The Writing Apothecary Podcast

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Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and to our next lesson on setting. Today we're looking at setting and characters, the details, the reality and a brief look at pace in time

The setting your characters are in is also as important as their voice is to them. With setting it can play a big role in who your character is. A setting elevated how your character dresses, talks, socialise, works, eats etc. Much like animals, humans behave in a certain way in their natural habitat, so placing your character in a space that is familiar to them will make it easy on them, but that doesn’t mean that you should.

The major points of today's podcast are:

• You don't want setting to be the main plot point, but you do want your readers to know where your character is.
• Setting can be a character in itself, treat it like it is. 
• You need to know the details of the setting and somtimes only you need to know them so you can articulate it to your readers.
• Use the senses to explain your setting. 
• Pacing is important as it helps set the tone of the story. 

There is so much to explore with character and the details of your setting. It's such an important part of your story, but then again what part isn't? 

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 our next episode on voice. Today we're looking at Place and Time when it comes to setting and how important it is for your story.

When writers talk about place, they mean the specific and definite locations of a story on both a small and a large level. This is where we need to really nut it out, what planet are they on? What about the continent, country, state neighbourhood or street that the characters are in? What does the home they are in look like? Or what about the office building or the castle?

The major points of today's podcast are:

• You want to ground your reader with the place, so they don't feel like they're in limbo when they're reading.
• Don't forget about looking at the weather. Would Twilight be the same if it was sunny?
• Place can affect the action of the story.
• Time is important to be able to give readers and writers alike a chance to understand your story.
• Setting can also enhance the emotional landscape.

I love playing with how much time and space are important in a story.

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 and a new topic. This month we're looking at the backbone of a story. 

This is a small introduction in to what to expect and how a setting can elevate a character and the story. Without it, you don't have a story. 

The major points are:

• Stories draw on authentic settings on time and place.
• Writers have the ability to choose to make up places, which works better for them. 
• Setting really is the foundation of a story.

We will be covering place and time, as well as looking deeper into setting and time and looking at pacing. 

This wraps up our first lesson on setting. I hope you're excited on what is to come. 

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

I'd love to know.

Also I would really appreciate 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 our first guest on the podcast. I am so excited for you guys to meet her. She is an amazing writer and woman and not to mention one of my close friends. She has to be one of my favourite writers so she is such a perfect person to be our first guest on the podcast. 

After a month of lessons, we break down Peta's character voice and how she differentiates the different voices in her debut novel. And really we go on tangents about characters and what they mean to us. 

The main points of our chat is: 

• To find your character voice you need to write in it. Put them in a situation where you can see them react and their voices shine through.
• Peta is not a plotter, her character's voices come to her as she writes more of the story.
• Characters are our superhero part of us and say the things we can't.

What did you take away from today's interview? 

Peta Hawker is a young adult fantasy author who is publishing her debut novel in 2021. She writes tales that involve sweeping landscapes, forbidden magic, and young people finding their power in a world that holds no hope. To find more about Peta visit https://petahawker.com or follow her on Instagram @peta.hawker.

Take the time to head on over to Peta's socials and show her some love, because she has such an amazing writerly brain that I can't wait for you guys to see what I have known for years.

I would love it if you took the time to leave a review and message, it helps other writers join our community and join in on the conversation with all things to write writing.

If you would love to hear bloopers and behind the scenes of the podcast, make sure you join the mailing list to also get early access to the episodes before they go live. 

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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Episode 007

Welcome back to The Writing Apothecary podcast and to our last lesson on Voice. 

This week we'll be looking at other ways to find voice and how to use it because there are other ways of using that we haven't covered. 

The different voices that don't fit into the box are:

• Diary/journal entry kind of voice
• Stream of consciousness
• No grammar or punctuation
• Style choices

Stylistic expressions goes hand in hand with voice. Looking at your sentence length, your grammar and your punctuation as it will allow your reader to see more about your character without you stating the obvious about them. Your choices for your character voice helps your reader stay close to their personality.

Looking at your stylistic choices including your paragraph structure and your sentence length. This will differ from character to character as you reveal who they are to the readers. 

There are also two kinds of voice: active and passive voice and the best way to find out which you're using is to add "by zombie" at the end of the sentence when you read it aloud. It is a neat trick to help distinguish it. 

Consistency is also really important with voice. How do you drip feed your information to the your readers? What does your language look like? You need to keep your language consistent so that you don't jolt your reader. 

The biggest thing with voice? Don't worry about it until your edits. These are all really handy to know as a writer but they shouldn't be in the forefront of your mind as you write. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. 

To find your voice you need to write regularly and through a healthy and consistent writing practice can help you find your voice and the voice of your characters.

Reading your work out loud also helps find the ebbs and flows of your characters so that you can be better at writing and helping your reader fall in love with your words. 

This wraps up our theory lessons for voice. I can't wait for you to listen to the amazing guest we have next week. 

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

I'd love to know.

Also I would really appreciate 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 our second lesson on Voice. 

