Episodios
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Many writersânewbies, early wannabees, flash-ins before they flash outâmany of these writers never reach the mature writerâs self-analysis stage.
These writers donât learn to seek new methods when the story wonât flow.They donât seek solutions to plot conundrums and character rebellions.They donât analyze their writing blocks and seek ways around or over or under or through that writerâs block.Some mature writers donât do this, either. They stop and wait. For what? Inspiration? The spark of the start of the way out? They should be scaling the problem or dodging it with another project or tunneling to discover a deeper issue with the story or blasting through the Block with fire and passion for writing.
We donât want to confront Writerâs Block. We shrink away, frightened by its lingering. The great unmentioned unmentionable seeks to rule usâwill we let it?
Not if we have sense. Not if we have a juggernaut of ideas barreling into us, desperate to be released into stories.
Newbie or Mature writer, we do stumble into problems. And then we seek advice from other storytellers.
Letâs look at advice from another Storyteller who is also a Story Teacher.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction02:10 Wilhelmâs Background03:04 Disruptions08:00 Imposter Syndrome14:22 Slump vs. Block18:20 Silent Partner23:03 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time :: 25:09
SOURCE
Wilhelm, Kate. Storyteller. Northampton, MA: Small Beer Press, 2005. [email protected]
Blog https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2024/04/defeat-writers-block-kate-wilhelm.html
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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A funny thing happened on the way through entertainment this past weekend. I read Mary Stewartâs The Stormy Petrel. Thatâs not the funny thing.
Mary Stewart is my all-time favorite author. Wonderful character development, intriguing plots, lovely lyrical writing. Sheâs a guaranteed satisfying entertainment. My favorite novel of hers is My Brother Michael with The Moonspinners as a close second. (If youâve seen the film, you havenât met Stewartâs story.)
I read The Stormy Petrel years ago. The story didnât stick then: IDK the reason. I usually reach for something else when I want a delicious read. This past weekend was different.
And now weâre to the funny thing, for the protagonist Rose is a writer. Stewart included several revealing passages about the writerâs life includingâget thisâwriterâs block.
Letâs examine what Stewart has to say.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction02:25 Spark the Start05:12 Revive the Memory of Story07:40 Deep into Flow10:20 Finish that Bit; Donât just Stop11:17 Unfolding Inspiration13:40 Many Projects18:00 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time:: 20:07
SOURCE
Stewart, Mary. The Stormy Petrel. New York: Ballantine Books, 1991. https://www.amazon.com/Stormy-Petrel-Mary-Stewart-ebook/dp/B00GVFUEGS
Blog https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2024/04/defeat-writers-block-m-stewart-on.html
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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¿Faltan episodios?
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When weâre browsing for information to help our own particular problems, we reach for the weighty titles, the ones that analyze to the nth degree and provide six or seven or thirteen examples. That kind of information scan would miss Judy Deltonâs surprisingly valuable little guidebook The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.
My own bookshelf, physical and electronic, is scant on information about Writerâs Block. That doesnât mean I havenât suffered from it, the way many writers have.
Most of my earlier years when I plunged into Writerâs Block, I denied that I had it. It was the great âunmentioned unmentionableâ such as Erle Stanley Gardner must have faced. ⊠I, too, have looked for processes to spin out a plot or delve into characters. I havenât gone as far as to create a 15-page outline or 7 Plot Wheels. Nor have I looked for a variety of information on Writerâs Block and how to overcome it.
Iâve simply prayed for the opportunities when my writing flows out so easily and hoped, after a stoppage, that I can return to that flowing. I have learned that writing every day prevents Writerâs Block.
If we donât admit to Writerâs Block, can we overcome it? Most of us think we can, simply by ignoring it, keeping it unmentioned and unacknowledged ⊠at least, thatâs what we think.
The real, actual, only thing that we can do to Defeat Writerâs Block is act upon our Will to Write.
Iâm not certain that Judy Deltonâs little guidebook can be found. Itâs not from a major publisher although Writerâs Digest Books is certainly well-known. An internet search turns up cached pages offering the book at used book dealers like Thrift Books and ebay, but the first two that I clicked only catalogued the book; it wasnât in stock.
Anyway, on to part 2 of âAvoid These Mistakesâ when attempting to find the impetus to Defeat Writerâs Block.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction03:05 Deltonâs 5th Mistake to Avoid07:25 Her 21st Mistake to Avoid11:07 Bridge thru Guidebook / More Advice than on Writerâs Block17:05 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time :: 19:23
LINKS
Delton, Judy. The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. Writerâs Digest Books, 1985.
