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Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach

~ I TEACH emerging female writers in tv/film & novels HOW to create stories to fall in love with✨© Stephanie Bourbon 2022

Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach

Category Archives: Children’s books

How To Go Deeper With Your Characters

22 Thursday Apr 2021

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Novels, Writing (film & television)

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characters, dialogue, how to write, novel writing, screenwriting, Story, storytelling, Writing, writing characters, writing fiction, writing tips

Hey, Writers! 

Happy Thursday. This week I’m talking about when you get that dreaded feedback that goes something like “I couldn’t connect with the characters” or “she/he wasn’t believable” or “I just didn’t care.” And, there’s more too but you get the point. 

Your story is fine, but the reader, or agent, or editor, just couldn’t connect. 

What do you need to do to fix it? 

If the feedback is that they couldn’t connect or care about the characters, then you need to do more work there. 

Revisions like this can seem impossible and your gut may be saying to just keep sending it out to others until someone likes it. I’ve seen writers do this and after two years the agent who took a chance couldn’t sell the work and then drops them and they are right back where they started. 

I want to save you time and heartache. 

There could be many reasons that this is the feedback you are getting. 

1. Your characters are living on the surface

2. Your dialogue isn’t strong

3. Your characters wants/needs and goals aren’t present 

4. Your plotting and story arcs are nonexistent (yes some character problems go back to storytelling basics)

There are a lot of reasons but let’s start with these because they are the most common.

YOUR CHARACTER LIVES ON THE SURFACE

This means that you haven’t gone deep enough, and hey, I know that it sucks hearing that and it’s like vaguebooking but it’s a real thing. When you aren’t going deep enough it is because you yourself don’t understand the psychology of your characters. 

What? I need that? But, I’m just writing light romance, like a Hallmark movie, she just wants to find a guy. 

Nope, that’s not good enough. You need more. Even in lighter stories, you need a real need, want, and or goals for your protagonist that drive her the entire book. The way she handles these things are because of WHO she is and that goes back to her misbelief about herself and that informs her flaws. 

The best holiday Hallmark movies have this. Trust me. 

EXERCISE-go watch any holiday Hallmark movie that you love and break it all down and you will see that it’s there. Obviously, you can’t know for 100% her misbelief but based on her actions you can make a great guess. 

READ-Wired for Story & Story Genius by Lisa Cron–once you do you will understand what I mean. Every single one of us has some misbelief that was created early in life and while we don’t go around and announce it to the world, “I’ll never be good enough!” our actions SHOW who we are. Maybe we push people away, or maybe we have a need to always get straight As and be perfect?–this is just an example. 

Here’s an example of a great character from television from the 2000s. Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars. When we meet him, he’s kind of a dick right? Well, not really. 

We learn through his actions and dialogue and storytelling throughout the first season (your novel) that his parents are famous actors and never give him any attention and when they do it’s bad. His misbelief (or this is how I see it) is that he will never be good enough and no one will ever really like or love him because if his parents don’t, why would anyone else? So, his character flaw is that he acts like a jerk, all the time. This is his defense to keep himself safe and not get rejected because he knows that will come. Everything he does is based on that misbelief. The writers of that show dug deep! And, you can too! 

WHEN YOUR DIALOGUE IS THE PROBLEM

Ah, dialogue-my favorite tool to show who a character really is. I love it because it’s so powerful but so many writers get it wrong. They focus on being clever, especially in women’s fiction and any movie with a female lead. The trope, trend, overused thing that still happens is that the main female is headstrong and sarcastic. Now, we all can’t be that way can we? No, we can’t. If you have written this in your first draft or second, or third and you are getting feedback that the agent, reader, whomever, can’t connect to her, this is why. 

You have cleverly filled the pages with clever quips and comebacks, usually aimed at her love interest and in weaker writing he takes it! 

Steve Kaplan of Kaplan Comedy talks about this in his comedy workshop and he used an example from a movie with Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson. Kate Hudson’s character insults him over and over and he doesn’t react at all but he keeps flirting and smiling. It’s so true. No guy, no woman, no person would be okay with being insulting all the time, and yet this is used constantly. Look at The Ugly Truth as another example. Katherine Heigel’s character is always insulting Gerad Butler’s character for no reason that makes any sense, it’s really that the writers decided she would be this type of woman for no reason, and he takes it and keeps flirting with her. This is NOT what would happen. 

