Write What You Don't Know

A self-paced video course for writers of all levels and genres

Ignite Your Imaginative Intelligence















"Write What You Don't Know from the Imaginative Storm team, Allegra Huston and James Navé, is a valuable, engaging and accessible resource that is super FUN to work with to broaden ALL writing abilities. It certainly has helped me unlock and unleash my creative writing abilities and I am recommending it to my students in journalism school where I teach. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!"

–Judy Walgren, Professor of Communication Studies,
Michigan State University

"Write What You Don't Know is a challenging and fun read, pulling and pushing you to the pen. I felt encouraged to play with my writing, try new things, and overall just bring joy back to my writing process. Insighful, interesting, and innovative."

–Jahman Hill, poet, professor at the University of Alabama, and author/performer of the award-winning one-man show Black Enough

"Write What You Don't Know is like a writer's recipe box: first it helps you recognize the ingredients you already have at your fingertips. Then its clever exercises and prompts help you create a banquet out of your own stories and perspectives. Add a dash of encouragement, a heaping tablespoon of insight into the writers' process - and you end up feeling both spiritually and creatively well-nourished."

–Nicole Perlman, screenwriter of Guardians of the Galaxy

"BRILLIANT! Not only are your concepts and exercises both common-sensical and revolutionary, the writing is so calm, intelligent, friendly, unpretentious, precise, loving, funny and warm—it's inspiring to read this—and so moving, as I think about aspects of writing I haven't seen put into words before. I love this book. It's so true and so excellent and kick-ass."

–Kate Christensen, PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author of The Great Man and visiting faculty at Iowa Writers' Workshop

Here's what will happen when you write what you don't know:

Overcome
writer's block

You'll learn how to use writing prompts to ignite your curiosity and open new paths to explore

You'll overcome
writer's block
Transform your inner critic into your inner coach

Your inner critic wants to help you—you just need to give it helpful standards to uphold

You'll transform your inner critic into your coach
Find your own authentic voice

When you're curious, you forget about writing well and your natural voice flows onto the page

You'll find your own
authentic voice
Pack your writing with emotional power

When you don't worry about writing well, your authentic emotions come through

You'll pack your writing with emotional power
Feel your story shaping itself organically

You'll develop your intuition for what a strong narrative feels like

You'll feel your story shaping itself organically
Gain new insights into yourself and your world

You'll notice more, appreciate more, broaden your range of compassion

You'll gain new insights into yourself and your world

What are you writing? Memoir, fiction, poetry, screenplay, a how-to book?
Our 10-step method will unlock the hidden potential of your imagination
and enable you to write fearlessly, authentically, and with unbridled curiosity.
And, it will train your rational mind to shape those creative gifts into writing that will amaze you.

What do people love about Imaginative Storm?

Over 65 videos plus 26 sessions of bonus audio content








  Welcome to the Imaginative Storm
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  Session 1: Spin the Kaleidoscope of Your Mind
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  Imaginative Insight #1
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  Session 2: Let Rip
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  Imaginative Insight #2
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  Session 3: Common Senses
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  Imaginative Insight #3
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  Session 4: Go There
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  Imaginative Insight #4
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  Session 5: Elemental Alchemy
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  Imaginative Insight #5
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  Session 6: Socialese
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  Imaginative Insight #6
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  Session 7: Tender Spots
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  Imaginative Insight #7
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  Session 8: Take Yourself Back
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  Imaginative Insight #8
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  Session 9: There's No Story If Nothing Changes
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  Imaginative Insight #9
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  Session 10: The Oxymoronic Inversion
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  Session 11: Write On
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  Prompt Archive
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Meet bestselling author and Imaginative Storm co-founder Allegra Huston,
as she explains the power of the Imaginative Storm method





How to Do This Course

Solo

Go at your own pace, whenever and wherever you want. Make writing what you don't know your regular practice, your "me time." Visit our Prompt Archive to hear what other people have written to the prompts you're working with.

Each of the 10 sessions should take you approximately 1.5 hours to complete.
In a group

Get a few people together. Share the cost, share your writing, share the excitement of discovering the wild flights and surprising insights your imagination produces. You'll enjoy the support and appreciation of others as you read what you wrote aloud.

Your Bestselling Writing Experts

Allegra Huston

As a former Editorial Director of the London publisher Weidenfeld & Nicolson and holder of a First Class degree in English from Oxford University, I'm all about good writing. But when I started writing myself, I wasn't able to write anything I liked! Maybe I just can't write, I thought. I was trying as hard as I could to write well.


