Crushing Your Query Letter

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Film, Novels, screenwriting, storytelling, Television, TV writing, writers life, Writing, writing tips

This week I want to talk to you about your query letter. If you already have an agent then you may not need this, but you can always also brush up on how to pitch your work for when you are meeting with studio executives, and or new editors/publishing houses, and for when you are on the agent hunt again. I have had 4 agents for writing in the last 20 years and whenever I have had to start looking again knowing how to put together a query letter has really helped me.

First of all, if you haven’t grabbed this already, please grab this free guide to perfecting your query letter. It will make you sign up but don’t worry, it won’t put you on the list twice but just give you the FREE resource I have created. Also, you can forward this email to your writer friends who could use it. DOWNLOAD CRUSHING YOUR QUERY HERE

Now that you have the workbook let me go over the basics of what your query letter needs to be successful.

1. It needs to evoke emotions of some kind. The agent wants to know that you can connect with readers. How do you do this? Through emotions. You do this with your HOOK. You hook the agent and your readers in by making an emotional connection. How do readers connect if you have a book about a wizard? Well if he is an orphan and lives under the stairs, well, there it is, you immediately feel for him. If it’s about a clueless teenager living in Beverly Hills obsessed with fashion and things that don’t matter but in a funny way, it makes you feel something? Joy? Hate? Silliness? This is how you get the reader in the store to buy and it’s how you land your agent. Many times your query letter is what ends up on the back of the book. (No pressure)

2. It needs to tell us WHO the story is about and WHAT happens to them. For example, Harry Potter (and I know people are sick of Harry Potter, but everyone’s read it so it works). Harry is a 10-year-old boy living under the stairs of his abusive aunt and uncle until he finds out he is a wizard. That tells us WHO-Harry, and WHAT-he finds out that he is a wizard. Let’s take TWILIGHT. Bella is a 17-year-old who moves to a small town in the PNW to live with her father and is miserable until she falls in love with Edward, a vampire. We know WHO and WHAT. Bella falls in love with a vampire so we know already there are going to be complications, possibly death, and forbidden love. The detail of her moving to the PNW to live with her father tells us that her parents are divorced which informs character. For Harry, the fact that he lives under a staircase and is living with his abusive aunt and uncle tells us that his parents are gone or dead, he isn’t treated well and he what he needs more than anything-a family.

3. It needs to tell the agent the genre and word count with two comp titles. This is to show the agent that you know where your book fits in and you know your audience. It’s important and should be at the top of the query with the personalized note as to why you have contacted this agent. Agents know that you are submitting to multiple agencies but they also like to feel like you chose them and aren’t just sending to anyone. The comp titles should be in the last 5 years and should be in the same genre and age group. For example, if you say that you wrote a book that is STRANGER THINGS meets GENERATION MISFITS the agent knows immediately what that is. A middle-grade book with some supernatural, possibly slightly scary elements about friendship and pop music—sound interesting? Yes, it’s fine to use film and or television if it fits. You can use older titles. I got many requests for a YA novel that I pitched as ALL THE BRIGHT PLACES meets THE SIXTH SENSE and yes the movie referenced came out in the 90s–so there are exceptions, but that film is one that everyone knows and reading that agents knew immediately that there was a ghost element and that someone didn’t know or possibly didn’t know they were dead.

I read queries every single week that are still missing these basic elements and I’m sharing this with you so you can skip past the thousand revisions and get it right so you can find that perfect agent match and get signed so you can get that book or movie out into the world. It’s not super easy to get an agent but you can do it! I know you can. You just have to have the right tools, and spend the time getting to the core of what your story is about and why people should care about it.

HOMEWORK~Write down what is unique about your book. Make a list of all the emotions you want to evoke. Use just one word to describe your story. Build on that slowly until you have a full sentence that tells us WHO and WHAT the story is about. You can do it!!

Live, Love, Create!

XO Stephanie

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Why Silicon Valley Has It All

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character, Comedy, Film, screenwriting, screenwriting tips, silicon valley, storytelling, Television, TV writing, writers life, Writing, writing comedy, writing tips

This may be a few years late, but I want to talk about a show that has it all! 

