Please Read:

• This podcast is only available at the $5 and up tier on Patreon. I have many free resources available here.
• Episodes are listed under all applicable categories and so most are duplicated.

About Me

Writing Advice I Don’t Like: Episode 16

My YouTube Story: Episode 19

Why I (Mostly) Don’t Freelance Edit Anymore: Episode 19

My Top Novel Opening Tropes/Cliches: Episode 14

My Opinion on Stephen King’s Advice: Episode 2

My Thoughts on AI: Episode 36

My Advice on Motivation/Habits: Episode 40

Antagonists

How the Antagonist Contributes to Story Structure: Episode 18

How Abstract Antagonists (haunted houses) Work: Episode 18

Explaining the Villain’s “Off-Screen” Actions: Episode 15

Creating Tension When the Protagonist Doesn’t Yet Know the Antagonist: Episode 43

Chapters

Chapter Length: Episode 15

Characters

How to Get Readers Devoted to Your Characters:  Episode 20

Using Character Archetypes Without Being Cliché: Episode 11

Writing Character Traits/Abilities You Don’t Have: Episode 11

Managing a Large Cast of Characters (when one is stealing the show): Episode 6

Writing a Character with Memory Loss: Episode 24

Writing a Non-Human Character (doesn’t have physical sensation): Episode 43

Side Characters vs. Co-Protagonists: Episode 31

Struggling to Connect With Characters: Episode 34

Fixing POV Characters that are Less Interesting than Non-POV Characters: Episode 37

