Writer Unleashed

Flashbacks need to be handled with craft and intention. Just like any other interruption from the present story, a flashback can kick your reader out of the story.  And that's precisely what we want to avoid.In today's episode, I'm sharing 3 common missteps writers make with flashback, and how to avoid them. We'll explore how to:Reign in overused flashbacksPlace flashbacks where they matterUse repetition and variation to give your story a memoryKeep your reader grounded in time shiftsAlso listen to: Episode 12: Four Ways to Write Effective FlashbackWant 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.

Bonnie Lykes Bigler is a writer and spoken word performer and host of The Writers' Voice on WIOX 91.3 FM.  In this radio re-broadcast,  we talk all things writing - why we write, what stops us in our tracks  and how to keep writing in the face of rejection, loss of motivation, and writer's  fatigue. We talk about the importance of learning how to read like a writer, and the ship and learn approach I learned from one of my coaches, and more. 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.

Show, don’t tell has got to be the most canned advice bandied about.Yes, you should show. But that doesn’t mean you never tell. Telling does have its place.So the question becomes, when is it better to show rather than tell?In today’s episode, I’ll share the three main ways writers tell when it’s better to show, and how to convert telling into showing.  There's also a quick writing exercise at the end, so  have your pen and paper handy.Here’s what we’ll cover:Why showing helps your story become your reader's story, and why this is a major gainThe difference between scene and summary and when to write scene vs summaryHow to use action, language, and metaphor to reveal characterHow to recreate setting so the reader drops right into the world of your storyAlso Listen To:Episode 13: How to Write For Emotional ImpactWant 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.

 POV is the thing that flummoxes writers the most. A big part of the confusion is a misguided focus on which person you write from.  But this has virtually nothing to do with POV and  confuses writers more than it helps. So in this episode I’m going to simplify POV for you and distill it into the 3  main things you need to  focus on, so you can develop a strong point of view that gives your story unity, rhythm and resonance.We'll cover:What POV is and how to construct itHow character desire and significant history shape POVHow language reflects POVAlso listen to: Episode 50: How Much Backstory Does Your Reader Really Need to KnowWant 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.

You  can engineer a stellar plot line, dream up characters with compelling conflicts — all the broad strokes – but it’s the accumulation of small word choices that keep readers spellbound. In today's episode, I'm giving you 3 quick editing tips you can apply right now to instantly transform your story. Just by tweaking your verbs. So grab your WIP and let's  do this together. 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.

The question isn't whether your story is character driven or plot driven. Or even how to write one or the other.The question is..How do you integrate character with plot?Because both are inseparable.If one or the other dominates, your story falls apart.On today's episode, I'll share 3 ways to integrate character with plot.We'll cover:The purpose of plotHow to keep the plot threat alive for your character's own goodBuilding emotions How to avoid a one-note characterWant 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.

Learn how to structure your work in progress with a 3-Act framework, whether you're an exploratory writer or a plotter. Discover the significance of the beginning, middle, and end acts in storytelling, and get tips on bringing it all together in Act 3. Also, explore character resolution and story structure with a focus on character challenges and introductions of new characters.

Story dialogue is not the same as real-life dialogue. It's shaped with intention, word by word. Even so, we should pay attention to the nuances and the rhythm of real-life conversations.We want to be looking for the ways people don’t listen to one another. The ways we dance around hard truths.In today's episode of Writer Unleashed, we'll explore how to bring tension into your dialogue by focusing on the thing your characters don't want to say or hear.We'll explore:Our natural urge to evade difficult conversations An example of dialogue with no tensionAn example of dialogue with tensionand a writing exercise to drive it all homeAlso listen to:Episode 52: The Number One Mistake Writers Make With DialogueWant 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.

What's the number one mistake writers make with dialogue?  Writing way too much of it.In today's episode of Writer Unleashed, we'll explore 3 ways to shape compelling dialogue that rings true to your reader. We'll cover:How to avoid dialogue that tells too much The primary audience you should be writing dialogue for The single most important thing you need to know about your characters before they speakHow to use compression and beats to have readers leaning in word by wordFor deeper insight into what's underneath what your characters say,  Grab your FREE Character Questionnaire here.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.

How do you keep writing when you're totally blocked? When you feel like you have utterly nothing to say?In today's episode of  Writer Unleashed, I'll give you a 3-step strategy for breaking through. In today's episode, we'll explore:What writer's block  isWhat causes it3 Strategies to unblock yourselfWant 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.