SILICON VALLEY

*pulled from IMDB-Silicon Valley (2014–2019) … Follows the struggle of Richard Hendricks, a Silicon Valley engineer trying to build his own company called Pied Piper

Let’s break down seasons-1-3 (it starts getting a bit more serious at the midway point) 

It has 👇

✅ Great characters

✅ Comedy that comes from character (not joke, joke, joke)

✅ Diverse cast

✅ Heart-meaning, we CARE Let’s break it down. 

The characters

Richard Hendricks-our protagonist/Lovable Loser who is kind, smart, a bit nerdy, pretty much always chooses the wrong thing but we care and root for him. He’s real and authentic.Erlich Bachman-Materialistic One/womanizer – he’s brash, arrogant, causes a lot of trouble and we love to hate him, but mostly love him because he is helping our main protagonist and his group of creators—for his 10% thoughBertram Gilfoyle-Bastard always a jerk to everyone including Richard but especially Dinesh. We have all worked with guys/gals like this. They are smart and arrogant but we need them. Dinesh Chugtai – Logical Smart One – basically is the only one who is always thinking straight and is solid. He doesn’t freak out or anything, he is just steady. Nelson “Big Head” Bighetti-another Lovable Loser-seriously this guy does nothing, isn’t good at anything like the others but keeps getting moved up. His only real qualification is being Richard’s best friend. Donald “Jared” Dunn- another Logical Smart One. Honestly, I could take or leave this guy but in understanding this business, I know these types are always there. Monica-the love interest? Maybe, maybe not. She, like, Erlich, causes a lot of problems, but we like her because we believe she means well.  Then you have the non-main characters but the ones who support the mains. Peter Gregory – billionaire whose company was funding Pied Piper until he died suddenly in a freak accident while on safari (while in real life the actor passed away from cancer in 2013) Played by Christopher Evan Welch based on the co-founder of PayPalGalvin Belson-clearly based on the two founders of Google. He is just a rich businessman and our antagonist for Richard and his gang. He’s all business.Jian-Yang -one of the housemates living in Erlich’s free incubator home for startups.Russ Hanneman also a billionaire but a serious douchebag and it was hard to watch Richard get involved with him.  

Comedy

that comes from character and the situations they are in but it’s not a sitcom. This show has dark comedy and it’s almost hard to watch. Unlike shows like FRIENDS or SEINFELD, you come back to Silicon Valley or go to the next episode because we NEED to know what happens. It’s not laugh-out-loud funny, well…maybe sometimes it is, especially if you know any people who are like this, but it’s meant to be a smarter comedy that all the humor comes from character. It’s really well done. I suggest that you watch it and study it. There are NO JOKES. Also, get Steve Kaplan’s book on writing comedy. THE HIDDEN TOOLS OF COMEDY  Some of the things that happen seem absurd but they all come from character. One of the most pivotal moments for Richard was when he created something unique and he did it based on a stupid argument Dinesh and Bertram were having literally about jerking off people in the audience. They got so specific about it and spent hours making charts on a board to figure the math out and it gave Richard an idea. It seemed random but it wasn’t “wouldn’t it be funny if” (two nerds argued about jerking others off–which would have been low-brow humor) but it was used to illustrate their characters and move the story forward in a big way.  

Diverse cast

You seriously can’t have a show that takes place in Silicon Valley without doing this so well done to the creators for getting this spot on. They didn’t just toss in some other races besides white to be inclusive, which is happening a lot lately, they did it because it informed the story. It was also authentic and realistic.  

Heart

We care about the characters and if they succeed. I was thinking about the show on the way to work meetings, going to the dentist, when I was at work-most comedies don’t have that kind of power, but my heart was in it for Richard and his company. If you can’t stop thinking about a show and the characters like they are real people, then they are doing their job extremely well. Sometimes it was hard to watch as Richard keep choosing the wrong thing but this is also so real to startups in the area and over the years. It’s so well written and plotted out that we are sucked right into it.  These are the reasons I am writing about this show that aired 7 years ago because it’s really great and if you are writing characters for anything it’s worth studying. SILICON VALLEY is currently on HBO Max

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How To Write A Story That Works

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Comedy, how to write, novel writing, romantic comedy, screenwriting, storytelling, TV writing, Writing, writing comedy, writing community, writing tips

Hello Writers, today I’m talking about writing a story that keeps the reader or audience invested, and evokes something to talk about after.

