ALPHA & ARC CALL

Welcome to the sign-up post for the upcoming release, Cursebreaker's Guide to Novel Writing: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Curse of Writing a Novel to by Valerie Willis. This is a Writer's Bane textbook that aims to be a all encompassing guide to all areas of being an author. 

If you have already filled out this form, you will receive further information on where to connect, links to deliverables, and more. Haven't heard from me? Reach out via email to Valerie@willisauthor.com 

Please understand, this book is still under construction at this time and is looking for ALPHA READERS to test the materials within and provide feedback when and where able. This is a toolbox-style guide book, so readers will not be expected to read this from front-to-back. Instead, feedback on the targeted area where you need help or how easy the book is to navigate to a place you were aiming for. 

Cursebreaker's Guide to Novel Writing

Release Date: To be determined

Document Pages: 282

Word Count: 105k+ 

NOTE: Your information will NOT be shared with any other authors or site, nor sold in any means. This is strictly for the ARC listed above and deleted once it's served its purpose and shortly after book launch.

BLURB:

We all have the curse of a story that yearns to be written.

The question is: where do you start, how do you keep going, and how do you survive the chaos long enough to finish the book?

Cursebreaker’s Guide to Novel Writing is a practical, writer-to-writer guide for anyone ready to turn an idea, scene, character, or half-haunted story concept into a stronger manuscript. Part encouragement, part craft guide, and part survival kit, this volume in the Writer’s Bane Series helps you navigate the messy, magical, frustrating, and deeply rewarding process of writing a novel.

Writing is more than putting words on a page. It means learning how stories work, how characters grow, how worlds shape conflict, how plots move, and how reader expectations can guide or challenge your creative choices. Whether you write for fun, hope to publish one day, or are preparing to take your storytelling from hobby to commercial fiction, this book offers tools, insight, and hard-earned advice from author and book designer Valerie Willis.

This is not a grammar or composition textbook. Instead, it focuses on the craft of storytelling, manuscript awareness, author mindset, and the practical decisions that help transform a rough idea into a workable draft.

Inside, you’ll explore:

• How to start when your story feels overwhelming

• Anatomy of a manuscript and why formatting matters early

• Accountability, writing goals, and word count expectations

• Different types of writers and how process impacts productivity

• Developing your writing style, point of view, tense, and pacing

• Worldbuilding without drowning in your own lore

• Character roles, development, growth, and archetypes

• Plot types, story structure, genre expectations, and story beats

• Tropes, heat levels, reader expectations, and market awareness

• Foreshadowing, dialogue, revisions, and common storytelling pitfalls

• First drafts, editing, polishing, and choosing the right editor

• Practical publishing-path awareness for new and growing authors

The Writer’s Bane may be a curse, but you do not have to face it empty-handed. 

Pick up your tools, break the curse, and start building the novel only you can write.

Where do I sign up?

Simply fill out the Google Form and we'll go from there: https://forms.gle/tKmaTdsGsAK1USqm9

Click Here to Start Signing Up for my ALPHA or ARC TEAM!