Character Arcs

Components

Belief & Motivation: Episode 21

Flaw/Weakness and Predictability: Episode 21

Flaw/Weakness vs. Belief: Episode 11

The Goal – Vague or Specific: Episode 3

Popular Fiction Not Seeming to Have an Arc: Episode 13

How to Make Sure You’re Doing the Arc Correctly: Episode 6

Motivation vs. Goal: Episode 34

Types of Arcs

Is This a Flat Arc/Is it a Bad Arc: Episode 11

Disillusionment Arc: Episode 21

Negative Arc: Episode 39

Arcs & Structure

The Character Arc and the Debate: Episode 21

Editing Character Causes Changes to Plot and Vice Versa: Episode 10

Setup vs. Origin of Belief/Backstory: Episode 17

The Flat Arc and Giving Story Beats to Side Characters: Episode 18

Flat Arc Characters and Positive Traits/Backstory/Ghost: Episode 34

Character Arcs in Memoir: Episode 28

Character Arcs in Series: Episode 27 & 39

Character Arcs in Novels with Frame Stories/Dual Timelines: Episode 39

Problems

Avoiding a Heavy-Handed Arc/Message: Episode 23

Help with Arc (Story/Character evaluation/advice): Episode 34 & 41

Character Actions Don’t Feel Emotionally Logical: Episode 42

Content/Subject Matter

How to Avoid Being Preachy: Episode 23

Should Novels have a Lesson or Purpose: Episode 25

Finding Your Story’s Theme: Episode 25

Descriptions

Meaningful Appearances Without Stereotypes: Episode 20

How Much to Describe Characters:  Episode 20

Describing Clothes and Jewelry:  Episode 20

Describing Smells: Episode 30

Weather/Settings Reflecting Character Emotions:  Episode 20

Describing Gestures/Expressions Without Relying on Cliches: Episode 13

Working in World Building Without Being Disruptive: Episode 7

Balancing Descriptions, Introspection, and Action: Episode 7

Describing the Setting (avoiding white room syndrome): Episode 7

Avoiding Heavy-Handed Descriptions: Episode 23

Writing Descriptions Without a Mind’s Eye: Episode 36

Dialogue 

Formatting into Paragraphs: Episode 26

Conveying Info Without Info-Dumping: Episode 26

Pacing Verbal Arguments: Episode 35

Avoiding Overusing Actions/Gestures/Expressions: Episode 35

Overusing Exclamation Points: Episode 37

Confusing vs. Open to Interpretation (scene evaluation): Episode 35

How Dialogue Fits Into Scene Structure: Episode 35

Editing

Editing After Loss of Motivation: Episode 19

Where to Start with Editing: Episode 19

Knowing What to Keep and What to Rewrite: Episode 19

Okay to Rewrite Before Finishing Draft: Episode 5

Okay to Start Editing at Beginning Before Finishing Full Editing Pass: Episode 1

How Long Does Editing Take: Episode 29

When to Give Up on a Novel: Episode 32

Why/How Is My Novel Too Complicated But Also Needs More Plot: Episode 32

When to Add Small Insignificant Details (about the character, world, etc.) Into the Story: Episode 37

Epilogues

What They’re Used For: Episode 28

Excerpt Critiques

Historical & Fantasy Third Person: Episode 38

Flashbacks

Flashbacks to Convey Motivation (to use or not to use): Episode 15

Which Tense to Use in Flashbacks (Past Tense Novel): Episode 2

Which Tense to Use in Flashbacks (Present Tense Novel): Episode 14

Flashbacks vs. Dual Timeline Novels: Episode 24

Flashback Placement (avoiding random placement and obvious implications): Episode 24

Freelance Editing

Can I Mention Using Freelance Editor to Help Get Featured on a Blog: Episode 16

Why I (Mostly) Don’t Freelance Edit Anymore: Episode 19

Qualifications for a Freelance Editor: Episode 4

What To Do If You Disagree with an Editor: Episode 32

How to Find a Good Editor: Episode 40

Genre

Dystopian Fantasy and Structure: Episode 18

How to Write Literary Fiction: Episode 18

Structuring First Quarter of a Mystery: Episode 17

YA vs. Adult Fantasy: Episode 12

MG Age Ranges and Protagonist Ages: Episode 12

Romance (good love triangles): Episode 26

Horror Tips: Episode 28

Plotting Monster Stories: Episode 30

Introspection

Character Too Self-Aware: Episode 21

How to Make Therapy Scenes Work: Episode 15

Introspecting Without Telling: Episode 13

Making Reactive Scenes Feel Less Inactive: Episode 10

Balancing Descriptions, Introspection, and Action: Episode 7

Direct Thoughts vs. Introspection: Episode 25

Language Use

Historical Language/Slang (to use or not to use): Episode 20

Phonetically Spelling Accents: Episode 13

Dating Work With Era-Specific Terms (for technology): Episode 7

When to Make Up New Words in Fantasy/Scifi: Episode 2

Lifestyle

Taking Writing from Hobby to Profession (when not making money): Episode 5

Where to Find Beta Readers: Episode 4

How to Critique Other Writers Without Being Discouraging: Episode 16

How to Find and When to Join Writing Groups: Episode 40

Why Reading Your Old Writing is Cringy and How to Get Past it: Episode 2

How to Learn Writing Jargon: Episode 33 

To Use or Not Use AI: Episode 36

Is Social Media Necessary for Writers: Episode 40

Line Editing/Writing

Avoiding Filtering When POV Character Can’t See What’s Happening: Episode 20

Avoiding Bad Similes/metaphors: Episode 23

How to Find Good Similes: Episode 37

Dividing the POV Character’s Attention (antagonist and location both pulling attention): Episode 23