This is important. Many stories are just “meh” and they should have worked but didn’t.
I never want to cut any writers, cast, crew, directors, authors, publishers, or anyone who is working in a creative field down so please know that everything I write about I am only doing so to give you examples of things that didn’t work–and let’s be honest, everyone who worked on these projects knows that they didn’t go the way it was planned–box office & sales is usually a big indicator-not always because some great stories are never huge successes but you know what I mean. Stories that should have worked but didn’t.
ALEX & EMMA – rom-com film from 2003. About a writer who needs to finish a novel in 30 days or he’ll be murdered by loan sharks. The reason it didn’t work was both in the plot and the characters.
THE LOVE PUNCH – rom-com film from 2013. A divorced couple schemes to get back money that was stolen from them. The reason it didn’t work was really in the plotting and how everything just worked out for them, as well as many unbelievable things that happened.
JOEY – comedy television show spin-off of FRIENDS. Joey Tribbiani moves to Los Angeles from New York to pursue his acting career. Why it didn’t work? So many reasons, but the big one is that there was too much of the “wouldn’t it be funny if” and not enough character development and or reasons for anything.
PAN AM – drama television show. This show relied too heavily on nostalgia and not enough on character & plot. It could have been great but fell super flat.

Stories that WORKED and why

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY – rom-com film 1998. Two friends who are complete opposites can’t see what is right in front of them and continue to make mistakes with romantic relationships. Complete opposites who don’t even like each other at the beginning-but every single thing they say is there for a reason. The plot and story arcs progress in a natural manner and everything that happens moves the story forward. Everything, even the famous scene where she pretends to have an orgasm in the diner, that shows who she is, and also that Harry is often wrong about his assumptions about women. When they get together it messes up their friendship which shows us that they really love each other even if they won’t admit it. It’s real and nothing that happens is based on “wouldn’t it be funny if”.
IT’S COMPLICATED – rom-com film 2009 by Nancy Meyers. A divorced couple launch into an affair after their son’s graduation. I don’t know why this doesn’t have a higher score on IMDB because it’s completely brilliant. Here is a story about a couple who already know each other and have been divorced for some time, he is remarried to a younger woman and yet they have an affair. Why it works is because of character. Everything that is done is true to who they are as people. She wants her life back, or so she thinks, and he is having a later than a mid-life crisis with his new young wife wanting to have a baby. He wants to feel normal and she wants to feel desired so they fall back into bed, and comedy happens naturally. The plot also unfolds in a natural progression and there are some very funny scenes that move the story forward.
FRASIER – comedy television show-spin-off of CHEERS. 1993 Frasier moves back to Seattle to start his life over and ends up living with his father. This show works on every level and for a spin-off, it’s quite brilliant. We already knew Frasier but we didn’t know Marty (his father) or Niles (his brother). They could have failed so hard with this one by just having the same Frasier we met at the bar in Boston. High & mighty snob commenting on how everyone is below him, but that would have been boring so the writers introduced us into Frasier’s world with a father who is everything that Frasier thinks he is above. Marty is uncouth, blue-collar, beer drinking, rather watch a game at McGinty’s Pub & eat burgers that cost under $10 whereas Frasier & Niles wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything blue-collar or setting foot in a pub. The comedy writes itself. Every episode is riddled with juxtaposition in the characters. They never do anything just to be funny. Everything they do in every scene is to reach their own goals but their character is what makes it so funny. The show is also rounded out with Frasier’s job as a radio psychologist where Niles has his own practice. The secondary characters of Roz and Daphne bring even more layers into Frasier’s world. We also never meet Nile’s wife but his actions and dialogue make it clear who she is and it’s naturally funny.
DOWNTON ABBEY – drama television series 2010. A chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.Oh Downton why are you so perfect? Character and plot/story arcs that work. From the very first scenes where you have the father of this rich family reading a paper and talking about people they knew on the Titanic and how this would affect their family in a way that would change everything to seeing the servants actions and reactions to the news and getting the day going, we are enticed to watch more. The first thing they got right was opening with a historical event that has a worldwide fascination, even now, 109 years after the sinking. Then they showed us who the characters were through dialogue and actions. There was never anything that told us who they were, they showed us. Through the years things that happened in real life like WW1 showed up and played a huge role on the show and that also came with the unexpected loss of favorite characters and like all great series ended every episode making us crave the next one. What will happen next?? I need to know. They rounded the show with characters who we loved to hate but also cared about like Thomas the footman turned valet turned second Butler turned Butler. The showed us human kindness and how we are all alike even when separated by class.

