From Harry Potter to Twilight, from Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games to Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, readers have grown up with YA fiction – and YA fiction, in turn, has grown up for its readers. With a genre that’s constantly evolving, how can you make sure your YA novel truly breaks new ground? How can you both use the tropes that young adult readers love, while also pushing boundaries? And how can you make sure agents and publishers see you as the next big thing? The Novelry’s newest editor Simran Sandhu is here to answer all of these questions and more. Simran knows ..read more

Meet our new writing coach, Heather Webb! Heather is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of ten historical novels, including her up-and-coming book, Queens of London, set to release in 2024. Over her writing career, Heather has gone from strength to strength. In 2015, her novel Rodin’s Lover was a Goodreads Top Pick, and in 2018, Last Christmas in Paris won the Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. Meet Me in Monaco was selected as a finalist for the 2020 Goldsboro RNA award in the UK, as well as the 2019 Digital Boo ..read more

As authors, short stories can often be our first forays into writing fiction. They can feel more manageable, helping us to master the dark arts of pace, characterisation and storytelling, all with a visible end in sight. And after years of scribbling away, exploring the themes that matter most to us, and characters we couldn’t get out of our heads, we might find ourselves with a folder full of great stories, wondering what to do with them next. Or perhaps we haven’t put pen to paper yet, but there’s a particular time, place or theme we’re desperate to explore, and think a collection ..read more

Historical fantasy can be an incredibly fun and liberating genre to write in, allowing us to throw the rule-book out on the laws of physics that restrain lesser mortals, create alternate histories for our characters to explore, and play with reader expectations. But with so many possibilities, it can sometimes be hard to know where to start with this whirlwind of a genre. Luckily, we have award-winning author and The Novelry writing coach Tasha Suri on hand to teach us her secrets. And she knows a thing or two about writing historical fantasy, with her latest novel, What Souls are Ma ..read more

At some point in all of our novels, our characters – be they protagonists, villains, or even the person holding up the queue in the coffee shop – are going to have to deal with some sort of adversity. Adversity is what propels our characters to change, as they stand in the face of their demons, or are given the wrong Starbucks order.  And how our characters react to that adversity can tell our readers a whole lot about who they are as people. In fact, it’s a great tool for showing (and not telling) your reader, what your characters are truly like. But how do you decide on their reaction ..read more

For as long as there have been writers, there has been writer’s block. That infuriating moment when you put pen to paper (or, more likely, fingers to keyboard!) and nothing comes out. It’s something all professional writers struggle with from time to time, as self-doubt and anxiety settle in, but the important thing to know is that it can be overcome. To help us tackle that fear of the blank page, we asked Emylia Hall, writing coach at The Novelry and author of six novels – including The Harbour Lights Mystery, which is published this week – to offer us some advice on how s ..read more

What is the definition of a Bildungsroman? And when does just any novel following a character’s journey tip into that specific sub-genre of the coming-of-age story? Lily Lindon, editor at The Novelry and author of two coming-of-age novels, Doubled Booked and My Own Worst Enemy, talks us through the much-loved genre. Lily looks at some classic Bildungsroman examples, and explores what we can take from these books to include in our own novels, whatever genre we’re writing in – from the importance of a compelling protagonist, to the power of investing your reader in your characters’ moral an ..read more

How to write a killer book pitch is one of those questions all of us writers have grappled with at one point or another in our writing journeys. We’re told it’s integral for our query letters, and that all the hard work we’ve put into our manuscripts will be for nothing if we can’t form a perfectly pithy elevator pitch to catch the eyes of those busy literary agents. But just how do you do all of that?! On this week’s blog, we’ve asked Darcy Nicholson, Publishing Director for Commercial Fiction at Bloomsbury General, to answer exactly that. She explains what a pitch is and why it’s import ..read more

Writing a novel is a solo pursuit, but that doesn’t mean it has to be lonely. In fact, our founder Louise started The Novelry precisely for that reason – she wanted company while writing, to write alongside a group of fellow writers and to glean feedback on her novel before she wrote it. We’ve now welcomed thousands of writers through our doors as they take the first steps on their storytelling journey, each receiving bespoke, personalised feedback on their novel from our team of writing coaches and publishing editors, and enjoying the support of our friendly writing community. You can re ..read more

What makes a compelling story? And how can we turn one small idea into an entire novel? It’s not only the kids who go back to school in September – if you’re starting to write a novel, we’ve got the perfect advice to help you get started. On our blog today, we’re joined by Melanie Conklin, writing coach at The Novelry and award-winning author of five middle-grade books for children, to talk us through her novel approach to storytelling and her five top tips for taking your book from idea to storyline: Start with a lie Put a life on the line Pile on the trouble Give everyone secrets Connect th ..read more