The Writer's Block Podcast

Switching Roles

Normally the ladies of the Writers Block are the interviewer.  Today Debby will switch roles and share her experience being the interviewee.

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

When You Finish Your Memoir...

Shelly and Debby have both finished their memoirs and will share what they learned through this very personal experience.

• How does it feel to finish?
• It’s done what question should you ask your self before moving to the next step?
• What did writing this book teach you?

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Weak Endings - #10 of the Ten Most Common Mistakes

Barbara Wallace award winning author of romance and mystery will continue her discussion of the most common writing mistakes.  Weak endings are bad in lovemaking and in stories.  Debby, Shelly and Barbara will help you reach a great climax to your book.

• If the reader remembers the ending, they will forgive any early misgivings
• Don’t let your deadline stop you from flushing out your endings
• Is the pot so complicated that you can’t get out of the story satisfactorily?
• You should have an arc for your character (the murder gets solved, someone dies…)
• Readers like when the story ties up the loose ends
• You shouldn’t drag the ending out too long either
• Happy ending are not always satisfying endings

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Happy New Years!

2019 has been a crazy ride for the women of the Writer's Block.  Join the ladies as they revisit the resolutions, they set one year ago today.  The past year has been like a shot of adrenaline so 2020 is sure to sparkle.  

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Stereotypical Characters and Flat Characters - #9 of the Ten Most Common Mistakes

Barbara Wallace award winning author of romance and mystery will continue her discussion of the most common writing mistakes.  Shelly and Debby and Barbara will teach you how to make your characters memorable.

• We spend a lot of time developing main characters but how much time do we spend on secondary characters?
• Is the secondary character necessary?
• They exist to further the plot
• How do you choose who is important to move the story along?
• Holmes, who lacks social awareness, had Watson to balance him out

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Telling, Not Showing - #8 of the Ten Most Common Mistakes

Barbara Wallace award winning author of romance and mystery will continue her discussion of the most common writing mistakes.  Debby and Shelly will explore the benefit of showing rather than telling, which include how to emotionally connect your readers with your characters.

• It’s a weakness many authors have
• Telling is just giving the information
• Showing is demonstrating the narrative through the Human experience often through the
• Use all the senses
• Who is noticing what and why?
• Lay off the “ly” words
• Small details rather than the big picture
• Powerful verbs and adjectives
• Be specific to the character
• Dialogue vs simple narrative

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Conflict - #7 of the Ten Most Common Mistakes

Without conflict, you have no story…good conflict is multi-layered.  A great story has two kinds of conflict we will discuss on today’s show.  External conflict is the adversity the hero faces from outside forces. Internal conflict is born of the characters thoughts, fears, obligations, needs, desires, etc.

• Conflict is not
  • Constant bickering
  • Solved quickly
• Balance your internal and external conflicts
• Character driven stories often center around internal conflict

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Inconsistent Pacing - #6 of the Ten Most Common Mistakes

Pacing is the speed with which your narrative unfolds. The Writer’s Block welcomes Barbara Wallace to talk about the importance of pacing.

• Your book should be like a symphony
• The pace should be variable
• There should be a purpose to your pacing
• At what point in the writing process should pacing be addressed?
• Language and sentence structure can be used to control pace

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Dialogue Is not Just Conversation - #5 of the Ten Most Common Mistakes

Today on the block, Barbara Wallace joins us to discuss the importance of honing your dialogue skills... in writing.  Dialogue is not just conversation between characters.  It is a vital story tool that, if done properly, should:

• Advance the plot
• Can often point out subtext
• Reveal story information
• Provide insight into character
• Heighten tension
• Character’s with heavy accents…don’t overdo it. Transition from very brief dialect and then make it easy for the reader going forward
• Repetitive words that you hear in real life have no place in the story…”Um, Like, Well” readers don’t want to read them over and over again
• Sex noises during love scenes are a no no
• Don’t over vary or over use your tags…”She Said, they replied, and he asked” are examples of good easy tags that can lubricate the dialogue
• Dialogue is not a tool for info dumping

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Failing to Use Setting Effectively - #4 of the Ten Most Common Mistakes

A good setting isn't just where your story takes place.  It is an integral part of your story, sometimes to the point where it could actually become a character itself.  When you are in your characters POV, you're not just writing what they're saying and thinking... you are writing where they are, what is happening around them, and what stimuli is involved.  Written correctly, what they notice about their environment can tell so much about a character.  What a real estate agent notices about a house will not be the same thing as what a criminal breaking in will notice.  Barbara and Debby will share ways to make your scene stand out by using setting most effectively.

• Setting is one of the main characters of the book
• The setting is another way to reveal hints about different characters. A criminal is going to look at a room different than someone who stages homes for sale
• Choose your scenes that will work your plot
• Setting can be similar archetypes: Sad theme set on a rainy day
• Setting can be opposing archetypes: Sad theme on a bright sunny day

May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well.

All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.