Cornerstone guides
A working library for stories entering performance.
From the first page to a spoken performance: clear steps, worked examples and practical decisions for your own writing.
New and returning novelists · 8 min
How to Start Writing a Book: From an Idea to a First Chapter
You do not need to solve the whole novel before you begin. You need a person with something at stake, a situation that will not stay still, and a manageable way back to the page.
Read the guideBeginning screenwriters · 8 min
How to Write Your First Screenplay: Scenes, Structure and Revision
Start with something a camera can show and a character cannot easily avoid. Build the script from visible choices, then use structure and listening to discover what needs to change.
Read the guideAuthors and audiobook creators · 8 min
How to Create an Audiobook from Your Own Book
A convincing audiobook begins before the first recording. Prepare the text, choose a sustainable performance approach and build a review process that can catch mistakes across a whole book.
Read the guideScreenwriters · 11 min
How to Hear Your Screenplay Out Loud and Learn Something Useful
A practical listening workflow for dialogue, pacing, character distinction, and revision, whether you use a live cast, a script reader, or a virtual performance studio.
Read the guideScreenwriters, directors, playwrights · 10 min
How to Conduct a Table Read Without Actors
A practical way to test a screenplay when a full cast is unavailable, including preparation, role assignment, listening notes, and the limits of virtual performance.
Read the guideScreenwriters and directors · 13 min
How to Find Weak Dialogue in a Screenplay by Listening
A diagnostic method for identifying generic voices, explicit subtext, dead rhythm, false escalation, and lines that solve the wrong problem.
Read the guideWriters, directors, actors, educators · 8 min
Cold Read vs Rehearsed Read vs Directed Read
What each table-read mode reveals, what it can hide, and when to move from immediate discovery into intentional performance development.
Read the guideAuthors and audiobook producers · 14 min
How to Turn a Novel into a Multi-Character Audiobook
A production framework for narrator strategy, character casting, dialogue boundaries, consistency, pronunciation, retakes, and export preparation.
Read the guideWriters, directors, authors, producers · 10 min
How to Protect an Unpublished Manuscript When Using AI Tools
A practical privacy and rights checklist covering local processing, cloud boundaries, retention, training terms, voice consent, deletion, and project hygiene.
Read the guideCloud · Mac · Windows