The Writing Apothecary Podcast

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Hey guys, welcome back to anew month and a new topic. Drum roll please! This month we're tackling plot and like all fo the previous lessons this is just a step that we're building into our tool box.

Today we’re going to dig into a little bit of an introduction about plot. We all know that they’re really important and that thy serve to be an essential part of the story, but they’re not what makes your readers pick up your book. It’s the characters and they’re extraordinary snippet of life that you’re writing about.

The major points of today's podcast are:

• Plot is the core part of a story.
• The characters are an essential part of the plot. 
• But the real work with plot is your characters, they need to be full formed, three dimensional beings who have real lives and have a real understanding about what they want or who they are.
• There are three main components to the plot. They are Character, The goal, and the conflict that stop the goal from happening right away. 
• “Plot grows out of character. If you focus on who the people in your story are, if you sit and write about two people you know and are getting to know better day by day something is bound to happen.” - Anne Lammot.
• There are no new plots.

Tell me what did you take away from this week's lesson?

I'd love to know.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you took the time to rate and review the podcast it helps people find our community and gets the podcast out into the world a little more.

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont

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Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary and today I have a treat for you. We're sitting down to chat about Point of View with another dear friend of mine, Av.

We met during our Writing and Publishing degree and is always a wealth of knowledge. Today we chat about all things point of view, focalisation and cats, because what is a writer without their cat?

We go into detail about characters because, down to the wire, all of our storytelling comes back to our characters and just what point of view means to her. It also is a good look at the creative brain of something who is neurotypical and I think it's amazing!!

 I loved talking to Av and our conversations are always full of wit, sarcasm and loooots of laughs and cat chatter.

About Av:

Av (she/they) is a Canberra-based writer and photographer. They have been published in Beat magazine, Lipmag, and defunct music magazine SLEIGH. She has also published essays in various zines and university publications, exploring how feminism influenced her upbringing. They live with their two cats, Mario and Peach, and an endless pile of ‘to-read’ books.
Instagram: @chemistryminds

Let me know what you took away from this week's chat and if you know someone who would love to listen in, share it with them. 

If you feel called to, leave a 5 star rating and write a review, it helps like minded creative find us. 

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont

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Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and the last theory less on Point of View. Today we're looking at Distance and Focalisation. 

Just a word of warning, focalisation is a lot to wrap your head around it and I feel like every writer needs to understand to get the most out of their writing. 

The major points of today's podcast are:

• There are two kinds of distances: Emotional and Time.
• Emotional distance is the distance that readers sense between the narrator and the characters.
• It's a distance that affects how close the reader feels to a character.
• Time distance, our readers assume that the events of the story happened recently, like as in within a few moments.
• Focalisation is basically another term for point of view, but it’s a bases in literary narratology. 
• It gives expression to the perceiving mind or the sensibility in a text. It’s the expression of a character or narrator’s attitudes, thoughts, memories or experience at any given moment in the narrative.
• There are two kinds of focalisation: the external and internal focaliser.
• You need a POV contract with your readers and your characters to allow the story to flow and for your readers to know what they're reading. 

Tell me what did you take away from this week's lesson?

I'd love to know.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you took the time to rate and review the podcast it helps people find our community and gets the podcast out into the world a little more.

References:

Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont

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Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and to another lesson on Point of view. Today we're looking at first, second and third person POV. We're breaking them down and really understanding what they are and what how they can affect your story. 

Have you ever read a book and really gotten lost in the character's story? Do you feel their pain or the mistakes that have happened to them or for them? Or maybe you've squealed in delight because you can see the way through their actions. And all of this comes down to what POV is used. 

The major points of today's podcast are:

• First-person uses I and has different layers.
• A character using first-person POV is the narrator or protagonist of the story.
• The First-person is quite intimate and my preferred POV.
• It is also a really unreliable narrator. 
• Third-person is the most common and most used POV. It uses he/she and they/them as signifier. 
• Multiple POVs are easier to manage in third-person POV.
• Omniscient third-person POV is also known as the god's eye view of the story. It's also good to use this POV sparingly. 
• Second person, POV is one that is used less frequently and uses you as a signifier. 

Point of view is such a big topic and I could go on about it over and over again and not get tired of it. I hope you’ve taken something from this episode and I hope you come back next week. We’ll be looking at distance and focalisation.

Tell me what did you take away from this week's lesson?

I'd love to know.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you took the time to rate and review the podcast it helps people find our community and gets the podcast out into the world a little more.

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont

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Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and to a new month. You know what that means! It's new topic time. I can't believe how far we've come. We're looking at Point of View and expanding on what we learned in our Voice. 

This week's lesson is really short and sweet. 

The major points of today's podcast are:

• Point of View or PoV is really important to the story.
• You want your readers to care about your characters.
• PoV is the next level to voice.
• We'll be covering: First, second and third person narration, focalisation and distance and closing it off with a really great interview.

Tell me what did you take away from this week's lesson?

I'd love to know.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you took the time to rate and review the podcast it helps people find our community and gets the podcast out into the world a little more.

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and our next guest on the podcast. Characters are such an important part of our stories and it's no surprise that this is the episode that I actually recorded two or three years ago when I decided I needed a podcast, but it seems that the world and my life wasn't quite ready for it.

This interview is such a special one to me, and maybe it's because it's one of my close friends or maybe it's because there was so much laughter and I really got lost in the interview. What you don't see in this is the number of times I had to redo the introduction because I couldn't say Appalachian. 

