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I’m Kat! Professional Storyteller & Neurodivergent Creative

Here to help you vanquish those story construction obstacles, slay that imposter syndrome clawing at the back of your brain & stomp boredom flat with heart-pounding Boys Love fiction. Join the Saga and choose your inbox obsession, whether it’s helpful advice to get your writing unstuck or an episode of my weekly Boys Love Fantasy series to devour during your coffee break.

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‘Let’s face it, we all want to be that writer speedily banging out words like they’re possessed by a muse. But sometimes we’re like, “Words. Words would be nice.”’ — Kat Vancil, “The dreaded Blank Page Syndrome”, The Storytellers Saga
Featured Post

The dreaded Blank Page Syndrome 😱

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 64 Well hello there, Reader! Right before we kicked off our bi-monthly D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) game this past Saturday, our friend asked me for some storytelling advice. “You’ve had writer’s block before, right? So how did you handle it?” She looked beyond frustrated and a bit defeated. But she’s far from alone in that regard. Because if you type “writer’s block” into Google you’ll get about 18,500,000 results. No joke. So clearly a huge amount of...

9 months ago • 3 min read
‘Don’t let someone tell you that your fanfic writing isn’t “REAL” writing. Or that you’re wasting your time. Because those skills you’ve developed writing side quest adventures for your favorite characters might just turn into a career.’ — Kat Vancil, “‘T

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 93 Well hello there, Reader! A few weeks back I saw a post on Reddit where a guy asked: “AITA for making fun of my girlfriend for writing Fanfiction and claiming it’s actual writing?” He seemed to think he wasn’t (the asshole). Oh boy, did the community have news for him. 😬 Now this dude is far from the only one out there who thinks this way, but he couldn’t be more wrong. And I’ll prove it with 5 ways that writing fanfic not only makes you a better...

10 days ago • 4 min read
‘One important thing to consider when brewing your love story is how high you intend to set the burner on that tame to explicit scale with your story’s intimate content. In Romance, this rating is called the Spice Level.’ — Kat Vancil, “You can’t brew a l

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 92 Well hello there, Reader! It’s that special 💝 filled day, you know the one. I’m talking about Valentine’s Day. And in the week leading up to the day of love, sales of chocolates and flowers have been massive. But what about… Books? Yep, you heard me correctly. Over 2.2 billion books are sold each year worldwide. And of those billions, 25% were Romance books. That number jumps to 40% if you’re just counting books within genre fiction. Crazy right? 🙀...

17 days ago • 4 min read
‘In the 3 decades since the release of the beloved American cult classic of the same title, the plot of Groundhog’s Day has also become a storytelling device used in numerous books, TV shows, and movies.’ — Kat Vancil, “Let’s do the time loop again”, The

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 91 It was Groundhog’s Day 🦫 again this past Sunday, Reader. Yes, that weird holiday based on a German tradition using a…badger? 🤷🏻♀️ However, in the 3 decades since the release of the beloved American cult classic of the same title, the plot of Groundhog’s Day has also become a storytelling device used in numerous books, TV shows, and movies. So what is this famous plot device? Basically: Your Legendary Character is stuck in a time loop repeating a...

24 days ago • 4 min read
‘In our real day-to-day lives we may not always be in a position to take a stand against the corrupt, oppressive system. However, as storytellers it is within our power to create characters who can.’ — Kat Vancil, “That one time I lead a revolt”, The Sto

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 90 It was a blisteringly hot late spring day back in 2001, Reader. The sorta day where the cheap plastic of your desk chair sticks to the back of your thighs. It was 2001 in California so absolutely NONE of the classrooms had air-conditioning. And it was over a 100 degrees out. But what made EVERYTHING worse was the fact that they were tarring the roof. Of the classroom I was in. WHILE I was in it. And yes, I was perfectly aware that it was a code...

about 1 month ago • 3 min read
‘In a moment of cosmic WTFery dozens of worlds would have been snuffed out of existence by a factory defect.’ — Kat Vancil, “The death of a thousand worlds”, The Storytellers Saga