**BTW you can find Steve Kaplan HERE. I suggest his workshops and books for every writer-whether you are writing comedy or not. 

Back to dialogue. So, you will stop that clever rude girl and witty dialogue now. Phew, now that’s over remember that every single word that comes out of your character’s mouth MUST be said for a reason. Dialogue SHOWS us WHO your character is. Think about the way you react to a situation and what you might say and how your sister or mother does to the same? You all speak differently right? 

In Gilmore Girls, Paris Geller is a BRILLIANT example of this. Everything she says SHOWS US who she is, and all of that goes back to her misbelief about herself. I suggest you watch a few episodes, especially in the early seasons when we are getting to know her. 

Use your dialogue to show us who your characters are and you can’t go wrong. 

YOUR CHARACTER’S MOTIVES ARE MISSING 

You have some characters and a story but why they are in that story is muddled. They don’t have any stakes and so it’s boring, and not relatable at all. Now, everything doesn’t have to be life or death, it can just be internal too-like Bridget Jone’s Diary. Bridget wanted to improve herself and her dating life so pretty much all of her actions were based on this. At first, she makes a list of all the things she will change in the new year, then she decides she wants to date the bad-boy in the office, Daniel Clever, but since that is something superficial and he is a jerk, she still isn’t happy, so she gets a new job, and is still looking for happiness—the entire movie. Her motives are that she wants to be in love and she wants connection but she has the misbelief that it’s her weight because she doesn’t believe she deserves what others have and that’s why it works. Her motives are clear. 

Obviously in Harry Potter his goals are always to fight Voldermort–but are they really? Isn’t Harry a boy who desperately needs a family? Read the first book again and you’ll see that Harry has external and internal wants and needs that are clear. 

The stakes MUST be there. In all the really good Hallmark Holiday movies the main character always has a want that we learn immediately. Usually, it has something to do with a promotion at her job, but it’s always clear. Then something happens that derails that and has her questioning everything in her life, but all her actions are based on reaching that original goal. 

Look at Legally Blonde-Elle Woods wants to get married and at the beginning we learn that she believes she is going to be proposed to by her boyfriend, who instead breaks up with her so he can go to Harvard and be with a serious girl (his words, not mine). Well, Elle decides to follow him to Harvard and show him that she can be the kind of girl he wants. Her entire story is about getting this guy back, until she gets to Harvard and realizes that no matter what she does she’s never going to be good enough for him, so she learns that she can do things for herself instead of for the approval of others. It’s a “chick-flick” as they used to be called but it’s powerful like Bridget Jones is. 

 YOUR PLOTTING & BASIC STORYTELLING ARCS AREN’T WORKING

You want to be different and decide NOT to follow traditional story structure, or you simply don’t know or understand it, and therefore your story is flatlining. This isn’t because you aren’t a good writer or anything but you for some reason forgot about it, or didn’t think about it. Maybe you were focusing on wouldn’t it be cool or funny if scenes and not thinking about the big picture. 

That’s okay, for first drafts. 

You need to follow story structure. You don’t have to have your inciting incident on page 19 in your script or on the second chapter of your book but it does need to be at the beginning because it is the reason for this story. Your story starts with your character’s life being altered in some way. This needs to happen. 

Then you need to continue with traditional plotting and arcs, which I will cover in another blog but basically your story NEEDS these elements. 

Opening-WHO the story is about and WHAT they want or need

Inciting Incident-WHAT happens to set the story into motion 

New World-WHEN the story actually starts moving because of the inciting incident 

Middle-a CLEAR middle with a recommitment or mirror moment scene where your character decides to take some action 

Climax-everything comes to a head

All Is Lost Moment-when the character wants to give up or feels like they have lost whatever it is

Resolve-your character finds a way to come to a solution to her problem or how to live with her new life. 

These things must be there. 

Every scene in your story must move the story forward in these directions. There is no reason to have scenes there just because they are fun to write but don’t serve the story. Look at the strongest movies, books, or TV shows and they all do this! 

When you are super famous you can break the rules, but when you are new, or not a household name, don’t do it. Even when you are famous it can backfire. Story structure works for a reason. 

Ever have that friend who starts telling you a story and they just go on and on and there seems to be no point or they add in details that have nothing to do with what they are telling you? Don’t let that be your book or movie or TV show. 

