90 Days to a Finished Draft: The Big Write Challenge 2026

Leading the charge are our coaches: over a dozen award-winning and bestselling authors, each writing alongside you and working to the very same deadline. You won’t be doing this alone.

You’ll have more company, too. Leigh Bardugo, Joe Abercrombie, Mary Kubica, and Andrea Mara are joining us this season to help get you all the way to “The End.”

Starting September 8, you’ll move through six stages of drafting, each anchored by a live study group session as you build your word count, tracked and paced by our partner tools.

Along the way, two landmark experiences await. First, a full-day writing retreat—clear your calendar for live sessions bookending the day, drop-in sprints, yoga for writers, and an evening with our founder, Louise Dean, a Booker Prize-listed author.

Then, Golden Day: a round-the-clock relay of hosted writing hours spanning every time zone, built for one purpose—getting words on the page before the finish line.

Ninety days. One finished draft. You in? Read on for how it all works, and how to join.

What is The Big Write Challenge?

It’s our proposition to you: can you write a first draft in three months? We think you can—and we’d love to help you prove it.

If you’re enrolled in The Big Write Course or The Finished Novel Course, you’re invited to join this special run of events alongside your regular lessons. With our editors and a community of fellow writers behind you, a finished draft by Christmas is closer than you think.

• Ready to write? → Join us on The Big Write Course
• Need the full journey? → Take The Finished Novel Course

I’ve already got a draft. Is this still for me?

Absolutely. Many of our writers use The Big Write Challenge to strengthen a first or early draft—whether you’re starting fresh or reworking something already on the page, this is your chance to shape it into something stronger.

How much time do I need to take part? 

We recommend the “One Hour a Day” method—one focused hour with your story, while the rest works itself out in the background, at the store, or in the shower.

And what happens if I fall behind?

There’s no real “behind” when it comes to writing a novel. Both courses come with a full year of access, and nearly every session is recorded to our catch-up library—so it’s all there whenever you need it.

What’s happening during The Big Write Challenge?

Across the season, expect:

• Guest events with multi-million-copy bestselling authors
• Writing masterclasses and craft conversations
• Sessions with editors, plus story clinics for your plot questions
• Flow sessions and community moments

When does it start, and how do I sign up?

By December 16, you won’t be thinking about writing a novel... you’ll have written one. Here’s how to join:

1. Sign up for The Big Write Course or The Finished Novel Course
2. Join the Challenge through your Membership Area
3. Write!

Live events for The Big Write Challenge 2026

September 8–December 16, 2026

The Novelry is hosting an immersive program of live events built to guide your draft—walking you through the craft of novel writing and the techniques that bring a story to life.

Special guests

We’re thrilled to welcome:

• Leigh Bardugo—New York Times #1 bestselling author (twenty million copies sold) of Shadow and Bone, Six of Crows, and Ninth House
• Joe Abercrombie—Locus Award winner and New York Times/Sunday Times bestselling author (six million copies sold) of The First Law and The Devils, optioned for film by James Cameron
• Mary Kubica—USA Today and New York Times bestselling author (five million copies sold) of Local Woman Missing, The Good Girl, and Just the Nicest Couple
• Andrea Mara—Sunday Times bestselling author (one million copies sold) of No One Saw a Thing and All Her Fault, now an acclaimed TV series starring Sarah Snook

Live writing classes

We’ll open The Big Write Challenge with a special Panel Event built to sharpen your story’s inciting incident and set you up for the weeks ahead.

From there, our coaching team leads six Group Study Sessions—one for each phase of The Big Write Course—carrying you through the entire process: integration, preparation, construction, the swim, the heat, enlightenment, and home.

Around these sit a wider program hosted by our award-winning coaches and editorial team, all professional editors with experience at major publishing houses. Expect Writing Masterclasses on crafting first pages, playing with perspective, and writing sharp, snappy sentences—plus lessons pulled from the greats, like Donna Tartt and Toni Morrison.

Our Craft Conversations tackle the practical questions of storytelling—breadcrumbing your plot, finding your ending—while Story Clinics let you bring your work-in-progress questions straight to our team. And our flagship favorites return: Let’s Play Writing, The Reading Workshop, and Flow Events, built to help you find the time—and the courage—to write.

Experiences

Two landmark experiences anchor the season: a full-day Writing Retreat to set your intentions and get the words flowing, complete with yoga for writers, a focused story clinic, and an evening session with our founder; and Golden Day, a relay of hosted writing hours spanning every time zone, dedicated to getting words on the page.

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The Big Write Course

The Big Write is the course underpinning your Challenge journey: 90+ lessons, paced one a day, guiding you step by step from first idea to finished draft. Each lesson is structured so you know what to write, and when—no more staring at a blank page wondering where to start.

Alongside those lessons, you’ll get six one-to-one coaching sessions with your own published, award-winning author coach. Enjoy real conversations to develop your story, troubleshoot problems, and keep you moving when the middle gets hard. You choose your coach, and every session is recorded so you can revisit it whenever you need to.

Between that steady structure and the personal coaching, you won’t be figuring this out alone, and you have a full year’s access to see it through.

On behalf of the entire team, good luck to everyone taking on The Big Write Challenge 2026. We hope you sink your teeth into this new challenge and uncover your debut novel.

The Novelry is the fiction writing school for serious writers. We offer expert guidance on creative writing, one-to-one support from bestselling authors and Big Five editors, and a vibrant community—taking writers from first idea to a finished, submission-ready novel. Connect with leading literary agencies, get to know The Novelry team, and let us help you get your first draft done this year.