Your Coach. Not Your Writer.
None of Hatchline's coaches write prose for you. They are here to help you see your manuscript more clearly — and to give you feedback you can stand behind when an agent or publisher asks.
Exploring the Hatchline Coaching System
Three Reasons Authors (Sensibly) Avoid Gemini, ChatGPT, and other LLMs
You've heard a lot about Gemini and ChatGPT, and you know the stigma attached to them — they're destroying creative work and cheapening entire professions. Despite this, you're still curious. You don't need, nor do you want, a computer to write your novel for you, but maybe it would help give you some ideas of how to create more tension between two central characters. So, after significant hesitation, you attach chapter 4 and submit your question.
As the answer starts filling in, dread washes over you and your palms grow sweaty. You did not ask it to write anything for you, but there it is. You know you won't take its idea, even though it's not half-bad, because it would destroy what you've got in mind for the second act. But you could take a couple sentences scattered throughout, they'd definitely help build that tense you were looking for. And it's just a couple sentences, right?
Maybe this seems black and white to you, but what about assisting in naming characters? Describing environments? Building your sub-plots?
Today, authors are drawing the line all of the spectrum. But most of us aren't looking for an AI to write our novel for us—the exploration, revision, and eventual discovery of the secrets buried in our minds is the reward, and letting someone else take control? No thanks. But you may see the potential for using these tools for good—identifying inconsistencies or plot holes, evaluating your pacing for your target market, and more. Here's the rub, though...
When you hand your manuscript off to your agent or publisher, they're going to ask 'Did you use ChatGPT, Gemini, or another AI to aid in your writing?' And, unfortunately, as stigmatized as AI is within the creative community right now, it doesn't really matter how you used it, a simple yes is likely to get you blackballed. This fear, real or contrived, keeps many authors from even thinking about leveraging AI in the work. It's hard to blame them, but what if there was an AI tool built for writers with a simple rule—it will never write word of prose for you—that agents and publishers alike trusted and could stand behind?
Introducing your Coaches
None of Hatchline's coaches, of which there are many, will write for you. Go ahead, try it, and see for yourself. They were developed to meet the needs of professional and aspiring writers while maintaining a clear embargo on the invisible line. So, if they won't write for you, what will they do? Let's explore a few options:
Craft Mentor
Think of your Craft Mentor as your generalist. They'll look at structure, character development, and writing technique. They'll tell you where your pacing is lagging and where your subplots get tangled. They'll brainstorm with you, recognize your habits, and focus on your strengths.
Developmental Editor
Just like a developmental editor in real life, Hatchline's is here to offer big-picture feedback. To look at your plot holes and character arcs. To evaluate the story logic and structure. This coach is great at catching these overarching points that can be really difficult to track yourself.
Beta Reader
Having a coach is great. An editor? Fantastic. But sometimes you just want to know what a reader would think. Not a professional, whose entire job is to find problems—ahem, opportunities—that make you question whether your manuscript will ever be ready.
Try Hatchline Coaching Today!
If you haven't experimented with your coaches yet, login and give them a try today. All users are gifted credits to get started, so experimenting is free!
Styles for Different Writers
How do you like to receive feedback? This question is akin to what's your love language or what's your learning style. Everyone's a bit different. When you have a coach or teacher who talks to you in a language you understand, your neurons fire on all cylinders and you can feel the new connections wiring themselves in your brain. But when they don't? The break-up is inevitable.
We recognize everyone has different preferences and needs, and we seek to meet you where you are. Whether you want a Straight Shooter to say exactly what needs to be said and not a word more, or a Gentle Guide who helps you to focus on the most important things first, one of our five coaching styles (your Straight Shooter and Gentle Guide, plus a Thoughtful Mentor, Workshop Critic, and Steady Hand) is here when you're ready.
Making Conversations Easy
Intelligent System Prompts
Blank pages are hard and getting started using AI can feel just as intimidating. Hatchline makes it easy - choose a scene to review and select any number of pre-filled prompts to get the conversation going. As you dig in with your chosen coach, we'll suggest places to dig further with the click of a button. When you're ready, and if you ever need to, you can take total control by crafting your own directions.
Routines
We've also seen many authors go through the same set of questions very consistently. How's my pacing, what do you think of the character development, and then where am I telling instead of showing? For this, we've developed Routines.
Preset Routines capture many of the common workflows we've seen from users and simplify this into a one-click button. Your coach launches into this routine with the first question, still allows you to dig into follow-ups like a normal conversation, and then queues the next step whenever you're ready. Whether you're using our intelligent system prompts or running custom routines, our goal with these is to make engaging with your coach intuitive and effort-free, allowing you to direct the full weight of your brainpower to writing your manuscript instead of working out complicated AI instructions.
Sometimes, though, you need more flexibility. Maybe a routine doesn't perfectly match your needs, or you find yourself always extending conversations in the same way. When you find yourself in this situation, our Custom Routines are here for you. Clone an existing routine, or start from scratch, and build out the perfect playbook to meet your needs.
Try Hatchline Coaching Today!
If you haven't experimented with your coaches yet, login and give them a try today. All users are gifted credits to get started, so experimenting is free!