As many of you might know, I’ve been doing programming and system support for Holly Lisle ‘lo these many years. What you might not know is how I got into it.

I recognized early on that Holly had the incredible talent of being able to see how she did things, both in the past and in the present. You’d be amazed how rare an ability this is, or maybe you wouldn’t. Have you ever read a “how to” book by someone famous that only connected with you once you’d achieved publishable quality work and didn’t need their guidance? That’s because the writer could see how to do things now, but not all the things they did to get to this point. Especially with writing, there are no shortcuts. If you don’t have the foundation for the technique, you can mimic it all you want, but you end up with a tangled mess.

This is where Holly comes in. She can take you step by step through her processes, even though she’s now on the “one-pass revision” stage, and you can see the building blocks that enabled her to reach where she is now, see, understand, and replicate them. I tried her one-pass revision based on an article on her site before she started actively teaching. I could see how the methodology could work, but I kept getting mired in the specifics.

When Holly wanted to start teaching, she offered me a critique in exchange for some programming work. As much as the critique was helpful, I kept working on her programming not for the exchanges, but because I recognized what she could do and wanted to support it. It helped that one of the later exchanges was access to what she produced, especially How to Revise Your Novel (HTRYN for short) which was targeted right at writers like me, those with editing issues.

The HTRYN class has been around for a while at this point. I have completed a number of edits using these techniques, and incorporated some of the steps earlier in the writing process so the edits aren’t as taxing. So why, you might wonder, am I bringing it up today?

Well, remember the programming? The big push right now is to move all of Holly’s classes to a single platform, making them easier for both students and those maintaining the system, such as me. Unlike the HTTS ULTRA release where Holly updated all the material, HTRYN is just a platform move at this time. However, for those of us behind the scenes, this is a big deal, and Holly likes to make things fun. She’s set up a contest from now until 11:30 a.m. EST on Monday, August 5 to celebrate a big step in the right direction of an integrated platform. One of the prizes even includes full tuition to HTRYN (or a refund of tuition if you’ve already bought it on the new platform).

Now back to the meat: everyone who signs up for the contest automatically gets an ebook listing the 101 Worst Things That Go Wrong in First Draft writers make in their first draft.

So, if you’re curious about Holly’s teaching style, or wonder what her courses are about, now’s a good time to look into it. At the very least, you’ll get the 101 Worst Things That Go Wrong in First Draft ebook, but who knows…you might get HTRYN and other courses for free. I’ve included the complete contest announcement below, or you can jump to the signup page here and see for yourself.

The announcement:

Have you completed the first draft of a novel, short story, or play? Unsure what to do next?

Maybe you’ve committed one of the 101 Worst Things That Go Wrong in First Draft writers make in their first draft. Not sure what they are?

Go here to find out! You’ll need to create a FREE membership to author and teacher Holly Lisle’s website (don’t worry, Holly guards email addresses wholeheartedly). Then, once you’ve read the list and see the mistakes you’ve made on it, enter to WIN one of her 34 fabulous prizes.

ONE grand prize winner will receive entrance, free of charge, to all three of Holly’s major courses: How To Think Sideways, How to Revise Your Novel, and How To Write a Series. (Winner may not be a current member of any of those courses.)

THREE winners will receive entrance, free of charge, to How to Revise Your Novel. (Winner may not be a current member of HTRYN.)

FIVE winners will receive, free of charge, a bundle containing every single ebook in Holly’s store, fiction and nonfiction both (courses not included).

FIVE winners will receive, free of charge, a 2-course combo of How To Motivate Yourself and Writing Discipline.

TWENTY winners will receive a 25% off coupon, good for any single shopping cart purchase in Holly’s store (not valid for course memberships).

EVERY entrant receives a pdf download: "101 Worst Things That Go Wrong in First Draft."

The contest is over at 11:30 a.m. EST on Monday, August 5. Check it out today!

P.S. If you sign up for one of Holly’s courses while you’re there AND you are one of the winners of that course, your payment will be refunded. Sweet deal!

P.P.S. Her courses are guaranteed. That means if you don’t find her teaching style works for you, you can stop at any time.