
Thinking In Stories
Transform your ideas through the art of storytelling.The next cohort starts February 3rd, 2025.

Thinking In Stories is a live 4-week course that will show you how to identify your best ideas and transform them into resonant stories.You’ll visualize storylines, workshop narratives, and build worlds to introduce a new dimension to your creative life.
As a curious person, you have a lot of ideas:

While it’s great to have all this knowledge, there’s a big problem you keep facing:You’re not sure how to communicate these ideas effectively.

You love sharing your thoughts, but you’re not satisfied with how you’re presenting them.Perhaps the external response you’re getting doesn’t match your level of enthusiasm. Or perhaps it’s coming from your inner voice, saying that you could have framed the idea better.That’s because an idea on its own is just information. At best, it’ll be a good point to consider, but will quickly fade away from memory. What you really want is the ability to shift someone’s perspective, and to do it in a way that lasts.As it turns out, there’s only one reliable way to do this:You have to transform your ideas into stories.

Five years ago, I started More To That to share my stories with people. Since then, my posts have been read 4 million times from almost every country in the world. That still sounds absurd to me, but hey, I’m grateful.I’ve learned a lot about storytelling over the years, and how it acts as a beacon for your thoughts. The ability to discover the narrative in your ideas is a magnetizing force, and this skill will only grow more valuable with time.Thinking In Stories is a 4-week long course that shares everything I know about the craft. It will show you how to identify your best ideas, connect them together, and package the result into great stories that showcase your unique voice.
Introducing...
Thinking In Stories

Next cohort starts February 3, 2025
Over a period of 4 weeks, you will receive an original toolkit of frameworks and techniques that you can apply to any idea. Each tool has been designed from the ground-up, with practicality and simplicity as the guiding principles.Whether you’re writing an essay, a book, a YouTube script, marketing copy, or even a senior thesis, you’ll be able to use the Thinking In Stories method to transform your playground of thoughts into a unified story. And best of all, you’ll practice each step alongside a cohort of curious minds that are just as excited about storytelling as you are.The entire journey is broken down into 6 modules:

Let's go into the details for each one.


Ideas are abundant, but your perspective is one-of-a-kind.You will start by determining your unique storytelling DNA through the Levers of Identity. These 6 levers will show you - at a moment’s glance - who you are as a storyteller and the identity you embody. This powerful framework will help you discover the special place in the Idea Universe that you - and only you - can occupy.

A great story makes you care about a problem as if it were your own.In this module, I’ll go over the Insight Menu, and the three frames you can use to keep your audience engaged. Using this technique, you’ll create all the building blocks you need to craft the foundation of your story.To make it concrete, I’ll show you how I use it to create my popular stories, and you will then build one for yourself.

Simplification is the purest form of understanding.I will teach you how to take complicated ideas and make them easy for your audience to understand. You will draw graphs, brainstorm spectrums, and build anecdotes to simplify every element of your story. By compressing your thoughts this way, you’ll create shareable nuggets that stick in your readers’ minds.

This is where playfulness takes center stage.Worldbuilding is the most underrated tool in nonfiction storytelling, and you will learn how to make the most of this opportunity. In this module, you’ll bring out your inner child and create fun characters to drive your narrative in an eye-opening way. You’ll also learn the Three P’s framework so that you can build a world at any time, with any idea of your choosing.

Now that you have all the pieces, it’s time to put them together.I’ll show you the three universal narrative arcs, and then you’ll use the Structure Toolbox to plot your ideas alongside them. You’ll do an interactive workshop to visualize an effective outline, and will organize your ideas into a compelling narrative.Oh, and if you’re not a fan of outlines, I’ve got you covered too.

Writing is the conduit to finding your voice. But like anything worthwhile, it’s hard.We will go over some best practices I’ve picked up over the years to make the process smoother. You’ll learn about developing a style using the Three C’s, selecting a burden-free writing cadence, and setting up a distraction-free environment in your space.Lastly, we’ll walk through two methods of distribution, and how to get your stories to the people that matter.

❝ Thinking In Stories overdelivered in every way possible. Whenever I have an idea, I have a bag of tools to pull from that will make the words flow. ❞
Sean S. - Educator / Entrepreneur
What's included in the course
8 live sessions inside the Main Lodge
Thinking In Stories is not your typical course. The entire experience takes place in a world called the Story Campground, where every area serves a specific purpose for our 4 weeks together (here's a map of it).The Main Lodge is where we’ll meet together on Mondays and Thursdays. I’ll go over frameworks and strategies for each module, and will provide live exercises to help you bridge the gap between theory and application.


