We were lucky to catch up with Renna Nightingale recently and have shared our conversation below.
Renna, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
My dream is to have a bookshelf crammed with books that I’ve helped authors write. I dream of looking at each title and remembering the journey the writer took to make this dream a reality. That’s what a book is—a tangible dream.
Beyond the tangible dream, I have the honor of seeing firsthand what acheiving a life-long goal does for a person. She learns about her tenacity and resilience. She discoveres grit she didn’t know she had. And then, magically, beautifully—this new confidence and presence spills over into her community. Her family blossoms under her new light. Her friends are inspired to embrace the dreams they’ve been daydreaming about. Fullfilling goals is a ripple effect.
I know that every author I help represents dozens and dozens of other people in her sphere.
I pray that this will be my legacy. Stories will be told, infusing courage and curiousity into communities. What better way is there to spend my time?
Renna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My genetic makeup is entirely comprised of stories. I have dedicated my whole life to stories; whether telling them, writing them, reading them, acting in them, or coaching others to tell them. Stories are the way humanity understands the world, connects with others, and processes the events in our plot lines by turning them into cathartic victory.
I have been a professional actor since the tender age of 8. While other kids were playing soccer and swinging on monkey bars, I was acting out Judy Garland films and heading to my next audition! My incredibly supportive mother drove me all across Southern California to find me the best opportunities, and I am so grateful. I’ve lived the most magical adventures all over the world. I’ve worked with Oscar and Tony Award winners. I’ve “flipped my fins” and practiced “Brave” archery as a lead vocalist at Hong Kong Disneyland for over a year. I’ve performed my own cabaret show for Royal Caribbean on the high seas. I’ve brought classics to life and breathed life into new works. You’ve likely seen my face on the big screen as well as the one in your living room.
And the entire time, I was learning the craft of storytelling. From studying character arcs to the raising of stakes and subtext, I was working to become a master of the art of story. In college, I garnered a BFA in Acting for the Stage and Screen, but also a minor in screenwriting. My eyes were opened to the other side of storytelling: not just the interpreting, but also the creation of it. I became obsessed.
I wrote ceaselessly, in many different modes. I crafted spoken word poetry to be performed for corporate events and church services. I created video scripts for online content. I penned curriculum and marketing copy and screenplays and stage plays until finally one day, I decided to write a book.
This book, entitled, “Hack Your Acting Audition” would focus on the mental health side of auditioning before, during, and after the audition. I’ve read a million books on acting technique, but I’ve yet to find resources that helped me to healthily process what can be a terrifying business of vulnerably laying your art out for a production team over and over and over, only to be told “You’re too tall, you’re too short; you’re too old, you’re too young, you’re too [insert adjective here].” So often, actors are framed as hungry beggars, approaching each opportunity with desperation. We are told, “There are a million more of you.”
I wanted to be a voice that said, “Hey, there’s a healthy way to handle this. You are not a victim of your passion; you are the victor.”
I am so proud of that book! I published it on Amazon in May of 2023 and watched it skyrocket to #1 in its category! I immediately got to work on my next project, a book that was just released on August 5th of this year! It is called “Public Speaking as Storytelling.” I studied the impact storytelling has on the brain and discovered that storytelling fights stage fright and also helps audience members retain and implement information. The book breaks down how to create a killer speech that overrides the fear of public speaking and also captivates an audience.
As I was regaling my friends with my writing and publishing journey, I had a friend share that she had always had a dream to publish a book, but she didn’t know where to start. Fireworks went off inside my brain! I knew exactly how she should start—and I also knew just how to help her see this dream through.
Coaching her ignited a fresh passion: empowering and equipping others to tell their stories! And behold, Plot Twist Studios was born. I take my clients from page 1 to published. They bring me an idea, and I help them untangle their thought knots until we solidify their book idea with themes, metaphors, and structure. I meet with them weekly as they birth a first draft, all the way through edits, matching them with a graphic designer and editor, and finally illuminating the self-publishing process!
My job as a book coach is to be the hybrid of a Jedi master and a cheerleader. Nothing brings me more joy than calling out the potential in each client. Together, we process the moments in their life that have sparked the idea for their book. We examine events and find the threads of truth that tie them together. Watching clients extract empowerment from their stories is beyond fulfilling. When one person decides to own her story, she inspires her entire community. It is literally life-changing work!
Plot Twist Studios isn’t like a regular coaching biz—we’re a cool coaching biz (shoutout to Mean Girls fans!). Plot Twist Studios is unique in that it’s a one stop shop. Elsewhere, you can find a life coach who will direct you to a writing coach, and then you can find an editor, and then you can find a graphic designer, before enrolling in a publishing class to figure out how to finally share your book with the world.
