The Weekend Writer Starter Guide
$27
The Weekend Writer Starter Guide
For Nonfiction Writers
ONE WEEKEND. ONE CHAPTER.
Get Started. Keep Going.
Make meaningful progress on your nonfiction book – one chapter at a time.
The Weekend Writer Starter Guide is an editable Word workbook designed to help you turn one dedicated weekend – or any two focused writing periods – into the beginning of a structured chapter draft.
Through guided exercises, writing sparks, and a practical two-day Weekend Writing Rhythm, you will explore your material, identify what the chapter is really about, organize your ideas, and begin shaping them for your reader.
How It Works
Step 1: Choose your chapter. Find the one chapter you're ready to write and name what it will do for your reader.
Step 2: Free Write. On Day 1, write without stopping, editing, or judging. Aim for 500 imperfect words.
Step 3: Find the meaning. Use the Four-Question Chapter Engine to uncover what happened, what changed, what you learned, and why it matters.
Step 4: Build your chapter. On Day 2, organize your material with the 7-Block Chapter Builder.
Step 5: Keep going. Plan your next four writing weekends so your momentum continues.
What's Inside
• A 42-page editable workbook
• The two-day Weekend Writing Rhythm
• The Four-Question Chapter Engine and the 7-Block Chapter Builder
• A completed chapter example
• Two bonus writing sparks
• Optional AI prompts
• A plan for your next four writing weekends
The Weekend Writer Starter Guide grew out of more than a year of working with writers through coaching, group sessions, masterclasses, and live writing experiences. It brings together the prompts, questions, and practical structure I have used to help writers get started, return to unfinished work, and shape their ideas into chapters – while keeping their own voice at the center of the work.
Format: Microsoft Word (.docx). Type your answers right in the guide or print the pages to write by hand. For best results, open in Microsoft Word on a computer. Google Docs, Pages, and phone apps may shift the layout. The response spaces are starting points, not limits.
This guide is especially suited for writers developing:
• Memoir and personal narrative
• Thought-leadership books
• Inspirational nonfiction grounded in personal growth, resilience, purpose, or faith
• Books based on lived experience, expertise, lessons, and reflection
This is not a fiction-writing or devotional-writing guide, although some exercises may still help writers in those genres uncover meaningful material.
AI prompts are included as an optional resource. You can complete the entire guide without using AI.
Please note: This is a digital Word document. No physical product will be mailed. The guide provides education, prompts, and structure, but does not guarantee completion, publication, sales, or any particular creative or financial outcome. Purchase is for the original buyer’s personal use only.
Remember: You have something to say, and someone needs to hear it.
Happy Writing!
Created by Alvelyn Sanders Swafford – author, journalist, award-winning filmmaker, minister, and lifelong storyteller whose work has appeared on PBS, WABE 90.1 FM, and in Essence, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and more.
Bonus for Writers & Creatives
I also designed a writer hoodie for those who love wearable inspiration — especially on long writing days. You can see it here: boutiqueindigosoul.com
Copyright and Permitted Use
Copyright © 2026 Alvelyn Sanders Swafford. All rights reserved.
The original purchaser may save and print working copies for personal use. This guide may not be copied or duplicated for another person, group, class, workshop, organization, or commercial purpose. It may not be shared, distributed, resold, posted online, or uploaded to a shared drive without prior written permission from Classic Imagination LLC.