Writing Roots
Writing RootsEpisodes
Episodes of Writing Roots
Mark All
Search Episodes...
We're tackling the topic of marketing once again this month, focusing on how to tailor your efforts depending on the genre of your story. We start this month by talking about the marketing recipe: who, what, where, when, and why. By understandi
One piece of advice that you will encounter a lot in your writing journey, especially if you take any formal classes, is to avoid passive voice. It helps the characters take control of what is happening in their story. Active voice is more dire
There are a lot of people out there giving advice about writing, sharing their opinions and experiences to help you in your journey. Unfortunately, some of that advice is not good. Not that the advice won't help someone, but no piece of advice
Perhaps it's an overcorrection from the extremely verbose fiction of the 1800s to early 1900s, but there has been a shift in writing advice to avoid detailed descriptions. Authors are constantly told to keep the story moving, only include relev
One piece of good advice that is often applied too often is to "kill your darlings." It is good to approach the editing process with a sort of ruthlessness that can rival your story's villain, but removing your "darlings" simply because you lik
This is another one of those contradictory rules you've probably heard: Only ever use "said" in your dialogue tags. Yet you've also probably heard "said is dead." So which is it? The real answer is found in breaking both of these and finding a
When it comes to advice for starting your story, you've probably found lists of what not to do. Sometimes, those lists contradict themselves in ways that make it a confusing process to figure out exactly how a story is supposed to start.That's
Word counts are a rule for very good reasons. From audience expectation to publisher requirements, word counts are an established part of writing. For each time you've heard the standard for whatever genre, you've probably thought immediately o
If you've heard any writing advice or rules, you've heard "show, don't tell." While this is great advice that can help enrich a story and immerse the reader, creating a book of only "show" becomes tedious for the reader. Sometimes, telling is t
When it comes to rules of writing, the rules regarding prologues is important for getting readers engaged and interested right away. Prologues have the power to either pull a reader into a world or to drive them away from the story entirely. Th
For a podcast all about helping you learn how to write and craft your stories, we're not big fans of rules. Or, perhaps, we just like knowing that most so-called "writing rules" are there to be broken. Throughout April, we will be discussing so
One way to create unique and relatable characters is to make some that are neurodivergent in some way. The more common diagnoses associated with neurodivergent include ADHD and autism, both of which often suffer from extreme stereotyping when p
Along with that moment of hope mentioned earlier this month, characters will often have a moment of getting a second wind. First, you have to show them exhausted. Not just tired or sleepy, but exhausted to the point where they want to give up.
Everyone is unique, but portraying it on the page is difficult. Among new writers, we often see the concern that their story - whether plot, characters or world - isn't unique enough. In this episode, we address each of these, including how a c
There will come a time in your story where your characters don't feel up to the task ahead. Though there are a myriad of reason why this could be, the most common is inferiority. They do not feel good enough, strong enough or powerful enough to
In the darkest times, your characters need something to give them a spark of hope. Something to get them back on their feet and willing to continue the fight. That is why as an author, you need to know how to write the emotions of hope and insp
Though not exactly an emotion, hunger does have a huge impact on people as they move through their daily lives. Different levels of hunger come with their own emotions. Food can also play a strong role in building companionship and community. I
All characters have secrets. Sometimes it's their true feelings for another character, and sometimes it's about a dark time in their life. You can use the reveal of these secrets through confessions to help drive your story, create twists, and
Boredom can be a key element for writing your stories, but it is difficult to strike that balance between showing a bored character and making your readers bored. After all, we've said before you should cut scenes where nothing actually happens
Of all the emotions you could include in your story, grief is one of the most common yet most complex options. Many stories address the idea of grief, whether it is the loss of someone they loved, the loss of a limb, a new medical diagnosis, or
This whole month has been about helping you understand that when you become an author, you become a public figure of sorts. That means "being cancelled" is a real possibility if you make the wrong move or say the wrong thing.Aside from that, t
If there is one thing that we collectively stop doing as a bookish community, it should be FOMO marketing and exclusive special editions.Don't get us wrong. We love special editions as much as the next reader. They can be great for authors as
All advertising is good advertising, right? It doesn’t matter if you’re mean or nice, so long as people know your name, right?Wrong. People may know your name, but you could easily do more damage than good. In this episode, Ley and Leigh discu
The idea of writing a memoir pushed me way out of my comfort zone. So instead of trying to eat the whole elephant in one sitting, I took small bites. - Rachel TrotterWhether or not you’re writing a memoir or a piece of fiction, it is well know
Authors often feel pressure to be active on social media, particularly TikTok, in order to get and keep a substantial following. This is largely new territory, and some long-time authors are finding themselves in hot water because they don't un
Join Podchaser to...
- Rate podcasts and episodes
- Follow podcasts and creators
- Create podcast and episode lists
- & much more
Unlock more with Podchaser Pro
- Audience Insights
- Contact Information
- Demographics
- Charts
- Sponsor History
- and More!
- Account
- Register
- Log In
- Find Friends
- Resources
- Help Center
- Blog
- API
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More
- © 2024 Podchaser, Inc.
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Service
- Contact Us