Get Started With the Idea for Your Story

The course begins with lessons to help you create the space and time for your writing, and prepare your mindset for creative thinking. To write a book you need to attach emotional significance to the story. Sounds obvious? A great story happens when you combine the universal with the personal and raise the stakes. A bestselling author knows how to tap into their own experience, and then up the tension for a gripping read. We’ll share with you the key features of a bestseller, where ideas (really) come from and what makes a book a classic.

1. Let’s begin

Discover the ingredients for a great story.

2. Your space, your time, your mind

Organize your life to find the space and time you need to write and discover the fast track to creative thinking in fiction. You will have the subject of your story and a broad idea of the first half and second half by the end of the lesson.

3. What makes a Classic?

The biggest bestselling books of all time, the Classics, generally very well-regarded and well-reviewed have been cross-over books, appealing to readers of many different backgrounds and ages. We’ll look at the three elements you need for a classic story and get you started.

4. Where do ideas come from?

The formula for a big idea and how to create high-concept fiction. Learn what single element of a plot drives a page-turning story.

5. Creative thinking

Dig into the richest sources of inspiration for an author according to a global bestselling writer and get started creating material.

Storytelling Structure

Move beyond the conventional three-act structure to discover the great story structure that lies beneath long-form storytelling and discover how big stories come from very small seeds. We’ll guide you where to find the source for your story. Clue? It’s behind you! You’ll combine your unique life experience with the best-loved forms of storytelling and begin to create the structure for your story.

6. The great story structure

Discover the five-part structure behind the Classics and use it as a tool to develop your plot.

7. The small story

How the best-loved stories of childhood can shape and inspire the long-form novel, why you have everything you need inside of you and where to find it.

8. Books based on myths and fairy tales

The sourdough starters for so many famous books.

9. A story as unique as you

Which parts of you and your life to bring to your story.

10. A working model

See the great story structure at work in a famous short tale.

11. The long shadow of the little story

Where your idea begins to gather flesh and finding your theme as an author.

12. Further reading

Inspiration from the latest bestsellers that follow the model. 

13. Making ideas happen

Taking your idea to the novel form with our Once Upon a Time tool.

14. Fairy story ideas for very adult novels

A bestselling author explains how fairy tale archetypes help her create psychological thrillers.

Starting to Plan a Story

We’ll give you the who, the why and the what in these lessons to help you find the hero, locate the narrative, and scope out the arc of the story. You’ll be looking for the hero’s problem, blindspot or flaw and we’ll be adding the antagonist for conflict. You’ll discover how every part of who you are can serve your story. No wonder so many writers describe the course as deeply therapeutic.

15. Why

Why we write. Using the flaws and failings of humankind, and your very own, to create memorable characters. If you’re writing adult fiction, one of your own flaws or failings can be given to your main character. If you’re writing for children, you will want to give the poor soul a ‘cosmic’ flaw, i.e. a cruel twist of fate.

16. Who

Stories start with who wants what. Someone special (fortunate or unfortunate) or a specialist (someone with unique talents, powers or expertise) wants something they should not have. If you are writing for adults, you can add dramatic irony to this by amending the statement above to; wants something they in particular should not have. 

17. What

What your main character wants (and what happens if they lose it) can drive the narrative of your story. When you know who or what’s truly important to your character, the next question for your story development is what should happen if they should lose it or them? Add a benevolent force to your story idea to guide you through to an ending.

Creating the Story World

We’ll explore the deeper archetypal elements of great stories that writers mine for page-turning books. You’ll browse a rich buffet of possibilities to feed your plot as you begin to compose and outline your novel. Writer’s block? A thing of the past with these ideas at your fingertips.

18. Wonder.

Our forgotten desires and the ingredients for creating wonderment in fiction.

19. The numinous

How the main character’s yearning expands the world of a story.

20. The feeling

Your hero in their leadership role and their ability to experience heightened states of emotion.

21. The recipe with two ingredients

The double act for the creation of ‘delightful horror’ in fiction.

22. Mysterium tremendum

Using techniques like foreboding to get ahead of the inciting incident to grow the size of the story.

23. Fascinans

Why bestselling fiction requires more than an improvement of fortunes.

24. The crucial transformation

Finding the genre of fiction you’re meant to write.

25. A cozy start

Immersive storytelling skills for high-stakes stories.

26. The Harry Potter spell

What made the all-time bestselling series a multi-million global phenomenon.

27. The portal

Using a powerful device that takes us from the known world to the story world in all genres of fiction.

28. The garden

How the setting of your story offers startlingly different possibilities for each individual character’s development.

29. The homely guide

The qualities readers require from the character guiding them through the story.

30. The surreal

Creating an original break-out fiction premise.

31. The familiar

Using aspects of your life to begin world-building your story.