To craft a story that works you need two things.

Well, you need many but these are the two that you MUST have.

1) Great CHARACTERS-which means, your characters must have their own personality as well as wants and goals in every scene. Everything they do must happen for a reason. If you look at shows like FRIENDS or EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND you see that in every scene the characters’ intentions are for what they want the outcome to be. When you have a juxtaposition of characters’ wants and needs comedy happens. There is no reason to write a bunch of jokes for the purpose of being funny. For dramas, it’s basically the same principle. Take CHICAGO PD and GREY’S ANATOMY. Both are strong ensemble shows with characters who are very distinct and the way they act, speak, and do everything comes from WHO they are and nothing else. AND your character must be the author of their own destiny. Harry got help from his friends in all of the books/movies but it was because of what he did that it happened. (HAPPY POTTER) You can’t have things just work out or have someone else solve the problem or save your characters. In comedy as well, they are the master of their own disaster-always and then they realize some change they need to make, take responsibility and it works out. THE PROPOSAL Margaret realizes that she is doing the wrong thing so she takes action and leaves Andrew at the altar and faces the consequences.
2) Great PLOT/STORY ARCS-this means that your story must move along at a pace that keeps us interested and you must follow the format for what you are writing.Your story doesn’t have to be filled with action. Take DOWNTON ABBEY-it’s a bit slow sometimes but still we can’t look away. Look at SEINFELD or FRIENDS most of which takes place in apartments but we were excited every week to see what happened in their lives. The plotting worked always. When you are writing anything you have to think in terms of beginning, middle, and end. There has to be an end goal and then you must give the story ups and downs. Stories that work in a straight line or everything works out too conveniently fall flat and we stop reading or watching.
I know you can do it!

I recommend the following books to help you.

SAVE THE CAT THE HIDDEN TOOLS OF COMEDYTHE PLOT WHISPERER WRITE YOUR NOVEL FROM THE MIDDLE WIRED FOR STORY

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Romantic Comedy Character Archetypes & Who Needs To Be Included

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character, character archetypes, how to write romantic comedy, romantic comedy, screenwriting, storytelling, TV writing, Writing, writing novels, writing romantic comedy, writing tips

This week I’m talking about characters in comedy, specifically romantic comedies. What I am seeing in a lot of work that is coming in is the stereotypes of the snarky leading lady-who honestly, no one, not even our leading man, would like because she’s too awful, and the womanizer leading man-who again, why would anyone give him a chance? And then the other characters are throwaways. 

Please don’t do this with your secondary characters, they can be just as important if not more important than your leads!! 

The TV show FRIENDS, which came out in 1994 was originally called, Monica & Friends, meaning Monica was the leading lady soon it really became all about Ross and Rachel but in the beginning, it was Monica’s story. 

When the show opens we see Monica and her friends handing out in a coffee shop, establishing who they all are and soon a bride-to-be walks in crying (inciting incident)-Rachel. We see through he actions and dialogue that she is a spoiled rich girl from Long Island who went to high school with Monica. Monica’s world changes when Rachel moves in with her–(new world). The show was Monica’s story and soon became an equal ensemble cast due to the strong character types. 

Another great comedy is Modern Family. You could say it’s about Claire’s family? Or Jay’s? Probably Jay’s since he is the patriarch of the family, but all the archetypes are there and it works. 

Novels are different-or are they? 

Take Crazy Rich Asians–

The story opens with Rachel and Nick at their favorite coffee shop and he is asking her to go to meet his family where a wedding is to take place. Little does she know who she is with. 

