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The Better Writer Weekly

Olivia Bedford | Book Coach & Developmental Editor of Genre Fiction

Subscribe to the Better Writer Weekly for actionable writing advice, personal stories, and tips for making your entire life better (whatever that means to you).

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Featured Post

Throw the food on the floor

Hi Reader, To start, thank you to everyone who filled out the survey I sent earlier this month! The consensus is that you all love learning from live workshops, which is perfect because I used to be a teacher! I'm already making plans to roll out a live class next month, so stay tuned for more information! Now, let's talk about throwing food on the floor. If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably seen the newest addition to the OHW team - my puppy, Minerva. If you haven't, you can see...

over 1 year ago • 2 min read
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Hi Reader, All of my edits start with a pre-project survey. I ask about the client’s writing history, their goals, and the things that they are most concerned about in their draft. A recent client started the edit telling me they wanted to create the next Sarah J Maas-level bestseller. There’s just one problem. Their genre and themes are too niche. But that’s not a bad thing. Is this writer likely to become a household name? Nope. (Sorry, I’m not in the business of selling false promises)....

24 days ago • 2 min read
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Hi Reader, On Monday, I officiated my second wedding in Sedona (and yes, that’s why this newsletter came out behind schedule). Everything went well except for the part where I forgot to tell everyone to sit down after they stood for the bride’s entrance (I blame a combination of nerves & the fact that it wasn’t written into my script). Oops… Thankfully, it was an intimate micro-wedding, and everyone had a good laugh when the photographer finally came up the aisle motioning for people to sit....

29 days ago • 2 min read
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Hi Reader, If you’re reading this email right now, there’s a very good chance that you came to me through my Revision Kickstart Guide. I originally created this guide to introduce writers to the part of the revision process that most frequently gets skipped, forgotten, or ignored. Specifically, the prep phase. I’ve given the Kickstart Guide out at conferences, on my website, and on the podcast. There have been a couple of different iterations, and this one PDF has brought so many amazing...

about 1 month ago • 2 min read
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Hi Reader, Tools beat rules every day I had a conversation with a writer recently that made me a little sad and a little angry. Not because of the writer - she was wonderful - but because of the struggle she’d gone through before finding me and the misapplied advice that led her down that winding road draft after draft after draft. She’d been told to show instead of tell. So she was trying her best to show everything. But here’s the thing: “show, don’t tell” is a massive oversimplification....

about 1 month ago • 3 min read
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Hi Reader, The division between plotters and pantsers is often treated like a feature of the drafting process only. Some people plan ahead, some people wing it. Some people draft with an outline in hand, some people don’t. Then, those writers are supposed to meet at the end of the drafting process and head into the revision journey together from then on out. That’s a problem, though, because the difference between plotters and pantsers doesn’t magically disappear when you type “The End” on...

about 2 months ago • 3 min read

Hi Reader, On Monday, Minerva ran away from her new doggy daycare. (Just FYI, if you’re new here, Minerva is the beloved canine Chief Fun Officer here at Olivia Helps Writers.) What followed was a seven-hour saga of searching for her, crying, searching some more, frantically sending out alerts through her microchip company, and finally, the sweet moment when we were finally reunited with our filthy but uninjured baby girl. Yes, we are those dog parents; she is our baby, and I won’t apologize...

about 2 months ago • 5 min read
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Hi Reader! This week on the podcast, I talked about why I’m shifting my business from just editing to mostly coaching. You can listen to the full episode here, but I wanted to give you the sparks notes version via email because the reasons that I shifted to coaching are the same reasons why I think that most first-time writers should consider hiring a coach instead of a developmental editor. Developmental editing is great, but it only provides feedback on a snapshot of your manuscript in...

2 months ago • 4 min read
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Hi Reader! For anyone who doesn’t already know, I was a teacher for almost 10 years. In that time, I saw students thrive, and I saw students fail. Across grade levels and subject areas, a trend emerged. The kids who did well weren’t always the smartest or most passionate. In fact, I had students who thrived in discussions but failed because they never submitted writing assignments. Some of that was likely due to undiagnosed learning differences or home situations that hampered academic...

3 months ago • 4 min read
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Hi Reader! Welcome to everyone who just joined this newsletter from Develop Your Premise! I had so much fun chatting worldbuilding & story logic with Daniel and I loved seeing all the ideas that our discussion sparked. It was a lovely reminder that people are what makes fiction special. Every writer in that session could take the same exact premise and come away with a completely different novel. We would focus on different aspects of the world; our main characters would have different traits...

3 months ago • 4 min read
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Hi Reader, Next week, I’m heading up to New Hampshire to tour wedding venues (just FYI, a new podcast episode is queued up, but I will be taking a break from this newsletter while on vacation). In addition to my fiancé, both my parents and his will be joining this venue quest. No, this story isn’t setting up another email about conflict; our parents get along remarkably well, and my future mother-in-law has defied the monster-in-law stereotype in every way. Instead, I want to talk about the...

4 months ago • 3 min read