By The Taylor Stevens Show
Kicking writing in the butt, one word at a time
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor and Steve go deeper into the idea of linking ideas together to strengthen storytelling. She also mentions a Patreon story she wrote, which can be found...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares some thoughts on how we communicate with our writing. She also mentions a Patreon story she wrote, which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/random-musings-66178012 If you...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Steve discusses a four-author collaborative story he recently read, and Taylor shares her thoughts on the different styles of author collaborations. If you have questions or suggestions...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares her thoughts on a 2018 Medium post that lists 20 storytelling lessons learned from Marvel. We only cover a few, but the entire list is...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares her thoughts on the importance of character conflict in story structure. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares an example of how using storytelling shortcuts can harm our stories. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares her thoughts on the use of location in The Protege, a movie she saw recently, and how we can learn storytelling craft from movies If...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares her thoughts on the use of feeling words, and why and when they should be avoided. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows,...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares some thoughts on choosing between first-person and third-person points of view, genre expectations, and switching between first and third person. If you have questions or...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares her thoughts on a listener question from J.J. who asks how to make nearly identical characters, with similar life experiences sound different. Thanks, J.J. for...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares her thoughts on a movie that she felt was very much like reading a book and how this movie can serve as a tutorial to...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor continues with her thoughts from a listener question about setting and whether or not it can become a type of character in your story. If you...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor and Steve discuss the phrase Cut to the Chase, and how it can be used to amp up our fiction. If you have questions or suggestions...
In this short show, Steve asks Taylor if she has thoughts about a prologue technique he’s seen an author use across multiple series. As you can imagine, Taylor did have some thoughts. Please let us know if you like more...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a listener question about setting and whether or not it can become a type of character in your story. If you have questions or...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor and Steve discuss two different television series and ask what about their different storylines make them so compelling. If you have questions or suggestions for future...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! This week’s show is the fifth and final in a series of Hack the Craft Episodes dealing with a submission from author M.Z Lowe. This week’s episode details Taylor’s line edits...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! This week’s show is the fourth in a series of Hack the Craft Episodes dealing with a submission from author M.Z Lowe. This week’s episode also has video which you can...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! This week’s show is a Hack the Craft Episodes dealing with questions on story stakes from author M.Z Lowe. This week Taylor’s responses focus on story stakes. You can find the...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! This week’s show is the second in a series of Hack the Craft Episodes dealing with a submission from author M.Z Lowe. This week Taylor responds to several questions from the...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! This week’s show is the first in a series of Hack the Craft Episodes dealing with a submission from author M.Z Lowe. This week Taylor reviews the submission and outlines what...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor and Steve discuss the recent phenomenon of negative reviews being voted to the top at Amazon. You can find the worksheet that Taylor created here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/hack-craft-scene-57649003...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor and Steve discuss his efforts to evaluate individual scenes for plot, character, and conflict. You can find the worksheet that Taylor created here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/hack-craft-scene-57649003 If you...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to several listener questions from Tania. The questions involve the use of possessives like “his” and “hers”, what Taylor still struggles with in her own...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a listener question from Tania, who asks if Taylor has ever changed her mind on anything she once considered to be a rule for...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a listener question from Tania on dealing with the specifics of culturally specific words. How much explanation should you give without boring readers who...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a listener question from Tania on the use of similes and metaphors in fiction. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to social media posts on description, character, and plot. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from you. You...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to social media posts on scene purpose and storytelling. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from you. You...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! Taylor follows up on last week’s show where she ended by sharing a light-bulb moment on how to fix her broken story. In this week’s episode, she goes much deeper, sharing...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares some thoughts on identifying the problems in one of her own stories and how she plans to correct those problems. If you have questions or...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a listener question on how she keeps track of and organizes all the details that crop up while writing. If you have questions or...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a listener question about the value of using fewer words to get your point across with your writing. If you have questions or suggestions...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares her “writing in layers” process as a follow-up to a post she’d made on Patreon. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares a challenge she’s had dealing with a large block of her story, and deciding where and when to begin and end scenes within that text....
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a listener question about creating a believable and genuinely evil antagonist. She discusses the idea that there is no universally terrifying villain and that...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor and Steve chat about the six-plus-year journey from episode 1 to episode 300. No writing talk this week, but a fun chat about how things have...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Steve shares his first (and likely only) farm story, and then Taylor shares some thoughts on how to build out your story ideas without getting overwhelmed by...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a Facebook Group question about getting back to the creative process after stepping away from a project. She also shares some thoughts on the...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares a treasure trove of information from author C.A. Newsome on managing misdirection, which she created after listening to the episode on story weight. If you...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares some feedback to our translation episode, and we discuss the value, both positive and negative, of adding POV characters who play minor roles in a...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares how she analyzes what she reads and watches to understand better how to tell stories that meet reader expectations. If you have questions or suggestions...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a listener question about foreign translations. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from you. You can leave...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to a listener question about balancing the need for red herrings in mysteries and the importance of story weight. Thanks to author MZ Lowe for...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor responds to questions about what she called the inciting incident that led to her writing career in last week’s show. If you have questions or suggestions...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor digs deep to share what she’s calling the inciting incident that led to her writing career. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor discusses the concept of story weight and the importance of getting it right with the various elements of your story. If you have questions or suggestions...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor reveals a problem she’s run into with her current WIP and uses that as a springboard to discuss character development through a deeper understanding of character...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor shares a recent life experience and explains how we can use life experiences as research for our own writing. If you have questions or suggestions for...
Thanks so much for joining us again this week! In this week’s episode, Taylor describes several different types of logic ladders with examples and explains why they are important to storytelling. If you have questions or suggestions for future shows,...