Rachel-leading lady

Nick-love interest

Then we go to meet Eleanore -the mom

the story also has, the best friend, (for both of them), the side-kick, and a very strong B story running throughout. 

One more example. In Hallmark’s Christmas movie Let It Snow you have a main character/leading lady, a love interest, friends, and parents, and a boss (bad guy-who isn’t so bad, it’s Hallmark after all and he’s also her father-of course in comedy we keep them all connected). This is a simple plot where the main character hates snow and is trying to impress her father (issues with feeling accepted) so she tries to get a village’s snow valley lodge shut down but she meets her love interest and realizes that she has had it wrong all along. It’s simple but works. I know a few of you are writing light romantic comedies–and they are fine but the ones that work have these characters in there. 

You don’t need to have ALL of them but you should have a good combo-the archetypes are who the characters are, and you can have them in any role in your story. 

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES

1. Lovable Loser

2. Logical Smart One

3. Neurotic

4. Bitch/Bastard

5. The Dumb One

6. In Their Own Universe

7. Womanizer/Manizer

8. Materialistic One

I’ll use FRIENDS (available on HBO Max for streaming and also runs on cable every day)

1. Lovable Loser (Pheobe)

2. Logical Smart One (Ross)

3. Neurotic (Monica)

4. Bitch/Bastard

5. The Dumb One (Joey) 

6. In Their Own Universe (Chandler) 

7. Womanizer/Manizer

8. Materialistic One (Rachel) 

You could argue that some of them cross over. 

Okay, I’ll do  Legally Blonde to-they aren’t all in there.

1. Lovable Loser (Serena & Margarette)

2. Logical Smart One (Elle)

4. Bitch/Bastard (Vivian) 

6. In Their Own Universe (Paulette)

7. Womanizer/Manizer (Prof. Callahan) 

Now look at it in terms of WHO must be in a romantic comedy-they can be any of the archetypes from above but these people need to be in your story.

Leading Lady -Elle

Love interest- Emmett

Ex-lover/boyfriend/soon to be ex-Warner 

Villain/bitch-Vivian (all the smart students) and Prof Callahan 

Side-kick/friend-Paulette

In Steve Kaplan’s book, The Hidden Tools of Comedy he goes over the archetypes in COMMEDIA basically how it all started-which is great and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book.

Back to the beginning of this newsletter-using stereotypes-if you do, make sure that you do it in a unique way. Why would you want your leading lady to be snarky and bitchy? What is the point? 

In The Proposal-Margaret is bitchy but not snarky-and we find out why she is like that when she opens up to Andrew-there is always a reason for that behavior, or there needs to be. 

In The Devil Wears Prada-Andrea is the leading lady and is sweet, innocent, and a little naive (at least in the film version, in the book she is a little more jaded-or becomes jaded quickly) and Emily is the bitchy one. 

Make sure if you go there, you have a reason and you must make them likable in some way, or readers or viewers won’t care. 

I hope this was helpful!!

Happy writing! XO Stephanie

Grab my new workbook on the 5 tips to writing a romantic comedy HERE

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Breaking Down Legally Blonde~The Perfect Romantic Comedy

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Comedy, legally blonde, novel writing, romantic comedy, screenwriting, storytelling, TV writing, Writing, writing rom coms, writing tips

Hello Writers!

This week, I’m breaking down a popular romantic comedy from twenty years ago that nails it when it comes to story structure! LEGALLY BLONDE

How Legally Blonde Does it Perfectly!

When this film came out I lived with a roommate, whom I’m still friends with so I mean her no disrespect here but she was like, “ugh, so stupid, who would go see that?” and I replied, “I saw it and it’s really good” and then I explained why. She still wasn’t interested in it but that was part of her “I’m too cool to watch and like anything commercial” vibe but she did listen. 

It’s not just that I liked, well LOVED, Legally Blonde, it’s that they got it right from the opening act to the end, it’s spot on and why I am using it today to show you how to create the perfect story structure–if you are writing romantic comedies this is especially a great example but even if you aren’t, the principles work for you! 

In romantic comedies, there are traditionally 7 story beats or arcs. 