Or, you can allow me to illuminate every next step.
Most writers have beautiful fragments of ideas and drafts sitting on their desktops and scrawled on napkins and hidden away in notebooks. Figuring out the first step to the gargantuan process of writing a book, let alone publishing it, is daunting! I have been in your shoes. I know the stress, turmoil, fear, and frustration. I felt stuck for so long staring at a word document, wondering if anyone would ever read my words.
Further, this journey is a long one. When no one is demanding deadlines to be reached, what’s to keep you pursuing your dream? A big part of my business is providing the accountability necessary to reach the finish line. Knowing they’re going to discuss their work with me each week is what keeps my clients writing despite their busy schedules and demands!
Providing every step, from page 1 to published, is my secret sauce for taking this dream from possibility to published, from outline to online, and turning “someday” into “launch day.”
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Before I was a book coach, I was a writer, and still am! It’s exceptionally important to me that I am in the same world as my clients. I want to understand the bullying of the blinking cursor and the siren call of distraction so that when my clients face these obstacles, I have both empathy, and also practical and tactical action steps for them to move forward.
Last year, it was time for me to start another book (I’ve decided to write one a year!). I love my writing schedule- I wake up before the sun, embrace the quiet, and endeavor to write a chapter with some instrumental T-swift and a cup of coffee. The writing process was delightful. Easy, even!
Sadly, that’s where the ease of this publishing journey ends. I hired an editor and graphic designer to take the book to the next level (I had previoulsy undertaken the editing and design process myself). When the graphic designer returned the edited, formatted proof of the book to me, every indie author’s worst fear stared me in the face: the manuscript the designer had formatted was somehow the unedited version. The edits from my editor did not save!
This placed the book on hold for months as we tried to figure out how to honor the creatives in this process—what went wrong? How did we keep this from happening again? Could the editor be expected to re-edit their work? Did the designer prefer to start over with an edited manuscript or correct typos in her formatted document? It was disheartening to say the least!
However, this is when a “plot twist” ensued!
I connected with my dream team. My now-editor, Jennifer Vigiletti, and I had worked together in other creative capactiies. When I expressed my woe over this book that was dying on my desktop, she offered to edit it! I was out of the budget I’d allotted for this project, so we decided on an exchange: I would run social media for her company, and she would edit my manuscript! It was a match made in heaven!
Then, I reconnected with the gal who is now my go-to graphic designer at one of my speaking engagements.
She was able to fix my manuscript and book cover in about 3 hours. For context, the editing/ design fiasco took place over 8 months. EIGHT MONTHS versus THREE HOURS! Ruthie Bolton, you are my superhero!
This book, Public Speaking as Storytelling, was published August 5th, 2024! It is a testament to tenacity, resilience, and my stunning team!
Although the road to publishing this book was not a smooth one, and truly lacked—shall we say, sparkle—I would not trade the team I have now! And I am beyond grateful that I can steer my clients toward two artists who are professional, dependable, talented, efficient, kind, and brilliant!
This story has a happy ending and I am the biggest fans of my teammembers!
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
I had just started book coaching my friend in an unofficial capacity when I took a weekend trip. The woman I sat next to on the plane was a life coach. She shared with me that she’d always wanted to write a book. I told her, “That’s what I do—I’m a book coach!” It was the first time I’d said the phrase out loud! She asked for my flyer and I told her I’d send it that night. After we landed, I created a flyer and named by biz “Plot Twist Studios!” I researched her practice and borrowed her price system, and sent her back the flyer! It’s a moment that still makes me smile when I think of my scrappiness!
Then, I started collecting clients from the wild! I met a client at the Met Museuem in New York, (and she recently published her first book entitled, “Scent of Dust,”—Congratulations, Janet!) Clients referred me to their friends, which is the highest honor there is! Now, I’m delighted to have authors in a myriad of genres: historical fiction, romcom, poetry, memoir, narrative nonfiction, and more!
Watching clients leave our meetings feeling encouraged and clear about how to move forward is exhilerating. But getting to be in the metaphorical passenger seat as they finish drafts and fulfill a life-long dream of becoming a published author? That is some of the greatest work I’ll do in this life!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.plottwiststudios.net
- Instagram: @plottwiststudios
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renna-nightingale-9aa294296
- Other: Books: Hack Your Acting Audition & Public Speaking as Storytelling
Image Credits
Leah Huebner, Huebner Headshots