Susan DeFreitasSusan DeFreitas

Susan DeFreitas is the author of the novel Hot Season, which won a Gold IPPY Award, and the editor of Dispatches from Anarres: Tales in Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin, a finalist for the Foreword INDIES. An independent editor and book coach, she specializes in helping writers from historically marginalized backgrounds, and those writing socially engaged fiction, break through into publishing.
The Fascinating Neuroscience of Scene
Image: on a playing field, a red kickball hurls toward someone who's poised to kick it.
According to neuroscience, scenes make the reader feel as if they are actually in the world of the story. And ...
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How to Get Emotion on the Page: 2 Most Critical Tactics
A woman's hands are clasped just below her neck, as if taken aback.
To truly put your reader in the emotional position of your POV character, focus on conveying body language and internal ...
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3 Critical Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Draft (or Revise!) a Novel
Image: yellow notepad paper is arranged on a green background to represent the shape of a cartoon speech bubble, with three crumpled wads of yellow paper aligned like an ellipsis in the center.
Before spending time on a story that doesn’t work, ensure you’ve addressed the critical questions of character, plot, goals and ...
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How Big of a Problem Is “Head Hopping”?
Image: three antique sculpted heads on pedestals sit on a rough wooden table.
Switching POVs within the same scene should only be tackled by experienced fiction writers, and only when it reveals something ...
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/ Ask the Editor
3 Key Strategies for Effective Fiction—Derived from Neuroscience
Image: a white porcelain head painted with black lines indicating which areas of the brain control cognitive functions.
Science says these three techniques can draw your readers in, keep them engaged, and provide them with a compelling experience ...
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3 Ways That Writerly Grit Leads to Publishing Success
Image: aerial view of woman in sportswear lying on a gymnasium floor. From this angle, she appears to be hanging from a semi-circular line painted on the floor.
It takes grit to seek and implement qualified feedback, and to keep finding ways to improve a manuscript even after ...
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How (and How Not!) to Write Queer Characters: A Primer
Image: close-up photo of a face painted with rainbow colors, the subject's eyes gazing intently at the viewer.
Tips for avoiding stereotypes and tokenism, and presenting more interesting, complex, three-dimensional queer characters ...
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Why Write When the World Is on Fire?
Image: a lone person stands watching distant smoke rising, silhouetted against a colorful sunrise.
In times of sickness, cultural upheaval, and real existential threats, perhaps stories matter more than ever ...
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The Secret Ingredient of Successful Openings
Image: miniature wooden carvings representing standing figures. At the center is one figure, painted blue, lying down.
A story intro that shows internal trouble, signaling the beginning of a character arc, makes agents and editors sit up ...
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Want to Write a Great Novel? Be Brave.
Image: Hand holding a bottle cap with "Bravely done" printed on the inside.
Imbuing a character’s story with your own life experience—the good, bad, ugly and transformational—unleashes your book’s full emotional power ...
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What Makes a Story Feel Like a Story?
Image: young woman with a concerned expression, hold a telephone receiver.
What’s the difference between a story and a narrative that merely relates a series of events? The protagonist’s internal struggle ...
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Maybe It’s Not Your Plot
Image: a person walking on a floor which is decorated with curved patterns and illuminated with light from a multi-colored window.
Character arc—a protagonist’s internal journey—is less obvious than the events of the plot, but it’s what makes a story meaningful ...
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Can Fiction Make a Difference in the World?
Can Fiction Make a Difference in the World?
When sociopolitical discourse seems entrenched, good fiction can dig deeper with honest curiosity about all facets of the human experience ...
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Starting Your Novel With Theme: 3 Strengths and 3 Challenges
Image: a castle on a mountaintop above the cloud line.
In the last of a three-part series we examine the advantages and disadvantages of starting with theme, as opposed to ...
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Starting Your Novel With Plot: 3 Strengths and 3 Challenges
Image: close-up of a clock tower in a miniature city
Writers focused on plot are often strong when it comes to world-building and “big ideas,” but there are inherent challenges ...
