Writer Unleashed

What do you do when your novel or memoir doesn’t follow the typical plot structure? What if there’s no crime to be solved, tsunami to survive, or evil wizard to slay? What if your character’s only story problem is an internal one? In this episode we’ll explore 4 thresholds your character will walk through at key points throughout your 3 acts. So you can plot your character-driven story, and keep readers invested every step of the way. Episode Web Page With Show Notes Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

We can all agree that your opening scenes are your only chance to capture your reader's attention. It's what hooks them into the story. Your first scene and several scenes that follow are your story's setup. The setup is essential to master. You have to be concise, deliberate, and selective with what you reveal and withhold. You don't want to give too much away too soon. Your beginning scenes must accomplish several things simultaneously. And in this episode, I'm boiling it down to 4 essentials. Episode Web Page with Show Notes Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Our stories can become so overrun with ideas, they run away from us. Each idea leads to another and another until you’re lost in the vortex. There are stories within stories. Endless possibilities. So many directions the story can go. And then writing your story feels like an insurmountable task. In this episode, I’m giving you 5 questions to explore, so you can rein your ideas in with more clarity, focus, and control. Episode Web Page with Show Notes Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Most writers know how their characters need to change. They know what happens on the plot level. They know their character's struggles. Often, though, the main character doesn't seem to change, even though the external events change dramatically. Other stories stay mainly in their character's interior without jumping into the fray of action. Either way, the story can be static. The best stories blend both the inner and outer journey. In this episode, we'll explore 3 approaches to help you integrate what happens on the plot level with your character's internal journey. Episode Web Page Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

There’s no shortage of writing advice. Especially in the online space. Google is not the best gatekeeper. And some FB groups are doling out conflicting advice, canned advice, bad advice. Writers hear the same advice so often, a lot of them have come to regard them as the only way to craft a story. But these are often half baked ideas that are keeping you from moving forward. They’re taking you totally in the wrong direction. They’re myths. Myths about plot and structure. Myths about how to create drama. And what it means to write beautiful sentences. Myths that are taking you way off course. It’s either the wrong approach, or it just doesn’t go deep enough. In this throwback episode from Season 3, I’m debunking 4 common myths about story writing, and I’ll give you different approaches to apply to your pages. Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Why do readers read? Is it just for entertainment? To escape everyday life? Or is there a deeper need? What is it about story that keeps us captivated from beginning to end? It helps to understand why stories are so impactful and precisely what readers are hungry for when they turn to a book. In this throwback episode from Season 3, we're going into the mind of your reader, and what they want when they turn to your story. We'll explore what the reader is actually responding to when he forgets about the real world and gets entranced by the world on the page. So you can use this intel to craft your story. Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Your first chapter matters. It's what binds readers to your story. It makes them care. And when they care, they can't help but keep reading. There's a lot riding on your first chapter. So you want to get this right. Bore them with too much exposition, long forays into backstory, too many characters and superfluous details, and your reader will grow bored, overwhelmed, and will stop reading. In this episode, I'm sharing 5 ways to nail your first chapter. We'll cover how to: Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

When a story moves us, it’s not because of beautiful writing, or a strong voice – it’s not because of a great plot. All these things are important, but those things on their own don’t move us. What makes a story unputdownable and unforgettable is that the reader goes on an emotional journey of his or her own. They don’t just feel for your characters, they feel with your characters. In this episode, I’m sharing 3 techniques to master emotions in your story. So you can move readers in a way that stays with them long after they finish your pages. A story they can’t stop thinking and talking about. Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Show, don't tell. How many times have you heard this advice? You may understand the concept, but it's still not sinking in. So, what's the difference between showing and telling? Should show don't tell be applied to every line and paragraph of a story? Are there times when it's better to tell? When do you show? When do you tell? And how do you write it? In this episode, I'm going to tease apart the difference between telling and showing, using examples that integrate both. Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

You want your characters' dialogue to sound natural, like real people talking. But what do you do when the dialogue just sounds mundane, forced, and dull? Writing dialogue requires practice. And there are some ways to think about dialogue to help you write it better. In this episode, learn 5 do's and don'ts of writing stronger, more absorbing dialogue. Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

