Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.

18.48: NaNoWriMo Week 5 – Writing Endings

Welcome to the last week of National Novel Writing Month! It’s okay if you aren’t going to finish your book, and it’s also okay if you don’t have 50,000 words! You still did a thing—you created a story that didn’t exist  We want to talk about endings. How do you…

18.47: NaNoWriMo Week 4 – Climaxes, or OH MY GOD NO

It’s week four of NaNoWriMo! Or, National Novel Writing Month, which happens every year for the month of November. This week, we are talking about how to write climaxes, how to write resolutions, and what exactly the three-quarter mark is.  How do you write a climax scene? How to keep…

18.46: NaNoWriMo Week 3 – Raising the Stakes

We are now three weeks into NaNoWriMo—where writers are attempting to write a novel in the month of November. For this episode, our writers talk about how to raise the stakes in your story.   To make something feel more threatening, you don’t have to make it bigger or flashier, but…

18.44: NaNoWriMo Week 1- Getting Started

Welcome to National Novel Writing Month! For November, writers all over the world are trying to complete a novel, or write 50,000 words. In honor of NaNoWriMo, all of our November episodes are going to focus on writing a novel or big project.  For our first week—starting! How do you…

18.39: How To Write An Ending

Deep Dive: Sergeant In Motion How do you write an ending to a book? How do you finish something you’ve been writing for over 20 years? Howard Tayler talks to us about writing the ending to his serialized webcomic and space opera, Schlock Mercenary. We dive into how to write a…

18.33: Deep Dive: The Schlock Mercenary Finale

The first episode in our eight-episode Deep Dive into Howard’s weekly webcomic strip, Schlock Mercenary. We grill Howard on how he taught himself to draw, why he decided to self-publish (hint: his wife, Sandra Tayler, helped him), and how he managed to write an ending.  Homework:  The “How it should have ended”…

18.32: The Kirsten Vangsness Expansion Pack

We have a special guest episode! Kirsten Vangsness, Criminal Minds star, joins us to talk about her experience as a writer, actor, and playwright. She taught us how she deals with imposter syndrome, and how she uses performance as a writing tool. We also talk about self-actualization, cats, and filling…

18.30: Planting Supernatural Seeds

How do you slowly reveal the supernatural in an obviously supernatural story? How can you prepare your audience for a reveal without disclosing it too quickly? If someone is familiar with your writing, they know the genre and what to expect from it. We talk about how we work within these confines…

18.15: Building a Mystery, Now With More Tools

Back in February, with Episode 18.8, we began exploring the process of writing a mystery story. That episode led us into a series of six episodes about tension, and the tools we use to create and manage it. And now, with this episode (and a toolbox full of tension) we’re…