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Starting Your Novel With Character: 3 Strengths and 3 Challenges
Cartoon illustrations of many different types of people
Fiction writers who start with character, as opposed to plot or theme, have certain advantages—and certain challenges ...
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The Alchemy of Emotion: 6 Key Strategies for Emotionally Affecting Fiction
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To create the alchemical magic of emotion in your fiction, you need to approach the challenge from more than one ...
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3 Key Tactics for Crafting Powerful Scenes
Image: young man sitting against a tree in the evening, reading a book from which emanates a glow
When placed intentionally, crafted well, and set up via emotional context and backstory, scene might be the writer’s most powerful ...
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3 Common Pitfalls When Writing From Your Own Life
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Factual details can be great fuel for your writing, but it’s crucial to recognize when adherence to them is getting ...
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Backstory and Exposition: 4 Key Tactics
Image: painting of a man whose face has opened like a door to reveal the child he used to be
There’s a good chance that getting these essential elements right are among the biggest challenges you’ll face with your novel ...
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The One Thing Your Novel Absolutely Must Do
The One Thing Your Novel Absolutely Must Do
There’s only one thing that any novel must do if it’s going to succeed, and that’s arouse the reader’s curiosity ...
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Don’t Hold Out for Publishing to Make You Feel Seen. Here’s Another Goal Instead.
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Publication is elusive and in many ways out of your hands, but feeling seen is something that writers can offer ...
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Where Novelists Get Stuck: 3 Common Issues with Early Drafts
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Writing can be a lonely process, and it’s easy to feel stuck. Editors and coaches can help identify the common ...
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What Your First 50 Pages Reveals
What Your First 50 Pages Reveals
To gauge your manuscript’s pitch-readiness, turn a critical eye to the query letter, synopsis, and first fifty pages ...
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Developing a Writing Practice, Part 7: Engrained
Developing a Writing Practice Pt. 7 Engrained
The science suggests that repetition can make a new practice reach the “second nature” part of your brain sooner, creating ...
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Developing a Writing Practice, Part 6: Captivating
Developing a Writing Practice Pt. 6 Captivating
Employing the science of captivating rewards is one way to keep yourself excited about and engaged with a big writing ...
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Developing a Writing Practice, Part 5: Neurohacks
Developing a Writing Practice Pt. 5 Neurohacks
In some ways, the idea behind neurohacks is simple: Fake it till you make it. Or, fake it until it ...
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Developing a Writing Practice, Part 4: Easy
Developing a Writing Practice Pt. 4 Easy
Many dream of publishing a book, but actually sitting down to write one seems hard. Preparation and limiting your choices ...
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Developing a Writing Practice, Part 3: Important
Developing a Writing Practice Pt. 3 Important
A lot of the people who genuinely want to write a book never do so, because they never find a ...
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Developing a Writing Practice, Part 2: Community
Developing a Writing Practice Pt. 2 Community
Don’t feel like you have to go it alone—others are on the same journey, ready to offer encouragement and applaud ...
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Developing a Writing Practice, Part 1: Stepladders
Developing a Writing Practice Pt. 1 Stepladders
Studies show that making meaningful progress toward big goals is best served by focusing on the small steps that will ...
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How to Tell If You Have What It Takes to Succeed as a Writer
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A book is often the product of teamwork. The ability to revise—to accept feedback and apply it with diligence and ...
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3 Critical Things You Won’t Learn in an MFA Program
Image: three keys
Writing takes grit and so does publishing, but your odds are better if you understand what you’re up against. In ...
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/ Business for Writers, Guest Post
When Your Query Reveals a Story-Level Problem
novel query problems
When novelists struggle to pitch their work, it may have more to do with the book itself than the query ...
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/ Getting Published, Guest Post
What It Really Takes to Break Through with Your First Book Deal
What It Really Takes to Break Through with Your First Book Deal
In many ways, it’s never been harder to get a traditional book deal. At the same time, there have never ...
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/ Getting Published, Guest Post
How to Spot Toxic Feedback: 7 Signs That the Writing Advice You’re Getting May Do More Harm Than Good
toxic feedback
If you recognize the following characteristics in the critiques of your work, it may not just be inept—it may, in ...
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