COURSES

AllCharlie N. HolmbergFrank L. ColeJeff WheelerKathryn PurdieMaria V. Snyder

All That Glitters: Creating a Functional Magic System

Do you tie down your magic with rules, or take it off the leash and let it roam free? Whether using a rule-based (limited) magic system or a free-roaming (unlimited) one, establishing the believability, originality, and world-building of magic is key to creating stories as methodical and real as Sanderson’s, or as sweeping and artistic as Tolkien’s. In this class, we’ll not only discuss the differing concepts and roles of magic systems, but factor the implications of a magic system into the world surrounding it.

10 Credits

Charlie N Holmberg

The Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of fantasy and romance fiction, writing contemporary romance under C.N. Holmberg. You can find her at charlienholmberg.com

Be Fruitful and Multiply

Coming Soon

The key to writing a novel from multiple points of view.

Frank L. Cole

Frank L. Cole was born into a family of southern storytellers and wrote his first book at age eight. Highly superstitious and gullible to a fault, Frank will believe in any creepy story you tell him, especially ones involving ghosts and Big Foot. Currently, along with his wife and three children, he resides in the shadow of a majestic western mountain range, which is most likely haunted. Frank is the author of 15 published books. Frank’s next novel, The Last Library, releases in fall 2024. You can find him at frankcolewrites.com

Creating Believable Villains

Fictional villains like Professor Moriarty, Hannibal Lecter, and Darth Vader continue to stand the test of time. Their enduring legacy is due to their complexity as characters. This workshop will focus on how to turn your one dimensional villain into a full blown bad-a** that your readers will love to hate.

10 Credits

Maria V. Snyder

The New York Times bestselling author and faculty member of Seton Hill University's MFA program, Maria V. Snyder writes fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults. You can find her at mariavsnyder.com

Deep Worldbuilding: And Its Influence on Plot and Character

Worldbuilding is the foundation of the fantasy genre. In this class, we’ll learn the macros and micros of creating a story-world and the many ways it influences plot and character. After touching on the basics, we’ll dive into magic systems, creature creation, history, punk genres, and more. Workshopping together and individually, we’ll ensure everyone has their fishing hooks ready for this can of worms.

Charlie N Holmberg

The Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of fantasy and romance fiction, writing contemporary romance under C.N. Holmberg. You can find her at charlienholmberg.com

Emotion is Not a Dirty Word

No matter how complex your plot is or how beautiful your descriptions are, or how well you can use a metaphor, if your readers don't care about your characters, you've lost them. Many writers are reluctant to incorporate emotions and emotional reactions for their characters for fear of being called out on writing "purple prose," or for being "overly dramatic." This workshop will help guide you in adding in a layer of emotional complexity to your stories.

10 Credits

Maria V. Snyder

The New York Times bestselling author and faculty member of Seton Hill University's MFA program, Maria V. Snyder writes fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults. You can find her at mariavsnyder.com

Ending for Every Ending

Endings are hard for many writers to nail, but they can make or break a book. Readers can forgive many shortcomings if an ending is excellent. In this class, I’ll teach you how to master the ending of your book, as well as your chapter endings and even sentence endings. I’ll share how to build toward endings, make them resonate, be powerful, have clever prose, tie up loose ends, promise more to come, and leave room for reader imagination.

10 Credits

Kathryn Purdie

Kathryn Purdie is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Bone Crier’s Moon duology, The Forest Grimm , and the Burning Glass trilogy. Kathryn is a trained classical actress who studied at the Oxford School of Drama and has taught writing classes at Storymakers, Teen Author Boot Camp, Futurescapes, Writing and Illustrating for Young Children (WIFYR), FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Sundance Workshops, and was a keynote speaker for Writing for Charity, Young Authors Academy, and the BYU Idaho College of Language and Letters. You can find her online at kathrynpurdie.com

Fantastic Fight Scenes

Let’s face it, action scenes are difficult to write. Writers must find the perfect balance between description, dialogue, inner dialogue and character emotions. And we all know action scenes in movies and on TV shows are unrealistic at best and often impossible without the aid of special effects. This session will cover how to write thrilling and realistic fight scenes using those four elements.