Thursday workshops
The live sessions on Thursdays are guided workshops for you to put everything into practice. You’ll receive a personal workspace, pre-populated with the tools you’ll use to build out the framework of the week.Each workshop will have a blend of solo time and group discussion so you can share your work in real-time. Storytelling is all about communicating your ideas to others, and there will be no shortage of that here.
Saturday Story Sprints
Every Saturday morning, you will use the Thinking In Stories method to outline a story and create it in one sitting. This is a guided 90-minute exercise where you identify your story’s building blocks, discuss them with your peers, and shape your piece afterward. Think of it as a practical accountability session every week.


Fireside Chats
At the end of each Monday and Thursday session, I will stay behind and address any questions or comments you may have. The last 4 cohorts loved this part of the course, and I’m excited to do it again. I’ll stay on and chat about whatever is on your mind.
Story prompts and assignments
Each week, you will create a story using the concepts you’ve learned. You’ll use various tools and frameworks to bring your ideas to life, then you’ll submit your result to the Story Inbox.You will then exchange feedback with fellow cohort members, which will help you iterate on your stories throughout the course.


A series of Toolkit resources
These are pre-recorded videos that act as an appendix to the main curriculum. They include brief how-to’s, such as an overview of Adobe Illustrator, a walkthrough of my writing software, and more. The Toolkit also includes additional examples of course frameworks to help cement your understanding of them.

Each session is 90 minutes long, and starts at 10:00 AM PT (view in your time zone).If you join as a Premium student, you will have access to an additional hour-long session. You can view the Premium schedule here.
What alumni are saying about Thinking In Stories
❝ I've never, ever taken a course like this before, or come away from an experience with this many tools in my toolkit for the future . . . I’ve never taken a course that helped me understand myself as a storyteller, how to tell stories from cradle to grave, and given me a whole toolbox to keep doing that on my own. ❞
Nancy Janzen
CEO, StaffReady
❝ For the first time, I feel like I had a breakthrough - I actually created things on my own. As someone who’s always consumed and never created, it’s super exciting to think about ways that I’ll be able to give back and create things. That’s not something that was in my repertoire prior to now. ❞
Nicholas Goode
Founder, Vantage Point Planning

❝ I didn't want it to end! I do a lot of writing for work, so I came into this course looking to reignite my love, my passion, and that playful spirit of why I love writing in the first place. And it certainly has done that for me. ❞
Robin Smith
Head of Content, Synergy Health

❝ Lawrence comes up with actionable frameworks that really work. If you want to learn how to communicate big ideas using storytelling and worldbuilding, I can't recommend Thinking In Stories enough. ❞
PJ Milani
Visual Teacher
❝ Lawrence breaks [everything] down into a segmented chunk process, and now I have something to grasp onto, iterate on, and become a better storyteller. That has been the most powerful thing: just me feeling like I can actually do this storytelling thing. ❞
Richa Prasad
Co-founder, Coach Viva
❝ Lawrence provides you with a foundation for how you can get the reader to empathize with you, and how you get them to understand the points you're making . . . His class was fantastic, I highly recommend it. ❞
Azul Wells
Finance YouTuber

❝ I’ve toyed with the idea of a graduate degree, but I struggled to justify the value I’d receive. But with Thinking In Stories, I received multiples of what I put in. Before the course, I thought of myself as a writer. Now, I’m a storyteller. ❞
John Botelho
Founder, Momentary Values

❝ Thinking In Stories gave me license to dig deeper into myself to find the vulnerable bits that could resonate with others. I will take and use what I've gained through this course for many years to come. ❞
Tracey Minutolo
Continuous Improvement Manager
For more in-depth reviews of Thinking In Stories, visit our wall of love.
-----
Enroll in
Thinking In Stories
Next cohort starts February 3, 2025
Enrollment is now closed.


