Writing and Personal Development

Dream Bigger

The Best Reason to Write

As a professional developmental editor, I help authors transform

• ideas into themes,
• points into supportive structures, and
• structure into a compelling story.

Smart authors work on these changes before they choose a style, a shape or plot, or finish the first draft. They should be looking for personal development, not fame and fortune.

Successful writers ardently use their writing to learn more about themselves, and how they’ll help readers to grow or understand.

SMART Writing

Here’s how to improve your craft and your life. They improve together.

1. Be Specific. Clearly identify your intended audience. Don’t fret about excluding potential readers — they will still notice you. Also, be very clear on your story’s point. Identify a specific action or mindset change that readers will consider.
2. Measurable. A grand story doesn’t measure numbers; its scenes and steps within scenes should be countable. Readers who can sense where things stand the narrative arc keep reading.
3. Achievable. Unless your book is fantasy, the goal or new equilibrium your main character is moving toward should be consistent with the ideal reader’s experience. Keep the endpoint enticing and believable.
4. Relevant. A happy reader can relate to your point or theme, based on their own past experience. Make sure your main character’s journey is relevant to the ideal reader’s long-term goals and values.
5. Time-Based. Every journey should build and resolve tension, following a timeline. No suspense means no readers.

There’s no reason or benefit to passive observing what occurs in your story. The more actively you keep yourself involved, the more vivid, readable and rewarding your story will become.