Blog https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2024/04/defeat-writers-block-avoid-these.html
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Writers read. In reading we are voracious consumers of anything that catches our eye.
We may also be hoarders, little dragons perched on a Keep-Forever Book Stack, surrounded by a myriad of smaller To-Be-Read stacks: This Stack First, This Stack Second, This Later, Helpful Stuff, I Wanna But Not Now, Maybe Later, I Dunno, and more. When we climb down from our hoard, we may stop and investigate those TBR stacks and do a little re-organizing.
And thus I found an unexpected gem which has a lot to say about Defeating Writerâs Block. The book is Judy Deltonâs The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction04:28 Avoid Mistake #111:40 Avoid Mistake #218:25 Wilhelmâs Law of Ideas21:00 Avoid Mistake #324:46 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time :: 26:52
LINKS
Delton, Judy. The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. Writerâs Digest Books, 1985.
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Here we are with More Techniques from Erle Stanley Gardner. Weâre tackling Gardnerâs solutions for Writerâs Block.
Look to the Show Notes for information about the nonfiction book that is the source for this information.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction01:11 Unmentioned Unmentionable01:54 Notes & Rules on Work07:30 Plotting Machines12:20 Gardner, THE Plotting Machine15:16 Flying Buttresses against Writerâs Block17:10 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time :: 19:17
LINKS
Secrets of the Worldâs Best-Selling Writer: the Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner. Francis L. and Roberta B. Fugate. Graymalki Media, 1975.
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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66,000 words per week140 titles published ~ novels and short stories.Of that number, 100 of them sold over one million copies EACH.Translated into dozens of languagesUsed pen names because he was so prolific he had to disguise his output from editors
Who is this great Defeater of Writerâs Block? Letâs try one more clue.
271 TV episodes produced with his trademark character Perry Mason.Have you guessed the writer? Erle Stanley Gardner.
To write 66,000 words each week and to publish 140 titles, Gardner had to have methods and techniques to Defeat Writerâs Block.
In his early days, before he became best-selling, Gardner had to learn story-telling techniques, all the craft skills of character, plot, conflict, and resolution (endings). He discovered practical methods and adapted them, and those served him well over his long career as a professional writer.
Letâs analyze the ones we can adapt to super-charge our own Write Focus.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction03:08 Writing Life Work Habits04:38 Gardnerâs 1st Technique07:48 His 2nd Technique09:05 His 3rd Technique (& the most important)10:30 Two Touchstones for Stories13:40 These Touchstones Defeat Writerâs Block15:03 Five Guides for any Story20:05 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time :: 22:48
LINKS
Secrets of the Worldâs Best-Selling Writer: the Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner. Francis L. and Roberta B. Fugate. Graymalki Media, 1975.
Lester Dentâs Plot Formula (1st episode) Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/322-short-narratives-part-1-mixed-miscellany-summer-series/?token=787f587776d16329864e1540c7138c9e
Video on YouTube https://youtu.be/jA6xHr44XMw
Lester Dentâs Plot Formula / printable pdf / https://mgherron.com/2015/01/lester-dents-pulp-paper-master-fiction-plot-formula/
Plot 7 (1st episode) Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/504-plot-7-part-a-discovering-plot/
Archetypal Story Pattern / Greatest Plot Structure in the World (1st episode) Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/stages-1-2-greatest-plot-structure-discplot-447/?token=1f886de066cbc760395ba4fc6edb7519
Link to Blog https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2024/03/defeat-writers-block-how-one-pro-won.html
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Weâre back with more advice from Pro Writers on Defeating Writerâs Block.
Letâs launch straight into business.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction00:48 Barbara Kingsolver03:00 William Stafford (poet)03:51 Scott McCormick09:16 Philip Pullman12:06 Charlaine Harris14:34 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time:: 16:40
Links
None. Quotations came from a variety of internet sites.
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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In the first part of this series, The Write Focus shared everything we had to say about Writerâs Block and how to defeat that three-headed monster.
When we research the topic, we find articles that claim 5 types or 10 types of Writerâs Block. Shudder. I donât want even to contemplate 10 types. Yet I read the articleâso you donât have to. Guess what? Those 10 types are actually just an expansion of the 3 types we covered in our seriesâas were the 5 types.
And the solutions were exactly what we listed: breaks and escapes, switching projects, overcoming fears and learning new writing skills, pursuing a healthy lifestyle, regaining curiosity, and practicing creativity.
We can do this. We can DEFEAT WRITERâS BLOCK. (Shout it!)
