You've been thinking about that story idea for years but just can't sit down and write it. You've heard a million of your grandmother's stories from the old country and want to memorialize them but don't know where to start. Your online community has taken over your time and your eBook assignments have been piling up. You finally got through that outline, draft, or manuscript of your latest travel memoir but you need some outside direction. With my years of experience in both marketing and memoir writing, we can take your project and create a cohesive narrative that's true to your voice and creates your perfect universe.
The journey is much like a months long spa experience for your heart and your mind. Walking through the process together, we'll dig deep and excavate for all the nuances of your story to discover the general themes and overall message that makes your story unique. You'll get to explore your story from all sides of the cube, and you'll have an opportunity to talk obsessively about your thoughts, imaginings, and perspectives.
THE GENERAL PROCESS:
- Research and discovery - The initial research phase can be a laborious but highly rewarding experience as you'll never know what you'll uncover or if the initial outcome will completely shift! We'll research complementary works, conduct interviews, and maybe even go to the library!
- Outlining -
We'll stuff the outline with everything we want to be included and then some. This is basically the blueprint for your dreamhouse that you know is way out of your budget. We'll layout everything we've gathered from the research phase and piece it together in a general order. We don't want to get married to anything in the outline, but helps to give us an understanding of the general shape and flow of the story. Yeah, you'll feel a little like Charlie in It's Always Sunny, moving chunks of the story here and there trying to find the best flow. But it's fun to get a little manic sometimes!
- Drafting - You'll take a break and I'll get to work writing. Filling in all the imagery from the outline, giving the dialogue body and the story texture. We'll tennis the story back and forth refining the smaller story arcs and points. We'll start to discover who the reader is and the best way to communicate to them. The rhythm of the story will reveal itself to us and we'll start to carve the final story from its natural form.
- Editing - For memoirs and non-fiction, we'll make sure all the facts have been checked and are illustrated correctly. For fiction, we'll make sure that there are no plot holes and that the whole story fits in the universe you created. This is the last chance to add any new content and spice up the dialogue.
- Proofing - I go over the manuscript with a fine tooth comb correcting any typos, grammatical errors, syntactical errors, and format inconsistencies as well as formatting it to publisher specifications.
There's no story in the world like yours. Give it the chance it deserves to stand out!