For writers, sitting down to a blank page can feel like starting a road trip with no map. The team at Now Novel knows this, and although they can't write your book for you, they can give you the toolset to build it yourself. Their program assists budding novelists from the very beginning of the story-writing process: idea generation. From there, the site helps to refine characters, setting, and plot before it eases users into penning their first draft.

Now Novel's system has multiple key parts, all of which are meant to keep writers on task and away from local book-burning festivals. Detailed questionnaires narrow down the themes and personalities that will be present in a drafted piece. Exclusive writing groups and the opportunity to field criticism from the Now Novel community connects authors with their peers. And, once a manuscript has been finished, Now Novel can even aid its members in self-publishing or submitting their novel to publishers.