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How to Write a Novel
Writing Skills

How to Write a Novel

This study guide explains how a novel takes shape, from the first spark of an idea to a finished manuscript you can revise with confidence. You will read about planning a plot, building characters readers care about, keeping momentum through the long middle, and reworking drafts, all at your own pace and in your own time.

Levels
4
Starting from
285 credits
Category
Writing Skills
Choose a level

About this study guide

Writing a novel is a long project, and it helps to know what each stage asks of you. This guide walks through the full journey of long-form fiction: shaping a premise, choosing a point of view, outlining or discovering your plot, and giving each character a clear want and a reason to change. It also looks at pacing, scene construction and the quiet work of setting.

The material is arranged in four levels, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert, so you can start with the basics of story structure and move on to subplots, theme and voice when you feel ready. Later chapters cover finishing a first draft, reading your own pages critically and revising in layers rather than all at once.

You read each part on your own and try the ideas in your own manuscript, returning to earlier sections whenever a chapter stalls.
Each level is unlocked separately

Choose a level

Compare the levels below and add the one that suits you to your cart

01
Level 1

Beginner

285 credits

What this level includes

  • Covered in this level

    This level introduces the building blocks of novel writing: turning an idea into a one-line premise, the difference between first and third person point of view, a simple three-act outline, and giving your protagonist a clear want. It also explains what a scene is and how scenes link together.

  • Suited to

    If you have always wanted to write a novel but are unsure where a book actually begins, this level is a gentle starting point. It suits first-time fiction writers who want to understand the basic shape of a long story before committing months to a draft.

  • What you will be able to apply

    After working through this stage, you should feel ready to write a clear premise for your novel, sketch a basic outline from opening to ending, and draft your first few scenes with a consistent point of view and a protagonist whose goal is easy for readers to follow.

02
Level 2

Intermediate

485 credits

What this level includes

  • Covered in this level

    Here the material moves into pacing across chapters, building scenes around goal, conflict and outcome, and weaving in a first subplot. You will read about character arcs driven by a flaw, showing setting through action rather than description, and handling the sagging middle that stalls so many drafts.

  • Suited to

    Writers who already have a premise and a few chapters often stall in the long middle of the book. This level is for them: people who understand basic structure and now want practical ways to keep momentum, deepen characters and manage a growing manuscript.

  • What you will be able to apply

    By the end of this level you will be able to plan chapters that each move the story forward, keep a subplot connected to the main line, and push a draft through its middle section with scenes that carry real tension rather than simply filling pages.

03
Level 3

Advanced

785 credits

What this level includes

  • Covered in this level

    Topics include using theme to guide scene choices, balancing several subplots so they resolve together, controlling narrative distance within a point of view, and foreshadowing that pays off without being obvious. The material also explains reading your full manuscript critically and diagnosing structural problems before line editing.

  • Suited to

    This stage suits novelists who have finished at least one full draft, or come close, and now want greater precision. If your manuscript works in broad strokes but feels flat in places, the Advanced level focuses on the finer craft choices that lift it.

  • What you will be able to apply

    You should be able to read your own novel with a critical eye, identify where structure or theme is weakening it, and revise in deliberate layers, starting with the big story questions and working down to individual scenes and sentences.

04
Level 4

Expert

1,085 credits

What this level includes

  • Covered in this level

    This level brings everything together: developing a distinctive narrative voice, deciding when to break conventional structure, handling large casts and timelines, and revising a whole novel for rhythm and resonance. It closes with judging when a manuscript is finished and when further changes stop improving it.

  • Suited to

    The Expert level is written for committed novelists who want their books to sound unmistakably their own. It suits writers working on a second or third manuscript who are ready to weigh difficult trade-offs between structure, voice and reader expectation.

  • What you will be able to apply

    After this stage you will be able to make confident, reasoned choices about structure and voice across an entire novel, and you should feel ready to take a manuscript through its final revisions with a clear sense of the book you intend it to be.

Levels are unlocked with credits from your balance. You can add more credits at any time.