L5L HOME

The Book You Were Meant To Write

Level Five Lit can get you there.

Art is fire plus algebra.

-Jorge Luis Borges

A Manageable Process

Writing a novel or memoir takes more than just ... writing.

A book is a long-term project that requires different skill sets at different phases. We've broken the phases of writing, assessing, and revising a book into five tiers. A tiered approach helps writers avoid overwhelm and build confidence in their work.

The Five Phases Are:

1. Discovery

2. Structural

3. Narrative Technique

4. Craft & Style

5. Line Level

Join our mailing list to learn more

Stay True to Your Story

Writing courses, workshops, and feedback on your pages should make your story shine, but too many writers end up feeling like they have to sacrifice their story to "fit" a prescribed writing method.

Level Five Lit teaches an intuitive, holistic approach to building a book - character first and author-led. Take what you know and learn how to apply it to your unique story.

Professional Guidance at an Affordable Price

Meet Abbie & Libby

We're developmental editors with decades of experience working with screenwriters, memoirists, and novelists.

We founded Level Five Lit for writers who are serious about learning their craft because they want their books to be taken seriously.

We offer group workshops with the mission of teaching writers everything we know about the magical process of writing, assessing, and revising a successful book.

Join Our Mailing List

Stay updated on our latest workshops, free webinars, and more. Subscribe to our mailing list to become a part of our community!

Subscribe Now

Join Our Mailing List

Stay updated on our latest workshops, free webinars, and more. Subscribe to our mailing list to become a part of our community!

Subscribe Now

Meet Abbie & Libby

We're developmental editors with decades of experience working with screenwriters, memoirists, and novelists. We founded Level Five Lit for writers who are serious about learning the craft because they want their books to be taken seriously. We offer group workshops with the mission of teaching writers everything we know about the magical process of writing, assessing, and revising a successful book.

Abigail Raeke is a developmental editor based in Portland, Oregon. Abbie is on a mission to help aspiring authors achieve their publishing goals. Creative writing can be taught. Her instructive style demystifies the narrative process and breaks down how to build a strong book.

Libby Baker is a developmental editor based in Los Angeles, California. Libby helps screenwriters become novelists, and novelists write their best books. Stories are powerful! Libby has devoted her 25+ year career in the arts to telling meaningful stories and guiding others to tell theirs.

A Comprehensive Approach

We developed Level Five Lit because too many writers struggle with a piecemeal approach to writing a book. If there's a writing method, grid, blueprint, or turning point journey you've tried, we're probably familiar with it - they're all great tools!

Each tool represents an important step in one or two of the Five Phases. Breaking the book-writing process into distinct phases enables you to understand where you are in the process, which skills to sharpen, and how to level up your manuscript. Becoming a confident writer means making tools your own, knowing when and why to use them, and when to switch to the next phase.

Learn How To Assess and Revise Your Book

If you struggle to finish or revise your novel or memoir, it might begin to feel like you have to "fit" your material into a prescribed writing method.

The problem isn't a lack of excellent writing resources. The problem is that writers are left to puzzle out how to apply one-size-fits-all techniques to their unique story and process. The right tool(s) at the wrong time can frustrate rather than inspire your work.

Learn More

Join our mailing list to receive educational newsletters, information about free webinars, and writing workshops

How to Build a Book

Write, assess what you've written, and then edit. This process repeats itself on small and large scales until your book is complete. Yet, how do you assess your manuscript? How do you revise?

A universe of craft and technique lives within this simple cycle. You don't need to learn all of it, but you need to know enough to make informed decisions about what's best for your story and your process.

We are there with you as you write, and we teach you how to assess and revise your novel or memoir. It's never too early, or late, in your draft to begin!

A Manageable Approach

If you struggle to finish or revise your novel or memoir, it might begin to feel like you have to "fit" your material into a prescribed writing method.

Level Five Lit is different.

We are developmental editors who break the overwhelming book-writing process into five phases. Writers shouldn't have to plug away in the dark and then pay thousands of dollars for repeated manuscript evaluations and edits.

We teach affordable group workshops and courses with the intention of providing authors everything we know about structure, technique, and the book-building process.

Drawing on core story theory, we empower writers to develop holistic structures that elevate their books. Remain true to the inspiration that first lit you up!

The Five Phases

A well-crafted book requires skills in all five phases:

1. Generative/Exploratory

2. Structural Elements

3. Narrative Technique

4. Craft & Style

5. Line Level

Our mission is to teach dedicated writers an intuitive, story-first approach to write, assess, and revise their novels or memoirs.

Click here to watch a free video on The Five Phases

Learn about our courses and upcoming workshops

FAQs

Do I have to begin in the Generative Phase and work through the phases in order?

Not necessarily. You don't have to take the courses in order. Writers cycle through the phases as they develop their own process. The Five Phases is a teaching paradigm to ensure that writers have the core skills and story concepts necessary to develop a successful (crafted for readers) manuscript.

Working in any of the phases will strengthen your writing and your work in progress.

Am I a good fit for Level Five Lit?

We believe that writing is both a craft and an art. Craft aspects are relatively easy concepts to learn, but they take a lifetime to master. Our courses teach core craft and story concepts, providing practice to incorporate tools into your writing and make them your own.

We are not the best fit for a writer who needs their book to be finished within X number of months. If you want to become the best writer you can be, if you're open to exploring what your story wants to teach you, Level Five Lit is a great fit. We serve writers who have always wanted to be authors, or who have a story that won't let them go; writers who can't not write for one reason or another. We're here for you!

Do you provide editing services?

Yes! We still take 1:1 clients and provide manuscript evaluations. We do our best work when you've had the chance to develop your best work. Level Five Lit courses are designed to prepare writers for professional edits.