Welcome to Writer Unleashed

How do you make writing a priority when other commitments compete? When you have a full time career and family? We all know writing a book is a colossal commitment. And it's so easy to get off track, especially when so much is competing for our time and attention. In this episode, I’ll walk you through strategies to maximize your time, energy, and focus. So you can write without stress and overwhelm. You'll learn to: Re-frame your relationship to time and find a lot...

14 Maj 202423min

Struggling with confidence when it comes to writing your story? Maybe you swing from excitement to self-doubt. Or you worry that no one will care to read it. Maybe you lack enough confidence to even start. In this episode, learn 3 ways to boost your confidence. This is all about shifting your relationship to your work. We'll cover: How to stay focused on the process, not just the end resultWhy writing what you think readers want is the wrong approach, and what to do inst...

7 Maj 202414min

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 ...

30 Apr 202431min

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 bo...

23 Apr 202425min

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 Not sure if your idea has what it t...

16 Apr 202417min

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 ...

9 Apr 202414min

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 ...

2 Apr 202422min

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 t...

26 Mars 202416min