#56: Three Quick Editing Tips to Craft Riveting Sentences
You can engineer a stellar plot line, dream up characters with compelling conflicts — all the broad strokes – but it’s the accumulation of small word choices that keep readers spellbound. In today's episode, I'm giving you 3 quick editing tips you can apply right now to instantly transform your story. Just by tweaking your verbs. So grab your WIP and let's do this together. Not sure if your idea has what it takes to become a powerful story? This free quick gui...
18 Aug 202111min
#55: Is Your Story Plot Driven or Character Driven?
The question isn't whether your story is character driven or plot driven. Or even how to write one or the other. The question is.. How do you integrate character with plot? Because both are inseparable. If one or the other dominates, your story falls apart. On today's episode, I'll share 3 ways to integrate character with plot. We'll cover: The purpose of plotHow to keep the plot threat alive for your character's own goodBuilding emotions How to avoid a one-note characterNot sure if you...
11 Aug 202114min
#54: Structure Your WIP With This 3-Act Framework
Where are you getting most stuck in your work in progress? The beginning? The end? Or are you getting stalled in the middle? In this episode, I'm giving you a 3-Act framework to help guide you through the writing process. So that you’re not drowning in your own material, and can finish your story faster and better. If you’re an exploratory writer who finds outlines a buzz kill, this framework will give you just enough structure to give you direction and focus. And if you’re ...
4 Aug 202118min
#53: How to Write Dialogue That Sounds Natural
Story dialogue is not the same as real-life dialogue. It's shaped with intention, word by word. Even so, we should pay attention to the nuances and the rhythm of real-life conversations. We want to be looking for the ways people don’t listen to one another. The ways we dance around hard truths. In today's episode of Writer Unleashed, we'll explore how to bring tension into your dialogue by focusing on the thing your characters don't want to say or hear. We'll explore: Our natural urge ...
16 Juni 202111min
#52: The Number One Mistake Writers Make With Dialogue
What's the number one mistake writers make with dialogue? Writing way too much of it. In today's episode of Writer Unleashed, we'll explore 3 ways to shape compelling dialogue that rings true to your reader. We'll cover: How to avoid dialogue that tells too much The primary audience you should be writing dialogue for The single most important thing you need to know about your characters before they speakHow to use compression and beats to have readers leaning in word by w...
9 Juni 202110min
#51: Three Ways to Beat Writer's Block
How do you keep writing when you're totally blocked? When you feel like you have utterly nothing to say? In today's episode of Writer Unleashed, I'll give you a 3-step strategy for breaking through. In today's episode, we'll explore: What writer's block isWhat causes it3 Strategies to unblock yourselfNot sure if your idea has what it takes to become a powerful story? This free quick guide will help you uncover the heart of your idea in just three simple steps. You’ll walk away ...
2 Juni 202113min
#50: How Much Backstory Does Your Reader Really Need To Know?
How much backstory does your story need? And how much backstory does your reader need? Learn what backstory is important for you to know as the author, and what backstory belongs on the page. In today's episode, we'll cover: The two things you need to get clear on when it comes to backstoryThe importance of crafting backstory that adapts to your story The actor's technique to developing character through backstoryHow to decide what backstory is significant to your storyline and to yo...
26 Maj 202115min
#49: The Quickest Way to Engage Your Reader
The way to engage your readers and keep them absorbed sentence by sentence is to draw them into the tactile world of your story and evoke their sensations. Not the fact that it's raining, as E.L. Doctorow said. But the feeling of being rained upon. So, how do we evoke our readers' sensations? That's what we'll dive into in today's episode. On today's episode of Writer Unleashed, we'll explore: Why readers respond to sensory detail.How to select the right details for your scenes.How to...
19 Maj 202115min
