Episode Archive
205 episodes of Writing Tips and Writerly Musings since the first episode, which aired on August 20th, 2020.
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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.
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5 Tips For Pacing Your Novel
August 24th, 2020 | Season 1 | 4 mins 21 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
When you're writing, you want to keep the reader interested -- without overwhelming them. Getting the pacing right can be tricky. In this episode, I discuss five tips for fixing your pacing.
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4 Tips For Finding The Right Editor
August 24th, 2020 | Season 1 | 8 mins 29 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
Every writer needs an editor at some point in their process. But, getting the most out of an editor requires picking the right type of editor. In this episode, I discuss the types of editors and things to watch out for.
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What Lies Beneath: Adding Subtext To Your Story
August 24th, 2020 | Season 1 | 9 mins 46 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
You're a clever reader, you don't need everything spelled out for you. Neither do your readers. In this episode, I talk about how you can add subtext to your stories.
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10 Tips To Fix Your Query Letter
August 24th, 2020 | Season 1 | 17 mins 41 secs
beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips
When you're looking to be traditionally published, step one is to write a book.
Step two? That's to query a literary agent. Here are 10 steps to take your first attempt and make sure you get that second look from an agent.