Workshop: Mapping Kim’s Novel to the Hero’s Journey
Writing Workshop with Kim & ReneeThe Writer’s Journey Subscribe to our Newsletter The Hero’s Journey Study Guide The Writing Workshop Exercise Map your Novel according to Vogler’s The Hero...
Bird by Bird
Mapping the Hero’s Journey
We’ve officially started our new book, Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey. And boy is there a lot in the first two chapters! First (or first after Kim’s rant) is an...
The Writer’s Journey. Let’s Do This.
We’re on the last chapter of Judith Barrington’s book, Writing the Memoir, “Practical Advice on Critique Groups,” plus the dos and don’ts of giving and getting feedback. It’s practical...
Remembering the Day When…
Your memoir is about you (obviously) but it’s not just about you. In this episode we cover Judith Barrington’s chapter on how (and why) to bring events from the...
Workshop: Naming Names in your Memoir
Writing Workshop with Kim & ReneeWriting th Memoir Subscribe to our Newsletter The Writing Workshop Exercise Map your Novel according to Vogler’s The Hero Journey. For this week’s workshop...
Let’s Not Get Sued (for Writing a Memoir)
Judith Barrington’s Writing the MemoirChapter 8, 9, & Appendix Subscribe to our Newsletter Writing (and publishing) a memoir can be nerve wracking. What if the people you’re writing about...
The Secret to Getting Your Short Stories Publish
Our Interview with Erik Harper Klass In this stand alone episode, we talk with Erik Klass, the entrepreneurial editor behind the submission service Submitit about what literary journals are...
Beyond Butt In Chair
We’re onto the second section in Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird — The Writing Frame Of Mind — and...
What to do when your Novel is a Beautiful Mess
Even published authors have problems getting the magical stories in their heads into finished manuscript. But Anne Lamott’s account...
Getting Your Novel Right — Scene Setting and Reworking
We’re covering two different topics from Ann Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. First off is scene setting, both its...
Character Driven Plot, plus Dialogue!
We’ve gotten to some hearty chapters in Ann Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. First up is plot, which “grows...
Tilling Your Characters’ Emotional Acres
So you’ve committed to Anne Lamott’s daily writing practice (as discussed in our previous podcast), good for you. Now...
Shitty First Drafts and Beyond!
How does one write an entire novel? It’s a bit like the advice for eating an elephant, one bite...
And now for something completely different … Bird by Bird
It’s time for a new season and it’s time for a new book! We’re starting Anne Lamott’s Bird by...
ChatGPT, Write me my Novel
Think ChatGPT can finish your creative writing exercises? Let’s find out! In this episode we’re testing the cutting-edge artificial...
Bend It Like Bickham (the scene, that is)
We’re on our penultimate episode for our reading of Jack Bickham’s Scene & Structure. So, what does the bullet...
Dramatic Principals & Devices FTW
Every composition teacher will draw out a rising action graph on the board (yes, we’re old school). But how...
Common Scene Errors
Today we tackle Jack Bickham’s Common Scene Errors, and boy, are there a lot of them, 14 to be...
Dispatches from a DIY Writing Retreat
What writer hasn’t dreamed of leaving behind the stress and obligations of their day-to-day lives for a quiet, secluded...
The One Where We Go on a Writing Retreat
In this episode, Kim interviews award winning science fiction author, Charlie Jane Anders about her recently published craft book,...
Getting Wild with Scene and Sequels
After 70 pages of Jack Bickham’s Scene and Structure we feel we’ve got a pretty good handle on how...
Speeding Up and Slowing Down your Novel
Chapter 8 – Scene & Structure Subscribe to our Newsletter How do you take a ponderous story into a...
What Makes a Hero
Whether every protagonist is a Hero is open to debate (and debate it we do in this episode) but on it we can agree that the vast majority of...