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 89 “What do you mean it won’t boot up? The thing’s only a month old!” I demanded 2 years ago. You see, Reader, I had just gotten my very first MacBook Pro that wasn’t a hand-me-down and the thing had effectively killed itself the first time it updated. Oh, and did I mention it took all my data along with it? Months of story work, edits, and design assets gone just like that. Poof. Worst day ever. 😭 I had thought me and the Universe were buddies. Or at...

about 1 month ago • 3 min read
‘Though serialized illustrated novels may be flooding the shelves now, it might surprise you to know this new hot craze sweeping book store shelves isn’t actually new. In fact, it’s actually as old as Dickens. Yes, that Dickens.’ — Kat Vancil, “The newest

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 88 They’re everywhere, Reader. Filling up Bookstagram, Pinterest, and bookshop shelves. Pulled from the 4 corners of the world and translated into every major language and media. “Now in English for the first time!” “A Barnes & Noble Exclusive!” “The novel series that inspired the live-action show!” What could it be? 🤔 I’m talking about serialized novels of course. More specifically, the illustrated kind. No, I’m not talking about graphic novels. I mean...

about 1 month ago • 4 min read
‘I’m very much NOT a resolution cat. I much prefer the 3 Ghosts of Creativity approach. It’s like A Christmas Carol, but with less being haunted into good behavior and sadly also less Muppets.’ — Kat Vancil, “Move over New Year’s resolutions this is WAY b

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 87 Well hello there, Reader! It’s that dreaded beginning of the year when everyone is OBSESSED with resolutions. Where you can’t turn a digital corner without running smack into an ad for another fad diet or exercise app. (I’m looking at you Instagram, stop it! I’m not the cook in my household and I have so many food allergies all these fancy organic meal plans would land me in the hospital.😵) I’m very much NOT a resolution cat. In fact, I loathe them....

about 2 months ago • 3 min read
‘Perfection is an illusion. It’s an armor we tell ourselves we need when we’re uncertain or afraid to move forward.’ — Kat Vancil, “She took the midnight train”, The Storytellers Saga

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 86 2 years ago, Reader, I arrived at the famous Jack London Square on a chilly Friday night. Or as chilly as the Bay Area ever really gets. It’s snowed here exactly one day in my entire life and I wouldn’t even say that really counted. The closest we get is hail and that’s pretty random. Everything was going well. The train was on time. We were standing at the right pole (trains have “poles” instead of “gates” unlike planes, if you’ve never ridden one)....

3 months ago • 4 min read
‘THE ULTIMATE TIME SAVERS - 3 FREE tools you can use right now as a storyteller’ — Kat Vancil, “A feast of FREE tools for you”, The Storytellers Saga

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 85 Well hello there, Reader, While everyone else has got Black Friday Deals for you and whatnot, I thought I’d share 3 (mostly FREE) tools I’m grateful for instead. Scrivener Since 2010, I’ve done all my story writing exclusively in this program designed by a UK company Literature & Latte. Hands down, it’s the best writing program I’ve worked with and I’ve never considered switching to anything else. I use it for everything. Story creation, daily prompt...

3 months ago • 4 min read
‘From an alien’s perspective, humans are just plain weird. We murder trees, slice them up, tattoo things on their skin, store them like trophies on shelves of their bones in houses made of their skeletons.’ — Kat Vancil, “But what if no one likes it?”, Th

KAT VANCIL THE STORYTELLER'S SAGA QUEST 84 But what if no one likes it? It’s a common fear among newbie storytellers,Reader. It’s ingrained right down to the bones. Like showing up to the first day of school and getting mocked for your hair or backpack or glasses. That fear of being singled out is at the very heart of what it is to be human. We want to blend into the herd, the pack, it’s how we stay safe. It’s how we keep from getting eaten. But…the point of art—of storytelling—IS to stand...

3 months ago • 3 min read