10 Credits

Maria V. Snyder

The New York Times bestselling author and faculty member of Seton Hill University's MFA program, Maria V. Snyder writes fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults. You can find her at mariavsnyder.com

Great Ideas and Where to Find Them

Are you stumped with what to work on next? Ever wondered how a favorite author came up with such an amazing premise? There’s a lot of frustration with the question, “Where do good ideas come from?” because nothing and everything is the answer. In this class, we’ll talk about where and how to mine great story ideas using a variety of strategies, and how to choose those that best resonate with readers.

10 Credits

Charlie N Holmberg

The Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of fantasy and romance fiction, writing contemporary romance under C.N. Holmberg. You can find her at charlienholmberg.com

Intimacy Scenes for the Modest Author

Sex happens. It can be the culmination of a love story or the beginning of a character arc. And while “sex sells,” it can be a tricky thing to tackle for conservative writers. In this class, we’ll discuss how to include intimacy in a story, and how to do it to both the author’s comfort level and the readers’ expectations.

10 Credits

Charlie N Holmberg

The Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of fantasy and romance fiction, writing contemporary romance under C.N. Holmberg. You can find her at charlienholmberg.com

Kicking the Trash Out of Your First Chapter

Understanding the basics of what every first chapter needs to convince editors and agents to keep reading.

10 Credits

Frank L. Cole

Frank L. Cole was born into a family of southern storytellers and wrote his first book at age eight. Highly superstitious and gullible to a fault, Frank will believe in any creepy story you tell him, especially ones involving ghosts and Big Foot. Currently, along with his wife and three children, he resides in the shadow of a majestic western mountain range, which is most likely haunted. Frank is the author of 15 published books. Frank’s next novel, The Last Library, releases in fall 2024. You can find him at frankcolewrites.com

Mastering Your Book Signing

Coming Soon

Book signings. They’re mutually sought after and utterly dreaded. So how does one succeed behind the table? This class will cover the whole shebang, from setting up a book signing, to interacting with potential readers, to what to do if and when no one shows up. We’ll cover how to stock your book-signing armory online and off, as well as share stories from the pros.

Charlie N Holmberg

The Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of fantasy and romance fiction, writing contemporary romance under C.N. Holmberg. You can find her at charlienholmberg.com

Maximizing Character Agency: Balancing Conflict and Choices

Some writers have trouble adding enough conflict in their stories while others add too much. Conflict is necessary for good storytelling. Too little and you have no tension. Too much and your characters lose agency—the capability to choose a course of action that can change their outcome.

10 Credits

Kathryn Purdie

Kathryn Purdie is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Bone Crier’s Moon duology, The Forest Grimm , and the Burning Glass trilogy. Kathryn is a trained classical actress who studied at the Oxford School of Drama and has taught writing classes at Storymakers, Teen Author Boot Camp, Futurescapes, Writing and Illustrating for Young Children (WIFYR), FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Sundance Workshops, and was a keynote speaker for Writing for Charity, Young Authors Academy, and the BYU Idaho College of Language and Letters. You can find her online at kathrynpurdie.com

More to Win and More to Lose: Raising the Stakes

No matter what kind of story you’re writing, high stakes are essential to keep the tension rising and your readers turning pages.