In this segment, weâll explore advice from other writers, pro writers who have to meet deadlines and are too professional to churn out boring words. Letâs explore what they say.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction01:53 Neil Gaiman04:16 Ernest Hemingway07:35 Hilary Mantel08:53 Norman Mailer10:00 Mark Twain11:15 Neil Gaiman again15:00 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time = 17:08
Links
Quotations came from a variety of internet sites
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, with all NEW information based on host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Writerâs Block looms like a sharp-clawed monster over every writer. A daily disciplineâNo Day without Linesâis extremely helpful, no matter how many you schedule for a particular day.
Nulla Dies Sine Linea is our mantra, right?
We can overcome a simple refusal to write by maintaining discipline and side projects and our escapes when weâre overwhelmed.
We can defeat Procrastination by overcoming the Twin Fears of Failure and of Judgment. If our worries are failure and judgment, those problems are not with our writing but are inside ourselves. Root them out. Our writing is for us. Improve whatever weaknesses we see. When people point out weaknesses, consider these learning opportunities and keep improving.
Weâve reached the slimy cave of that real Horrible, Terrible Monster than can destroy everything, not just our writing but our hopes and joys.
Type 3 Writerâs Block is Inertia, and Writerâs Inertia kills words and contentment, plans and dreams, grace and well-being.
Yet we can and must defeat Inertia. Hereâs how.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction02:13 Writerâs Inertia02:40 Healthy Habits Defeat Inertia09:07 Avoid Stagnating Slime13:36 Wrap-Up14:20 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time = 16:25
Links to Think like a Pro, original source with other info added:
https://www.amazon.com/Think-like-Pro-Advent-Writers/dp/
Books2Read https://books2read.com/u/4AxWAd
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Defeating Writerâs Block is easy to say, not so easy to do. We writers have to discover the problem weâre having with those pesky little words.
1st, we have to find themâand they do like to hide.
2nd, we have to write them downâwhether in a notebook or straight to the keyboard. Thatâs a whole problem on its own. We canât count the Block as a simple disruption, a wholesale explosion of our writing time.
Itâs the Desire and the Initiative to write thatâs the problem.
In our diagnostic quiz, at the end of the Introduction segment, the weakness of our desire, the weakness of our initiative are driving factors that keep us out of our chair.
Type 1 of Writerâs Block is Writerâs Refusal, and I consider it the easiest of the Blocks to diagnose, admit, and defeat.
Type 2 is a harder Block to defeat. What is the Type 2 Block? Writerâs Procrastination.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction01:48 Writerâs Procrastination07:05 Fear #109:35 Fear #211:47 Trolls14:06 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time = 16:14
Links to Think like a Pro, original source with other info added:
https://www.amazon.com/Think-like-Pro-Advent-Writers/dp/
Books2Read https://books2read.com/u/4AxWAd
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Hey! Our claim is that Writerâs Block doesnât exist? And you say, âI donât believe it. Iâm blocked. Iâm suffering with Writerâs Block.â
Believe it or not, the truth is that Writerâs Block does NOT exist. Not. No way. Nope. We can write, but something keeps us from writing what we very well need to write.
At the end of our last episode, the introduction to this series on Defeating Writerâs Block, we classified 3 types. Knowing the type thatâs affecting us, thatâs part of the solution to any Writerâs Block . . . for we can make claims, we can repeat a mantraâbut somethingâs blocking us.
The other part of the solution to Writerâs Block is our WILLâeven if we donât want to write, we MUST. We NEED to. We gotta!
The only problem with saying âMUST and NEED and GOTTAâ is that Iâm afflicted with bloody-mindedness. As soon as someone commands must / need / have to / gottaâmy bloody-mindedness kicks in. âOh yeah? I think NOT.â
Thatâs where WILL comes inâand thatâs our focus this week. Overcoming Type I of Writerâs Block, classified as Writerâs Refusal.
[Did I shout enough?]
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction01:53 Writerâs Refusal03:25 Overcome with Escape05:45 Escape Exercise to Try11:25 Overcome the Over-Schedule17:15 When Numbers Help Words22:45 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time = 22:51
Links to Think like a Pro, original source with other info added:
https://www.amazon.com/Think-like-Pro-Advent-Writers/dp/
Books2Read https://books2read.com/u/4AxWAd
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Can you name a phrase that every writer fears? Try âWriterâs Blockâ.
We writers all have a deep-seated fear when we hear those two words side by side. Writerâs Blockâthose should be forbidden to speak together.
We have quite a number of pro writers who claim thereâs no such things as Writerâs Block, and Iâm one of themâbut I will admit that I find myself refusing to write or avoiding my desk or just stuck on a story. Distractions and disruptions occur, and before we know it, weeksânot days, weeksâhave passed. With few words written, our writing plans are blown. Guilt descendsâand the clouds of guilt and disappointment and dismay and more disrupters descend and . . . gosh, we donât even want to think about it.
