The 30-Day Outline Workshop
master your outline
Five live Zoom sessions with Alan Watt.
October 8–November 5, 2026
$450 $350 USD
“Alan Watt is a master teacher, with a brilliant, intuitive understanding of story.”
Allen Zadoff, Author of The Unknown Assassin series, Little Brown
unlock the story within
You don’t need to force your idea into a formula. Learn the process of marrying the wildness of your imagination to the rigor of structure to unlock the story within.
find your story’s engine
Discover the central dilemma that gives your story tension, meaning, and a reason to keep turning the page.
let character drive plot
Explore your protagonist’s wants, needs, and inner journey—and how they suggest what happens next.
make structure your ally
Develop an organic understanding of the three acts, so your outline supports your story without confining it.
from initial idea
to completed outline
Whether you’re starting with a spark or returning to a draft, this is a place to ask deeper questions about the story you want to tell.
✓ You have an idea, but not yet a path. Discover what holds the story together before you begin your draft.
✓ You’ve started writing and feel stuck. Step back from the pages to explore what your story is really about.
✓ You want structure without a rigid formula. Learn an approach that makes room for discovery, intuition, and your own voice.
For novelists, memoirists, screenwriters, and anyone with a story to tell.
Week 1 / October 8Unlock the story withinDiscover the dilemma at the heart of your story.
Explore what your protagonist wants, what they need, and the source of tension between the two. Begin to see the transformation your story is moving toward—and why you are uniquely qualified to tell it.
Week 2 / October 15Act One: ThesisBuild a first act that sets your story in motion.
Work through the five key stages of your protagonist’s journey in Act One. Through lecture, discussion, and individual story examples, explore how character and desire establish the world of your story.
Week 3 / October 22Act Two: AntithesisFind the movement and meaning in your middle.
Explore the four stages of a dynamic second act. Discover how your protagonist’s inner journey can drive the plot, deepen conflict, and build meaning rather than simply adding more events.
Week 4 / October 29Act Three: SynthesisEarn the transformation at your story’s ending.
Move through the dark night of the soul and explore how your protagonist reframes their relationship to what they want. Connect this shift to the transformation that gives your climax its meaning.
Week 5 / November 5IntegrationBring your discoveries together into an outline.
Integrate what you have explored over the previous four weeks. Deepen the relationship between your characters’ inner lives and the shape of the story, marrying the wildness of your imagination to the rigor of structure.
live classes and
one-on-one support
Lecture, one-on-one work with Alan to illustrate the principles, stream-of-consciousness writing exercises, story-structure questions, and exploration of scenes from fiction and memoir to bring your ideas to life.
five live Zoom sessions
Explore the principles of story with Alan through teaching, discussion, and work with writers’ story examples.
bring your questions
A live Q&A follows each class, giving you a chance to ask questions about the work.
sessions are recorded
Can’t make it live? Each session’s recording is available to watch as often as you want.
Want to go deeper? One-on-one story consultations are available for attendees at an exclusive discount following completion of the course.
Alan Watt
Bestselling author of The 90-Day Novel
Alan Watt is the national bestselling author of The 90-Day Novel and The 90-Day book series. He teaches workshops and consults online with writers throughout the world. He has won a number of awards for his writing including France’s 2004 Prix Printemps (best first novel) for Diamond Dogs. He is also the writer/director of the award-winning feature film Interior Night.
Since 2002, he has been teaching writers a process of marrying the wildness of their imagination to the rigor of story structure. He has taught everyone, from award-winning authors and A-list screenwriters to maximum security prisoners, war veterans, housewives, doctors, lawyers, television showrunners, and a president.
“Learn the process of marrying the wildness of your imagination to the rigor of structure.”
an organic approach to story
At the heart of Alan’s approach is a simple idea: story structure is a paradigm for transformation. The plot grows from a character’s changing relationship to what they want.
desire
Your protagonist wants something. That desire sets the story in motion.
conflict
Your protagonist encounters obstacles that stand in the way of their goal.
surrender
They surrender the meaning they’ve attached to their goal.
transformation
They reframe the goal—and discover a new way of seeing their world.
character suggests plot
Your idea of your story is never the whole story. It’s not that your idea is incorrect, it’s that it’s incomplete. Your subconscious is the seat of your genius, and when you understand that genius is not a noun, but a verb, you move in the direction of merging intuition to craft.
By moving from the general to the specific, discoveries emerge, and you begin to see how all of the characters in your story are thematically connected, and thus struggling with the same central dilemma.
The goal in creating an outline is not to eliminate surprise, but to understand your story deeply enough that you can begin writing your first draft with both a sense of direction and the freedom to discover.
“A treasure trove of insight, not only for beginners or aspiring writers but for grizzled old-timers like myself, who can profit, always, from revisiting the fundamentals and First Principles of the writer’s calling. Two thumbs up!”
Steven Pressfield
Bestselling Author of The War of Art
“He has a system for giving order and meaning to even the most complicated narrative. Working with Alan was like getting the keys to the castle.”
Patricia McCormick
Two-Time National Book Award Finalist for the novels Sold and Never Fall Down
“Now that the book has become a national bestseller, I understand that he intuited the ultimate potential of my story all along and wouldn’t let me quit until it was realized.”
Patrick O’Connell
National Bestselling author of Main, Middle and Gay, Celadon Books
any questions?
Do I need to attend every session live?
No. You can join the live Zoom sessions or watch the recordings. You can watch each session’s recording as often as you want. Live sessions include a Q&A following the class.
Do I need a finished draft?
The workshop is designed to help you move from an initial idea toward a solid outline. You can also use the process to explore the structure of a story you have already begun.
Is this only for novelists?
No. The approach applies to novels, memoirs, and screenplays. The class is also for people who work with story professionally, including producers, editors, agents, and publishers.
What are the dates and times?
There are five consecutive weekly sessions: October 8, 15, 22, 29, and November 5, 2026. Classes meet on Thursdays, 12–2 p.m. Pacific, on Zoom, with a live Q&A following each class.
Is a private story consultation included?
No. Optional one-hour story consultations are available for an additional cost, with limited spots. These consultations include a review of a three-page outline. They are separate from workshop registration.
What happens after I register?
You’ll receive a welcome letter by email with suggestions to prepare for the workshop. Enrollment and payment are handled through the existing Alan Watt store.
How much does the workshop cost?
The workshop is $450 USD. An automatic discount saves $100, bringing your tuition to $350 USD before any applicable tax.
The 30-Day Outline Workshop
unlock the story within
- Five live Zoom sessions with Alan Watt
- Live Q&A following each class
- Access to each session recording