About the show
Welcome! If you want to hear writing tips from the big names, the medium names, and everyone else, look no further.
As a blogger, vlogger, and actively querying fantasy author, I am addicted to attending all the writing panels a person could possibly attend at a convention. We're talking about attending upwards of 25 hours of panels in 3 days.
Fortunately for you? I love sharing my copious notes.
But, I also get real. I share my writerly musings: my struggles, my failures, and... hopefully, my writing successes.
Thanks for listening.
- Morgan Hazelwood
Writing Tips and Writerly Musings on social media
Episodes
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Reading Aloud
October 12th, 2020 | Season 1 | 4 mins 34 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, public speaking, reading aloud, writers, writing, writing tips
I like going to panels on 'reading my own work', dreaming about the day when I'm asked to give a book reading of my own. In this episode, I talk about the 5 aspects of reading aloud and ways to optimize each aspect.
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No PitchWars For Me This Year
October 9th, 2020 | Season 1 | 2 mins 48 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, pitchwars, writers, writing, writing tips
While PitchWars can be instrumental and the community is active year-round, in this flashback episode, Morgan talks about her reasons to skip participating in 2018.
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World Creation: Built On The Shoulders Of Giants
October 5th, 2020 | Season 1 | 8 mins 14 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, george rr martin, writers, writing, writing tips
In this episode, I share my notes from this panel on world creation featuring George RR Martin, I took notes on world-building, magic systems versus science, making your work stand out to publishers and more.
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The Pitchwars Community and Me
October 2nd, 2020 | Season 1 | 10 mins 11 secs
beta-reading, books, community, critique, pitchwars, writers, writing, writing tips, writingcommunity
Pitchwars, an online mentorship opportunity, has been instrumental for me in building my community. Today, I share about how this came to be and the importance of making writing friends at the same stage of their careers as you.
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Creating Rules Of Enchantment
September 28th, 2020 | Season 1 | 5 mins 20 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
When creating magic -- you can start with the characters, the world, or the magic -- but if you don't make the rules internally consistent, your magic system breaks down. In this episode, I'll be sharing tips on how to make your magic work.
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PitchWars versus The Publishing Industry
September 25th, 2020 | Season 1 | 6 mins 43 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, pitchwars, writers, writing, writing tips
The PitchWars mentorship competition has a lot in common with the publishing industry as a whole. In this episode, I compare and contrast the two.
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Just Send It! When To Stop (Re)Writing
September 21st, 2020 | Season 1 | 4 mins 36 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
When writing, it's hard to know when you've reached that finish line. That point where it's not going to get any better and you're just rearranging chairs on the deck of a ship. Today, I'm sharing tips on knowing when you need to stop editing and just submit your story.
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A Message To My Fellow #PitchWars Hopefuls
September 18th, 2020 | Season 1 | 5 mins 44 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, pitchwars, writers, writing, writing tips
There is a writing mentorship opportunity called "#PitchWars", that lets writers with polished manuscripts who just aren't getting traction -- or who want another set of eyes before they start querying -- query for a mentorship opportunity. Here is my message to all of you who are waiting and hoping with me.
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Writing Fight Scenes That Work
September 14th, 2020 | Season 1 | 10 mins 32 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
When writing a fight scene, it can be easy to turn the entire fight into a series of stage directions -- but that's not going to engage your readers. Today, I'm sharing notes on how to start a fight, what are the rules, and how to make the point-of-view work for you.
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10 Questions To Ask Your Beta-Readers
September 7th, 2020 | Season 1 | 7 mins 53 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
If you're writing, you're probably going to ask someone to read your work and give you feedback, at some stage. And? The best way to get feedback you can use? Is to ask for it. Today, I'm sharing the 10 questions I ask my beta-readers -- plus a few bonus questions.
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3 Things That Make A Great First Line
August 31st, 2020 | Season 1 | 11 mins 32 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
The first line of your novel has to do one thing and one thing only -- make your reader want to read the second sentence. Today, I'm talking about the 3 things that can make that first line GREAT.
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Who Else? Writing Secondary and Minor Characters
August 24th, 2020 | Season 1 | 5 mins 45 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
You can have the best protagonist in the world, but if your world isn't populated with three-dimensional secondary and background characters, your world is going to seem mighty empty. In this episode, I share notes on how to flesh out those background characters.