Emphasizing Important Elements/Details: Episode 25

Motivation

Loss of Motivation After First/Fast Draft: Episode 19

How to Get Motivated to Work on Something After Hiatus: Episode 12

Maintaining Motivation When Progress is Slow: Episode 9

My Advice on Motivation: Episode 40

Novel Openings

Novel Opening Cliches/Tropes: Episode 14

Introducing a Large Cast of Characters: Episode 11

Defining In Media Res: Episode 7

Organization

How to Organize a Lot of Notes for a Novel: Episode 10

Plotting/Brainstorming

Editing Character Causes Changes to Plot and Vice Versa: Episode 10

Always Coming Up With New/Better Ideas and Never Finishing Plotting: Episode 22

Plotting the In-Between Scenes: Episode 5

Writing the Ending and Working Backwards: Episode 1

Are Fast Drafts Useful: Episode 1

Plotting for Writers Who Are Better at Characters: Episode 1

Intuitive Plotters and Brainstorming: Episode 1

Novel Feels Over-Plotted: Episode 22 & Episode 30

Plotting Genre Mash-Ups (stories with another genre subplot): Episode 28

How Much is Too Much Outlining: Episode 30

Plotting Stories with Monster Antagonists: Episode 30

Should World Building & Secondary Characters be “Set” in Outline: Episode 33

Dual Timeline Novel with Two Arcs: Episode 34

Identifying Scenes When Creating a Reverse Outline: Episode 42

Point of View

Introducing a POV Not Immediately Connected to Main Storyline: Episode 17

Psychic Distance (zooming in/out) vs. Head Hopping: Episode 15 & Episode 37

Psychic Distance Variability or Consistency:  Episode 9

Do Two Protagonists Need to Take Up Equal Space: Episode 13

Dual POV Plotting (focus on Methodological Pantsers): Episode 12

Can Omniscient Narrator Have Too Much Voice: Episode 9

Changing POV Without Head Hopping: Episode 9

Choosing Omniscient vs. Third Limited: Episode 9

Is it “Cheating” to Withhold Information in First-Person POV: Episode 6

How to Withhold the Character’s Plans in Third-Person Limited: Episode 37

Writing a Lying Character Without Confusing the Reader: Episode 37

Multiple POVs in Slashers (characters die over course of story): Episode 28

Mixing Third and First POVs: Episode 31 

Fixing POV Characters that are Less Interesting than Non-POV Characters: Episode 37

Publishing

How “Ready” Does a Story Have to Be Before Submitting: Episode 16

Non-Native English Speaking Writers and American Publication: Episode 16

Does a Small Publishing House = Less Marketing and Distribution: Episode 4

Are Novellas Marketable: Episode 4

Current Marketable Trends in Fiction: Episode 4

Difficulty Describing What Story is About: Episode 22

Will a Bad Debut Ruin a Career: Episode 22

Query/Blurb Critiques: Episode 26 & Episode 31

Writing a Multi-POV Synopsis: Episode 31

Non-Fiction Children’s Book Proposals: Episode 32

Research

Historical Research for Intuitive Types: Episode 19

Writing Character Traits/Abilities You Don’t Have: Episode 11

Scenes

Structure

Inactive Protagonist and Scene Structure: Episode 14

Struggling to Identify Conflicts in Scenes: Episode 14

Structural Scenes vs. What We Think of as a “Scene”: Episode 14

Making Reactive Scenes Feel Less Inactive: Episode 10

Transitioning Between Scenes: Episode 29

Integrating Extra Details/Events & Descriptions: Episode 42

Help Understanding Scene Structure: Episode 42

Identifying Scenes When Creating a Reverse Outline: Episode 42

Character Actions Don’t Feel Emotionally Logical: Episode 42

Problems

How to Make Therapy Scenes Work: Episode 15

Balancing Descriptions, Introspection, and Action: Episode 7

Managing Less Relevant Characters Present in a Scene: Episode 6

Okay to Include “Boring” Scenes: Episode 3

Lesson/School Scenes and Structure: Episode 22

Too Many Emotional Scenes/Crying: Episode 25

How to Bring All Necessary Elements of the Scene Together: Episode 29

Writing Verbal Fight Scenes: Episode 42

Series

Should Novel be Split into Two Books: Episode 17

Deciding if Idea is Worthy of a Series: Episode 4

Taking Three Books to Resolve Main Goal in Series: Episode 10

Working World Building for Series Into First Book When Not Relevant Yet: Episode 7