Thatâs the purpose of this series: we want to Defeat that Writerâs Block.
To do that, we have to look more closely at Writerâs Block than we want to. In this February month of love, letâs look at what prevents us from pursuing our love of writing.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Intro01:46 Writerâs Block Doesnât Exist08:30 The Truth about Writerâs Block13:55 Diagnostic Quiz16:00 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time = 17:00
Links
Links to Think like a Pro, original source with other info added:
https://www.amazon.com/Think-like-Pro-Advent-Writers/dp/
Books2Read https://books2read.com/u/4AxWAd
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Defeat Writerâs Block, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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In the last episode, we began our look at a process method I call Plot 7. This week we finish the Plot 7 and our series on Discovering Plot. Coming up for February are four episodes on Overcoming Writerâs Block.
The Plot 7 is wonderful for sparking ideas for a new novel or novella. Itâs too deep for a short story.
In the Plot 7 are the 7 most important scenes for the novel. We covered the Beginning, the Very End, and the Roughest Moment / the Ordeal. This episode covers the last 4 ⊠and these are the hardest four.
By the time writers finish these 7 scenes, we have a great start on the story.
The between-scenes and sequels will remain for us to writeâbut weâll know our direction and the whole process of drafting the novel will flow easily.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction03:25 Plot 404:54 Plot 507:57 Plot 610:33 Plot 712:35 Bringing It Together14:50 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time = 16:32
Link to Lester Dentâs Plot Formula for Short Stories
Episode 1 / Short Narratives / Mixed Miscellany https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/322-short-narratives-part-1-mixed-miscellany-summer-series/
Links to Think like a Pro, source for the Plot 7, other info added:
https://www.amazon.com/Think-like-Pro-Advent-Writers/dp/
Books2Read https://books2read.com/u/4AxWAd
Links to the Ebook Discovering Plot
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0838PTN49
https://books2read.com/u/bOJK6K
Link to a paperback 8 x 10 bundle for plot / characters / branding / sentence craft, called Discovering Your Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Trailer https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Discovering Your Plot, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook of the same name.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Weâre winding up the Discovering Plot series with the Plot 7, a quick way to launch into story and to reach that storyâs heart ⊠and discover if it will flyâor crash like my feeble attempts at paper airplanes.
Plot 7 comes from the writerâs guidebook Think like a Pro, by M.A. Lee, designed to turn a hobby writer into a pro writer with the necessary mindset changes.
Weâll break the Plot 7 into 2 episodes.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction01:17 Plot 7 Raison dâEtre04:18 Plot 105:40 Plot 206:50 Plot 311:58 Last Words / ClosingTOTAL RUN TIME = 13:42
Links to Think like a Pro
https://www.amazon.com/Think-like-Pro-Advent-Writers/dp/
Books2Read https://books2read.com/u/4AxWAd
Links to the Ebook Discovering Plot
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0838PTN49
https://books2read.com/u/bOJK6K
Link to a paperback 8 x 10 bundle for plot / characters / branding / sentence craft, called Discovering Your Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Trailer https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Discovering Your Plot, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook of the same name.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Welcome to our 200th episode of The Write Focus.
Yippee! We made it farther than I ever anticipated, 200 episodes and into Season 5, and we still have more episodes ahead. AND itâs all thanks to our listeners, who motivate us to keep offering more and more.
Over our 200 episodes, weâve covered craft with plot and characters, process with sentence craft, productivity with challenges, and tools for writers.
This episode is an update to an old post, a Blast from the Past, with new insights to make it up-to-date. For those of us raised on western story-telling and conflict and characters, this method will seem an about-face. It works best for shorter talesâstories and novellas rather than novels and epics. As we analyze it, youâll see the reason I say that.
The next two weeks will have another look back at a plotting method from the early days of The Write Focus. The Plot 7 is not a plot structure. Instead, itâs a method for writers to develop quickly the skeleton of a novel or novella. Letâs call it a Process. After a season on craft, itâs time we looked at process. Oh, and itâs a strong way to supercharge your productivity after a season of disruptions and distractions, totally suitable after the holiday season.
So, without more rattling on, letâs look at our Blast from the Past, Kishotenketsu.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:40 Introduction02:33 Kishotenketsu06:15 Example 1 from Sanyo Rai09:15 Example 2 from Nils Odlund12:50 Analysis16:30 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time :: 18:15
LINKS
Sanyo Rai story = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kish%C5%8Dtenketsu
Nils Odlund story = https://mythicscribes.com/plot/kishotenketsu/
Ebook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0838PTN49
https://books2read.com/u/bOJK6K
Link to a paperback 8 x 10 bundle for plot / characters / branding / sentence craft, called Discovering Your Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Trailer https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Discovering Your Plot, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook of the same name.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Itâs the last official episode for Discovering Plot and the final 2 stages of the greatest plot structure for writers, the Archetypal Story Pattern.
