Hello Writer’s Podcast + Blog
Building Tension in Your Novel
When I think of tension in a story, my first thought is of suspense. We are waiting for something to jump out of a dark corner or for the final confrontation between hero and villain. Our bodies are tense, preparing for what my 13-year-old son...
The Elevator Pitch
The idea of the elevator pitch comes from the old Hollywood days. Back then, a writer might happen to find themselves on an elevator with a studio exec. The wisdom was, you should always have a pitch for a movie ready when that happened. You have...
How Much of This Story is YOUR Story?
I once heard the author Elizabeth Gilbert say, and I’m paraphrasing here, that a reader would likely find more of herself in her works of fiction than her works of memoir. The truth is that all writers bring themselves to their stories, no matter...
Minimum Viable Writing
Time is one of the biggest issues that writers grapple with, especially when we try to squeeze writing into a busy life. And most of us don't feel like we're writing "enough." We compare ourselves to what we hear others - usually full-time writers...
3 Ways to Use Your Reading Life to Revise
You’ve likely heard the nugget of wisdom that to be an effective writer, you should also be an avid reader. This is true for many reasons. You get sparks of ideas. You understand how a story is structured. You internalize what is effective and what...
Writing Buddies, Critique Groups, and Coaches…Oh My!
We’ve talked here about having people read your work in progress and give you feedback. We’ve talked about when to do it, how to ask for it, and who to ask. (Check out this post and this post.) But what I realized we haven’t really done is explore...
Show vs. Tell: What Does This Even Mean?
Have you heard the phrase “show, don’t tell”? Have you ever had a reader suggest that you “show” as scene rather than just explain it? And have you wondered what the heck they mean or how in the world to do it? The concept of showing vs. telling is...
Where is your narrator standing in time?
There are three simple ways that we consider time: present, past, and future. Let’s think for a moment about how these impact the way we tell a story. If we tell a story about something that just happened moments ago, we are really still in the...
Commitment
We are going to tackle a kind of sticky topic today: commitment. It’s sticky because to digging into this topic means really looking at what you are currently doing and what goals you have set for yourself, and noticing whether or not they are in...
Anatomy of a Writing Practice
Writers write, right? Isn't that all there is to it? If we really look at what will provide growth and improvement in both writing and confidence, there are a few other activities that should be a part of all of our lives. [button...
