Have you ever dreamed of writing a novel but believe that you don't have the time? Well, I'm here to tell you that you can do it!

I've been writing novels during NaNoWriMo since the early 2000s because um, it's amazing. It's like running a marathon in sprint time. 

Really the best thing I ever started doing for myself and I do it every year. I also usually do CampNaNo in the summer and it's taught me so much about myself as a writer and how to draft quickly which comes in handy if you do any work-for-hire or ghostwriting. 

Now, will you have a perfect ready to submit novel after 30 days? Not unless you are super lucky and if you are--OMG awesome!!! I wish that for everyone but what you will have is a FIRST DRAFT and or a revision. 

**I love to rewrite from scratch my novels at about the 4th revision and that way I leave out all the crap that doesn't move the story forward. 

Some people like to take their time and I once had a mentor tell me to slow down BUT the...

It's National Dog day! And it got me thinking about the importance of adding pets to our stories. 

Do you do this?

I ALWAYS do. My characters always have pets, usually dogs, but sometimes parrots, cats, ferrets, and fish. The reason is not just for the cute factor but because it's CHARACTER TELLING--or SHOWING. 

Think about it. Ever see someone walking their dog? They look like the dog and or you just know immediately they are owner and pet because they fit? 

Right? 

I have a terrier, see the above photo. It takes a special kind of dog mom to have a terrier in their lives as they are demanding, needy, stubborn, wilful and can be a pain the arse. Westies also need a lot of activity. This says a lot about me, who I am as a person!

So who I am based on my dog? 

Let's see.

I'm athletic & active. I have no movement limitations. I like challenges, I can handle the high maintenance dog, I can be stubborn, and also loving-just like a Westie. 

When I say...

Happy Writer Wednesday!! 

I have a great blog today that will help you if you are writing any story that has characters----so ALL of you!! 

But first, here is a new eBook that I have created and I'm giving it away for FREE. 

GRAB IT HERE!

If you want to write something funny the very first thing you need to do is to STOP WRITING JOKES! 

"But, Stephanie, every film writing guru says 3 jokes per page??"  SIGH---they are wrong. 

And here is why. 

Have you ever watched a show or film or even read a book that was supposed to be a comedy but it fell flat? Yes, you have, we all have and it's like time we can never get back--unless you are a writer and then you can use it to understand more about the process. 

PRO TIP--everything is learning how to be a great storyteller--everything. 

In Steve Kaplan's workshop for comedy, he talks at length about this and why character drives the story AND THE COMEDY. It all comes from character. 

Let me...

Happy Wednesday Dear Writers, 

today, I'm talking about something new that I am creating for all the women writers out there who want a special place to go talk about writing, career, characters, movies, books, share some wine or coffee, and hang-out with other female writers. 

A new membership just for US! 

In May I launched a membership for writers and it's really been great but we aren't connecting as I had hoped and I realized that it was the model of the membership which is focused on craft masterminds and not as much as the social aspect. 

AND

I went back to the 10 years that I have been coaching writers and more than 90% have been women, and as a woman writer, it's important to me that WE HAVE A SAFE FUN SPACE to connect, share, support, and grow together-no matter what stage of our writing career we are in. 

I love men, some of my closest friends are men but I think for this we need our own Ya-Ya-Sisterhood so to speak. 

This is the official...

Hello, Dear Writers! 

Today I have this short blog about writing the perfect ending. 

Have you ever read a book, watched a movie, stayed up all night watching the end of a series on Netflix only to be left dissatisfied, angry, betrayed by the writer and or just plain icky??

YES, you have. All of us have! And it stinks. It's the worst when you are like, "OMG that would have been amazing but he/she effed up the ending!!"

I can think of so many films and books that I loved until the last quarter. I don't know if it's laziness, or just not caring or what but OMG the ending NEEDS to be good. 

The ending is WHAT GIVES MEANING TO THE STORY.

The ending of any story must have these elements to be strong.

1. The main character MUST change in some way. He/she must grow-be a different person or at the very least have learned something that changes the way he/she sees and interacts with the world.
2. The main character MUST be the catalyst or reason for this change to have happened....

OOPS! (I did it again)

Hello, Writers! 

I wanted to chat with you today about the idea of writing fast as CampNaNoWriMo kicked off at the beginning of the month!

Many writing experts will tell you never to do this as it makes us bad writers?? You've heard that right? Well, I have the opposite opinion about it. For me writing fast means getting right to the story and not getting hung up on the words, the style, or anything except telling the story. 

So, I love it. I have joined CampNaNoWriMo--again. I always do the one in Nov and so I decided that as busy as I am in my online business for writers, I needed this push. 

I have some YouTube Videos on writing for NaNoWriMo Vlog style that you can watch by clicking HERE

Here are some tips for drafting a novel fast. 

1. Focus on story 

2. Don't outline just write

3. Go with your gut instincts 

4. Write every day no matter what. 

5. Don't worry about being a great writer, just focus on story

6....

 Crushing Your Query Letter Part 3! 

So, honestly, I didn't even know that I was going to do a part 3 to this blog serious but as I am reviewing more and more queries for clients and writers who have taken advantage of special offers to review from being on my VIP list I can tell you that part three is NEEDED. 

Have any guesses to what it is about?

This is one of the BIGGEST mishaps that writers make and I see it over and over and over again---and, I used to do this too. 

Do you know? 

It is---drum roll please!! When a writer queries way too soon. 

I understand you've written that book or screenplay and in your head it's completely perfect because you can see it oh so clearly but usually it's not ready. 

Now, I want to interject here on waiting too long too--that happens a lot too-but not quite as often. 

You need to find that balance between wanting every single word to be perfect and sending out when it's just not ready. 

Here are some...

Hello, Storytellers!! I hope you are having a fabulous day, morning, evening-whatever! 

This is part two that I just decided to add to last week's blog about crushing your query which you can find HERE or just scroll down after reading this! 

So it's time to submit, but you now have to write your query and your mind goes blank. You can't form a coherent sentence, and you just write something too long, too boring, or just plain bad. Why is that?

I think it's like a game of GOLF-all in YOUR HEAD. You put the pressure on yourself to write something amazing and BAM! just like that, nothing good comes out.

There are tons and tons and tons of resources for how to write a good query, so I won't bore you with those details. GOOGLE how to write a query and I promise you tons will come up. I have some favorites, which you can see in my earlier blog,  but everyone is different, so I want you to do what speaks to you.

That said, as someone who used to run a query clinic, and I...

If you have finished your novel, screenplay, or teleplay you need to get an agent and for that, you need what is called a query letter. These scare many writers because it's hard to sell yourself and that is what you are doing. The query letter is your sales letter for you and your story. 

Grab my free guide on CRUSHING YOUR QUERY here  

Continue reading this blog for more insight on nailing this!

So many people come to me for query help that I put together this blog to help you crush it because I know that you can! 

Writing your query shouldn't be so scary!

Writing queries is something that most writers find terrifying but I find it fun. A chance to get to talk about my novel??? AWESOME! 

I know that they seem hard, but really you can craft a perfect query with some very easy steps.

Remember always be personal to the agent you are querying and always FOLLOW the submissions listed on the agent's website. This is super important.

Then your...