The Imaginative Storm method was a revelation to me. I learned that trying to write well didn't help me. That my writing would be better, and my own authentic voice would emerge, if I didn't try so hard. James Navé taught me to surprise myself and write what I don't know. 




As well as Write What You Don't Know, Allegra is the author of the bestselling Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found, the novel A Stolen Summer, How to Edit and Be Edited, and How to Read for an Audience (with James Navé). She wrote and produced the award-winning short film Good Luck, Mr. Gorski, and has also written numerous feature screenplays. Her articles have appeared in many major magazines in the US, UK, and France. An editor for over three decades, she worked with authors including three Booker Prize winners, two Nobel Prize winners, and Jane Goodall.




"Allegra Huston is incapable of writing a dull sentence."
—Lynn Barber, reviewing Love Child in the Sunday Telegraph

James Navé

I came to the Imaginative Storm method from the spoken word tradition. As a founder of the company Poetry Alive!, I memorized over 600 poems and performed them for schoolchildren. (Poetry Alive! has to date reached over 5 million students.) I've competed in the National Poetry Slam and have emceed the LEAF Festival slam for 25 years.


My focus on creativity began when I co-founded The Artist's Way Creativity Camp in partnership with Julia Cameron, author of the perennial bestselling guide to creativity The Artist's Way. The principles and prompts that make up the Imaginative Storm method are the culmination of over 30 years of practice and exploration. 




Navé holds an MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts. His latest book of poems, 100 Days: Poems After Cancer, was published by 3: A Taos Press in May 2023. His poetry has appeared in many publications, and he has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered and Weekend Edition.




He hosts a weekly long-form interview podcast, available on YouTube @imaginativestorm, and has served on the advisory team of LEAF Global Arts since 1995.




"James Navé and I worked together for over 20 years. He has a quick, curious, and searching mind, plus a humanist eye for poetic detail. His work as a poet, teacher, and facilitator is an important force for change."
—Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way

FAQs

Is this course suitable for all ages?

Imaginative Storm writing prompts are suitable for all ages. The audio samples of writers reading their work include some adult-themed material. A course specifically designed for schools will be available later in 2023.

Is there anything extra in the online course that isn’t in the book?

A lot!

  • a monthly 60-minute live online session with Allegra and Navé, in which you can get advice and insight into the Imaginative Storm method
  • a Prompt Archive, so you can hear up to five examples of what other people have written to each prompt
  • a pdf download of the entire book Write What You Don't Know
  • audiobook recordings of the nine non-session chapters
  • a 25% discount on all Imaginative Storm workshops, courses, and books
Do I need a background in creative writing to do this course?

The desire to write is all you need. If you write, you're a writer—no qualifications required. Total newbies have taken our course, and so have widely published writers. If you're a newbie, you'll gain confidence because you're generating surprising, intriguing material straight out of the gate. If you're a published writer, you'll be astonished by the new dimensions our method brings to your writing.

How is this different from other "free writing" courses?

The Imaginative Storm method is far more wide-ranging than the simple concept of "free writing." It's not just a technique; it's a method. In these 10 sessions, you will move from the imaginative storm to the creative form. First, you'll learn how to pack your writing with vivid imagery, fresh language, and authentic emotion. As you continue, you'll learn how to develop compelling character and narrative. Finally, you'll explore what creates the core of energy at the heart of all great stories

Is there any reading required for this course?

No. We don't hold up examples of how you should write or require that you write about anything in particular. Our goal is to help you find your voice, not to try and "teach" you what "good writing" is. As we see it, good writing is writing that feels good to you: it feels original, powerful, insightful, and authentic. You'll be doing a lot of writing in this course—and in every single prompt you'll be writing about something that intrigues you.

Can I get critical feedback on what I write in this course?

If you post what you write on our Circle, we will let you know what pops for us. Appreciation of what's strong in your writing gives you confidence and helps to retrain your inner critic. We don't "criticize"—not because we don't have standards but because all-round critical feedback belongs later, when you're shaping and editing. Getting negative feedback too soon is a major reason many people suffer writer's block and have trouble finding their voice.


When you reach the point where you want notes, other writers are your best readers. So, join the Imaginative Storm community! We're here to help one another make our work as good as it can possibly be.

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