Fire in the Belly

How to Write Your Novel with Purpose and Passion

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
— Maya Angelou

You have grossly underestimated your ability to write a compelling novel, story, or memoir.

Let me prove it to you. Let me torch your doubts.

E-book · Instant download · Less than a coffee

What’s Inside

Twelve lessons that warm you up for that first real date with your muse — and the writing assignments that follow each one to turn up the heat.

Approximating — Finding the story that’s exclusively yours to tell, fact or fiction
Masterpiece Sentences — What separates a publishable manuscript from one that isn’t
He Said/She Said — Dialogue attribution as a creative tool, not a rote task
Manicure Your Manuscript — What a developmental editor actually does to your draft
The Info-Dump — Why front-loading backstory puts readers to sleep, and how to avoid it
Sage Advice — Essential editing wisdom, including from veteran writing professor Ron McFarland
Let’s Make a Scene — Plot vs. premise, and why “I am a writer” starts with the words, not the royalty check
Writers’ Beat-Ups — Surviving critique, and giving it without crushing the writer
Credible Critiques — Why “I really like it” isn’t feedback, and what real critique sounds like
The Evolution of a Sentence — Killing adjectives and finding the one word that does the work
Your Turn — A live writing prompt and exercise, worked through in real time
Memorable Memoirs — The line between memoir and fiction, and why every story needs conflict

Also Available

This book is just the kindling. If you want the full fire, a 50-session online course based on these chapters is available on Udemy.com — a more immersive experience for writers ready to go deeper.

Who This Is For

You’ve been on the planet long enough to know you have a story worth telling. Maybe it’s a novel that’s been orbiting you for years. Maybe a memoir, a family history, something you’ve never quite known how to start. Maybe you’ve started — and stalled.

This book is for the writer who suspects they have something real to say, but hasn’t yet found the courage, the structure, or the fire to say it on the page.

This is not a grammar guide, nor is it a lecture on craft theory. It’s twelve lessons from someone who has spent decades helping writers — first-timers and bestsellers alike — find their voice and use it.

About the Author

Portrait of Thorn Sully Thorn Sully is an award-winning editor, publisher, and writer as well as founder of A Word with You Press in 2009. Thorn was a former lead book reviewer for The San Diego Union Tribune and his clients include a Pulitzer Prize-winner, major bestsellers, and writers publishing their very first sentence. Fire in the Belly is what he tells every single one of them before they begin.

Portrait of Thorn Sully

Thorn Sully is an award-winning editor, publisher, and writer as well as founder of A Word with You Press in 2009. Thorn was a former lead book reviewer for The San Diego Union Tribune and his clients include a Pulitzer Prize-winner, major bestsellers, and writers publishing their very first sentence. Fire in the Belly is what he tells every single one of them before they begin.

What Readers Are Saying

★★★★★ – Fanning The Flames of The Authentic Story
This book augments the essentials of successful writing with a significant toolbox of ideas and techniques that keep the storyteller out of the way of the story. The combination of exercises in each chapter, with the option of enlisting Thorn’s services as an editor, offers the reader a wide range of options in becoming a better writer. Thank you Thorn for letting us stand next to your fire.
— Plushmeister, verified Amazon review · United States

★★★★★ – Great for writer’s block
I purchased Fire in the Belly hoping to have exactly that. My belly is now ablaze. The lessons helped break my writer’s block down to a little splinter which I tossed into the fire in my belly.
— Jonathen Tobias, verified Amazon review · United States

★★★★★ – BECOME A WRITER OF FIRE!!!
If you want ONE book on editing — this is it. Zooming in on exceptional tips to improve attribution in dialogue, then zooming out to vaster topics like finding your true purpose as an author. A reader of Fire in the Belly never feels condescended to. Rather, you’ll feel like you’ve found a warm and kind friend to walk the daunting trail of authorship right beside you.
— Lucien Zell, verified Amazon review · United States

★★★★★ – The one you’ve got to get
If you had to choose a single book from all the how-to-write-a-bestseller guides, let this be it. What makes this book unique is that you can contact the author and get him to actively help you on your journey. So skip your cafe latte today and buy this e-book: it will do a much better job of keeping you awake and of getting you published.
— mischka blank, verified Amazon review · Germany

★★★★★ – Fun, Handy Hitchhiker’s Guide for All Writers & Wannabes!
Many writing guides are too long and abstract, but this is like a handy Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for writers. Practical tools and fun prompts to get your creativity flowing again, or for the first time. The author helps you realize you’re already a writer at heart. This book will help you RELISH writing and have FUN with your muse.
— Lauralei, verified Amazon review · United States

★★★★★ – A creative writing guide that liberates your prose
It’s not just a how-to, it’s also a why-to. His inimitable passion and personality shine through the text. It’s also challenging — urging the writer to tap into the stories they’ve not yet been willing or able to tell. The exercises he sets out will accelerate your writing.
— Derek Thompson, verified Amazon review · United Kingdom