Remembering Susan DeFreitas

Last week I was heartbroken to learn that author and editor Susan DeFreitas recently died from cancer.

Susan has been a frequent and valued contributor to this site, with more than 40 unique and informative articles for writers. She first reached out to me in 2017, suggesting a guest post on toxic feedback, generating a vibrant discussion in the comments. Her most recent guest post went live in early February 2025 on wave structure for scenes.

I also partnered with Susan on online classes, where writers benefited from her warm and generous instruction. Just a handful of the many positive comments we gathered after:

Love love love Susan Defreitas’s insights and expertise.

Susan’s knowledge of how the whole is made up of the parts brings a deeper understanding of the parts as a homogenous whole rather than puzzle pieces that may or may not make a viable picture. Thank you for sharing your heart.

This was honestly riveting! I found everything Susan shared to be exceptionally valuable, thought-provoking and clearly articulated. The power point was easy to follow and not overwhelming and her pace of delivery of lots of complex material was perfect. It’s apparent that she loves this subject matter and that made it a delight to learn from her. As an actor, I found that Susan’s perspective about film characters was a reminder of how actors do their interior work to fully ‘become’ the characters they play. This led to an “aha!” moment: I can borrow from that background to get into the heads of my characters. This was a lovely and unexpected encouragement to realize that I know how to approach this better than I had anticipated.

Jennie Nash has written a lovely tribute.

You can still buy Susan’s classes and help support the family she left behind. She’s also editor of the Le Guin anthology, Dispatches from Anarres.