The Draft

A map (ie: outline) is only helpful if you can actually see it

Designing the manuscript scene outline feature for First Draft Pro.

Sep 22 • Tarryn

4

Writing is hard, but we can do hard things

Designing motivation and goal tracking features for First Draft Pro.

Sep 8 • Tarryn

1

How I refocus when I hit a writing slump

Turns out writing a novel is hard, who knew!

Sep 1 • Tarryn

6

August 2026

Map-making resources for fiction writers

How to choose a map-making tool, and a list of options based on what you're looking for!

Aug 25 • Tarryn

5

Outlining and planning is also writing

Designing plotting and outlining features for First Draft Pro.

Aug 18 • Tarryn

5

1

Writing for the ‘id’: notes on writing bestselling fiction using psychological theory

Why humans love stories, why particular stories catch fire, and how you can draw on this to increase your odds of writing a bestseller/fan-favourite.

Aug 11 • Tarryn

7

1

Books are the loving work of many hands

Designing collaboration features for First Draft Pro.

Aug 4 • Tarryn

11

1

6

April 2026

Can we use character motivation to define a character arc?

Connecting the five Fs of character motivation to character transformation.

Apr 21 • Tarryn

16

2

1

How to open scene fifteen

A few things improv class taught me about opening the *other* scenes in my novel.

Apr 9 • Tarryn

105

12

February 2026

A deep dive into the 3 Act novel structure

An overview of the 3 act story structure (and two templates in First Draft Pro that you can use to outline your novel).

Feb 3 • Tarryn

12

January 2026

Full dark mode in First Draft Pro

Announcing First Draft Pro v1.1.40 🖤

Jan 11 • Tarryn

16

2

1

December 2025

Gift vouchers & an app update

Bug fixes in v1.0.80 and giving the gift of First Draft Pro!

Dec 2, 2025 • Tarryn

6