The Write Focus

Tackling the next book requires three sets of seven. The Plot 7 determines the conflict that will drive the story. 7 Character Sets will develop the story’s heart and mind.

Our focus in this segment will be the 7 Writing Stages.

I did not say seven drafts of the novel—These are the seven work stages, each requiring a different part of your writing mind.

We're using 7 different parts of the brain!

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 11:56

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/05/7-stages-of-writing-quick-tips-for.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at [email protected].

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

As with the seven scenes that build the story, introduced in the last segment, seven character sets develop the story, increasing the conflict, intensifying suspense or adding complications.

The four main characters who drive the conflict of the story are protagonist, antagonist, an important friend or ally, and the seeming ally.

Our purpose in this segment is to list and briefly explain these 7 Characters. We need more than their skeletons; we need their minds and hearts.

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 12:21

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/05/7-character-sets-quick-tips-for-writers.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at [email protected].

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

In considering your next writing, what is your first approach?

Many start with a situation: a thriller in the backwoods. Others start with character: a free-willing type faced with his two orphaned nieces. Or you wake up with a title, and the story springs out when you sketch a few ideas.

We are never truly blank when we start.

No sooner do we have an idea than a main character emerges, a glimmer that solidifies as we consider that shining idea for the protagonist.

At this point, many say start with character templates. I disagree. I think our best start is that shining character in conflict. I propose a start with what I call the Plot 7 ~ seven major scenes that will tell if you have a story or not.

What are these 7 scenes?

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 14:01

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/07/tackle-next-writing-quick-tips-for.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at [email protected].

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Overcoming difficulties is a constant process, no matter which profession you enter.

All my guidebooks on writing contain insights that I wish I had understood then. Instead, I nodded along, thinking I understood, but I didn’t turn those insights into practical application.

Many writers talked about difficulties and consistency, but they usually added the dreaded word “Deadlines” whenever they talked about keys to success.

After years of experience, I must agree with them. Every project has a deadline, and deadlines get things done.

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 9:07

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/07/overcoming-difficulties-quick-tips-for.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at [email protected].

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

Alice followed the White Rabbit into a hole that dropped her into a strange world.

Writing is like that, a hole into a strange wonderland. A project is an intriguing white rabbit luring us to follow even as it reminds us that the project has to meet a deadline or be “late for that important date”.

Our Writing Wonderland operates on 3 Basic Rules. Get these writing rules right, and your Wonderland will not turn into a horror story.

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 5:20

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/07/writing-is-wonderland-quick-tips-for.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at [email protected].

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

Consider your Cover is Quick Tip #12.

One of the greatest expenses that an indie writer will have is the cost of a professional cover.

Yes, yes, people say that the editorial cost is the highest one. Development editors and content editors and line editors are expensive.

Let me argue with that. The first attractor for a book is the cover design. To capture and charm readers, invest in a great cover design.

How do we ensure the best cover design? Follow along for the tips.

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 5:57

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/07/cover-considerations-quick-tips-for.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at [email protected].

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

Writing constantly, writing fast ~ these can outpace our creativity, leaving us drained. The answer is to Juggle Projects.

I cannot simultaneously write two fiction projects; the projects we juggle have to be different.

This episode talks about that HOW.

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 5:49

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/juggle-projects-quick-tips-for-writers.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

“Cocoons” is the Quick Tip for Writing in this episode.

When the words do not come as soon as we are ready to write, what can we do? We have to think like inchworms, the ones that eventually become beautiful butterflies.

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 4:42

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/think-cocoons-quick-tips-for-writers-10.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at [email protected].

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Long before a writer pens the last word in a story and launches into the Proof-Plus, that writer is considering promotions.

Promotions, marketing, that’s the same thing.

So much of marketing depends on spare cash and good fortune in eyes discovering it. The chief marketing tool, however, is something the writer can totally control.

Let’s look at the Loss Leader, also known as the Reader Magnet.

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 3:45

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/reader-magnets-quick-tips-for-writers-9.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at [email protected].

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Every successful story, short or long, has two key elements. These two keys recur throughout the story.

One takes a new form at every instance, teasing the reader into reading more. The other also teases the reader, but this time the key remains the same, merely doubling and re-doubling, increasing and intensifying.

What are these key elements?

You’ll have to listen to discover that answer. ;)

TIMINGS

Total Run Time = 5:17

LINK

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/2-keys-to-successful-stories-quick-tips.html

Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).