Build your writing process

WITH STORY PLANNING TOOLS AND SUPPORT

Writing is hard but your writing process doesn’t have to be. Learn how The Process and Lifetime membership help with flexible writing tools and helpful support.

TOUR YOUR STORY DASHBOARD

SEE YOUR STORY PLAN COME TOGETHER

Save your ideas to a structured, paginated PDF with links back to edit your outline as your ideas grow.

THE DASHBOARD

Find story planning tools to brainstorm book outlines and connect ideas.
Now Novel story planning dashboard tour - Overview

CENTRAL IDEA

Answer structured prompts to find story ideas and expand them.
Now Novel story planning dashboard tour - Central Idea brainstorming tools

CHARACTERS

Create character profiles to flesh out your story’s cast.
Now Novel story planning dashboard tour - character summaries overview

CORE PLOT

Find riveting rising and falling story events to plot scenes around.
Now Novel story planning dashboard tour - core plot tool explained

CORE SETTING

Decide on core elements of time and place in your story.
Now Novel story planning dashboard tour - core setting tool

SUMMARY

Combine story ideas you’ve developed into a broader, better plan.
Now Novel story planning dashboard tour - summary with example outline PDF

SCENE BUILDER

Organize story units in a corkboard with your outline in a handy sidebar.
Now Novel story planning dashboard tour - Scene Builder corkboard storyboarding tool

WORLD BUILDER

Plan and nest story locations in hierarchies to solidify what will happen where.
Now Novel story planning dashboard tour - World Builder overview page

WHY CHOOSE NOW NOVEL?

Get feedback from authors and editors and use helpful story planning tools

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Helpful

Guided writing prompts help you plan and structure your story ideas

Now Novel icon - roadmap representing organized writing process

Organized

View your planning progress in sidebars as you draft

Now Novel icon - checklist representing step-by-step story planning process

Connected

Connect and learn craft in live writing webinars and crit groups

Now Novel icon - thumbs up representing helpful writing community and coaches

Motivating

Get pro critique, exclusive news, and help when you need perspective


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What Now Novel members love:

Now Novel's writing dashboard is an amazing, easy-to-use tool!

Allorianna

My favorite thing they offer is the Webinars. They are filled with invaluable insight and information.

Travis

I have had three novels (the SimCavalier scifi series) and four short stories published [...] A great springboard for success.

Kate
Read more reviews on: Trustspot reviews platform logo

NOW NOVEL PRICING:

CHOOSE THE PROCESS THAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU

Get just the tools and an archive of craft tutorials, or all the above plus professional feedback for a low monthly fee.

Lifetime

Get full access to story planning tools, groups and webinars.

* Never expires, subscription-free
The Process

Get full access to story planning tools, groups and webinars, plus weekly professional feedback on your writing.

* Auto renews, cancel anytime
Free

Brainstorm your story idea and create your main character's profile and share your work for community feedback.

* No credit card required

How do Now Novel membership tiers differ?

Free membership

Planning tools:

  • Full access to the central idea wizard to help you brainstorm your story's concept
  • Create one character profile in the characters section of the dashboard
  • One story idea stored securely in the cloud
  • Use on any device - computer, tablet, or phone

Community:

  • Trade critiques and share writing tips and challenges with the Now Novel community
Lifetime membership

Everything from the free tier, plus:

Planning tools:

  • Full access to The Dashboard, a step-by-step writing process to create your story's outline - including the Scene Builder and World Builder tools
  • Unlimited number of stories stored securely in the cloud

Ongoing learning:

  • Exclusive writing webinars with editors, agents and published authors
  • Monthly subscriber newsletter with writing advice, resources, and community news

Community:

  • Submit longer critiques of 1,200 - 3,000 words
  • Share up to four critique submissions in the queue at one time
  • Access to a beta readers group (new!)
The Process membership

Everything from the Lifetime tier, plus:

Ongoing feedback:

  • Weekly feedback from an editor on writing submitted to the critique queue - 1200 words of editorial feedback weekly: that's 62,400 words a year!
  • Regular ‘First page panels’ to get live feedback on your writing

WHAT'S INCLUDED:

WITH YOUR LIFETIME OR THE PROCESS MEMBERSHIP?

Learn and improve with more than story planning tools.

Structured writing tools to plan books and stories

The Now Novel story dashboard includes:

  • Question and answer prompts to brainstorm ideas, develop characters, core plots and settings.
  • Drag-and-drop Scene Builder to create cards summarizing scene events to group into chapters and filter an overview using tags of your choosing.
  • A detailed World Builder to plan and nest locations (such as cities within countries or scene locations within cities) to solidify key places where your story will unfold.
  • Structured story outline PDF that generates as your ideas grow, with links back to edit each element of your story plan.
Tablets show Now Novel writing website working and writer working longhand in background
 

Writing Pad and Critiques for constructive feedback

Flesh out ideas and get writing feedback:

