Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEpisode 124 - Save the cat plotting.
Blake Snyder's famous Save the Cat plotting--where he describes fifteen beats a movie screenplay should have--is useful for us novelists. And wonder…
1 year, 8 months ago
Episode 123 - The beauty of a professional submission.
How can we submit a manuscript that meets the industry's format expectations and so avoids an amateurish look? Here's how to do it. Also, how the b…
1 year, 8 months ago
Episode 122 - Getting inside a villain's mind.
We aren't villains, and we likely don't have the background and personality of a villain. How can we get inside the mind of a villain for our story,…
1 year, 9 months ago
Episode 121 - The biggest mistakes new writers make.
Sometimes new writers have a strong plot idea and they begin writing without learning much about fiction writing. Here are the ten most common mista…
1 year, 9 months ago
Episode 120 - The most important element in fiction.
We learn many techniques to improve our fiction writing. Is there one big thing we should think about first, the most important element? Yes, and w…
1 year, 9 months ago
Episode 119 - Making our sentences instantly stronger.
Here is a technique--it's magical--to make our sentence-by-sentence writing instantly stronger; avoiding qualifiers. And how to use good dialogue ta…
1 year, 9 months ago
Episode 118 - Naming characters and the framing device.
Naming our story's characters is fun but there is a big technique involved, which we talk about in this episode. Also; the iceberg theory of writing…
1 year, 10 months ago
Episode 117 - Making multiple submissions, and a strong dialogue technique.
It's critical for us writers to make multiple simultaneous submissions. Here are some thoughts on why it's so important. And I mention a wonderful…
1 year, 10 months ago
Episode 116 - Advice from your lifestyle counselor, and mistakes when describing our setting.
Where can we turn when wondering about whether we should continue reading a novel? Right here, for some thoughts on reading. Also, here is a discus…
1 year, 10 months ago
Episode 115 - Downer titles and words that echo poorly.
Some novels--even novels that are great literature--have titles that are downers: titles that are sour and pessimistic. Here are thoughts on why we …
1 year, 10 months ago