The most common problem in writing is not a lack of information about how to write. There is more craft advice available — free — than any writer could read in a lifetime. The problem is finishing. A first draft requires sustained commitment over weeks or months, and most authors who start novels without structured accountability do not complete them.

Reedsy's How to Write a Novel course is designed specifically to address this gap. It is not the deepest craft instruction available — Brandon Sanderson's lectures go deeper on structure, Story Grid goes deeper on narrative analysis. What it offers is a structured path with daily momentum and live accountability that makes finishing more likely than working alone.

How the Course Works

Daily Video Lessons

The course delivers one daily video lesson from Tom Bromley — a professional author and ghostwriter who has written dozens of published books across genres. Bromley is an effective teacher: clear, specific, and grounded in the practical realities of writing and publishing rather than academic theory. Each lesson covers a specific craft element — opening hooks, scene construction, dialogue, pacing, revision approach — and includes writing exercises to implement immediately.

Weekly Live Masterclasses

Every Monday, students attend a live session with Bromley or a guest expert — working editors, bestselling authors, or publishing industry professionals. These sessions go deeper into craft topics, answer student questions, and connect participants to the broader writing and publishing world. Past masterclasses have featured authors and editors from major traditional houses alongside successful indie authors.

The Writing Community

One of the most consistently cited benefits of the course is its student community — a cohort of writers at the same stage of the process, working through the same challenges in the same timeframe. For authors who have struggled with isolation in their writing practice, this community dimension often makes the difference between finishing and abandoning.

Tom Bromley's Craft Approach

Bromley teaches novel writing as a combination of structure and discovery — honoring the tension between plotters (authors who outline thoroughly before drafting) and pantsers (authors who discover the story in the writing) rather than advocating dogmatically for either approach. His instruction is genre-flexible, covering the principles that apply across fiction categories rather than genre-specific formula.

📚 ARCHIVE ACCESS:  The course includes on-demand access to all past masterclasses — you are not limited to only the live sessions that occur during your enrollment period. This archive extends the value of the course well beyond the active enrollment window.

How It Compares to Free Alternatives

Reedsy offers free ten-day email courses on various craft topics as well — these are reviewed in the separate Reedsy Learning overview article in this series. The premium course is the significantly more immersive, supported, and community-driven version.

Brandon Sanderson's free 2025 lectures are the most comprehensive free alternative for fiction craft. The key difference is structure and accountability: Sanderson's lectures are a resource to watch; the Reedsy premium course is an experience to participate in. Both are valuable; which is right depends on whether you need instruction or instruction-plus-accountability.

• Best for: Authors who need community and live instruction to finish a draft

• Best for: Newer authors who want a supported first-novel experience

• Not ideal for: Authors who learn equally well from free resources alone

• Not ideal for: Authors seeking advanced craft instruction beyond foundational level

• Pairs well with: Story Grid or Brandon Sanderson's lectures for deeper structural understanding post-draft

Tracking Your Results with ScribeCount

📊  Every course teaches strategies. ScribeCount shows you whether those strategies are working — in real numbers, across every platform you publish on.

Reedsy's course helps you finish your novel. ScribeCount's AuthorFLOW tracks your progress toward that finished draft. Use AuthorFLOW to set daily word count goals aligned with the course's writing exercises, track your streak, and monitor project completion progress. Once the book is published, ScribeCount's Sales Dashboard shows you how the finished product performs — giving you data on whether the craft investment translated into reader engagement and commercial results.

Final Verdict

Reedsy's How to Write a Novel premium course occupies a specific and valuable niche: structured, accountable, community-supported novel completion. It is not the cheapest path to craft instruction — the free alternatives from Reedsy's own library, Brandon Sanderson's lectures, and Story Grid offer substantial depth at zero cost. But for authors who have started and abandoned drafts, who struggle with isolation and accountability, or who want the specific experience of live masterclasses and peer community, the premium course offers something the free alternatives cannot: the infrastructure for finishing.

✅  Bottom Line: The best premium course for first-novel completion — structured daily lessons, weekly live masterclasses, and a writing community that makes finishing more likely. Best for authors who need accountability alongside instruction.

About the Author

Hello, I'm Randall Wood. When I'm not pounding the keyboard or entertaining my giant dog, I like to build tools for my fellow indie authors. In these articles, you'll find lessons learned over sixteen years spent in the indie author world. I share it all here to help you get one step closer to where you want to be.

More at randallwoodauthor.com