books

Finish Your Draft in 8 Weeks

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Are you ready to stop thinking about your novel and finally get it written? You can accomplish this by May 2026 if you really want to.

At Fictionary, we know that the biggest hurdle for serious writers isn’t a lack of story ideas—it’s the lack of a clear writing roadmap and helpful support. That’s why we’ve designed our Write Your Novel Course specifically for writers who are ready to commit to finishing their draft novel in just 8 weeks.

Our regular course price is $69 /month (USD). We are so confident that you will love the Fictionary writing experience that we are offering your first month for free.

Get Your First Month Free

Course starts March 2

Monday, March 2 at Noon ET. Each class is one hour.

What you’ll achieve in 8 weeks:

You’ll transform from an aspiring writer into a confident author with a novel containing the must-have scenes and structure for commercially successful fiction.

This isn’t just a theory course. It is a high-intensity, hands-on program where you will:

  • Write the essential scenes: We guide you through the key story arc moments, lead-up scenes, and reaction scenes that every successful novel needs.
  • Excel at scene structure: You’ll explore your character’s goals and resistances to ensure every scene drives the plot forward.
  • Build a structurally sound draft: Our process is designed to help you write a first draft that is as strong as another writer’s 4th or 5th version.

Why this course is different:

  • 100% Live Instruction: Unlike most online courses, our classes are live and interactive. We don’t believe in pre-recorded videos; we believe in real-time guidance. Please note: To keep the energy focused and the commitment high, classes are not recorded.
  • Weekly Accountability: You’ll gain access to our “Monday Check In” space, where weekly accountability groups keep you moving toward your word count goals.
  • Expert Access: Get your specific questions answered with our “Ask an Editor” space, ensuring you never feel stuck or alone in the process.

Why now?

The Write Your Novel Course is normally $69 /month and takes two months to complete. By joining today, you get the first month of live instruction, community support, and editor access at no cost. We are 100% confident that once you experience Fictionary’s courses, you’ll never want to write any other way.

If you’re a serious writer ready to finally see your novel written, we’ll see you in class on March 2!

Write Your Novel

The Secret to Bestselling Fantasy: Why Your Story Needs Two Arcs

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

The Power of Two Arcs

Did you know that every commercially successful fantasy novel actually contains two complete story arcs?. Discover how to weave a high-stakes external adventure together with a gripping supernatural journey to create a narrative that satisfies every reader’s expectation.

Most fantasy writers start with a spark of magic—a unique dragon bond, a complex spell system, or a world-ending curse. But somewhere between that initial idea and the finish line, many manuscripts stall because they lack the foundation to support such a complex narrative. If you’ve ever felt like your plot is a “jumbled ball of words,” the solution isn’t adding more magic; it’s writing using deep structure.  

Before you get down to the level of copy editing or proofreading, make sure your story structure is strong. You can do this while you write your novel, or you can do this during the self-editing phase.

In Secrets to Writing a Fantasy, we reveal one of the most powerful patterns found in commercially successful novels: the dual-arc system.  

The Two Hearts of Your Story

A sensational fantasy novel is a perfect balance of two distinct but intertwined plot lines :  

  • The External Plot: This is the universal adventure narrative. It is the challenge issued to your protagonist that forces them to leave their ordinary world. Without this, you don’t have a story.  
  • The Supernatural Plot: This is the unique factor that satisfies genre expectations. It tracks the protagonist’s journey from their first inkling of magic to harnessing (or losing) it in the final battle. Without this, you don’t have a fantasy.  

Weaving The Story Arc Scenes

The key to a page-turner is how you weave these two arcs together. Every story needs five core “story arc scenes” to form its spine: the Inciting Incident, Plot Point 1, Middle Plot Point, Plot Point 2, and the Climax.  

In a fantasy novel, that means you are actually managing ten pivotal moments—five for the adventure and five for the magic. When you align these scenes, you create a story that is both balanced and believable. For example, the supernatural inciting incident often happens right after the external one, proving to the reader that your character isn’t just on an adventure—they are on a magical one.  