1. Setup / promise of the story
2. Inciting incident
3. Turning point
4. Midpoint / Raising the stakes
5. Swivel: second turning point
6. Dark moment / crisis
7. Joyful defeat / resolution

 Let’s go over Legally Blonde now.  

I also want to note that one of the main reasons that Legally Blonde works is that in the very beginning the writers show us that Elle is actually smart. There is a scene at a snooty store in Beverly Hills where two sales ladies decide that Elle is a ditz with a credit card but she puts them in their place with her knowledge of design, the designer, the fabric, the tailoring, and they shut up. 

That was brilliant and made the entire rest of the story believable. If they had kept her as some stupid blonde, her getting into Harvard never would have been believable. 

Here are the seven beats in traditional romantic comedies!

1. Setup/Promise of the story– We meet Elle and find out that she is graduating from undergrad and is expecting a proposal from her boyfriend, Warren. We learn that she wants to marry him. That is her goal. 

2. Inciting incident-he breaks up with her so she decides to go to law school to get him back/get back together

3. New world-turning point-she attends Harvard 

4. Midpoint/mirror moment/recommitment-Warren tells her that she’s not smart enough, so she changes her focus realizing that she’ll never be good enough 

5. Swivel-next turning point-she is chosen to help with a real trial where she knows the defendant and holds her ground on the alibi

6. Dark Moment/Crisis-her professor hits on her and she gives up believing that no one will ever take her seriously because she is pretty and that’s all they see. 

7. Resolution-she goes back into court with the help of a guy she meets (this is the 2nd storyline BTW) and wins the case for her defendant 

In your writing, you want to make sure to have these plot arcs or beats. It’s important to use the story structure formats that we all know because they work. If you have been faced with rejection of any kind-even from critique partners, or are getting feedback that your story is flat, rewriting out the beats will help you get it into shape! I promise

Legally Blonde is on Netflix now, so your homework is to go watch it and look for these moments. 

Happy writing! 

XO Stephanie

Legally Blonde  written by Karen McCullah & Kirsten Smith (screenplay) and Amanda Brown (novel) 2001

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Do What You Love

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creative life, do what you love, screenwriting, TV writing, Writing

Happy Sunday! Usually I blog on Wednesdays but I decided to toss in a bonus blog this week because this has been on my mind a lot! Here’s a little reminder if you are stuck in a rut!

DO WHAT YOU LOVE and accept nothing less for your life and career. 

 TRUTH ~ when my mother was sick with lung cancer about two months before she died when she knew it was growing again and she would need at least one more surgery that would probably leave her paralyzed from the waist down she said to me “if I make it out of this, I’m going back to painting. I hate graphic design.” I knew she wasn’t making it out of it. I hoped, but I knew she wasn’t going to, and this crushed me. I thought, “I don’t want to be dying and have regrets like that.” It changed the course of my life. You see, society tells us from the moment we are born that we need to do certain things. Get a college degree, get married, own property, pop out some kids, and have a steady career that makes money.Art and everything creative is fine for a hobby but not for a career. Why is that? EVERYONE enjoys art.

Yes even those who pretend that they are so above it all that they don’t own a TV, go to the movies, go to concerts, etc.. and yes all that POP CULTURE stuff? All the commercial films and TV shows, and books, etc.. all that is ART TOO.  I once had a friend of mine go off on an article she read about an actor on set who was wasted and he was caught from mandatory drug testing on that set. She was pissed off because she felt that it was a “nothing industry” and wasting money that should be going to something else.  I was like, “Um don’t you watch movies? Shouldn’t the sets be safe?” only to get an F you and delete from her FB friends list.  Movies are art. TV is art. Comics. Video Games.Books….etc.  This is all art! Sorry if I got distracted about this but as a creative, I’m passionate about it and I refused, and have refused my entire life to accept anything less for my career. Full transparency here—I don’t own a house and I don’t have kids. I always thought I would have those things but the kid thing didn’t happen because like in my career in my life I refused to get married just to get married. I watched my mother get divorced in her 40s and marry the man she really loved at 49. She didn’t love my father in the way she should have. I asked once when I was in my twenties, why she married him and she said, “because that’s what we did back then”  It made me sad so while I always hoped that I’d get married in my thirties and have kids, when I hit my thirties the universe had other plans and started killing off members of my family almost yearly, it was devastating, and at the time I was working in animation-which I did love-but it wasn’t my dream, it was a great job in the entertainment industry. But dating and marriage? That just wasn’t a priority as I had to survive.   Survive grief and survive my career.  *** BTW I met the man I love in my early 40s and married him in my late 40s and I’m so happy that I waited.I made it work because I always knew that I had to continue to do what I love. What is that? Working in entertainment. Being a creative. Storytelling and everything that goes with that.  