Okay, my Dears! That is this week’s Story Concierge blog and I hope that you found it helpful. 

XO Stephanie

Please follow me on Instagram and TikTok for daily tips on writing and everything writer & story related 

TIKTOK https://www.tiktok.com/@stephbourbonauthor

INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/stepholivieribourbon/

Join my FREE Facebook group for women writers https://www.facebook.com/groups/StoryConcierge/

Sign up to be on my VIP email list here https://www.stephaniebourbon.com/join-my-email-list

 

How to Crush That Query

24 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Novels, Writing (film & television)

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Tags

novel, novel writing, query letters, query tips, screenwriting, screenwriting tips, Writing, writing community, writing query leters, writing tips

wlogo

 

Hello, Writers & Storytellers,

so I have started a new blog that is attached to my course and membership site which is hosted on Kajabi and I’d love you to head over there and check out my blogs that post every #writerwednesday but it’s okay if you still love it here too!

This week I wrote about CRUSHING YOUR QUERY LETTER. 

Here is the link to the blog over there. TAKE ME THERE NOW

Now, I’ll write about queries here as well! 

It’s not a difficult task to talk about our stories, right? You love telling friends and family and co-workers all about your novel, screenplay, or new idea for a TV pilot–it flows easily but for some reason when we go to write that query letter we get completely locked and it never comes out right.

Why?

This is like playing golf or any sport really, it’s a MENTAL GAME. You psych yourself out that this query is the most important piece of writing and your life depends on the outcome and then you forget how to write and you forget how to talk about your manuscript in a way that draws people in.

The pressure is too much!

It shouldn’t be.

So what I want you to do is change the way you think about queries and trust me, they will get easier.

Also, it is not the end of the world, whomever you are sending it to may or may not be the agent for you, so stop pressuring yourself.

I want you to be successful and I know you can do it! You can, you just completed and revised your screenplay, your novel, your children’s picture book, your TV pilot so you can do this!

I want you to head up to the link I posted before and to make it easy, here it is again.

TAKE ME THERE 

And if you still need more help, I’m offering a FREE look at your query for the entire month of July–meaning you can email me your query and I will look at it and give you some general feedback to help you get it right!

You can get in touch by emailing me at Stephanie@judaniebean.com and put CRUSHINGMYQUERY in the subject line.

Okay, that’s it for this edition of #writerwednesday and I hope you have a super day, week, month, and get that query written!!

YOU GOT THIS! 

XO Stephanie

It’s Been A While & I’m Celebrating

15 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Novels, Writing (film & television)

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screenwriting, TV writing, Writers, writers life, Writing, writing community

So I started a new blog that is on my website and I love this one so much that I promise not to go away forever but all my business coaches tell me that I need to focus on the one connected so I will do both!

Today I posted this

https://www.stephaniebourbon.com/blog/i-m-celebrating-the-positives

And I’d LOVE you to hop over and read it!!

More tomorrow, I promised.

Meanwhile, I’d love for you to come check out all the new things I am offering for writers just like YOU HERE

and please make sure to choose one and sign up so you will be on my list to get all the specials early for being a VIP.

Thank you for reading and being with me all these years!!

I couldn’t do any of it without you!

celebrate the small things!

 

XO XO Stephanie

Writing Goals Aren’t Just Important-They Are Invaluable

30 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Novels, Writing (film & television)

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Film, novel, screenwriting, TV writing, writers life, Writing, writing advice, writing goals, writing tips

Time for your writing goals for the week!

Good morning writers,

I hope you are amazing!

I also hope that you are writing down your writing goals for the week ahead. I find that when I have my plans or goals written out in a list I tend to stick to them and actually make them much more than when I say, “I’ll write whatever whenever I have time.”

That’s why for me #NaNoWriMo is so great. I always get an entire novel drafted. It pushes me to stick to daily word count goals.

Here are some quick and easy tips to make those writing goals work for you so you will accomplish more and get that draft done faster.

  1. Make daily goals-this can be word count or page count or scenes, whatever you need. Write them down somewhere that you can see them.
  2. Get an accountability partner to check in with. You don’t have to check-in everyday-there are no rules but whatever you want just check-in.
  3. Make the goals fun. Maybe you meet with your partner at a coffee shop every day for an hour, maybe you chat on the phone or via social media. Mix it up and have fun.
  4. Cross them off as you do them-this is like getting a star in school-just feels good.

