by Stephanie Dethlefs | Oct 12, 2021 | First Draft, Planning your book, Revision, Uncategorized, writing craft
It’s a really common problem that a writer will be writing along, discovering what comes next as they write, and before they know it they have taken a path they weren’t expecting and wound up in some plot territory that they don’t really want to be in. Today...
by Stephanie Dethlefs | Oct 5, 2021 | Getting feedback, Revision, writing craft
How do we revise a novel? It’s a big job, that’s for certain. When faced with the task, writers often fall into the trap of making small fixes, such as grammar, sentence structure and word choice that would be much better held off until after the big fixes...
by Stephanie Dethlefs | Sep 28, 2021 | Accountability, Book Coaching, Getting feedback, Inner critic, Revision, writing craft, writing life
What happens after you’ve received some feedback, whether it was from a loved one, a beta reader, or an editor? We all know that getting feedback on your writing is an important part of the process, but where do you start when you’ve got pages and pages of notes?...
by Stephanie Dethlefs | Sep 7, 2021 | First Draft, Planning your book, Revision, writing craft
When I think of tension in a story, my first thought is of suspense. We are waiting for something to jump out of a dark corner or for the final confrontation between hero and villain. Our bodies are tense, preparing for what my 13-year-old son calls “the jump-scare.”...
by Stephanie Dethlefs | Aug 31, 2021 | Book Coaching, Mindset, Planning your book, Revision, writing craft, writing life
The idea of the elevator pitch comes from the old Hollywood days. Back then, a writer might happen to find themselves on an elevator with a studio exec. The wisdom was, you should always have a pitch for a movie ready when that happened. You have the executive stuck...
by Stephanie Dethlefs | Aug 10, 2021 | Mindset, Reading for Writers, Revision, writing craft, writing life
You’ve likely heard the nugget of wisdom that to be an effective writer, you should also be an avid reader. This is true for many reasons. You get sparks of ideas. You understand how a story is structured. You internalize what is effective and what isn’t. You grow...