Introducing Characters from First Book in Second Book: Episode 3

Does Each Book Need Its Own Inciting Incident/Disruption: Episode 28

Does Each Character Need an Arc in Each Book: Episode 27

Planning the Character Arcs & Storylines Across Books: Episode 33

Setting

Is a Real or Fake Setting Better: Episode 30

Story Structure

The First Quarter

Organizing the Opening When Can’t Get Into Main Action: Episode 3

Is an Event Backstory or Part of the Plot: Episode 17

In Media Res and Structure: Episode 14

Figuring Out the Structure (which part is the status quo): Episode 17

The Disruption/Inciting Incident – How Late Can it Happen: Episode 8

The Debate and the Character Arc: Episode 21

The Debate and Consequences for Side Characters Instead of Protagonist:  Episode 8

The Debate for a Character Who Lacks Doubt: Episode 27

Still Don’t Understand the Debate: Episode 27

Structuring First Quarter of a Mystery: Episode 17

The Second & Third Quarters

The Pinch Points: Episode 21

Explain the Pinch Points: Episode 8

Plotting the Middle: Episode 10

What Should Happen in the Middle/Preventing the Saggy Middle: Episode 8

Okay For Emotional Midpoint to Occur Later Than Plot Midpoint: Episode 27

Okay for Midpoint to be “Soft”: Episode 39

Structural Problems with Switching Main Characters in Middle of Story: Episode 6

Failed Attempt to Succeed (third quarter) Clarification: Episode 14

The Fourth Quarter

Writing a Satisfying Ending: Episode 29

The Turning Point in the Climax (commentary on someone else’s writing advice): Episode 33 

Structure & Characters

The Flat Arc and Giving Story Beats to Side Characters: Episode 18

How the Antagonist Contributes to Story Structure: Episode 18

Editing Character Causes Changes to Plot and Vice Versa: Episode 10

What Counts as Co-Protagonists: Episode 39

Side Characters Assisting/Saving the Day: Episode 43

Specific Situations

Structure and Genre: Episode 18

How do Stories Without Structure Work: Episode 18

Should Novel be Split into Two Books: Episode 17

Should Retellings Follow Story Structure: Episode 8

Structuring Story Threads/Questions Not Connected to Main Plot: Episode 5

Using Arc Shapes for Plotting: Episode 5

Structuring Dual Arcs (plot beats happening at different points): Episode 3

Structuring Sub-Plots: Episode 3

Does a Frame Story Impact Structure: Episode 28

Story Arcs in Memoir: Episode 28

Is It Okay For the Second Quarter To Be Substantially Longer Than the First: Episode 32

Helping With Your Story Structure Issues: Episode 41

Structuring Episodic Slice-of-Life Webcomic: Episode 43

Twists

Writing a Satisfying (character secret identity) Twist: Episode 29

Voice

Voice and Setting Mood vs. Tone: Episode 9

Can Narration Have Too Much Voice: Episode 9

Toggling Between Two Narrative Styles in Same Novel: Episode 2

Stilted Voice in Early Drafts: Episode 33

World Building

Working World Building for Series Into First Book When Not Relevant Yet: Episode 7

Distinguishing a Near-Future Setting from a Contemporary Setting: Episode 2

Utopian/Dystopian and Avoiding Preaching a Message: Episode 23

Managing Rules in Magic Systems: Episode 43

Writing Types

Methodological Pantsers and How Much to Outline: Episode 30

Methodological Pantsers and NaNoWriMo/Editing Motivation: Episode 19

Methodological Pantsers and Planning/Prewriting: Episode 12

Methodological Pantsers and Writing Two Projects at Once: Episode 36

Switching from Intuitive Plotter to Methodological Pantser: Episode 36

Intuitive Plotters and Motivation After Hiatus: Episode 12

Intuitive Plotters and Overwhelm from Over Plotting: Episode 30

Intuitive Plotters and Brainstorming: Episode 1

Intuitive – Improving Writing Skills: Episode 23