1. Why you should write your book
Storytelling is as close as we get to creating magic. A book connects one stranger to another in an intimate relationship in which we walk in other shoes, travel places we have never been and experience a full range of emotions as we turn the pages to find out what happens next.
Writing a book is easier than you think. If you love reading, you can learn to write a book. We know this to be true because at The Novelry, we are all published authors who have done it.
Writing a book brings magic to your life daily. Think of your writing session as an everyday vacation. In less than an hour a day, you will be spending precious time with your self, writing what you need, and leaving something behind you for posterity too.
2. How do you begin?
Ever wondered how authors come up with their ideas? Here’s a quick tip for how to come up with yours. Take five books you love (or movies) and write down the back-of-jacket copy or the movie story descriptions. What do they have in common? Is it a type of story? A kind of main character? The events? The place?
Authors take something familiar and beloved and give it their own unique twist.
Now mix and match your favorites to find a combined storyline. Then, add a main character who is based on someone you know whom you admire or respect. Maybe a grandparent. Locate the story in a place you’d like to go. You might create a new location or world entirely. It’s your book. Write what you need.
3. Storytelling: things change
A story is all about change. No change, no story. Stories begin with a person or a character with a problem about to go through momentous change.
So, once you have your main character, your story begins when their everyday life takes a new turn. Maybe they leave town, or someone new comes to town. Something changes, and it sets in motion more change.
At the end of the story your main character will be different. That’s called a character arc. But you know how people are! They won’t change unless they have to. So your plot is all the terrible – and good – things that need to happen to push them to change. You won’t give them what they want, you’ll give them what they need.
4. Becoming a writer
To write your story, you’re going to need to do two things: first, to read books and second, show up to write. Ideally, daily, just for an hour. No more, no less.
Writing a book does not require education or privilege. It’s not about the words. Nobody ever stayed glued to a book for the complexity of its vocabulary. The story doesn’t happen to you; you happen to the story. You don’t need to be wise or have all the answers. Stories are about questions. One question after another. What happens next? Why did she do that? What will he do to escape? You won’t see all the way to The End today, but tomorrow you’ll see what happens next. When you write, you write to tell yourself the story. Writing is about storytelling, and readers and publishers want stories. And here’s a secret – storytelling can be learned. Hey, guess what? You might just be very good at it. Why not find out?
5. Living the life
Writing is not a god-given gift or innate talent. It’s not something you are born with or can or can’t do. It’s something you practice, just like anything. Writers learn from other writers. Just like with any craft or trade, they most always take apprenticeships or courses and work with published writers.
At The Novelry, you’ll get expert lessons from an award-winning Booker-listed author to build your confidence and all the ingredients you need to cook up your own story with personal coaching from bestselling authors to stay on track every step of the way. You’ll enjoy live classes and make new friends with the lively worldwide community of writers.
Our unique approach to writing a book
The hard work behind every big book happens at the idea stage.
A strong idea (almost!) writes itself. Publishers routinely pass on ‘good’ books in favour of standout stories – books that are packing a great hook. 100% of your publishing success comes from 0.001% of your words: the one-line pitch, the idea.
There’s never a good time to write a book. You make time. An hour a day for a few months is how many well-known authors got writing.
We are seeking beginner writers on behalf of our literary agency partners. So, this might be the very best time to get writing.
At The Novelry, we put the story first. Your storyline will be signed off by your writing coach before you start writing meaning you can write with confidence.
Then, simply dip into the online lessons to guide you step-by-step to help you come up with your idea, build and plan your story, and write it in small manageable chunks in each hour-long writing session. (We do the heavy lifting so that you can experience pain-free plotting!)
Lean on the one-to-one coaching sessions for advice specific to you and your story. The group classes and workshops are great fun where you will find you can be yourself, only more so.
You’ll be surprised by a very warm welcome.
6 Lessons Free
Come up with the idea for your story.
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