Now for some don’ts.

  1. Don’t edit your writing as you go
  2. Don’t compare yourself to other writers you see on social media
  3. Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t make the daily goal–today is a new day.

 

I hope this is helpful and that you all have a very productive week!!

BONUS for reading. I have created a writers GOAL sheet JUST for you and it’s FREE!!!

You can get it here, make as many copies as you want, hang it up so you can see it and check off those goals as you make them! 

Happy Writing!

XO

Stephanie

BTW I’m taking a holiday with my husband for our first wedding anniversary AND we are moving apartments this month so I may post less than normal but you can find me on social media and I hope you join the STORY CONCIERGE FB group!

Tips for a Successful NaNoWriMo

27 Friday Sep 2019

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Novels, Writing (film & television)

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creative consulting, NaNoWriMo, nanowrimo2019, novel writing, Novels, Writing, writing advice, writing novels

Hello WRITERS

#NaNoWriMo tips!

First of all, I apologize for taking some time off from this blog. As many of you know, I am in the process of creating my signature online course STORY CONCIERGE and several mini-courses that will be budget-friendly and take less time to complete as we are all so busy and a lot of us don’t have a ton of money to spend on courses.

This said, I am rolling everything over to my course platform KAJABI and even this blog will roll over, so please be patient with me.

I also started a YouTube channel this summer and am taking the month of October off as life has gotten so busy and if you follow me on social media, you know that we are also moving apartments AND jetting over the Pacific Ocean to enjoy our one year anniversary in Hawaii.

There are no enough hours in the day.

SOOOOO I am doing #NaNoWriMo as I have done it every year since 2006 and one year when it first started before that. I love it.

I am going to be posting weekly videos AND FB lives AND Instagram stories all November giving support, tips, insights, and anything else that YOU need to have a successful month. 

You may add me as a buddy at https://nanowrimo.org/ I am stephnewyork

Here are some quick and easy tips!!

  1. Be open to whatever story you are writing–meaning–just be free and free write
  2. Don’t edit–just write
  3. Make a schedule. Usually, during NaNo I set aside a couple hours every month to write BEFORE I do anything else. Well, maybe you can’t do that but try to schedule this in–you will be more likely to do it if it’s on your calendar.
  4. Make a daily word count goal.
  5. Aim to finish before the end of the month so you have time to spare.
  6. Do NOT compare yourself to others
  7. Don’t expect this to be perfect right out of the gate.
  8. Don’t outline in October—I find those who do this often fail because they are trying to stick to an idea, whereas it’s better to just write. If you must outline, just do it as simple as possible as a guide, not a detailed map.
  9. Do go to write-ins online and in-person with other writers.
  10. HAVE FUN!!

Here is a FREEBIE—a goal sheet download for writers-—this can be so helpful for NaNoWriMo or any of your writing goals WRITER GOAL SHEET DOWNLOAD

Happy Writing xo 

Stephanie

BTW I’m taking October off from this blog as well but you can find me on social media

Join the STORY CONCIERGE Free FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/StoryConcierge/

Twitter https://twitter.com/stepholivieri

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/JudanieBean/ 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stepholivieribourbon/

 

Writing For Children!

04 Wednesday Sep 2019

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Novels, Writing (film & television)

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Children's books, kid lit, kidlit, Picture Books, Writing, Writing for kids, writing picture books

Hello writers! 

lowres1

This fall is going to be insanely busy for me, so I’m going to cut back and only post once a week to go with my YouTube videos. Then, hopefully, after things calm down I can get back to more than once a week.

This week’s video (YOU CAN WATCH IT HERE) is all about writing for children, and more specifically writing picture books.

This is something that I am asked about all the time, I see questions asked in kid lit groups on Facebook and other social media sites, and when I meet people out in the world.

It seems that everyone has an idea or wants to write a picture book. 

That is amazing. I believe that picture books can change the world. They are important, they are fun, they can teach lessons, they open up reading to children and the list goes on.

So YAY, you want to write one? 

Well, there are things that you need to know about writing them.

Please pop over to YouTube and watch the short video I created for YOU. AND grab your free PDF just for watching—and for being someone who reads my blog you can get your copy here too. 

