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When an Author’s Backstory Sparks a Story Idea

At the very first My Book Therapy (MBT) Storycrafters Retreat in 2010, Susie May Warren had the attendees complete a seemingly simple – and insignificant – exercise on page nine of our workbooks.

I kept that workbook, the one with the working title of my manuscript scribbled inside the front cover: Wish You Were Here. Thanks to that weekend and how it changed my life and my writing, Wish You Were Here became a “real book” in 2012.

And I refer back to that seemingly insignificant exercise on page nine time and time again.

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Some Shameless Storycrafter Retreat Promotion!

Where did the time go? That’s the thought I had as I hung up with an aspiring writer after spending two hours helping her with a novel. We had so much fun brainstorming her book the time slipped away.

I love helping writers find their story. And I’m blessed when I receive feedback like this:

“Something in your approach (all those check points and lists) caused some pieces to click into place that hadn’t before so that I could think better about the process.”

My favorite moment in teaching – when I hear an “ah ha!” or someone looks up at me with a sparkle of understanding in their eyes.

That’s what the MBT Storycrafter’s Retreat is about – helping you unlock your story. Whether you’ve written a handful of stories or are just starting out, we’ll spend a weekend working together to help your publishing dreams and goals come true.

You come with an idea, and leave with a story.

I’m going to brag for a moment on a few of my former attendees:

Mulit-published non-fiction author Beth Vogt showed up thinking that she’d just listen in, pretty sure writing fiction wasn’t for her. After I barred the door and told her to “come to the dark side,” she discovered she had a fiction voice. Look for her 3rd novel with Howard to hit the stands this spring!

Marketing guru Melissa Tagg knew she had a story in her- but she just didn’t know how to untangle it from her brain. She wowed us with her first chapter – and walked away on fire to write. Her first book came out with Bethany House last month!

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The Writer’s Emotional Bank Account — How To Make A Deposit

Q: I just finished NaNoWriMo and now that I’ve completed my first draft, I can’t seem to settle down and focus to start the rewrite. Do you have any tips or ideas? A: Awesome question. First, congratulations on finishing your novel, or most of it for some folks. That is a huge accomplishment. NaNoWriMo is a great tool for authors because it forces us to set a goal. We are writing toward something. It also joins us with other writers and creates a bit of buzz and excitement, even a bit of competition, that keeps us going. Most goals are like that: end driven. We want to get to the end and achieve what we started out to do. But then what? So, you have 50,000 or more words on […]

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The Power of A Rewrite

Q: Dear Therapist, I hear that novels are not written they are rewritten. But I edit as I write. Is that considered rewriting?, all I feel I need is a final polish. Why should I spend time with a rewrite? What do I gain? A: I love this topic. To rewrite or not to rewrite… that is the question. Let’s just say up front, everyone has a different writing process. Fast, slow, edit-as-you-go, write and rewrite. Early risers, late nighters. A thousand words a day. Five thousand words a day. Writers come in all shapes and mind-sets. Some writers plot to the minute detail. Others have a loose idea of what they want to do when they sit down to write and let the story come to them day by […]

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