Maybe you’ve been working on a book for months—or years. BUT… the structure isn’t working, you’re not sure what comes next, or perhaps lost confidence? Sometimes life simply distracts us all.

I’m a published author, developmental editor, creative writing teacher and mentor. I have a Master’s degree in Writing and Publishing and years of experience writing, editing, publishing and helping other writers develop their manuscripts. I love working with writers like you.

AND I’m not here to tell you how your book should be written. Let’s see what your own goals are for the book, fiction or non-fiction, and then I can offer you the tools to carry on.

This is personal, hands-on mentorship. Bring me your questions, what’s annoying you, and share some pages. I’ll read your work, give you practical ideas to help you solve those problems, and talk through what’s next to finish the book. It’s a monthly cycle of submitting work, getting feedback, followed by a Zoom call.

HOW?

• Once a month you send in 20 pages with a few questions.
• We share questions in the chat that could help other writers. 
• I read and then give you an email response. 
• You sit with the suggestions. 
• Mid-month we have a 1:1 video call. 
• Also I plan on hosting a group call with our questions and brainstorm together. 
• I’ll post relevant tips and tools each week. 
• You’ll post goals, steps, and be held on track by the small cohort. 
• Repeat!

One recent post was this on Dialogue – I tend to post a few such suggestions each week in relation to what we’re all working on.

How do you write dialogue? Is it easy for you?

• Some of you asked if you added too much
• others, on how to be grounded in actions and movements
• and when do you use quotation marks 
• what happens if you don’t signify when the characters speak

All good questions. I have no tried and solid answers but my advice is to give a section to a friend to read outloud to you, don’t tell them anything, let them just read without prompts or disclaimers. What happens?

Do you get lost?

Can you hear the different voices in the syntax and words chosen by that character?

Does the physical setting intrude as in real life?

Or are they talking heads?

Does the dialogue have subtext, a conflict or move the overall plot forward?

What is the purpose of this conversation?

I’ll come back to this topic in the group as I’m curious to see what we have to offer each other as we all do it differently. Other posts have been on settings, on word count and on writing a synopsis. If you have specific questions, micro or macro, share them with the group or individually with me. The goal is to give you the tools to become your own best editor.

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Apply Now!

The group will be limited to 15 members for the next three months to make sure we all benefit and that you get the help you crave. I don’t want to take on more than I can care for. Let’s do this. And if you have any questions, get in touch. Thanks again.

SIGN UP HERE https://www.skool.com/finish-your-book-1908/about

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