32. The cast

Creating life-like originals as people not characters in fiction.

33. Temptation

The irresistible force that drives pain-free plotting.

34. The battle

How conflict between two opposing forces is the grand design behind your theme.

35. Deeper magic: time

Strategies for telling your story a different way, with additional pace.

36. Deeper magic: space

Covering the narrative terrain at speed for reader engagement.

37. Treasure

The secret quest of every work of fiction in which author, hero and reader share the spoils, and when and where to hide it in your story.

The Conflict that Drives Drama

The value system that drives storytelling has two poles represented by the hero and the villain. It’s our shared values that have ensured stories entertain and enlighten readers through time. Stories connect our lives. We live and breathe stories and so do your characters. A character’s past, and sense of their own purpose and story, should drive the development of the plot. Remember! Your reader craves character development over the timeline of your story and your hero’s moral growth. It takes a villain to drive that change, and to bring the required conflict to force their choices and create the light and shade of drama. Deliver proper justice via your narrative arc for a deeply satisfying reader experience.

38. The villain

In books for children, the villain is external. But in books for adults, the villain may be within or closer to home. Learn how the ‘charisma’ of the villain lends strong messaging to your story and how they deliver certain truths to the reader, albeit less palatable than those conveyed by the hero.

39. The hero

The hero resists. In a Classic, the hero is an ordinary person placed in testing circumstances or on an extraordinary adventure. Learn the six identifying signs of a hero and how to test and demonstrate their strengths.

40. Decency

Both reader and author have expectations of each other and the world of literature lives by a code of decency which is not the same as the legal system of our times, and it reaches back hundreds of years. Understand how to use the justice system of storytelling to give your readers a highly satisfying story.

A Story Readers Will Love

For a bold story beautifully told, you need to engage your readers in your hero’s plight. Seek to entertain rather than to educate. We’ll show you how the best-loved authors befriended their readers in prose along with storytelling techniques to help you earn the reader’s trust. Remember, a novelist has questions – you don’t need the answers. The relationship with your reader is one of mutual exploration. We’ll show you how to write with unaffected and appealing honesty.

41. Hello you, it’s me

Bring to mind the reader you are writing for to help you find a natural voice with which to tell your story.

42. Little god

The writing of your book in any genre is not a matter of life and death for one person; it’s more important than that. It’s about meaning, and what we live for. The stakes must be as high as you can make them and apply to others, not just the story’s hero. Like the author, the reader is called upon to use the power of their imagination with amazing results guaranteed. Learn how to bring your reader into your world.

43. The older reader

The older reader adds to the power of imagination another superpower – empathy. Learn to create empathy using the writer’s most important prose tool: observation.

Why and How We Write

Understand what moves a bestselling author to write their book and how the great stories originate from the ‘wounds’ of apparently successful writers, as a way to right the wrongs and create a better world. You’ll gain the confidence to bring your whole self to the page and create those major scenes that resonate with readers long after they were written.

44. The authors as individuals

It’s important for you to see the authors as real people, not works of fiction, so that you can understand that their works were not ‘given things’, born whole and glistening and intact. They were worked upon. Often over years and occasionally in collaboration. Walk in the footsteps of some literary giants.

45. Mother god or his master’s voice?

Consider the ins and outs of the treatment, or how you will tell your story by exploring third-person versus the first-person treatment.

46. Idealism

Idealism validates the creation of a secondary world in literature which has its own valuable location in the hearts and minds of readers. Discover why Tolkien and Lewis became second homes for readers. Find your ideal, find your mythology! This is going to become important whatever novel you’re writing as it will shape your theme, and theme is the touchstone for every decision you will make in a novel. 

47. The impact of the classics

A look at the publishing sensations of the all-time classic bestselling books, and the rewards your writing can bring you sooner rather than later.

48. My hero

Who was the greatest of them all? Find your author-hero as the lighthouse to guide your writing career. 

49. On the shoulders of giants

All writers borrow from each other. Have no shame. Find out who stole from whom and why. Become the author you want to be.

50. The source

Revealed! The secret source of most of the famous classic books of all time.

51. The remnants

The mistakes to avoid in the story planning when developing your idea to the novel form.

The Working Plan for Your Story

Here’s where it all comes together with a simple but dazzling plan for the story you can’t wait to write. You’ll have all the ingredients to start writing a book, including a few surprises. Plus you will be invited to book in a session with one of our author writing coaches to talk through your idea.

52. The Five Fs at work

Structuring your ideas with the classic story structure.

53. Ready for take off!

Checking you have all the essentials for your story in your plan.

54. Planning for success

Your story building checklist assessment tool.

55. Last words. Your course certificate

Get a recognition of your achievement.

Where motivation meets method. Get ready to write with ten short but sweet lessons.

