One Year. One Novel.
One Expert in Your Corner.
The Novel Journey is not a really long writing workshop, a subscription-based writers community platform, a genre-based system, or even an editing & coaching package.
It’s a year-long mentorship in novel writing, designed to support your development as a writer while you draft your novel, so you become an author capable of writing many novels, all of which you are uniquely meant to write.
Weekly Lessons
Develop a solid foundation of real story craft.
Weekly Coaching Calls
Ask questions and get answers as soon as they arise.
Assignments & Checkpoints
Track progress, ensure they hit significant markers in their novel’s development, and stay accountable to their process and their novel’s growth.
Developmental Feedback
Stop guessing what their manuscript needs next and write forward with confidence.
Mindset Work
Avoid losing momentum when life gets challenging, make sure progress doesn’t stall, & stay motivated and committed to the writing life.
ROOBAW!
Collective writing time to supercharge creativity & productivity.
Peer Groups
Form friendships; establish accountability partners; develop a competent, trusted writing community.
Year-Long Structure
Build a novel steadily, while growing in writing knowledge & ability, without rushing or forcing the creative process.
Testimonials
See what a few of the writers Alida has worked with have to say about her.
Meet Alida
Alida Winternheimer works with writers who want to deepen their craft, trust their instincts, and write with greater intention. She is MFA-trained and has spent more than twelve years as a developmental editor, writing coach, and instructor, helping writers identify what’s already working on the page—and strengthen what isn’t. Yet.
She has edited across many genres, but her true specialty isn’t genre at all—it’s the writer. Alida is drawn to projects with ambition and complexity: layered structures, multiple points of view, unconventional chronologies, and work that resists easy categorization. Writers whose primary concern is strictly adhering to genre tropes or prescribed beats may not find the best fit here. Writers committed to mastering narrative craft and developing a voice that is distinctly their own find both support and challenge in Alida’s approach, growing more confident along the way.
At Word Essential and her online school, Story Works Fiction, Alida offers developmental editing and coaching for fiction and nonfiction writers through manuscript work, workshops, and one-on-one or group coaching. She supports writers at every stage of a project, balancing honest craft guidance with deep respect for the creative process. Personal, focused, and rigorous, Alida’s work is grounded in the belief that good editing doesn’t overwrite a writer—it sharpens them.
Alida is the author of three novels and two craft books, a winner of multiple writing awards, including the Minnesota Library Association’s Minnesota Author Project Award, a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and a notable in Best American Essays. She is also the creator and host of the Story Works Round Table podcast, with over 350 conversations about writing craft. She shares additional free resources through her Substack and YouTube channel.
Apply Now
Your novel journey is waiting for you.
Book a free discovery call to see if the program is a fit for you at this time.
Frequently asked questions
Can't find an answer? Don t hesitate to reach out.
The Novel Journey is a year-long program. It begins the day you enroll and continues for one year.
No. There is an application process to ensure members are joining a quality program that maintains a small writer-expert ratio, with an intentional community of like-minded serious writers. Use the button on this page to book a discovery call.
For your enrollment period of one year.
In the classroom, the membership community, over Zoom, and some contact will occur by email.
Yes. If you do not complete a draft of your novel in one year, I will continue working with you until you do. For free. See the member agreement for complete details.
You'll have the opportunity to stay connected with the community and access coaching through an alumni program just for writers who've been through the Novel Journey.