I want to share this information with you because I want you to succeed AND I want children to read your book.

Let’s go!! 

Thanks for reading xo Stephanie

www.judaniebean.com

www.twitter.com/stepholivieri

 

 

Tuesday Tips~How To Find The Right Agent For Your Writing

23 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Novels, Writing (film & television)

≈ Comments Off on Tuesday Tips~How To Find The Right Agent For Your Writing

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author, author life, fiction, finding an agent, how to find an agent, literary agents, novel, publishing, query letters, researching agents, screenwriting, show business, TV writing, writers life

Searching for the right agent!

Cheers to all the writers & storytellers who are here today!

I want to talk to you about finding an agent because this is something I am asked about all the time.

“How do you find an agent?”

“I have no idea how to find an agent.”

“Where does one find an agent?”

“I heard that I need an agent but have no idea how to find one.”

and finally.

“Do I need an agent?”

Let me start with the last one and work my way back up.

The answer is both YES and NO. It really depends on what YOUR specific goals are for your books. 

If you want to be traditionally published by one of the big publishing houses in New York–then having an agent is definitely the way to go. Of course, like anything, there are always exceptions to this that will prove me and anyone else who recommends you get an agent wrong. Those exceptions might be when a writer meets an editor at a conference, or when a writer wins a contest, or something similar. Some publishing houses allow non-agented submissions too–that’s a horse of another color and I will do a whole blog post about that at some point.

The thing is, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, the reasons to have an agent far outweigh the reasons not to have one. 

Here is one example of a situation where having an agent is a good thing.

If you get an offer from a big publishing house–let’s say that you get really lucky and this happens–without an agent, you really are on your own to negotiate. I don’t recommend this for many reasons. Agents do these deals for a living. They know better than we do what is a good and what is a bad contract. They know the industry and they know what editors will be the best for you and your book.

***I have to stop and say–yes there are bad agents out there-but for the most part they are great to have on your side.

For the film and television writers out there-YES, YOU NEED AN AGENT. For all the same reasons that novelists do and more. The entertainment industry is so crazy competitive AND deals in Hollywood go south all the time. Your agent is the one who will have your back. Not only do they get your script in front of the right directors, producers, studio execs, they will also fight for you when you need it.

It’s the same as novels in that you could get lucky but it’s just not worth it in my opinion. I have worked in the film and television industry for more than 20 years and I have seen so many things go wrong that I would never go at it without an agent.

Yes, agents can make bad decisions too–they are humans, just like us but for the most part, they really are the best career partner you can have. 

“But aren’t all agents just there to make money?” 

download

Even if this was true and it’s not always true–that’s a good thing. This is SHOW BUSINESS. It’s a BUSINESS. Publishing is a business. The entertainment industry is a business. You want to make money.

***If you really don’t care or want money–you may be okay without and agent.

OKAY—now that we have decided that YOU NEED and WANT an agent.

HOW DO YOU FIND ONE? 

There are many ways to get an agent. 

Tomorrow my YouTube video on finding an agent comes out so please watch as a complement to this blog today!

Also on YouTube, I have a video all about why agents are rejecting your query letter and you can find that here.

Here are some of the ways that I have found to be effective for myself and others.

Join organizations for what you are writing. There you will meet other writers and most likely meet agents at conferences and events that are held within that organization.  Also, most of these websites will have a resource page that has agents listed.

*See resources at the end of this blog

Here is a video on attending conferences.

Writing conferences are great for meeting and making connections.

When you go to writing conferences there are often workshops or pitching events where you get to meet agents one on one. This is a great way to make a connection.  Keeping in mind that this isn’t the place to pitch to agents in the bathroom, hallway, in a workshop–unless they ask you.

Social Media is another great way to find and research your agent. Following them is perfect to find out what they like, want, who they already rep and if they are open to submissions. Don’t stalk them, but following them is really good. Many agents also participate in things like Pitch Wars on Twitter and use hashtags when they are looking for something specific-Manuscript Wishlist #MSWL. Then you go to their agency website, get the submission guidelines and submit.

Twitter and Instagram are both exploding right now (summer 2019) but Facebook is still a great way to make and create connections through groups and just being FB friends.

Social media is NOT a place to pitch unless asked to or as part of a pitching event. 

Trade books like Writers’ Digest Marketplace books—although with the recent bankruptcy, I’m not sure what will happen with those in the coming years.