• Discover the big hack that will change your creative life
• Get guidance on creating the time and mental space to write around a day job
• Learn the one characteristic great writers need and how to nurture it
• Harness your changing moods to boost your creativity
• Start with the essential single ingredient that makes a story a page-turner

An intense month to get the groundwork prepared for writing your novel.

• Learn how to write your novel in an hour a day
• Get the infallible one-word secret to creating drama
• Take it steady with step-by-step guidance to prepare a one-page plan that packs a big plot
• Understand how the difference between what your hero wants and what they need drives the narrative
• Meet your writing coach to check the plan for your story and use the constructive feedback and advice to embolden your outline

A big thumbs up from your writing coach who will sign off on a story you love. Say goodbye to writer’s block. A good story (almost) writes itself and we will ensure you have an exciting storyline in place to get off to a cracking start.

Two weeks to find the warmest writing waters for technique, where style meets substance. 

• Follow in the footsteps of famous writers of bestselling novels who wrote their books in less than 90 days
• Get expert craft skills and insider techniques to quickly improve your writing style
• Find your ‘voice’ and discover what makes your writing special
• Learn how to pace a story using elements like perspective and setting to drive the plot
• Build your confidence as your word count passes the 10,000-word mark

Now you are using your new craft skills to boost your confidence and assume absolute control of your storyline.

A fierce and fabulous phase to power you through the middle of your novel.

• Banish bad habits like backstory and overwriting
• Keep your eye on what the reader wants to stay on track with your plot
• Discover some game-changing writing power tools
• Raise the stakes in your plot to head towards the midpoint, going from the old world of your main character’s problems into a new world of opportunity
• Learn how to use the best and worst parts of yourself as a source of creative material

Here’s where you fall in love with your story.

Game-changing daily insights to elevate your writing – from the work of a Nobel Laureate to enable you to make a great leap forward.

• Get the inside story on one of the greatest award-winning novels of all time to craft your novel and look under the hood to see how it works
• Nail your title and make a chaptered outline to reach The End
• Allow your fully-developed three-dimensional characters to drive the story in unexpected directions
• Apply some new master strokes to fulfil the promise of your story
• Discover the deft and economical touches that give the reader those ‘a-ha’ moments

You’ll see the proof on the page that you’re mastering the craft skills.

Here’s where it all comes together with the last 15 lessons combining the key elements of storytelling: theme, character, dramatic irony, narrative arc, and sub-plots working in harmony for a satisfying ending.

• Bring the things you love to the novel to give it an authentic and personal beauty
• Reward yourself with the knowledge that you now possess your own unique secret storytelling code; your brand as an author
• Write the perfect ending for this story delivering what your main character needs, rather than what they want
• Get advice for the next steps to take this draft to publishing standards
• Celebrate! Your writer coach and community will be cheering when you write The End. You will have a certificate of completion, a manuscript in your hands and a story readers will love.

Our step-by-step process for editing a book begins with raising your standards to those required for submission to traditional publishing houses before you begin work so that you can take pride in your own work as you begin self-editing. An author never sends out any work that falls short of their standards. Your standards are ‘your brand’. Prepare for the publishing process by learning how to format your document the way a professional editor at a publishing company or a literary agent would wish to receive it.

A professional edit begins with taking the first step towards a great hook or elevator pitch, looking at the theme of the entire story and how to best serve the story with the structure. You’ll consider the narrative arc, character development, the midpoint and more, working towards a chaptered outline and a (pain-free) synopsis.

Then it’s time to book your first session with our developmental editors. In your recorded session we’ll review the pitch, the main character, secondary characters and the storyline, looking at each plot point in turn, and filling any plot holes so that you can edit your own book with fresh eyes and new enthusiasm.

Our editing checklist will guide how to use the developmental edit to fill the plot holes, reviewing character development, all the way through to line editing, your line by line style. You’ll become your own copy editor, reworking your chapters and drilling down into sentence structure and word choice. You’ll use active voice over passive voice, eliminating crutch words and overwriting, and creating enough tension and momentum to keep your reader engrossed for hundreds of pages. You’ll learn how to apply our unique technique for advanced prose skills and language usage: Lucid Compression®. In the final stages you’ll be shown how to eliminate grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and punctuation errors. All of these small things contribute towards the reading experience. The finer points of punctuation and grammatical rules are more important than you may think. 

Then, it’s time to get feedback on your own writing from beta readers at our online community. With hundreds of serious writer members worldwide, you’ll find the perfect beta reader at The Novelry. 

With the substantive editing complete and line-editing complete, our professional editors will guide you on how to prepare for submission to literary agents, and a career as a published author.

Then it’s time for your second session with a professional book editor to review your pitch letter, synopsis and first three chapters, and make a plan for you to enter the publishing process with world-class literary agency representation.

