About
The Fictionary Story
We created Fictionary to solve my biggest writing challenge: How to edit my manuscript and tell a powerful story.
I'm Kristina. I know writing and editing and with Mathew's help we developed Fictionary.
We are a wife and husband team driven to help fiction writers and editors. This is our story...
My dream is to help writers and editors create powerful stories.
The Beginning
Creating Fictionary began when I finished the first draft of my first novel. By then I'd read over 70 how-to-write and how-to-self-edit books. I’d taken writing courses and workshops, and had 100s of writing and rewriting tips swirling about in my head.
I knew I had to begin the revision process and improve the quality of my draft before sharing my work, but I didn't know how to go about it. How was I supposed to remember the torrent of advice and apply it to each scene? A spreadsheet, that’s how!
I created a spreadsheet with a chapter-by-chapter, scene-by-scene structure. Then I listed the different writing advice I needed to consider for EVERY scene. I ended up with over 38 Story Elements. I used the reports from the spreadsheet to visualize my novel.
Fictionary is Born
After the hard work of editing my drafts, the high quality of my fiction was validated when my first two novels were shortlisted for prestigious crime writing awards and I landed my publisher (Imajin Books). My first editor said: “If every manuscript was this good, my job would be so easy!” The next exciting moment came when DESCENT, my first novel, hit #1 on Amazon’s hot new releases.
That’s when it hit us. We thought other writers could benefit from our immediate approach to editing fiction. The excitement was too much for Mathew to sit by and watch, so he decided to get involved. He knows technology and how to run a business.
We developed Fictionary in beautiful British Columbia, Canada and thousands of writers have now used Fictionary!
We are driven to help writers and editors tell powerful stories.
Our Advisors
Being surrounded by geniuses who put their time, energy, and investment into making Fictionary successful gives us a competitive edge.
Scott Lake
Co-Founder Shopify
Scott is a startup entrepreneur, tech investor, and philanthropist. He is best known as the co-founder of Shopify (NYSE: SHOP). Scott is a General Partner at Hello Ventures where he leverages his learnings to invest in and advise early-stage tech companies.
JoEllen Taylor
Founder First Editing
JoEllen is the founder and CEO of First Editing, a unique and successful professional editing service. First Editing has dominated the online editing marketplace for thirteen years and helped over 40,000 authors!
Marci Hotsenpiller
Founding Principal ZINC Public Relations
Marci leads an award-winning Canadian communications/PR team. She has managed communications and earning media coverage for disruptive projects, whether for consumer tech startups or civic projects. She advises Fictionary on behalf of the Women's Equity Lab.
Josh McKenty
Co-Founder OpenStack
Josh is a San Francisco Business Times 40-Under-40 Leader and NASA Ames Honor Award recipient. Josh has been instrumental in defining and bringing cloud solutions to market. Josh is an active advisor to Canadian-led technology companies.
Cathy Waters
Women's Equity Lab Advisor
A life long reader, Cathy’s passion for books went so far as owning two bookstores and being a major contributor to the success of Abebooks.com. Cathy is a member of Women’s Equity Lab and President of Soroptimist International of Victoria Westshore.