Who Thinking In Stories is for

Writers
that want to build a readership in a healthy and sustainable way

Creators
that want to differentiate themselves by creating high-quality stories

Entrepreneurs
that want to build their brand using impactful storytelling

Knowledge workers
that want unique ways to share their ideas with colleagues and staff
Ultimately, this course is for anyone that wants to transform their ideas through the art of storytelling.
Noor Majid, the wonderful creator behind Design. Draw. Do., gives you an in-depth look into her experience with Thinking In Stories. Her video will give you an idea of what you can expect during our 4 weeks together:
Tucker Bryant, a keynote speaker and poet, shares how Thinking In Stories reshaped his view of storytelling. He also talks about the wonderful people he met, including someone he believes will be a friend for the rest of his life:
Wesley Anna, a popular YouTuber, shares how the principles and tools she learned in Thinking In Stories applies to video content as well. She also shares her thoughts on the wonderful people she met throughout the experience:
Zac Solomon, the founder of Startup Social, shares how Thinking In Stories changed everything for his writing practice. He discusses how he’s taken all the tools he's learned to create stories that resonate with his audience:
-----
Frequently Asked Questions
Click on the question to see the answer.
— Is Thinking In Stories for nonfiction or fiction storytellers (or both)?
Nonfiction storytellers (bloggers, essayists, YouTubers, educational content creators, etc.) will benefit most from this course. However, many of the principles also apply to fiction, especially the modules on simplifying ideas and building worlds. There are all kinds of storytellers in the More To That community, and the course is designed to encompass a range of styles.
— What is the weekly time commitment I should expect?
Learning is the marriage of theory and practice, and this guides the way I've structured Thinking In Stories.The live sessions on Mondays and Thursdays cover much of the theory behind storytelling, and I provide many, many original frameworks and concepts. So at a bare minimum, attending or reviewing these lessons will require 3 hours of your time each week.But the real learning happens when you put everything into practice.Every Saturday, there's a bonus Story Sprint session that lasts 90 minutes. It's designed to help you build a story from scratch using the Thinking In Stories method, and each one incorporates frameworks from that week's sessions. In addition to these, you can expect to add an extra 1-2 hours to work on your assignments for the week.So here's the quick breakdown:Minimum weekly commitment - 3 hours"I want to get the most out of this" weekly commitment - 6-7 hours
— The timing of the live sessions is inconvenient. Should I still take this course?
The answer is yes if you can commit to watching the recordings on your own time. This course has been designed so that you can complete the workshops and assignments if you carve out dedicated time to do so. You’ll miss the in-session discussions, but you can participate in discussions on the Story Campground, which is the forum where you’ll be sharing reflections and feedback on your stories. In addition, there’s also the Story Buddies program, where we’ll pair you up for a 1:1 chat with another student. We’ll try our best to match you based on location and time zone.We also offer Saturday Story Sprints, where you can create a first draft of your story in one focused sitting. Since it’s on the weekend, perhaps you'll have the flexibility to attend them.
— What's the full difference between the Essential edition and the Premium edition?
Both the Essential and Premium editions receive:• 6-module curriculum
• 8 live classes over Zoom
• 3 Story Sprints
• 8 Fireside Chats
• Access to the Story Campground forum
• Guided workshops and projectsPremium students receive the following additional benefits:• A bonus (pre-recorded) video on note-taking, where I will go through my system and the tools I use
• A live Q&A session at the end of the course to tie any loose ends
• Free enrollment in the Essential edition of the next cohort
— Will I learn how to market my work?
We will briefly go over distribution in the final module, but marketing is not a focal point of this course. The most important thing is to understand what it takes to create great stories; after all, an audience forms only when you have compelling stories to share.
— Can I pay in installments?
Yes, you’ll have the option to pay in 2 installments for both tiers. Please note that the total price will be higher when paying in installments vs. paying in full.
— What is the course forum like? Will you be in there as well?
The course forum is known as the Story Campground, which is the central storytelling hub for our 4 weeks together. This is where you’ll be sharing out reflections around a warm Campfire, providing feedback on story assignments, and watching any recordings of sessions you may have missed.And for that second question, yes! I’ll be in there, checking out your reflections and seeing what you’re working on. I’m excited to see the stories you create during our 4 weeks together.
— I don't have a website where I publish my stories, nor do I intended to have one. Does it make sense for me to take this course?
Absolutely. You don’t need to have a website, personal blog, etc. to tell stories. Those are just some of the mediums you can use, but if your goal is to become a better storyteller in general, then that’s not dependent on any specific platform.With that said, you will be asked to share the stories you create with the cohort. That way you can give and receive feedback, which is crucial to refining your abilities as a storyteller along the way. There will be a dedicated space in the Story Campground (the course hub) for you to do that, and you can think of that as “publishing” what you’ve worked on each week.
— What's your refund policy?
If you attend all the live sessions, the Story Sprints, do the assignments, and still don’t find the course valuable, then reach out within 7 calendar days of the course start date and I’ll issue you a full refund. I’ll ask for some feedback so I can improve things on my end, but that’s about it.

