Case Study: Launching an Online Writing Course

I published my memoir about a year and a half ago, after decades of yearning, hoping, starting, stopping, whining, and putting pen to paper in business writing, feature articles, poetry, and short story form. In simpler words, there are many types of writing besides memoir form that I focused on. Over the years, I collected over 75 essays and short-form stories. Covid arrived in 2020, and that was my way in. I committed, and a year and a half later, my book Under My Skin — Drama, Trauma & Rock ’n’ Roll became an Amazon bestseller in 9 categories. But how did I manifest that?

I framed the value of my story on vulnerability and honesty (to the best of my subjective recollection, of course). I wrote an outline and dissected films and books to uncover the MDQ — main dramatic question. Then, once I found it, I attacked each chapter with a trio of questions: what’s the problem, what is the cause, and how did the character(s) resolve it?

Next, I chose a title. The main title was Under My Skin. That came quickly as I listened to rock music from the 1970s to inspire me. The story mostly takes place during that decade. The Rolling Stones Under My Thumb and Sinatra’s classic I’ve Got You Under My Skin sort of came together, but it needed more. More oomph to explain to readers the “feelings” and experiences that occurred Under My Skin. Then I toyed…