A Love Story: Tips on Writing Romance

July 1st, 2024  |  Season 8  |  4 mins 28 secs

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Tips from romance writers on how to write an enchanting love story that is fresh and will leave your readers wanting more.

Imaginary Creatures, Real Biology

June 24th, 2024  |  Season 8  |  7 mins 43 secs

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What if the creatures of folklore existed alongside us? How would we need to rearrange our taxonomic systems to incorporate them? What sorts of diseases would we need to watch out for? And what could you do to keep them away from your magnolias?

Character Creation: 8 Tips for Getting to Know Your Characters

June 17th, 2024  |  Season 8  |  7 mins 43 secs

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Learn how to create compelling characters for your story, here are 8 techniques for getting to know your characters

Taming Your Squirrels (A Writer's Guide to Staying Focused)

June 10th, 2024  |  Season 8  |  6 mins 49 secs

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Writers often are full of ideas and have an ever-growing list of projects to work on. Day-to-day life can get distracting and staying focused long enough to finish drafting and polishing a project can be an ongoing challenge. Here are some tips and tricks from other writers on staying focused.

Incorporating Critique

May 20th, 2024  |  Season 8  |  6 mins 8 secs

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Someone’s read your work in progress… and they have feedback. How do you know what should be worked in, and how can you do it so that changes feel consistent with what you’ve written? How can you deal with conflicting suggestions? What’s the difference between constructive feedback and a reader’s personal preference?

Working with a 3 Act Structure

May 13th, 2024  |  Season 8  |  7 mins 46 secs

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The three-act structure has been the standard in Western storytelling for millenia. How can we create innovative, exciting work in a format the audience is expecting? How do we make the middle part powerful and lasting when most of the attention-grabbing moments are at the beginning and end?

Yes! That IS a Real Word

May 6th, 2024  |  Season 8  |  3 mins 36 secs

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Language exists to share a thought or concept. If you manage to do that? Congrats! You've used a REAL word. At least in my opinion.

Warning Signs for New & Independent Authors

April 29th, 2024  |  Season 8  |  11 mins 6 secs

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It’s a jungle out there for new writers. Do you know the difference between a real publisher and a vanity press? What kind of scams are currently circulating? What rights are you giving away when you sign that contract… or even enter that contest?

7 Ways Writers Handle Rejection

April 22nd, 2024  |  Season 8  |  5 mins 51 secs

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How do you deal with rejection?

13 Types of Responses Writers Get When Querying Agents

April 15th, 2024  |  Season 8  |  12 mins 35 secs

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Otherwise known as "Tales from a form rejection letter connoisseur"

How many of these have you gotten? Any I missed?

Picking a Point of View

April 8th, 2024  |  Season 8  |  6 mins 18 secs

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When you're writing a story, you need to pick a point of view. (POV)
First, second, or third? Close or omniscient? And whose story are you telling?

Drafting a Manuscript Using Voice-To-Text

April 1st, 2024  |  Season 8  |  9 mins 38 secs

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When your words aren't flowing, sometimes that means you should mix things up. Have you tried using your phone and these 5 tips?