10 Credits

Kathryn Purdie

Kathryn Purdie is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Bone Crier’s Moon duology, The Forest Grimm , and the Burning Glass trilogy. Kathryn is a trained classical actress who studied at the Oxford School of Drama and has taught writing classes at Storymakers, Teen Author Boot Camp, Futurescapes, Writing and Illustrating for Young Children (WIFYR), FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Sundance Workshops, and was a keynote speaker for Writing for Charity, Young Authors Academy, and the BYU Idaho College of Language and Letters. You can find her online at kathrynpurdie.com

Oh My Goth: Elements of a Gothic Novel

Jane Eyre and Dracula are classic gothic tales that have stood the test of time, but this spooky and romantic genre didn’t end with them

10 Credits

Kathryn Purdie

Kathryn Purdie is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Bone Crier’s Moon duology, The Forest Grimm , and the Burning Glass trilogy. Kathryn is a trained classical actress who studied at the Oxford School of Drama and has taught writing classes at Storymakers, Teen Author Boot Camp, Futurescapes, Writing and Illustrating for Young Children (WIFYR), FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Sundance Workshops, and was a keynote speaker for Writing for Charity, Young Authors Academy, and the BYU Idaho College of Language and Letters. You can find her online at kathrynpurdie.com

Raising the Stakes: How to Keep Readers Hooked on a Series

Editors like to repeat the mantra to "raise the stakes" after each book in a fantasy series. Tension is what drives readers to turn the pages/tap the screen well past a reasonable time for turning off the lights. In writing fantasy, creating peril is the key ingredient. This class will discuss how to increase the sense of jeopardy and conflict in a story that will make your characters more interesting, the plot more riveting, your villains more menacing, and the setting more intense—while influencing your readers to delay putting the book down in order to read just "one more chapter!"

10 Credits

Jeff Wheeler

Jeff Wheeler is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of epic fantasy and thrillers and has sold over 5 million books. More importantly, he is a husband, father of five, and devout member of his church. He lives in the Rocky Mountains.

The Five Questions (aka Wowing the Editorial Board)

When my editor was trying to pitch one of my series, it ran into trouble at the editorial board. Let’s face it, publishing is a business, and you want to make it easy to say ‘yes’ to your ideas. We came up with five questions (and their answers) which not only won over the editorial board, but I’ve used them in every book and series and pitch since. The five questions can help you organize your thinking and make a single book, or a series, something they’ll want to snatch. Even if you are an indie author, knowing the answers to these questions can help improve the story before it’s even written. What are the five questions? Come and find out.

10 Credits

Jeff Wheeler

Jeff Wheeler is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of epic fantasy and thrillers and has sold over 5 million books. More importantly, he is a husband, father of five, and devout member of his church. He lives in the Rocky Mountains.

The Flow of Writing

A full-time writer must produce hundreds of thousands of words crafted to make a reader keep turning the pages. A brilliant researcher named Czikszentmihalyi figured out the optimal conditions that make this creative state possible and repeatable. Join me as we explore what a “FLOW” state is and how you can learn to get there faster and reliably, even when it’s crunch time. You’ll learn some new tips on how to eliminate distractions, tame your monkey mind, how to harness boredom, and why making your bed might be a secret ingredient to your success.

10 Credits

Jeff Wheeler

Jeff Wheeler is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of epic fantasy and thrillers and has sold over 5 million books. More importantly, he is a husband, father of five, and devout member of his church. He lives in the Rocky Mountains.

The How of Creativity

Is creativity just a magical thing that happens randomly in some people and not at all in others? Or is it, like a muscle, something you can practice and develop into a consistent thing? Yes, it’s more like a muscle and yes, there are exercises you can do to develop it. In this class you’ll learn creativity tips from the author of the Hunger Games, Pixar Studios, Stephen King, Andrew Carnegie, and one of the most famous fighter pilots in history that you’ve never heard of before (no it’s not Tom Cruise—I said you’ve never heard of him before). And me, of course, a bestselling author who writes 3-4 books a year. Come learn the secrets of where creativity comes from.

10 Credits

Jeff Wheeler

Jeff Wheeler is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of epic fantasy and thrillers and has sold over 5 million books. More importantly, he is a husband, father of five, and devout member of his church. He lives in the Rocky Mountains.

