The First Draft Club

We interrupt this post-season break to bring you a chat between Mary and Gayle Brown, an alum of The Book Incubator whose debut novel that she wrote in the program is out this week. Learn about her writing journey, what pub day feels like, and what advice she has for getting a literary agent.

You can buy A Deadly Game at Amazon (https://shorturl.at/gsvE3) or Barnes and Noble (https://shorturl.at/nyF18), or leave a review on Goodreads (https://shorturl.at/eopsG).

In this episode, Mary builds on the 5 tips for writing stronger dialogue she shared back in the first episode of Season 5. These 3 strategies will help improve your dialogue further.

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Season 5, Episode 1: https://thefirstdraftclub.podbean.com/e/how-to-write-compelling-diagloue/

What actually makes us call a book "good" is something Mary recently completely changed her view on. Here's how she thinks of a "good book" now, and why.

Mary shares the 3 questions she'd ask herself if deciding whether to write a true personal story or a fictionalized version based on real events. Also, join our 10,000-Word Challenge starting next week!

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Join Mary's (FREE!) 10,000-Word Challenge starting Monday, Oct. 23rd, and write the first 10,000 words of your novel or memoir in 10 days! Visit https://maryadkinswriter.com/10k-challenge-live to get started. 

In this episode, Mary gets very real about why most creative writing classes make you feel discouraged and directionless, and how to handle such a class.

What makes a novel count as “literary fiction?” How is it different from “upmarket” fiction? And are they both better than commercial fiction? Mary defines these categories and discusses why she believes upmarket is your sweet spot as a new novelist.

In this episode, Mary takes on the threat of AI to professional writing and discusses why she believes it will never replace human storytellers.

There's an undercurrent of literary snobbery that pervades many creative writing spaces. In this episode, Mary names it, shares personal stories of what it looks like, and talks about why it can be destructive.

Literary agent Marisa Corvisiero chats with Mary about what contract terms she tries to negotiate for her clients, why she thinks it's savvy for authors to publish both traditionally and independently, and how un-agented and self-publishing authors can get help with their contracts.

Check out Marisa's Authorpreneur Workshop HERE (https://www.corvisieroagency.com/writers-workshop.html).

First Draft Club listeners get 15% off with the code FIRSTDRAFT2024.

In this first episode of Season 6, Mary shares what she's been working on during this long break between seasons and why she set aside her latest novel, never to return to it.

Trigger warning: Pregnancy loss is mentioned.