Query Shark, Query Tacker, Publishers’ Marketplace are all great too.

Asking fellow authors and or writers who their agents are and getting recommendations to submit.

The most important thing to do is your research and take your time.

Don’t send out hundreds of query letters. Would you do that when finding a spouse or significant other? Or if you were hiring someone to join your business? No, you wouldn’t. Your agent is like a business partner, so you don’t want to rush it.

Be selective. When you meet agents at conferences, it’s a great idea to come home and Google them. Find their blogs, social media, and anything else you can about them. You may find that they aren’t a great fit even if you loved their workshop.

I will say that the biggest mistake I see writers making is being too broad and just submitting to anyone who will and or is accepting queries. Don’t be that writer.

This is an important step in your career. Whether this is your first or fourth agent, the process is the same.

I hope that this is helpful for you. Below are links to some great resources for your agent search.

If you have other resources that you would like to share, please do in the comments! 

 

For Children’s Book Writers

http://www.scbwi.org
http://www.kidlit411.com/

For novelists (any genre)

https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/
https://www.authorsguild.org/
https://www.rwa.org/
https://www.writersdigest.com/
https://www.agentquery.com/
https://queryshark.blogspot.com/
https://www.pw.org/

Video for TV writers

For screen and TV writers
https://www.wga.org/
https://scriptwritersnetwork.com/
https://www.hollywoodscriptexpress.com/literary-agents.html
https://screenwritingumagazine.com/2019/01/25/7-ways-to-get-an-agent-or-manager/

 

Resources from Judanie Bean 

SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER & FREEBIES
https://www.judaniebean.com/

JOIN THE FB STORY CONCIERGE GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/StoryConcierge/

TWITTER https://twitter.com/stepholivieri
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What Do You Want to Know? (About Writing)

16 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Novels, Writing (film & television)

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author, author life, author tube, Film, novel, screenwriting, screenwriting tips, story concierge, storyteller, storytelling, Television, writers life, Writing, writing coach, writing community, writing tips, you tube

what.jpg

Happy Tuesday Writers! 

I have decided a couple things about this blog! I love it, so don’t worry, it’s not going anywhere, but I may add the content from this blog to my new websites for my courses-both of my landing pages.

You can find them both in the links below

Judanie Bean presents STORY CONCIERGE  (this is still being built so this is a sneak preview just for you-my readers)

www.judaniebean.com  My writing website with links to my courses, YouTube, the Story Concierge Facebook Group and more!

The other thing is that since I’m posting videos on YouTube every week, I’d LOVE to get your input so if there is something you want to know about writing, working as a writer, publishing, getting an agent, story, writing queries—whatever it is and you want a video on it. Let me know!! 

You can comment here and or email me at stephanie@judaniebean.com 

I shoot the videos for YouTube 1-2 months in advance and will be shooting some later today and next week. I’m also BUILDING my Story Concierge Course as we speak–just for YOU, with YOU in mind so if there is something that you have been missing in courses LET ME KNOW!

I’ve been taking questions from writers and building from there but am super happy and open to suggestions.

Thank you so much for being here —- it’s GREAT to be back!

You can find me on YouTube every Wednesday and soon I will be doing two a week so please SUBSCRIBE

Cheers and happy writing!

    xo Stephanie

Writing Tip—JUST WRITE

11 Thursday Jul 2019

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Just For Fun, My journey into Hollywood writing :0), Novels, Writing (film & television)

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Writing, writing coach, writing community, writing tips

writingadvice

www.judaniebean.com

www.youtube.com/stephaniebourbon 

How To Survive A Writing Conference

09 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by StephOBourbonWriter in Children's books, Novels, Writing (film & television)

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Tags

author, author life, Film, novel, SCBWI, Television, tips for conferences, travel, writers digest, writers life, Writing, writing conferences, writing tips

writingtips

 

Good morning writers, or afternoon on the east coast. 🙂

Sorry that I missed yesterday. I’ll be honest, it’s getting a little overwhelming as I’m creating courses for writers, shooting videos and posting them on YouTube and keeping up with social media, but I’m still planning to be here every Monday and Tuesday for sure.

Monday Motivation & Tuesday Tips 

So please excuse my absence yesterday.

Today I wanted to give you some quick and easy tips for attending a writing conference.