Her head characters have inspired me and my writing so many times over and when we met on my play by post role playing site we instantly clicked where we became slow friends and learned so much about our characters and one another's lives. 

I really hope that you guys love our chat and an insight into Ru's head characters because they're all so unique, and just maybe she'll be able to get her book out. You should harass her about that. 

About Ru: 

Ru Tripodi is an urban fantasy writer who lives in the Appalachain Mountains, she is also an avid gamer, queen of characters sketches and serial procrastinator when it comes to writing. She lives with her family and band of cats. To find more about her follow her twitter @adagium.

Let me know what you took away from this week's chat and if you know someone who would love to listen in, share it with them. 

If you feel called to, leave a 5 star rating and write a review, it helps like minded creative find us. 

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and to our next lesson about characters, and today we're getting to know them. We're looking at the symphony that it takes to make all of the working parts move in sync. 

To craft a believable, fascinating and memorable characters there needs to be a point where you start with them. Most of the time we create characters from memory and the mind. Your characters emerge as different versions of the people in your life. 

The major points of today's podcast are:

• Characters are a version of ourselves and the people we see in our lives. 
• The best way to tell your readers about your character is to show them. 
• The four methods of showing are: Action, Speech, Appearance and Thought. 
• Action is in demand because it reveals so much about a character
• Speech can tell you a lot about a character with both the things they say and don't say and how they say them.
• Appearance allows you to draw conclusions about character from their physical looks, gait, clothing style and facial expressions. 
• Thought allows your readers to see your character take up space and become their best friends. 
• Names are important, don't forget to take the time to pick wisely.

Tell me what did you take away from this week's lesson?

I'd love to know.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you took the time to rate and review the podcast it helps people find our community and gets the podcast out into the world a little more.

Resources:

• Character Bio PDF
• Gotham Writer's Workshop Writing Fiction Novel edited by Alexander Steele
• The Writer’s Digest Character Name Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont

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Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and to our next lesson centred around the desire and human complex when it comes to characters.

I want to ask you, first, a few questions: 

Who is your favourite character? Or characters? 

What do you think makes them your favourite character?

The major points of today's podcast are:

• All characters have a living, breathing desire if they are a fully formed and dimensional character.
• Desire is a driving force of human nature and when it’s applied to characters it creates momentum to drive a story further, which is what we all want our stories to do as we write them. 
• Your characters can have huge intoxicating desires, or they can have small and simple desires, but regardless of the size, your characters need to want it so badly that they will move heaven and earth to get there.
• They need to have contrasting traits, and these can be subtle, or they can be really conflicting.
• Just like with desire a main character’s ability to change moves the story forward but sometimes doesn’t get resolved at the end of it all.

Tell me what did you take away from this week's lesson?

I'd love to know.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you took the time to rate and review the podcast it helps people find our community and gets the podcast out into the world a little more.

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and to a new month and new topic. Welcome to character. Today we are looking at an introduction on character and how they are the central part of a story. 

Characters are the core of the story and interact with or influence every aspect and element of a story. Some character will turn up fully formed and others may not. Some may even be a facet of yourself or someone you know but at the same time they will have a mind and body of their own. They will be separate from you but they will also be a part of you.

The major points of today's podcast are:

• Characters in our stories are a mixture of the best parts of us and also the worst.
• As we write characters we realise that bad things happen to good people and we can't expect them to be perfect. 
• Characters, if they grow a lot, they begin to influence the course of the story and not the other way around. 
• Most stories are character driven and it's our job to make sure that they are living, breathing, authentic character. 

This month's lessons are full of so much goodness and our guest will make you fall in love with characters all over again. 

Tell me what did you take away from this week's lesson?

I'd love to know.

Also, I would really appreciate it if you took the time to rate and review the podcast it helps people find our community and gets the podcast out into the world a little more.

Resources:

• On Writing - Stephen King
• The Writing Book - Kate Grenville
• Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
• Gotham Writers' Workshop: Writing Fiction - Edited by Alexander Steele

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and our next guest on the podcast. I am really excited for you guys to meet him. Andrew and I met in uni while we were studying psychology and since then we have had a healthy back and forth competitive friendship built on chasing each other's word counts. 

In this interview Andy and I talk about all things setting and the importance of how integral setting is to the story. We also cover a different kind of setting, a societal setting that is something that most fantasy authors come across. It's that one piece of law that makes the story different to the real world.

I hope you guys come along for the journey that is the chat about the setting, where we take the long and windy route through the questions. There are also plenty of outtakes to come because we couldn't stop laughing and joking all the way through. 

About Andrew: 

Andrew Irvine is a fantasy author who currently lives in Adelaide where he writes part time and works full time. He has recently adopted a kitten who has a zest fr life and enjoys sitting by him while he writes. He is an indie published author and is most widely known for this PSI series. You can find him trawling Twitter on @AndrewIrvine2 and you can find his books on Amazon and Book Depository.

Andrew's books:

• Affliction (PSI 1)
• Coercion (PSI 2)
• Retribution (PSI 3)
• MonsterVille

Let me know what you took away from this week's chat and if you know someone who would love to listen in, share it with them. 

If you feel called to, leave a 5 star rating and write a review, it helps like minded creative find us. 

Want exclusive behind the scenes and early access to The Writing Apothecary episodes? Join up to the mailing list over here.

If you're looking for a cheerleader for your writing, then head on over to https://dreamingfullyawake.com/work-with-me/ and let's have a chat about how we can work together to get your writing on track. 

Follow the podcast on Instagram @thewritingapothecary
Follow Mandi on all socials: @mandikont