Words to Write by

Today we tackle Jack Bickham’s Common Scene Errors, and boy, are there a lot of them, 14 to be precise. According to Scene and Sequel, these simple problems will derail your scenes, rob them of their impact and drag down your novel. We go through each error, identifying if they’re a problem in our own writing and discuss Bickham’s solution. Want the list? Check out the show notes on our website:

https://wordstowritebypodcast.com/

And because we’re not as prescriptive as Bickham, we begin the podcast interviewing three authors about their outlining process, perhaps one will be right for you.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

What writer hasn’t dreamed of leaving behind the stress and obligations of their day-to-day lives for a quiet, secluded space where they can just write? This past October, we did just that, renting an Airbnb for five days and making real progress on our memoir and novel. 

 During those days we recorded several short conversations documenting our writing progress and other experiences. In this “Bonus” podcast we’ve stitched them together so now you can get ideas and inspiration for your own do-it-yourself writing retreat.

 Tune in next week when we get back to Bickham’s Scene and Structure.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

In this episode, we’re taking a break from our usual craft book analysis and writing exercise because …

Kim and Renee went on a writing retreat! 

We abandoned our spouses, kids, and cats for five days to hole up in a secluded Airbnb. We’ll discuss our expectations, preparations and what we managed to accomplish on our little adventure. Besides the entertainment value, we’re hoping our experiences will be useful and inspirational for when you plan your own get-this-damn-novel-written escape.

 Also on this episode, Kim interviews award winning science fiction author, Charlie Jane Anders about her recently published craft book, Never Say You Can’t Survive.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

After 70 pages of Jack Bickham’s Scene and Structure we feel we’ve got a pretty good handle on how to break our stories down into action-packed, disaster-ending scenes and the more contemplative internal sequels that hold the book together. What we’ve had a harder time with is finding these scene-sequel sequences in the books we own. 

 So, what gives Bickham?

 Apparently, there are multiple variations – in chapter nine, Bickham gives us ten options -- to make one’s scene and sequel not so obvious. In this episode, we’ll go depth on two of these techniques: the scene-within-a-scene and imbedding a flashback within a sequel (which Renee then applies to section in her memoir.)

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

How do you take a ponderous story into a page turner? How do you take a Michael Bay paced novel and make it about more than one disaster after the next? In this episode, we explain Jack Bickham’s techniques to speed up or slow down your story’s pacing by using the structures of scene and sequel. We also check in with author Terry Teirney and editor Zoe Quinton to see if they use sequel in their writing. And finally, we test out the techniques on our own writing. 

Want to find out more, check out our shownotes.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

When you’re bored with action-packed scenes and want to dive deep into the mind of your protagonist, maybe you should try a Sequel. In today’s episode we explore Bickham’s idea of sequel, its parts, and how it glues the scenes together. But we don’t just take Scene & Structure’s word for it, we go looking for sequels in several of our favorite books. Along the way, Renee has an existential crisis, but don’t worry, she gets better.

But first, find out how Renee’s Reddit AMA went.

Want to get geek out even more, visit our show notes.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

After last episode’s deep dive into scene structure, we thought we’d ask a few published novelists and professional editors if they use scene goals in their writing/editing.

 Then, for our podcast proper, we move beyond the scene basics into more advance concerns, like does that disaster you carefully crafted have the proper scope, immediacy, finality, and does it steer your story in the right direction. But we still need to get that pig back home, and in Chapter 6, Bickham points out (with not one, but two numbered lists) other things that can go wrong with scenes, including not having enough “going wrong.” 

 Armed with all this knowledge, we apply Bickham’s notecard strategy to our own books’ scenes. And because we’re geeks, so we had fun!

Want to know more, check out these awesome show notes.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

If stories are made up of scenes, what are scenes made up of? 

According to Jack Bickham in his book, Scene and Structure, scenes start with a character’s stated goal and rumble through an evolving conflict until they reach … a disaster. In this episode, we examine each of these elements and test Bickham’s assertions using Real Book examples. Then, for true illumination, we Bickhamize our own scenes.

But before we delve into the nitty gritty, we have a delightful interview with Susan Tunis of Bookshop West Portal.

Like the content of this episode but still not sure exactly how to make a scene, check out our show notes for more examples.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

This episode is all about cause and effect, what it is, why it is critical in fiction despite being largely absent in real life, and how it works line by line as stimulus and response. In chapter 3 of his book Scene and Structure, Jack Bickham has some hard rules about applying and ordering stimulus, internalization, and response. We examine our own writing to see if it follows the proscribed format.

And, as a bonus, we start the episode off with  interviews we did at the San Francisco Writers Conference that we're calling "Confessions of Craft Book Addicts"

Want to learn more, check out our show notes.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

In this podcast we give our first impressions of our new book, Jack Bickham's Scene and Structure, and, being the enthusiast students that we are, we begin by identifying his central thesis. Then it's onto Chapter 2, where we answer some novice novelist questions and discuss Bickham's approach to a story's first page. To further our understanding, Kim "Bickhamizes" the beginning of her new fantasy novel.

As a bonus, Renee has a special message for any former Border employees who worked the late-night Harry Potter release parties back in the 90's.

And if you're looking for more details on starting you book, check out our extensive show notes.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.