I know so for so many it can be really scary, especially if it’s your first one. This is totally normal, trust me on this. I am an extreme extrovert and it’s still overwhelming at times and when I started? I wanted to hide in the corner and not talk to anyone.

It’s hard because you are putting yourself out there and that is terrifying.

I always think back to the film BACK TO THE FUTURE

 

And this is something that literally SHAPED me as a teen. I saw that and it changed everything for me. I had been acting and performing in musicals, and I was in band and dance so I was on stage a lot and sometimes was completely horrible–I’m 100% sure of it, but I always did think “what if they don’t like me?” then I saw this movie and I felt better.

If Marty feels this way and someone wrote him as a character then we all must feel this way and BOOM! My perspective shifted—for the most part.

Then cut to many years later and I’ve been published, spoken at screenwriting conferences, attended many and I was going to my first children’s book conference with three unsuccessful adult/mainstream fiction books under my belt and I felt like everyone would see that I wasn’t supposed to be there. I didn’t have a fancy degree or MFA in writing, I came from acting & animation, so I didn’t belong.

I remember like it was yesterday being in my hotel room at the Hyatt in Century City and changing my outfit 6 times. I remember texting friends to make sure that I didn’t walk down alone. I remember being terrified.

Then I ran into someone who I didn’t know was going to be there and she invited me to coffee and BOOM, it all went away. I quickly realized that these were my people-my colleagues–they were just like me. Sure some were further along on their journey but for the most part, they were me.

Conferences are great for many reasons. I joke that I go to them to socialize, but I go for many reasons, seeing my friends from all over the country and the world is just a bonus. I also get craft, networking, and submission information. Although that last part hasn’t really helped me because I usually come out of the craft and critique sessions with 6 months of revisions but the networking is amazing. You also can learn so much about the industry and how it’s changing.

I highly recommend going to them if you can afford it. It’s worth it.

I made a video that drops tomorrow on YouTube about it so please check it out and meanwhile take the tips in the image I posted and enjoy yourself.

I’m always around for help if you are feeling overwhelmed or nervous. 

Also on Twitter and other social media so many of us have posted articles and things like that about going to them.

From an article that I wrote in 2015 for the SCBWI Los Angeles blog-it was for that children’s book conference but all the rules apply to any writing conference in any genre.

THINGS TO DO

  1. Be yourself – be genuine, kind, courteous and thoughtful.
  2. Choose your breakouts/workshops based on your interests and desires, not just what your friends are doing. You signed up so make the most of it. You can meet your friends between them, and sit with them for keynotes, hang out at night. It’s great to be together, but this is your time.
  3. Show up on time to everything – it’s professional. Remember you only get to make a first impression once.
  4. Be open to critiques in the intensives, portfolio show, first pages, or anything where your work may be read or shown.
  5. Introduce yourself to someone, or many people, whom you have never met before.
  6. Do unto others – remember that? Treat others how you want to be treated – with respect, kindness, and consideration.
  7. Say THANK YOU a lot.
  8. Remember that everyone there is just like you, so ignore those feelings of “OMG, he/she wrote best selling novels so I am not worthy!” etc. You are just like them, they are just like you. Think of them as colleagues. They will be someday.
  9. Be excited to talk about yourself and your work, but without bragging, or selling.
  10. SMILE
  11. Be humble.
  12. Make real connections with people who you really like.
  13. Talk about things other than your work.
  14. Get, and hand out business cards, phone numbers and emails.
  15. Dress comfortably and stay hydrated.

Writing conferences are a great place to learn your craft, be inspired, and make life long connections. Be ready to have fun. If you are a shy person, like so many artists and writers, try not to be intimidated by the number of people there. It’s okay to talk to authors, agents, editors, and artists who you like. Just be aware of their time. So no pitching in the bathrooms, etc. Talk to people in pairs. If you have a more confident friend, ask them if it’s okay to hang with them, and/or get introduced to someone through them.

The art of the SCHMOOZE

If there is a gala, happy hour, or dinner/lunch you can meet tons of people in an organic way. Just be genuine, happy, and gracious all the time, and you can’t go wrong.

Don’t forget to tune into my YouTube channel and subscribe–this week, I am talking about this very thing in a short fun video!

Sign up for my newsletter, freebies, and information on my Story Concierge course HERE

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xo Stephanie

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