This Author Insider AMA took a slightly different turn. We usually focus on nonfiction and the business of publishing, but many of our members (myself included) also write fiction. And as it turns out, much of what makes a great novel tick applies equally to nonfiction storytelling.
Our guest was Louise Dean, award-winning novelist and founder of The Novelry, the online writing school where bestselling authors and Big Five editors help writers turn ideas into submission-ready manuscripts. Louise has built a global reputation for demystifying the creative process and teaching writers to balance art with discipline.
Her guidance is practical, funny, and deeply humane. From the myth of the “platform” to the realities of money, she tells the truth about what it really takes to write—and finish—a book.
Here are nine pieces of writing advice you haven’t heard from Louise Dean.
(Editor’s note: some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and concision.)
1. Start with a One-Page Plan
“If I had a one-page brief at the beginning, I could have delivered a novel the market would want.”
Louise has every writer begin their book with what she calls a one-page plan. It’s the novelist’s equivalent of a publishing proposal: a single sheet that defines genre, audience, and the emotional payoff. She believes clarity on the story’s contract with the reader should come before page one. “You’re not writing for everyone,” she says. “You’re writing for one reader who desperately needs this story.”
2. Write It While You’re on Fire
“If you dawdle and let it hang around for ages, it can die in the mix.”
Momentum is everything. Louise’s 90-Day Novel approach isn’t about speed for its own sake—it’s about staying in the emotional heat of the story. The longer a draft drifts, the harder it is to recover that intensity. Writing quickly, she says, helps you outpace self-doubt and hold onto passion before perfectionism takes over.
3. Money Matters
“Let’s be real about money—it matters.”
Louise believes writers should talk openly about the economics of their art. Her global writing contest, “The Next Big Story” competition, offered a grand prize of $100,000. It was designed to reward authors meaningfully and to prove that creative success doesn’t have to mean financial precarity. “Writers deserve to be paid for the value they create,” she says.
Keep reading for Louise’s insights on overcoming doubt, learning from rejection, and why AI will never replace real writers.
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