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If you’ve ever hit a wall with your story—your plot feels flat, your characters aren’t quite clicking, or the tension just isn’t landing—chances are the problem isn’t with one element. It’s with how they’re working together.

What makes good stories great isn’t just any single one of these areas, but an interconnected web of all three. Character, stakes, and plot set up, support, and sustain a story. Each one drives and shapes the others in creating a dynamic and organic storytelling system. Stakes drive the character, character drives plot, plot shapes the character’s arc.

This online class with editor Tiffany Yates Martin goes beyond considering the basic building blocks of story and reveals how the most captivating stories grow from the inside out. We’ll explore how to define what drives your protagonist—their longing and their lack—to generate the plot organically, rather than forcing a generic external plotting system or technique onto your story.

You’ll also learn how to make readers care by making events matter profoundly to your characters, how to instill urgency that strengthens meaning and momentum, and how to build stakes across the course of your character’s determined pursuit of what matters most to them. Understanding the intrinsic interrelationship of these three foundational storytelling elements creates irresistible, cohesive journeys.

This class will cover:

• How character, plots, and stakes are intrinsically entwined, and why those connections are essential to creating effective, cohesive fiction
• Why you may not have developed these elements deeply or specifically enough
• How to dig deeper than just “goal and motivation” to what drives your characters—the powerful force that moves them through the story
• Ensuring your characters have agency in the events of the story and are the engine of the plot
• How to develop your character’s arc to invest readers from page one until “the end”
• Why it’s essential to know where your character is going before you can put them in motion (even if you’re not a meticulous plotter)
• How to go beyond “what happens next” to why it matters to your character—which will help you avoid a series of disconnected beats
• How to create and establish tangible and urgent stakes directly related to your character’s values and what drives them
• How to convey stakes in a way that’s clear, concrete, and real (without constantly, overtly reminding readers what’s at stake)
• How to keep stakes building in intensity over the course of the story to the climax
• How to avoid melodrama by adding meaning, not more stuff

Who this class is for

This course is focused on fiction writing, and will only feature examples from novels written for adult readers. Those writing memoir or narrative nonfiction may find the lessons useful, but nonfiction examples will not be part of the class.

This class will most benefit:

• Novelists who have developed their stories but feel they’re still not working as effectively as they could
• Novelists who are querying and getting good response, but no offers
• Authors who are stalled out, dead-ended, or lost in drafting their story
• Authors who understand and have developed core story elements but are struggling to bring their stories fully to life
• Writers who want to draw readers more deeply into their stories and characters
• Authors who know their story is “good” but not yet great

This class is not suitable for

• Poets
• Children’s picture book authors

How do I attend the live class?

This class uses Zoom webinar technology (see system requirements). You will join through your Internet-connected computer or mobile device. When you register, you will receive information via email on how to join the class. If you don’t receive it within 1 hour of registering, please contact us.

• When: Wednesday, January 14, 2026
• Time: 1:00–2:30 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
• Fee: $25 through Jan. 11, 2026 / $35 if you register after Jan. 11, 2026

The webinar is broadcast via the internet with live audio delivered through your computer or mobile device speakers. The visual presentation is displayed directly from the presenter’s computer to your computer screen. The Q&A is managed through a chat-style submission system with questions read and answered by the presenter for the entire class to hear.

Closed captions are provided during the live class. We use Zoom’s automated closed caption service, which is about 80%+ accurate. We use Adobe Premiere to generate a lightly edited transcript, provided with the recording.

All students receive the following

• Access to the live class. After roughly 75 minutes, the instructor will take questions during class using in-class chat/text. The class will end after roughly 90 minutes.
• A recording of the class—audio and video. This is especially helpful if you have a conflict with the class time or something comes up and you can’t make the session. Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials for 30 days. You do not have to attend the live event to access the recordings.
• Presentation slides. All participants receive a copy of the slide presentation in PDF form.
• Rough transcript. We use ElevenLabs to create an automated transcript of the entire webinar, which is lightly edited for you.
• Handouts: exercises and additional resources, and questions for building cohesive story.

Event Attendance & Anti-Harassment Policy

We strive to provide an environment where all present—whether attendee, presenter, or staff—can feel supported. In order to ensure a welcoming event, here is what we expect from all who participate.

• That the presenter and the presenter’s work be treated with respect by attendees and that all attendees treat each other with respect and a generosity of spirit.
• That attendees will refrain from harassment of any sort including (but not limited to) comments or questions of a racist, homophobic, sexist/sexual, or threatening nature. This includes actions that disrupt or interfere with anyone’s ability to participate. Offenders will be disconnected from the live event.