Companion Pieces

I talk about keeping writing interesting by skipping ahead to write scenes, then we both have 15 minutes of time to do some focussed work, then I talk about making a ‘plot menu’ for myself, with a list of interesting things that might happen in my book.

Sound for the 15 minutes: birds in the cherry tree on a windy afternoon.

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I briefly speculate on why I’ve been writing less. What if it’s that I’ve been writing too many boring bits? I spend 15 minutes looking at how to fix that, while you do your own work. Then I come back and sum up.

Book mentioned: Glorious Exploits, by Ferdia Lennon. I have a feeling I said ‘she’ when talking about the author, but I think he’s a he.

Sound for today’s episode: me scything the garden grass.

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I talk about balancing moving forward with a novel and looking back to fix things. Then I spend 15 minutes doing the moving forward part, while you too get some creative work done (I hope), and come back and sum up.

Sound for today’s 15 minutes: the burn running beside my studio.

Books mentioned: none! Oh dear.

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Another quiet episode where I talk for five minutes while you get ready to do 15 minutes of work, and, after the 15 minutes, return to pat you on the back.

Books mentioned: The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin, and The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne, by Jonathan Stroud.

Sound for the 15 minutes: rain on the woodshed, by the pied wagtail nest.

This is the last episode of this season. I’ll be taking a break from recording for the summer, but still writing (I hope). If you’re listening on a podcast app, please subscribe so that you don’t miss the next season. It would also be lovely if you could leave a review. Thank you!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about what I’ve been reading and what I’ve learned from it, craft-wise, and then I get my head down and do 15 minutes of work, while you do the same.

Sound for the 15 minutes: what I can hear out of my studio window, including tree sparrows, a whitethroat, plenty of rooks, an oystercatcher and the gamekeeper’s dogs barking (in the distance).

Books mentioned: Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovitch; This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, and Wolf Hollow, by Lauren Wolk.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about plot and structure, and getting half-way through my target word-count without having really got half-way through the plot. As always, that’s followed by 15 minutes of sound for you to work to.

Sound for the 15 minutes: the six pied wagtail nestlings in my woodshed (now successfully fledged), and their parents.

Books mentioned: The Science of Storytelling, by Will Storr, and Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder (there are specific versions of this book for novel-writing, but I’ve only read the screen-writing one because that’s what’s in the library).

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I talk for about ‘comp titles,’ figuring out who my book could be for, and the importance of knowing what your secondary characters might be up to while the main characters are getting on with the plot.

Sound for the 15 minutes: wind in the cherry trees with background cuckoo and lambs.

Books mentioned: Northern Lights by Philip Pullman; and The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about using tropes from other genres (while you get ready to work), spend 15 minutes thinking about how romance tropes could help my book (while you do 15 minutes of your own work), then sum up (while you relax).

Book mentioned (that I haven’t already mentioned): The Strange Disappearance of Imogen Good, by Kirsty Applebaum.

Link to the list of romance tropes I used: https://jerichowriters.com/20-powerful-romance-tropes-and-how-to-make-them-original/

Sound for the 15 minutes: breeze in the cherry trees, with background curlew.

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I talk about what I’ve taken from the books I’ve been reading recently, and my wish to be a bit funnier in the book I’m writing. Then - as usual - there are 15 minutes of sound for you to do your creative work to, and then I come back and sum up.

Books mentioned: The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell; The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger; and The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett.

Sound for the 15 minutes: wind in the cherry trees, with background cuckoo, sheep and farm traffic.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com

I talk about writing ups and downs, give us 15 minutes to get some work done - in my case, correcting voice typing - and wonder whether voice typing is as good a way of moving from notebook to computer as I thought it’d be.

Podcast mentioned: Making Trouble with Molly Naylor: The Trouble with Time, featuring Ian McMillan.

Sound for the 15 minutes: evening garden noises, including a male pheasant strutting about cooing to himself (and some louder noises when he calls - don’t be alarmed).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit drawingfromtheinkwell.substack.com