If I had to pick one thing that makes readers stop reading, it's the overcomplicated plot. Both novice and experienced writers fall into this trap. They include too many characters, too many events, storylines, and extraneous details that don’t feel connected or integrated. This makes it confusing and frustrating for you as you write and revise. And a slog for your readers to get through. When you overcomplicate your plot, your story lacks internal consistency or logic. It lacks the unified effect that pulls the story together, and keeps readers engaged all the way through. In this episode, I'm sharing some simple ways to uncomplicate your plot. So you can move through revision faster, and with more focus. And ultimately, create a deeper, more engaging story for your readers. Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

You want to bring more depth and complexity to your characters so that readers are interested and invested in what happens to them. But how do you do that? In this episode, I’m sharing 3 ways to create deeper, more fascinating characters. These are often things I see lacking in student manuscripts, especially those more focused on plot. Plot and character really can’t be separated. But before you plot, you need to know who your story is about, and what makes him or her tick. Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

There's a lot of confusion about the difference between who's telling the story (first or third person), and point of view. I'll see stories with no point of view, a watered down point of view, or a confused and unfocused point of view. Who's narrating your story is not the point of view. They're related. But they're separate elements that serve different purposes. So in this episode, I'm going to tease apart narration from point of view. And then I'll share 3 key points to craft a strong point of view. Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

What are plot points? And why do you need them? In this episode, we’ll talk about 3 major plot points, the purpose of each, and where in your story to place them. In this episode, you'll learn: Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Ever wonder how to write your First Act? In this episode, learn 3 core elements to structure - and nail- Act One of your story. From your set-up, to your inciting incident, to your first plot point, you'll learn how these elements impact the rest of your story, and where to place each. We'll cover: Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

How do you write an opening scene that hooks your reader? An opening so captivating, it compels readers to keep turning the page. A great opening does multiple things to lure readers in. In this episode, we'll focus on crafting an opening hook that keeps them reading. We'll cover: Episode Web Page Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

New Year. Fresh start. Maybe you’ve resolved that 2024 is going to be the year you’re going to finish your novel or memoir once and for all. But what so often happens is 50 pages or 200 pages in, the writing gets hard and overwhelming. Writers look at their pages and think it's rubbish. So they abandon the whole project. Or start a new story. Only to start the cycle all over again. So, in this episode, I’m going to give you 4 tips to keep yourself invested in your story for the long game. Episode Web Page Also listen to: Episode 158: A Different Approach To Writing First Drafts Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

In this episode, we're going back to a beloved episode from 2022. Writing is solitary. And if you’re anything like me, you like to dip into some inspiration from time to time for a creative boost or deeper insight into the craft. So much of our progress depends on how we feel about the work. So in this episode, I’m pulling from some of my favorite quotes and unwrapping them for the wisdom and creative fuel they offer on writing technique and the writing life. Episode Web Page Not sure where to begin writing? Need a way in to your story? Or a way through? Click here to download your FREE 9 Story Starters. Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

In one of the most downloaded episodes of 2023, we're tackling the one thing stopping writers from bringing their story to the finish line. Fear. Maybe you fear visibility, and the expectations and judgements you’ll open yourself up to. Then there's fear of rejection. Even if you’re nowhere near ready to submit your story, it prevents you from finishing. Maybe you're afraid of putting your book out there. You just keep wanting to do one read-through after another. It's never good enough. Maybe your greatest fear is that you'll let yourself down. In this episode, we're breaking down 4 common fears that may be keeping you stuck. Then we'll replace those fears with mindset shifts to get you unstuck. So you can shift your writing from dream to reality. Also Listen To: Episode 108: 3 Things Published Authors Do Differently Episode Website Not sure where to begin writing? Need a way in to your story? Or a way through? Click here to download your FREE 9 Story Starters. Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

What is scene? What is summary? In this episode, learn the crucial difference between them. We'll explore the common ways writers get scene and summary wrong. And you'll get guidelines on how to balance both to enhance the pace of your story. Episode Web Page Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts. Love what you're learning from the Writer Unleashed podcast? Pease consider rating and reviewing my show! This helps me support more writers -- just like you -- to write the story that won't let them go. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode! Not sure where to begin writing? Need a way in to your story? Or a way through? Click here to download your FREE 9 Story Starters. Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.