While many of us have our favorite plot structure, all the ones that Iâve analyzed and taught cannot match the adaptability and flexibility of the ASP. Hopefully, with the variety of discussed plots, many writers will see the value of the ASP.
In this episode, we have Stages 11 and 12.
Stage 11 is the Resurrection of the Evil (and of our Protagonist). This is the culminating battle between the protagonist and the antagonist, and we writers have four tasks in this stage to give our readers a satisfactory ending. For readers, endings lead to the next storyâwhich is our writing goal. Yes, even in romantic comedies or literary fiction, we have battles. Weâre writers; think metaphorically!
Stage 12 is called Return with the Elixir. This is our triumphant protagonists drinking with the gods to celebrate victory.
Weâll have three more episodes before we call this Discovering Plot series complete, done and dusted. For now, itâs on with the episode.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:39 Introduction02:05 Stage 11: Dual Enemies of Evil and Self02:58 Three Examples with Three Lessons09:55 Four Points of the Resurrection16:35 Stage 12: Drinking with the Gods17:20 The Return / The Elixir21:52 Final Points22:50 Last Words / ClosingTotal Run Time: 24:31
LINKS to the Ebook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0838PTN49
https://books2read.com/u/bOJK6K
Link to a paperback 8 x 10 bundle for plot / characters / branding / sentence craft, called Discovering Your Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Trailer https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Discovering Your Plot, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook of the same name.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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Welcome to the 5th season of The Write Focus, the podcast for writers of all types, newbies and veterans and everyone in-between. Our FOCUS is productivity, process, craft, and tools.
We are justifiably proud of achieving this 5th season. We started in 2020, that dreadful year, so good things do come from bad ones. Apart from our yearly hiatus in the hectic Decembers, we havenât missed a weekly episode. This week, we officially open this season with Episode 198. How is that for meeting deadlines? OOO, OOO, OOO
We start our 5th season with the first of the last episodes on the greatest plot structure in the world, taken from our host M.A. Leeâs craft guide Discovering Plot.
In this episode, we delve into Stages 9 and 10 of the 12-Stage Archetypal Story Pattern, Greatest Plot Structure in the World.
Stage 9 is the protagonistâs Reward for surviving the trials and the dark ordeal. Our main characters still have a difficult journey ahead, yet Stage 9 gives a respite.
Then we descend to Stage 10, the Road Back, seemingly straightforward but still tricksy, still twisty, still dangerous.
This wave-like up-and-down pattern of events all through the Archetypal Story Pattern creates pacing and tension. The writers offers rewards to keep the readers from tumbling off the journey. The troubles continue to offer angst and suspense for reader engagement.
Donât make the mistake of cheap thrills and unthinking, uncaring sacrifices now that youâve brought the reader this far. Love has an emotional reward. Danger and death have consequences. Justice cannot be totally blind. Not for the reader. AND Not for us, the satisfied writer who wants to keep writing, not burn out and burn up our love of story-telling.
TIMINGS
00:00 Welcome00:39 Introduction03:03 Stage 9 / Joy after Darkness07:44 Ordeal vs. Reward09:20 The Difficult Reward11:53 Stage 10 / Driving to Destiny13:04 Driving with the Old Desired Dear19:28 How to Find the Right Road Back25:20 Last Words / ClosingTOTAL TIME = 27:00Examples from Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter series), Jane Austenâs Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice, 13th Warrior by Michael Crichton, The Crown, Castaway film with Tom Hanks, and Tolkeinâs Return of the King.
LINKS
Invocation of Blood, from 13th Warrior :: https://youtu.be/qQekqWha7fg
Links to the Ebook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0838PTN49
https://books2read.com/u/bOJK6K
Link to a paperback 8 x 10 bundle for plot / characters / branding / sentence craft, called Discovering Your Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Trailer https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Discovering Your Plot, from host M.A. Leeâs guidebook of the same name.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at [email protected].
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (Weâre small beans. We donât have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
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âAmber Dreamsâ, chapter 5
Sailing with Mystery is available as an audiobook from M.A. Lee and Writers Ink Books. Visit M.A. Lee (maleebooks.blogspot.com) for more information.
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âAmber Dreamsâ, chapter 4
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âAmber Dreamsâ, chapter 3
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