This week I've broken down the ways that voice can show up in your writing. The most important takeaway from last week is that we need to learn to separate our writerly voice from our own authorial voice. Can we do that? Yes! And here's the way that it can be done. 

For this week I've drawn on the help from The Gotham Writers's Workshop Writing Fiction resource (I love this book, it has so much in it and it's so rich with info to help you as a writer)

The types of voice:

• Conversational - This tone of voice is friendly, personable, sarcastic and real. It's a great voice for first person. 
• Informal - It's a step up from conversational as it's not as dressed down, it's casual, every day language that isn't as personality heavy. It's a great tone to use in first person but can be achieved in third person as well. 
• Formal - This one doesn't have as much chattiness to it as conversational or informal, it's a great voice for a larger cast so the characters don't get mixed up.
• Ceremonial - This detached voice is best used in third person as the character would be removed from the story and can recall a terrible event in a joking manner. 

The tone of voice you choose to use will depend on your character's personality once you chose your point of view. 

My favourite to use is a mix of informal and conversational because I love writing in first person.

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 I'm so excited that we're looking at a new topic for the whole month. And this month we're looking at Voice!

We're looking at Voice!! And something I really love to work on with my own writing and my clients is differentiating my own writerly voice from that of my characters. It's a bit tricky to get the balance right, but when you do? You're a step closer to an amazing book. 

Here are some of the takeaways from the podcast:

• Voice is that something special that your story needs, without it, your piece doesn't have any life.
• It's easy to lose the dimension of voice and trying to separate yourself as a writer and the character is a hard thing to do. Don't feel discouraged. 
• To find our character's voice we need to strip it back and look at who they are and what they would do in a situation, not what we would do. 

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 very last episode on Writing Practice. It's been so fun to go through the fundamentals of what a writing practice is.

In today's podcast we're looking at what effects a healthy writing practice can have for your writing life.

Here is some of the great effects of a healthy writing practice:

• A daily/week/regular writing time. You've put in the long yards and you're working it hardcore.
• You take more risks. As you build your writing practice, you're more inclined to take risks to get you to where you want to be.
• You find your writing jam. This gives you the ability to know what your writing ebbs and flow looks like because you know what your writing rhythm looks like.
• You find out what matters. Having the ability to find out what matters to you as a writer is so important!

Next week we tackle a new topic...do you think you know what it is? Take your guesses and let's see who can get it right.

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.

On today's episode, we're looking at journal writing versus writing practice and we touch on the differences between them.

Journal writing has always been a bit scary for me because I just didn't really like the idea of diving deeper. It's an avenue that allows us to express ourselves and understand more about who we are. Getting your thoughts down on the page is important because you can sift through the noise and explore the different things that come up and shift through them. 

It's like shitty first drafts, we have to get them out and then sift through them to find the gold. Journal writing is much the same. 

Whereas writing practice is about finding out about your writerly voice. It's about telling your stories in a creative way to explore how it works. It'll allow you to explore your writerly voice and get the hang of it.

Exploring your writing practice allows your writerly voice to shine through. You then have the ability to be distinguished as readers pick up your books and have the ability to know that it's your own writerly voice and not one that isn't you. 

It's also a really great way on how to stretch yourself and expand on your own writing. I know that this is something that I like to do as a writer and stretching myself and your own writing only makes you a better writer. 

To help with this, I've listed some resources below. There's also a link to the writing prompts that I'm going to update over time. Try your hand at them. 

• Amie: Inspired to Write, Amie's Website
• Writing Prompts to get you Started

You can find the latest episode on any of your podcast platforms. If you want to get an early release of the podcast, opt in to the email list specific for the podcast.

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 to The Writing Apothecary Podcast show notes.

In today's episode, we cover the tools you need to get your writing practice up to scratch. 

Writing needs to be a ritual and that helps your writing practice get healthy. We cover the essential tools you need and these are my non-negotiables when it comes to my writing practice. 

1. Schedule it in

This is so important. If it's not in your schedule, it doesn't exist. You schedule your work and your gym classes. Once they're in, unless you're sick, you go to them. No matter what. 

2. Change it up

Finding your space is perfect, but sometimes it gets the better of us and it's much easier to get up and move places. Physically moving yourself to another space also helps your writing practice grow. You're driven and focused. 

3. Writing Date

Setting a writing date with someone else or even just for yourself is important. Like maybe getting to a cafe and writing or it's getting together with a friend and spending time writing because it'll be a sacred time for just you and writing. 

4. Timed writing

This is my powerhouse of a tool. This is what gets me through it all. It's my secret weapon and it's how I get so much done. This gives your brain a place to know that you have an endpoint and it's a close second to sitting for #5minsofwriting. 

Let me know what tool you'll use first.

Links:

• Howler Timer for Mac Only
• NaNoWriMo

You can find the latest episode on any of your podcast platforms. If you want to get early release of the podcast, opt in to the email list specific for the podcast.

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