Writer Unleashed

In last week’s episode, we  talked about 3 foundational elements to explore before you outline. And in this episode, we’re going to start building that outline. I’m going to walk you through six steps I learned from Philip Gerard. This method leaves plenty of room for invention and surprise. Think of it as a living outline, one you can adjust as you write and revise. And a great touch point whenever you're stuck. If you haven’t  listened to last week’s episode, 118: Before You Outline: 3 Core Foundations To Build First, go have a listen. Then come back here and go through the six steps I’m about to walk you through. An outline is ultimately a tool to help guide you through the murky and overwhelming process of storytelling. It’s a way of thinking your way through your story. It helps you stay on track, but it’s  flexible.  This outline will help you do some careful thought about your  story so you arrive at something that holds surprise, mystery, and beauty. An outline that grows with you and your story. Episode  Web PageWant to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

When it comes to structuring your story, there's no one-size-fits-all. Some writers wing it all the way, others craft meticulous outlines before they write. Both can produce stunning results.But what's often missing in the I'll just wing it approach, and even in the most detailed outlines, are essential foundations that make a story work.  In this episode, we'll explore 3 foundational elements to explore before you outline.If you're a panster, you'll love the exploratory nature of these foundations. And if you're a plotter, you'll build a deeper, richer, stronger outline. In this episode, you'll;Focus and expand your story ideaLand your setting, and;Get  to know your main cast of characters' desires,  beliefs, and fears. Episode  Web PageWant to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

How do we take our characters from their sketchy beginnings and make them come alive? How do we make them convincing? All writers struggle to make characters believable. But much of what readers come to know about a character isn’t stated explicitly. It's  submerged in the way a character speaks, moves, thinks, and behaves.It's beneath the surface. The challenge is conveying all that's beneath the surface to your readers. In this episode, learn 3 ways to write convincing characters.We'll cover:How to tap into your emotions to create believable characters;Why you don't have to experience what your characters are experiencing in order to write  about it; How characters are revealed in  relation to one another, and why creating situations that bring characters together is a more organic way to think about plot, and;Why revision is essential to creating characters readers believe in.Episode Web PageWant to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Great stories often start with a trigger. One persistent image, a childhood memory, a family story, or a phone conversation you overhear on  the train ride to work. In this episode, we’ll explore story triggers: what they are, where they come, how to tap into your own triggers, and select which ones are worthy of expanding into a story. You'll learn about the triggers that gave rise to stories and novels by Hemingway, John Fowles, Joan Didion, and Joyce Carol Oates. And you'll get exercises to help you spark your own powerful stories. Episode WebsiteWant to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

How do you bring a textured, multi-dimensional sense of place to your story?And why is it important? Well, just as plot isn't separate from character, neither is place.Place defines, reveals, and in many ways creates who we are. It's an extension of your characters, and can reflect your  story's central conflict and theme. In this episode, we'll explore 5 questions to bring depth, texture, and a more vivid place for your readers to inhabit. And a powerful way to depict character. Grab a pen!Episode WebsiteWant to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Among all the POVs, 3rd person is arguably the most confusing.Let's say you're writing in limited third from your main character's POV,  and there are points in the story where other characters do things your MC doesn't yet know, but need to be explained for the reader to understand what's happening.  How do you do that in limited 3rd? Are you allowed to change POV in the same chapter? Is this 3rd person omniscient? Or is it head hopping? What's the difference between head hopping and 3rd person omniscient? In this episode, I'm answering these questions and more. You'll learn:The primary purpose of POV;The difference between person and POV;The 3 main categories of 3rd person and how to use them;Common  misconceptions about Omniscience, plus 4 tips to write it better; andA simpler way to craft POV, whether writing in omniscient, limited, or objective 3rd person.By the end of this episode, you'll know how to take fuller advantage of the range, depth, and angles of perception available to you in 3rd person .Episode WebsiteWant to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

How much exposition is too much? Should you begin your story with exposition? And how do you write exposition in a way that isn’t excessive, awkward, or dull?In today’s episode, we'll talk about how to write exposition in a way that doesn’t sound like exposition. We'll cover:What exposition is, and why it's essential;Why it's not necessary to begin your story with exposition;Two different types of exposition; andHow to slip exposition into the action so the reader isn't aware it's even there.Episode WebsiteWant to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Dialogue between characters is one of those things writers struggle mightily with.You want the dialogue to sound like real life, but when you try to make it sound like a real conversation, it just sounds boring and fake.Maybe it's the back and forth, the quotation marks, or that it just doesn't sound right..... but dialogue can be exhausting and futile to write.Is there an easy way to do it?The answer is Yes.In this episode I have 3 techniques to make your dialogue more realistic, dynamic, and compelling to read. Episode WebsiteWant to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Each scene is your story in miniature, a story unto itself. And each follows the same 3 - Act structure.So, in this episode, you'll learn the story arc of a scene. We'll explore:⇒ What information to get into your scene 's Act 1 set up, and how previous scenes prepare the reader for what will unfold. ⇒ How to bring direct conflict and crisis into your scene's Act 2; and⇒ How to land your scene with a resolution in Act 3. Episode WebsiteWant to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

In story, you should always be building emotions. But it’s challenging to get big emotions like grief, love, fear, and anger on the page.  Many writers exaggerate character emotion, turn to cliches, or don't convey enough emotion. The trick is not to  tell us how your character feels, but to evoke emotion in your reader. We want readers to feel with our characters.But how do you do that? In this episode, learn 3 powerful ways  to show character emotion in a way that transmits directly to your reader.  Because that's the whole point.  Episode Website Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.