Balancing Story and Scientific Authenticity

July 6th, 2026  |  Season 10  |  4 mins 48 secs

beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips

How getting the science right improves a story, types of science you can use, and aiming your story for the right audience.

Reluctant Heroes

June 29th, 2026  |  Season 10  |  6 mins 2 secs

beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips

The reluctant hero: Not every protagonist wants to be the hero of the story. How do doubt and hesitation develop heroic characters, and how does reluctance change over the course of a narrative?

Here are tips on:

• motivations to demur
• ways they're relatable
• favorite tropes

Giving Your Work Away For Fun and Profit

June 22nd, 2026  |  Season 10  |  7 mins 7 secs

beta-reading, books, critique, marketing, writers, writing, writing tips

Everyone loves free stuff, but authors need to pay the bills. Can you make money by giving your work away, and if so, how do you choose what to distribute for free? What tools and metrics can you use to show a publisher or business partner that the work that you give away for free is driving sales?

A Trick for Editing Multiple Points-Of-View

June 15th, 2026  |  Season 10  |  2 mins 40 secs

beta-reading, books, critique, editing, writers, writing, writing tips

I'm still going to push forward with this trick, but it's less effective at times.

How do you do it?

Writing the Alien

June 8th, 2026  |  Season 10  |  5 mins 32 secs

beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips

You Get Agency, and You Get Agency – EVERYBODY Gets Agency!

June 1st, 2026  |  Season 10  |  4 mins 1 sec

beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips

In Western culture, we expect our characters to make decisions that have consequences, not just have things happen to them. How do you write a character with realistic agency?

But I Don't Want To Be a Hero: Writing the Reluctant Hero

May 25th, 2026  |  Season 10  |  6 mins 25 secs

beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips

The reluctant hero is a solid staple of fiction and comic books. How do you write the heroes who never wanted to be, what motivates them, how to maintain their reluctance throughout a whole series, and how to make them relatable to readers.

Pacing the Novel

May 18th, 2026  |  Season 10  |  3 mins 5 secs

beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips

One of the main things that can make or break a novel is it's pacing. How can you get it right?

Season 10: Trailer

May 10th, 2026  |  Season 10  |  36 secs

beta-reading, books, critique, writers, writing, writing tips

Welcome back for Season 10 of "Writing Tips and Writerly Musings", with writing tips from the big names, the medium names, and everyone else, plus, of course, my own writerly musings. I'm your host, Morgan Hazelwood and this season, I'm back with tips about writing the reluctant hero, the very alien, publishing, and more, so get ready, and hang on tight, and thanks for listening.

Morgan's 2024 & 2025 Retrospective

January 19th, 2026  |  Season 9  |  17 mins 40 secs

beta-reading, books, critique, goals, writers, writing, writing tips

Back in January of 2024, I had no clue how bad my executive dysfunction was going to get and I set all these resolutions. Looking back, I just have to laugh at some, but I didn't do too poorly on others. How much progress have you made on your goals?