  • Writing Pad to draft scenes and summaries and share these for community feedback.
  • Longer critique submissions and more simultaneous submissions in the critique queue.
  • The Process only: Get weekly professional feedback from an editor on your submissions in the critique queue.
Now Novel Writing Pad overview page next to example of writing critiques by an editor
 

Member-exclusive: Extra writing resources to improve your craft

The Process and Lifetime membership both include:

  • Regular live webinars with published authors and editors to ask your most pressing questions.
  • A library of past writing craft webinars full of helpful tutorials and interviews with writers, editors and agents.
  • Premium subscriber newsletter with exclusive news, resources, webinar summaries and insights.
Now Novel fiction writing webinar archive page overview showing webinar speaker and past session information

Find support for every stage of the writing process:

Plan Phase - icon
Plan Stage Outline & Prepare
Free
Lifetime Plan
The Process
Start for free with your central idea & a character profile.

Register

Pay once for unlimited story planning tools and webinars.

Find out more

Get story planning tools, live webinars plus regular writing feedback.

Find out more

Develop Phase - icon
Develop Stage Get Expert Help
Kickstart Course
Group Coaching
Private Coaching
Write your first three chapters with feedback over six weeks.

Find out more

Writing sprints, Q&As and feedback over six months.

Find out more

One-on-one coaching with published authors and editors.

Find out more

Launch Phase - icon
Launch Stage Finish and Polish
Refinement Tools
Editing
Publishing Course
Publishing Services
Professional writing help from evaluations to proofreading.

Find out more

Self-publishing and trad publishing help over 5 months.

Find out more

Cover design, Kindle Direct Publishing, and more.

Find out more


Now Novel icon - people representing Now Novel reviews

WHAT MEMBERS LOVE ABOUT THE NOW NOVEL COMMUNITY:

Jordan's support and critiques have also played a huge part in motivating me to carry on. The live webinars are not only informative but they made me feel part of something... because there are participants from all over the world.

Christine

The five stars are for the comprehensive range of topics and materials but also particularly for the commitment and involvement of the Now Novel team. A great feature of the site is the community of aspiring writers.

Mark
Read more reviews on: Trustspot Logo

Frequently asked questions


FAQ speech bubbles
How much does Now Novel cost

» Click here to see pricing for The Process and Lifetime membership that includes all the benefits and features covered on this page. For more on our fiction editing services and author coaching and writing courses, please see their dedicated pages.

Does The Process include any coaching

» There are light group coaching elements (interactive webinar Q&A segments, first page panels). You can work privately with Now Novel's writing coaches in a coaching plan that includes the above membership benefits, or join the Group Coaching program.

Does The Process include editing and private writing feedback

» As a premium Now Novel member you get writing feedback once per week from an editor in our online writing groups, which is private to our free-to-join community. If you would like longer inline private feedback, you can choose between editing services charged per word (including manuscript assessments, developmental editing, copy-editing and proofreading) and monthly or annual private story coaching.

Is Now Novel legit

» We like to think so - we’ve been running since 2012. If you’d like to know what our members say, read non-moderated, paid members’ and customers’ reviews on TrustSpot.

Why do I have to pay for Now Novel

» For $30 per month or $49 for lifetime Now Novel membership (that never expires) you get a lot of value, from regular writing feedback (for The Process members) to hour-long tutorials with published authors and editors and story outlining tools that Now Novel has invested (and continues to invest) time and money to create and maintain.

If you would like free resources, read more on our blog and please join our free-to-participate, diverse critique community.

Is there a Now Novel app

» We do not have a standalone app (and are not affiliated with NovelNow which we predate). You can use Now Novel on a tablet or mobile device (though we recommend desktop use for the best experience and enhanced features such as drag-and-drop scene organizing in the Scene Builder).

What if I don’t like the features/services

» All memberships are protected by our 30-day money back guarantee (to which our fair use terms apply). You can self-cancel a subscription plan from your profile when signed into Now Novel, and lifetime membership never expires (but is non-refundable after your thirty-day guarantee period).

What if my ideas are stolen

» In ten years of service, we have never once received a report from a member that another member has stolen their creative work. In sharing your work anywhere (including in-person writing groups) you run a risk of others copying your ideas, but authors do copy and recycle ideas and end up giving them their own unique stamp. Rags to riches, voyage and return - the same story archetypes have many versions.

You control what other members can read by what you choose to share for critique, and you can unpublish a shared critique submission at any time or share a submission to a specific group on the website only. You also retain all copyright of writing shared on Now Novel. If you have concerns over copyright, consult with your national copyright authority's resources on how best to safeguard your intellectual property. Read our full TOS here.

An online novel writing course that's tailor-made to get you to actually write that book you've been thinking about.

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GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WRITING PROCESS AND STORY OUTLINING TOOLS FROM OUR BLOG:

How can you outline a novel (or plot a series) and write it ‘til done? Online writing tools provide a structured way to stick to your writing goals and make real progress. Now Novel is often voted one of the best novel writing websites and is here to help you develop your writing process and keep your motivation to write, every step of the way. Use our story planner tools to find and finesse ideas, and get constructive feedback from a writing community that cares.

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