How to keep the momentum simmering

Hey, future author!

It’s been a beat since the 30-Day Free Author Challenge, and I don’t want your momentum to slip. You WILL write that book this year!

So I’ve created something to help.

How you’re feeling now

First, whether you finished all 30 days, half of them, or you’re still working your way through at your own pace: well done.

You’ve showed up for your book. That matters more than perfect completion ever will.

That challenge was intentionally intense. It was built as a year-opening ignition point and a way to make this the year you prepare for and write your book. I won’t be running another 30-day version like that again. It was a special one.

But since then, I’ve been thinking about everyone who still wants support, structure, and momentum…but who perhaps didn’t feel that the Academy was the right fit for now.

So I built something for you.

Introducing: Weekly Writing Fuel

Weekly Writing Fuel is designed to keep your creative fire burning without overwhelm.

It works like the challenge, but it’s weekly instead of daily.

Each week you’ll receive:

1. A focused video lesson on one essential aspect of book craft (dialogue, tension, structure, trials and tests, narrative distance, and more)

2. Practical exercises you can apply directly to your draft

3. Guided writing prompts for the week ahead

4. Craft reflections: the mindset and psychology of being a working writer

5. Three curated book recommendations tied to that week’s skill:
   – one classic
   – one modern masterwork
   – one current, in-the-zeitgeist title

6. Creative cross-training exercises to keep your imagination active (so the tap doesn’t run dry)

7. A comment space where you can ask questions and get some feedback from me

In other words: steady fuel, steady heat, steady forward motion.

Because what stops most books isn’t lack of talent; it’s loss of momentum.

Writers get excited, write hard for a few weeks, then the energy fades. Doubt creeps in. Life gets loud. The draft cools.

This is here to prevent that.

Low cost, high commitment

The price is intentionally small:

£7 per month (about the cost of one fancy coffee) for four lessons a month.

Or £70 for the full year (which gives you two months free).

I tried to price it even lower, but the platform wouldn’t allow it. And in truth, a small investment helps: When you put even a little money down, you’re more likely to show up and use what you receive. A bit of skin in the game changes behaviour.

This is your bridge year

If the full Academy wasn’t the right fit right now—timing, budget, bandwidth—Weekly Writing Fuel gives you a way to stay in motion.

You’re not dropped back to zero.
You’re not waiting months for another free challenge.
You’re not trying to do it alone.

You get weekly guidance, craft sharpening, and steps forward steps.

You step into the lifestyle and rhythm of an author.

If you want 2026 to be the year you actually finish your book—not just think about it—this is your support structure.

Click the button below to preview the first Weekly Writing Fuel issue and subscribe:

I’d love to keep showing up for you each week and to keep cheering you all the way to a finished draft.

Xx Shelly