The Guiding Light: The Combined Skeleton Blurb

How do you keep track of all these moving parts without getting lost? It starts with a Combined Skeleton Blurb. This single sentence captures your protagonist, their dual goals, and the high-stakes consequences of failure.  

Formula: [The protagonist] must [external goal] and [supernatural goal]; otherwise, [external stakes] and [supernatural stakes].  

By defining this promise early, you ensure that every scene you write—from the first goal attempt to the final resolution—works hard to support your story’s core mission.  

Don’t leave your structure to chance. Stop guessing and start building a structurally sound novel, scene by sensational scene.  Read Secrets to Writing a Fantasy and write your best novel.

New Release: Secrets to Writing a Mystery

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

The latest book in the Write Novels that Sell series, Secrets to Writing A Mystery: The Whodunit Structure is now available. Are you a writer ready to move beyond the basics and dive into the deep structure that powers commercially successful mystery novels? Then this book is for you.

Unlock the secrets to writing a bestselling mystery novel. 

This book solves the puzzle of deep structure specific to mysteries and guides you through an actionable, flexible process to outline, write, and edit a mystery novel.

Through the process, you’ll

  • Learn to identify your mystery type (Cozy, Traditional, Detective)
  • Assemble your essential cast of characters (Sleuth, Victim, Suspects, and Culprit)
  • Anchor your story with the five mystery story arc scenes.
  • Develop your story with genre-specific patterns and scenes.
  • Learn how secondary plots and subplots can be woven into the mystery plot.
  • Deepen your story by giving victims fatal flaws and anchoring culprit motives in personal stakes.
  • Structure the story by choosing the right POV strategy to control tension and effectively drop clues and red herrings.  

Use this book as a reference, and from now on, you’ll write every mystery with confidence.

As with all the books in the Write Novels that Sell series, we give you the theory—the why behind our recommendations—and you use the actionable advice to understand the theory and apply it.

Are you a writer ready to move beyond the basics and dive into the deep structure that powers commercially successful mystery novels? Then this book is for you.

Praise for Secrets to Writing a Mystery:

While reading this book, I kept thinking, “I wish I had this book when I wrote my own mystery.” Secrets to Writing a Mystery brilliantly demystifies the genre. It’s an essential, insight-packed guide for mystery writers. Clear, actionable, and full of those “ah-ha” moments that change the way you write. —Iris Applewood, Author of Fragrance of Forgotten Truths

You can buy your copy here.

Textbook for the Fictionary School for Writers & Editors

Secrets to Writing a Mystery: The Whodunit Structure is a comprehensive reference that provides the deep structural theory and an actionable process for Fictionary’s Write a Mystery course.

It serves to solidify and expand on the concepts taught in the live course, allowing your to internalize the techniques and apply them to your own manuscripts.

Thinking of taking the course? Our Black Friday Sale is now on. The Write A Mystery course is included in the Write Your Series Program.

🔥 Black Friday Deal: Get 40% Off Your Membership 🔥

For a limited time, you can secure your membership for 40% off the regular price. This is the best deal we’ll offer all year. Offer ends December 1, 2025.

Use the coupon code BF2025

Black Friday Pricing: 

Write Your Series: $281 /quarter or $899 /year (Reg $468 /quarter or $1499 /year)

Note we also have our other programs (Write Your Novel and Become and Editor) on sale too.

Commit to Your Best Novel With Series Membership Programs

Write Your Series: Eight live 8-week courses to launch your series are delivered by our world-class instructors. This program takes 12 months to complete and includes 64 hours of live instruction. StoryTeller Premium software included.

Use the coupon code BF2025

Top 3 Secrets for Writing A Romance

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Ready to write your own bestselling romance novel? 

Join authors K. Stanley and L. O’Donnell for an exclusive event celebrating the release of their new book, Secrets to Writing a Romance. Linda and Kristina will reveal the top three secrets they discovered while researching the genre—secrets that will help you write a captivating story that readers won’t be able to put down.

