Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEpisode 110 - Book cover design, and regaining enthusiasm.
Good advice about designing your own book cover; don't. If you self-publish your novel don't ruin it with a do-it-yourself book cover. Here are t…
2 years, 3 months ago
Episode 109 - How we can stop stalling and get going.
Some of us have a hard time beginning the writing of our novels or short stories. Here are the reasons why and things we might do to overcome them. …
2 years, 4 months ago
Episode 108 - Every description should do double duty.
We can avoid inert paragraphs by having our descriptions do more than one thing at once. Descriptions of our characters, settings, and action and o…
2 years, 4 months ago
Episode 107 - The differences between literary and commercial fiction.
Should we categorize our novel as literary or commercial? What are the benefits and drawbacks of doing so? Also, we can improve our dialogue writin…
2 years, 4 months ago
Episode 106 - How to write a scene's sequel, and plotting the novel's middle.
Jack Bickham says that scenes should be followed by sequels. Here are thoughts on how to write a sequel. Also, the middle of a novel--sometimes cal…
2 years, 4 months ago
Episode 105 - A technique for plotting scene to scene, and my failed writing experiment.
What is the best way to plot our novel, plotting from scene to scene? Here is a discussion of the critical technique of avoiding a scene's set up an…
2 years, 4 months ago
Episode 104 - Let's get to work, and showing with dialogue.
What if we are stymied in our plotting, and can't think of enough story? Here are some thoughts on how we might get to work. Also; one of the best…
2 years, 5 months ago
Episode 103 - The joy of creating something out of nothing. And, is our new plot point a strong one?
We writers get to experience the joy of creating something--a character, a setting, an event--out of nothing. And, how can we tell if the new plot p…
2 years, 5 months ago
Episode 102 - Lovely sentence-by-sentence writing, and pumping up our creativity.
Most of us subscribe to the our-words-should-be-a-clear-window-to-the-story technique but some writers intentionally make their sentences beautiful s…
2 years, 5 months ago
Episode 101 - The phrases notebook, and avoiding our plot bogging down.
A phrases notebook is a remarkably useful tool for writers. Here's how to create one. Also, sometimes while writing we might get the feeling that o…
2 years, 5 months ago