Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchEpisode 197 - That odd little thing for our character.
How can we make our character memorable for the reader? How can we make the character leap off the page and stay in the reader's memory? Here's how…
9 months, 1 week ago
Episode 196 - Importance of the character arc.
Readers want a character who can grow and change over the course of the story. Here is a discussion of the character arc: how we can use the arc to d…
9 months, 2 weeks ago
Episode 195 - The adopt a dog technique.
One of the best ways to have readers like our story is to have readers like--maybe even love--our main character. But we usually don't want our pro…
9 months, 3 weeks ago
Episode 194 - How to invent a strong plot.
We want to write but we don't have our story fully figured out. What can we do? Here are thoughts on inventing plot, things we can do to shake loos…
10 months ago
Episode 193 - Plotting: go big or go home.
Fiction's job is to entertain. A main way to entertain is to be bold with our plot. Here are thoughts on how to avoid the dull in our plot and how …
10 months, 1 week ago
Episode 192 - Plotting: the importance of conflict, crisis, resolution.
In fiction in all genres only trouble is interesting. How do we writers use trouble in our story? Here are thoughts on how we can plot using confli…
10 months, 2 weeks ago
Episode 191 - Do we know enough to write the first sentence?
When do we know enough writing techniques to start our novel? And when is the story ready to be written? I'll try to answer both questions. Also, …
10 months, 3 weeks ago
Episode 190 - The right way to leave red herrings.
Red herrings--false clues--are used in most all stories in all genres. Here are the right and wrong ways to insert red herrings into our stories. A…
10 months, 4 weeks ago
Episode 189 - Start as close to the end as possible.
Kurt Vonnegut said we should "Start as close to the end as possible." What did he mean? How can we do so? Here are thoughts on this famous piece o…
11 months ago
Episode 188 - How to make our writing fun.
Is your writing time becoming a grind? If so, here are some things that may reduce the grind and maybe even make writing fun. Also, here are thoug…
11 months, 1 week ago