I have a chapter in a new book called She Did It And So Can You that explains what I did to make this work for me. And there are 16 other stories too. You can get that HERE it just hit number 1 on Amazon and is an international bestseller. 🍾❤️ I want you to really think about what you are doing 40 hours a week and ask yourself these things. Is it what I LOVE?Does it bring me JOY? If I was dying today would I have regrets?  Be honest with yourself. If the answer to the top two are no and the third is yes, please make a plan of action to do what you love.  A friend & colleague sent me this email today  “I’ve been studying all kinds of self help things lately, and they all boil down to what you said in your email about the book: Following what makes you happy.  I’m so glad you found that out while you are young!” It’s important to always do what you love!  In my upcoming career course, STORY CONCIERGE, for female writers who work in (or want to) film, television, and novels I go deeper into this and WHY it’s important to always follow your dreams. 

You can get on the waitlist HERE and by signing up for that list you will get access to free trainings that are coming this spring.  I want you to be happy and never have regrets. Do what you love always!  If that is writing, then write. If it’s painting, then paint. If it’s having a boring desk job, then have a boring desk job!  Don’t let society or ANYONE tell you what you need to do and or how to live your life.  Okay, that’s my extra blog for today. Come back on Wed for some writing craft or career tips to help you succeed and reach your dreams!!  xo Stephanie Here is a YouTube video I did from 2019 on this very subject CLICK HERE

Follow me on social media Twitter https://twitter.com/stepholivieri

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JOIN MY FREE FB GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenwritersstorytelling/

Find out more about what’s new https://www.stephaniebourbon.com/JudanieBean

The 5 Stages of Becoming a Successful Writer

Tags

fiction, fiction writing, screenwriting, TV writing, Writing, writing books, writing novels, writing tips

Hey everyone, I created a new e-book called the 5 Stages of Being a Successful Writer and you can grab it HERE

I created this to help you get past those mental roadblocks and limiting beliefs you may have around submitting your work and being successful. As a creative, we are taught to repeat the mantra of “I’m a starving…..” enter writer, artist, actor etc.. we have been trained to be the “broke….whatever” and I call BS on that. You can be a successful writer. I hope this is helpful to you!!

xo Stephanie

#writerslife #amwriting #writingcommunity #storytelling #screenwriting #TVwriting #novelwriting

It’s Been A While & I’m Celebrating

Tags

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!

 

XO XO Stephanie

Are You Writing A Novel? The NOVELRY Can Help!

Tags

novel writing, screenwriting, TV writing, writers life, Writing, writing advice, writing novels

Hello fellow novelists!

As you know I am building courses to help you reach your dreams.

Part of my concierge service is recommending amazing courses and workshops with other coaches because I believe that there is enough to go around and not every course is for every writer. When I work one on one with you we go over in detail what your dreams and goals are but when I’m not with you I can still recommend GREAT places for you.

In my new workbook coming winter 2020 (so in a month or two, or three MAX) you will do exercises that help you get to your storytelling path that you create or we can create together when we work one on one.

In the meantime, I am going to continue to share amazing places for you. One of them is THE NOVELRY and you can find out more and sign up HERE 

 

I’m super excited to share my affiliate link with you and I wish you the best in your writing. Please subscribe to this blog so you will be up to date with everything I am building for you.

As well, find me on social media, and grab a FREEBIE here as a GIFT as a token of my gratitude for your support.

Story Concierge Main Course Website HERE

Please follow me on social media

Twitter https://twitter.com/stepholivieri

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

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

and join the Story Concierge FB grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/StoryConcierge/

XO

Stephanie 

Writing Goals Aren’t Just Important-They Are Invaluable

Tags

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

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!