A closing story from Lawrence
I published my first essay in 2015 on a personal Medium page that no one knows about (well, I guess you do now).No one read my work, but I kept at it. One post became two, then four, then ten…
A small audience was developing, and things looked promising. I knew that if I kept going, something great would eventually happen.But then one day…I stopped publishing.Completely.

It wasn’t because I was discouraged by the lack of response. After all, a small but loyal group of people were reading my work.Rather, it was because writing was no longer fun. It didn’t feel meaningful. Every essay felt like a slog to get through, and I felt like I was trying my best to cobble together ideas to hit publish on. It wasn’t the kind of resistance that I needed to overcome to get on the greener path; it was the kind of resistance that was telling me this wasn’t the right path to begin with.So I took some time off and got on with my life. I holed myself up in my cubicle from 9-5, built spreadsheets, and then got back home to have a drink or two before calling it a night.I was making a comfortable living and getting by just fine, but there was a restlessness brewing within me.Because deep inside, I knew that my love for writing was still there.

In early 2018, I started reading philosophy, and lots of it. Existentialism, Stoicism, you name it. I found myself immersed in the world of ideas, and wished more people were fascinated by these same topics.All of a sudden, I had good reason to write again. I knew that the best way to find my tribe was to publish my musings, which could act as little lighthouses that would bring like-minded people together.But this time, I was going to do it differently. I didn’t want writing to feel like a chore, where each session was a desperate attempt to structure random ideas together. I didn’t want it to feel rigid, where each piece was an essay that quoted other thinkers to validate my thoughts.I decided to take a fresh approach to my writing. One that would make it fun and make use of my imagination in a way that my inner child would approve of.I decided to write like a storyteller.

I called this project More To That, and published my first story in March 2018. I emailed it to a list of 21 people, informing my readers (aka close friends and family) about this “new creative thing I’m getting into.”Now, five years later, 38,000 curious thinkers like you subscribe to my newsletter, and More To That stories have been read 4 million times from almost every country in the world. Storytelling has become my career, and has allowed me to find the exact people that I was looking to meet all those years ago.But there’s one thing I often wonder about.I often wonder how many people are currently in the position I was in five years ago. Where you know that writing is the craft you want to pursue, but it feels devoid of inspiration and fun. Where you know that your creative spirit is alive, but is smothered by rigid rules and expectations.It’d be a tragedy if you stopped writing, when the antidote of storytelling was right there. When I was going through my transition moment, I wish I had a guide to help me see the difference between writing essays and creating stories. To show me how writing could be simple and playful, despite the difficult topics I wanted to touch.I looked out and saw that no such method existed, so I went out and built it.And now that I’ve taught this method to 100+ people across 22 countries, I’ve seen just how big of an impact it’s had on my students’ creative lives.
---
---
❝ I don't think it's possible to find a more humanizing course than Thinking In Stories . . . This course amplifies everything that is most human about us and gets rid of all the other noise. That is a profound thing. ❞
Allison Gustavson
Writer
❝ Between the unique content and the community, it’s been huge. I’ve learned how to take my ideas, put them through frameworks, and then inject story into it. I can frame what I want to say to make people care. ❞
Paul Carleton
Founder, Future Wealth

❝ There’s so much energy and depth in the course material that Lawrence created. Using these frameworks, I have an organized way to plan out and create my stories to save me a ton of time. ❞
Thomas Yang, MD
Child Psychiatrist, Montefiore Health

❝ After taking Thinking In Stories, I now see my words come to life on the page. Lawrence fills this course with abundant information, wonderful inspiration, and intense playfulness. This course has shown me how I can tell a story on just about anything. ❞
Diane Ancede
Playwright
Enroll in
Thinking In Stories
Next cohort starts February 3, 2025
Enrollment is now closed.


Thinking In Stories is a More To That course.
Made with ♡ in Los Angeles, CA