RSVP to the Free Class in the Fictionary School for Writers. The first 100 people can attend live. A replay will be sent to everyone who RSVPs.

Tuesday, Sept 2. 4 to 5PM ET.

Book Description

Unlock the secrets to writing a bestselling romance novel. This book reveals the intricate structure specific to this genre, showing you the essential elements that make these stories captivating. 

Balance reader expectations with your distinctive voice to create an irresistible story that meets romance conventions.

Go beyond the “meet-cute” and learn about the scenes readers expect in commercially successful romance novels. Portray character growth and perfect your story’s pacing by writing scenes that build tension and demonstrate conflict. Drive your story forward by weaving in external and subplot story arcs.

We analyze six commercially successful romance novels with different subgenres and subplots. It’s exciting to see that each novel follows the story arc pattern but is still a unique story.  You’ll see the full breakdown of these books:

  • The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
  • Happy Place by Emily Henry
  • The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
  • The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
  • Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez
  • The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

As with all the books in the Write Novels that Sell series, we give you the theory—the why behind our recommendations—and you use the actionable advice to outline, write, and edit novels.

New Release: Secrets to Writing a Romance

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

The latest book in the Write Novels that Sell series is now available.

Unlock the secrets to writing a bestselling romance novel. This book reveals the specific structure of the genre and the essential elements that make these stories captivating.

Balance reader expectations with your distinctive voice to create an irresistible story that satisfies romance readers.

Go beyond the “meet-cute” and learn about the scenes readers expect in commercially successful romance novels. Portray character growth and perfect your story’s pacing by writing scenes that build tension and demonstrate conflict. Drive your story forward by weaving in external and subplot story arcs.

We analyze six commercially successful romance novels with different subgenres and subplots. It’s exciting to see that each novel follows the story arc pattern but is still a unique story.  You’ll see the full breakdown of these books:

  • The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
  • Happy Place by Emily Henry
  • The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
  • The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
  • Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
  • The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

As with all the books in the Write Novels that Sell series, you’ll learn the theory—the “why” behind our recommendations—and use the actionable advice to outline, write, and edit your novels.

Praise for Secrets to Writing a Romance

Secrets to Writing a Romance is a valuable tool with an arsenal of actionable advice for seasoned and novice romance writers alike. Stanley and O’Donnell leave no stone unturned when dissecting the genre so readers feel confident and in control at every step of the writing process. I’ll definitely have this guide on hand for many years to come. 

– Jenna Moreci, award-winning and Amazon bestselling author of The Savior’s Champion 

You can buy your copy here.

Also available by K. Stanley

New Release: Secrets to Writing a Fantasy

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

The latest book in the Write Novels that Sell series is now available.

Unlock the secrets to writing a bestselling fantasy novel. This book reveals the intricate structure specific to fantasy novels, showing you the essential elements that make these stories captivating and engaging.

The following books have entertained millions of readers, and we show you why. 

  • Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
  • Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
  • The Unbroken by C. L. Clark
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
  • Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
  • Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin

Discover the scenes readers expect in commercially successful fantasy novels. Create an external and supernatural story arc. Learn how the story arcs are woven together to drive a story forward.

You’ll be guided through an actionable, flexible process, so you can build the foundation of your fantasy novel and write your story as you read this book.

As with all the books in the Write Novels that Sell series, we give you the theory—the why behind our recommendations—and you use the actionable advice to write and edit your novels.

You can buy your copy here.

Also available by K. Stanley

Free Download of Maxwell Huxley’s Demon Extended

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to everyone who has already downloaded my brother’s novel. Due to an overwhelming response, Michael Conn is extending the free download  of Maxwell Huxley’s Demon by one day. The free download will be available on Sunday too.

It’s crazy how this is working, and we are very excited.

If you get a chance, please post a review of the novel on amazon.

Thanks for all the support 🙂