Practical craft guides for writing a book
Plot structure, characters, world-building, genre craft and revision, explained by people who build tools for novelists. Read the craft here, then write it in Bookh, the AI writing co-pilot that takes you from a one-line spark to finished chapters.
- Inciting incident~10%
- Midpoint~50%
- Dark moment~75%
- Climax~90%
Browse the guides by craft
Five shelves, each focused on one part of the craft. Every guide is specific enough to use in tonight’s writing session, with examples, comparison tables and checklists.
Plot & structure
Give your story a spine readers can feel, without turning it into a formula.
- Three-act structure, Save the Cat, the hero’s journey
- Scene and sequel, pacing, outlining vs pantsing
Characters
People who want things, change for reasons and sound like themselves.
- Character arcs, want versus need, motivation
- Antagonists, dialogue, point of view
World-building
Worlds that feel consistent, specific and lived in, from the map to the kitchen table.
- Magic systems, settings, cultures
- History, politics and the iceberg rule
Genre writing
The promises each genre makes to readers, and how to keep them.
- Fantasy, romance, thriller and mystery
- Science fiction, horror, young adult
Revision & editing
Turn a messy draft into a book: structure first, then scenes, then sentences.
- Structural passes, scene fixes
- Line editing and self-editing checklists
Ready to write?
Turn what you have read into a premise, a synopsis and a chapter-by-chapter outline in Bookh. Free to start, no credit card.
Start your book free →Latest guides
New craft guides every week, from story structure to the last line edit.
Revision & Self-Editing
Show Don’t Tell: A Self-Editing Guide With Examples
Show don't tell is less a rule than a revision lens: it asks which moments readers should experience and which they only need to…
Characters
How to Write Dialogue: Voice, Subtext, Tags and Format
Good dialogue compresses character, conflict and information into lines readers hear in their heads. This guide covers distinct voices, subtext, tags and beats, Chicago-style…
Fantasy
How to Write Fantasy: A Complete Craft Guide for Writers
Fantasy readers trust a book when its world holds together, its wonder is earned and its magic costs something. This guide covers the genre…
Story Structure & Plotting
Three Act Structure: A Practical Guide With Examples
The three act structure is the most widely used map in fiction and screenwriting, and it works best as a diagnostic tool rather than…
Genre writing
How to Write a Fantasy Magic System With Rules Readers Believe
How to design a fantasy magic system readers believe: hard versus soft magic, Sanderson's laws, a six-step design method, costs that work on the…
Characters
How to Write a Character Arc That Lands (With Examples)
A practical guide to writing a character arc: positive, flat and negative arcs compared, a five-step method built on the lie your character believes,…
Write it in Bookh
The guides teach the craft. Bookh helps you apply it: an AI writing co-pilot for novels, memoir and screenplays that plans with you, remembers your world and drafts in your voice. You stay the author.
The caravan left Oren at dusk, as caravans always did, so the heat could not follow them out of the city.
Mara rode at the back, where the dust was thickest and nobody asked questions.
By the third night the wells were dry. She counted the waterskins twice and said nothing.Tab
Salt-trader’s daughter. Afraid of open water. Owes the caravan master a debt.
Start with a one-line idea. Bookh suggests premises, writes a back-cover synopsis and builds a chapter outline with scene beats, sized for a short story, novella, novel or series.
The Lore Vault keeps your characters, places, items and events, seeds your cast from setup and spots new lore as you write. Map relationships on the graph and beats on the Plot-Beat Canvas.
Voice & Style analyses your manuscript so suggestions match your tone. Finish Chapter continues in your voice, tense and point of view, and the Mentor chat knows your book.
How it works
From a spark to a draft in three steps. The craft guides above cover each one in depth.
- Step 01
Spark
Pick a genre, themes and length, add your cast if you know it, and write one line. Or let Bookh suggest premises to choose from.
- Step 02
Outline
Review a back-cover synopsis, then a chapter outline with scene beats built on a dramatic arc. Reorder, rename or regenerate any chapter.
- Step 03
Draft
Write in a calm manuscript editor with inline suggestions, the Story tools and the Mentor beside you. Export when you are ready for readers.
Questions writers ask
About these guides and about Bookh.
Who are the Bookh Writing Guides for?
Anyone writing long-form stories: novelists, memoirists, screenwriters and short-story writers. The guides focus on craft, from structure and character to world-building, genre and revision.
Do I need Bookh to use these guides?
No. The craft advice stands on its own, whatever you write with. Where Bookh can help with a technique, we say so plainly.
What is Bookh?
Bookh is an AI writing co-pilot for creative authors. It takes you from a one-line idea to premises, a synopsis and a chapter-by-chapter outline, then into a distraction-free editor with a Mentor chat, a Lore Vault that remembers your world, a Plot-Beat Canvas and Voice & Style tools that keep drafts sounding like you.
Is Bookh free?
Bookh is free to start and no credit card is required. You can start a book right away.
Will Bookh write my book for me?
Bookh is built as a co-pilot, not a ghostwriter. It helps you plan, remember and keep going, and its drafting tools work from your outline, your cast and your own voice profile. The choices, and the book, stay yours.
Which formats can I export?
A book-formatted preview, HTML, PDF in a 6×9 inch book layout, EPUB, Word/DOCX and standard manuscript format.
Your book starts with one line
Bring the spark. Bookh helps you shape it into a premise, a synopsis and a chapter outline, then gives you a quiet place to write the book only you can write.
Free to start · No credit card required