#76: Student Spotlight: The Power of Outlining (and How He Finished a First Draft in 3 Months) With James Beswick
In today's episode, I’m sitting down with James Beswick to talk through his incredibly inspiring story of how he finished his first draft in three months. Here’s a preview of what’s included: [03:30] An introduction to James Beswick and how he decided to write a book [05:30] How James carved out writing time in his calendar, while working a full time job [06:30] What James’s Notes to Novel experience was like—and why he decided to enroll in the course in the first place [08:25] How Jam...
13 Dec 202252min
#75: Crime Genre Conventions
In today's episode, I’m covering the conventions of the crime genre. This includes the character roles, settings, and events that need to be present in a crime story in order for it to work and satisfy fans of the genre. Here’s a preview of what’s included: [01:30] Crime stories are all about the quest to either solve or commit a crime. So, these stories start with a crime, build with an investigation (or a completion of the crime), and end with identifying and bringing the criminal to ...
6 Dec 202220min
#74: When Should You Write in Scene vs. Summary?
In today's episode, I’m covering the difference between writing in scene versus writing in summary. Here’s a preview of what’s included: [01:45] Scenes are concrete moments that unfold in real time. Readers “watch” the characters move across the setting, interact with other characters or the setting, and speak as if everything’s taking place in the real world, in real time. [02:55] Summaries happen over a condensed period of time (days, months, years, etc.). They convey ideas, concepts, and i...
29 Nov 202219min
#73: The 4 Phases of Editing: How to Revise Your Novel
In today's episode, we’re going to talk about how to edit your messy first draft without slipping into overwhelm. Here’s a preview of what’s included: [01:50] The very first thing you should do when you finish a first draft [04:15] A quick overview of the four editing phases, and how breaking your edits down into these phases will help you reduce overwhelm. [05:45] Phase 1: The “Story Level” edit [09:25] Phase 2: The “Scene Level edit” [13:35] How your editing plan might change de...
22 Nov 202223min
#72: The 6 Scenes Every Morality Story Needs
In today's episode, I’m covering the key scenes that every morality story needs. I’ve also included examples of how they show up in the movie Flight. Here’s a preview of what’s included: [01:45] Morality stories center around a protagonist with a moral compass that’s about to change, for better or for worse. They’re either seeking redemption from past mistakes or they want to silence their inner conscience so they can keep doing selfish things. [03:00] Readers choose these types of stor...
15 Nov 202215min
#71: Student Spotlight: How She Wrote a Novel in 6 Months (and Landed an Agent 10 Months Later) with Stefanie Medrek
In today's episode, I’m sitting down with Stefanie Medrek to talk through her incredibly inspiring story of how she went from having an idea for a story to landing an agent. Here’s a preview of what’s included: [05:00] The exact moment Stefanie had the idea for her story—and how she just knew it wouldn’t let her go until she put pen to paper [08:00] A quick description of Stefanie’s story [09:35] Stefanie’s initial reaction to my advice to throw out all 40,000 of the words she had writt...
8 Nov 202244min
#70: Status Genre Conventions
In today's episode, I'm going to walk you through the conventions of the status genre. I'm also going to show you how these conventions show up in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. Here's a preview of what's included: [01:45] Status stories center around the protagonist’s inner need for respect that manifests as a specific desire to achieve or accomplish something in the external world. [02:55] Readers of status stories want to feel hopeful that the protagonist will succeed. They want to read ...
1 Nov 202217min
#69: First Chapter Analysis: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
In this episode, we're taking a deep dive into the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. Join me and fellow developmental editor, Abigail Perry, as we nerd out about the seventh book in the Harry Potter series. Here’s a preview of what we talk about: [07:45] A very quick summary of the first chapter [11:40] A macro analysis of the first chapter using 7 key questions from Paula Munier's book The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings [43:30] A micro analysis of the two ...
26 Okt 20221h 10min
