Online Writing School Inspires Writers to Turn Daily Routines into Storytelling Moments

The Novelry has launched its first major ad campaign created by St Luke's

By Creative Salon

10 September 2024

The Novelry is inviting aspiring authors to turn their daily routines into creative writing opportunities. The campaign, crafted by St Luke’s, highlights The Novelry’s unique approach: helping writers make significant progress on their novels in just one hour a day.

Titled “You’re a writer. Make it official,” the initiative demonstrates how The Novelry’s Story First Method enables students to transform mundane moments into rich storytelling experiences. Through a series of animations, St Luke’s shows how everyday activities can inspire engaging narratives.

In one, the line “Plot an elaborate murder…” appears alongside a bottle of poison and skull. Another reads “Start a witch coven…” paired with a pointy hat silhouetted against the moonlight.

Louise Dean, founder of the Novelry, said: “This is a high-energy campaign to bring writers out of the closet and get their words onto the page with our Story First Method inspired by my time in advertising, where the creative work starts with a brief! Our writers at The Novelry work to a brief to complete commercially viable novels and secure literary agents and publishing deals. Working with St Luke’s on this campaign has been a blast and I am so grateful to the team for bringing their wit to the world of fiction writing.”

As the animations unfold, these scenarios reveal surprising twists. The pointy hat turns out to be a traffic cone on a busy road, accompanied by the line, “…while stuck on the interstate.” Meanwhile, the skull and crossbones morph into chicken drumsticks, suggesting that the murder can be plotted “…while roasting a chicken.”

Further juxtapositions include headlines such as “Dismember a neighbor while the kids do homework,” and “Start a satanic cult while waiting for your pap test.” They all include the message, “Write your novel in an hour a day,” along with The Novelry’s distinctive branding and the strapline “You’re a writer. Make it official.”

Al Young, joint CCO at St Luke’s, said: “Far too many should-be writers convince themselves they simply don’t have the time to turn their great ideas into publishable stories. The Novelry’s stunningly successful One Hour A Day Writing Method proves this fear to be unfounded. Our campaign highlights this in ways we think will resonate and make the audience smile.”

The campaign, which breaks on September 9, is running across Meta in the US and UK, with Lurn Media handling planning and buying.

St Luke’s was appointed to the account without a pitch by Louise Dean, Founder of The Novelry. Dean, the Booker Prize-listed author of four novels, previously had a career in advertising.

Claire Smith, senior account director at St Luke’s, said: “The Novelry’s doing so much good work to help people break into the publishing world, and its member community is so supportive and lovely. So we’re really getting a thrill from the idea that, in the not-too-distant future, someone who saw this campaign and joined The Novelry is pinching themselves as they sign their first book deal, having never previously thought they could become a published writer.”

Louise Dean started The Novelry in 2017 as an online community, with the idea that fellow writers could be less isolated, and help each other get their novels finished.

Over time it has expanded, and its offer now includes a number of writing courses, live workshops and classes, one-on-one coaching, and a manuscript assessment service — earning it the description of being “like Hogwarts for writers.”

The Novelry has strong connections with leading literary agents; and numerous The Novelry members have already gone on to have their work published.