It is important to tighten the premise of your story into a single sentence, often called the pitch or the hook. This is one of the most important tools when it comes to securing an agent, and so we always begin here. We will you give you top tips to improve your pitch so that it’s compelling and designed to exciting literary agents. We also look at your ambition, and at how your work meets the requirements of your genre, offering ideas on how your novel or memoir might be positioned and its potential within the current market.

You will receive a thorough written report that evaluates every aspect of your manuscript, from the writing and the structure to the setting and the characters. We look at both the big picture (such as plot beats, character arcs and central questions) as well as the small picture (such as sub-plots and pacing), offering advice and practical steps so that you can continue to improve your manuscript.

We’ll look at the big picture of your book and examine it as an editor would in a publishing house.

We include a marked-up manuscript that focuses on the detail, considering what each line, paragraph and scene add to your story, your characters and your overall plot. We highlight the best sentences and flag areas for improvement, so that you can make sure your story really shines.

You will be invited to book a 45-minute debrief with your editor to discuss their feedback on your story. This is an opportunity for you to ask further questions and to consider your best path to publishing. This video is recorded for you to keep and will be included as part of your report.

You will receive a comprehensive action plan with guidance on how to implement our feedback. You will also become a member of The Novelry, enabling you to book any further paid feedback sessions with our editors. Membership gives you access to over 40 writing classes a month including guest events with authors, literary agents and publishing professionals, plus over 100 recorded masterclasses and our writing community. You will be eligible for our bespoke submission service – in which we submit your novel or memoir to our trusted literary agencies – and we will work with you from here on towards literary agency representation and publishing.

Your year is structured in 3 stages to create, write and edit your book, allowing you the chance to work step-by-step through each phase and take any breaks you need between them. You will begin with The Classic Course to come up with the idea for your novel and plan your story, then you will write your first draft with The Ninety Day Novel Course. Finally, you will be guided how to raise your book to publishing standards with The Big Edit, before you submit your work for The Ultimate Manuscript Assessment.

This is a self-paced program, with over 200 lessons served on our beautiful online platform by video and text. Enjoy the lessons on any internet-connected device. Watch the video, read the text and use the ‘speak aloud’ feature to listen. You’ll need 30 minutes for each lesson and probably some thinking time to capture your thoughts and ideas as you start writing. This might be a good opportunity to start setting aside an hour a day just for you and your writing, and you’ll come to love this special time. 

We suggest you allow 1–2 months for The Classic Course, 3 months for The Ninety Day Novel Course, and the remainder of your year, 6 months or more, for The Big Edit. But as the course is self-paced, you can take each phase at your own pace, according to your lifestyle, holidays, vacations, and commitments.

You can book your coaching sessions at any time during your year on the program.

This is a flexible writing course you can take at your own pace around your other commitments. We suggest you consider taking 1–2 months over the first phase, The Classic Course, then setting aside 3 months in which you’ll be writing for an hour a day for the second phase, The Ninety Day Novel Course. The remainder of the year will be spent raising your novel to publishing standard with The Big Edit process in which you’ll want to work in longer chunks of time, when convenient to you. 

The time it takes to complete a novel depends on the time you can set aside, but with an hour a day we know it’s possible to comfortably finish your novel in a year.

However, we fully understand that sometimes, life can get in the way so if you need more time, you can extend your course and roll over your coaching calls with our affordable extension plans. We make it easy and affordable to extend your access to the plan thereafter on an annual or monthly basis for just $55 / £45 pm.

Or you can extend just your membership for as little as $29.99 / £19.99 a month.

Relax and enjoy the courses at your own pace, knowing you can get on with the writing without the worry of losing access to the course. You have as much time as you need.

You can sign up for the two year-program using these links:

USD $ The Finished Novel Course Two Year Program (with feedback and 12 coaching sessions)

GBP £ The Finished Novel Course Two Year Program (with feedback and 12 coaching sessions.)

You can sign up for The Finished Novel Course which includes 3 x Feedback Sessions with our editorial team using these links:

USD $ The Finished Novel Course (with feedback)

GBP £ The Finished Novel Course (with feedback)

Once you join us for the course, you can simply purchase Paid Feedback Sessions for £299 or $359 for a 5000-word submission to our editorial team.

The feedback sessions offer forensic and detailed feedback on your writing in a report and live Zoom session with one of our editors. 

Our courses are suitable for people with visual or auditory impairment, dyslexia and for those with English as a second language. We offer an app which translates the course into 99 languages and offers a speak-aloud option too. Learn more here.

Yes, we are all for Happy Writing. You can review our terms and conditions here. If for any reason at all the course is not for you, you can get a full no-questions-asked refund within the first 7 days after purchase. Just email us and let us know.