Understanding Amazon

How well do you understand the indie publishing market? Do you know the difference between Kindle Direct and Kindle Unlimited and how they pay royalties? What’s it like to work with one of the Amazon Publishing imprints (Montlake Romance, 47North, Skyscape, Thomas & Mercer)? Come learn about different resources Amazon has enabled to help indie writers get noticed in a crowded publishing market that is only getting more crowded.

10 Credits

Jeff Wheeler

Jeff Wheeler is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of epic fantasy and thrillers and has sold over 5 million books. More importantly, he is a husband, father of five, and devout member of his church. He lives in the Rocky Mountains.

Worldbuilding 505: Stop Living in your Head and Start Writing the First Chapter

Coming Soon

So exactly how much worldbuilding do you have to have figured out before you start writing the first chapter? How do you develop your world into settings that become characters in the story? Whether your book is set on Earth or something more like Middle Earth, we’ll have a lot of fun diving into all the deliciously difficult ingredients of a fantasy world (the magic, politics, culture, geography, economics, religion) and then figuring out how much to reveal, when to reveal what, and how to exploit the tension opportunities each one brings to the table.

Jeff Wheeler

Jeff Wheeler is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of epic fantasy and thrillers and has sold over 5 million books. More importantly, he is a husband, father of five, and devout member of his church. He lives in the Rocky Mountains.

Writing a Series

Readers love them, publishers love them, writers love them...sometimes. This workshop will discuss writing a series from why write one to how to plan one (yes, even pantsers can plan a series). Also discussed will be the problems and pitfalls of writing a series from forgetting details to getting bored with your characters. Then I'll talk about how to write the dreaded second book, which has to remind readers of prior events without boring them--a difficult balance.

10 Credits

Maria V. Snyder

The New York Times bestselling author and faculty member of Seton Hill University's MFA program, Maria V. Snyder writes fantasy and science fiction for adults and young adults. You can find her at mariavsnyder.com

Writing in Deep Point of View

Stories written in deep point of view are powerful and immersive. Readers forget they are reading and instead live vicariously through the POV character(s), entrenched in their worldview and unique traits, without any telltale author tags and filter words standing in their way.

10 Credits

Kathryn Purdie

Kathryn Purdie is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Bone Crier’s Moon duology, The Forest Grimm , and the Burning Glass trilogy. Kathryn is a trained classical actress who studied at the Oxford School of Drama and has taught writing classes at Storymakers, Teen Author Boot Camp, Futurescapes, Writing and Illustrating for Young Children (WIFYR), FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Sundance Workshops, and was a keynote speaker for Writing for Charity, Young Authors Academy, and the BYU Idaho College of Language and Letters. You can find her online at kathrynpurdie.com

Yeah, That’s What She Said

The Art of Character Development through dialogue.

10 Credits

Frank L. Cole

Frank L. Cole was born into a family of southern storytellers and wrote his first book at age eight. Highly superstitious and gullible to a fault, Frank will believe in any creepy story you tell him, especially ones involving ghosts and Big Foot. Currently, along with his wife and three children, he resides in the shadow of a majestic western mountain range, which is most likely haunted. Frank is the author of 15 published books. Frank’s next novel, The Last Library, releases in fall 2024. You can find him at frankcolewrites.com

Your First Million Words

It’s common to look at the overnight success stories of rare individuals who make it big on their first novel as the goal. But I’ve discovered on my journey that I had to write and toss my first million words before I’d practiced the craft enough to be successful at it. Come to this class for time management, writing advice from an author who worked fulltime at a high tech company, served as a bishop, and squeezed in writing one night a week for two hours…and is now well past his second million words. This class is about finding the will and the time to pursue the lonely road walked by writers.

10 Credits

Jeff Wheeler

Jeff Wheeler is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of epic fantasy and thrillers and has sold over 5 million books. More importantly, he is a husband, father of five, and devout member of his church. He lives in the Rocky Mountains.