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Write Through The Roof | For writers who want to improve their writing
By Madeleine D'Este | interviewing writers and authors about their writing craftSociety & CultureEducationArtsBooks
Write Through The Roof | For writers who want to improve their writing episodes
- #16 – George Mann – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 16 with George Mann – Paranormal mystery & Dr Who comic writer“You’re chasing ghosts if you’re chasing trends.”
Episode 16 – George Mann – Show Notes- Dreaded Chapter 7
- Inspiration from music – songs associated with every book
- Theme of Identity
- Mystery and fantastical, the bizarre and the weird. More Peake than Tolkien.
- Trying to be Peter F Hamilton, Alastair Reynolds and Stephen Baxter, and failing.
- Wychwood was a switch into a modern day setting.
- Getting police procedures right
- Initial premise for Wychwood – a BBC Sunday night crime drama with dark spooky elements
- M. John Harrison, Steven Eriksen, Susan Cooper, Peter Robinson
- Madeleine’s tip – Artist’s Date
“Write something for yourself.”
“It’s part of the writer’s job to read widely.”Links- George Mann
- Lyla Foy
- Wychwood
- The Crime Writer’s Guide to Police Practice and Procedure
- Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Date
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32 min - #15 – Angela Ackerman – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 15 with Angela Ackerman – best-selling writing reference book author“Embrace the fact that there’s always more to learn.”
Episode 15 – Angela Ackerman – Show Notes- Chocolate Boyfriend of the Week
- Helping writers with descriptions for emotions and setting
- Wounds, flaws and negative character traits
- Learner’s mindset
- Critique partners who encourage you to grow and extend yourself
- Building structural tools for writers helped Angela to become more structured
- Ransom Riggs, Laini Taylor, Alli Sinclair
- Madeleine’s tip – The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
“Understanding what your character’s wound is in the story, is a critical element in understanding their behaviour.”
“Emotional wounds are critical in a transformative arc.”
Links- Writers Helping Writers
- One Stop for Writers
- The Emotional Thesaurus
- The War of Art
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31 min - #14 – Gareth L. Powell – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 14 with Gareth L. Powell – near-future thriller & space opera writer“The more I read, the better I write”
Episode 14 – Gareth L. Powell – Show Notes- Losing the knack of the short story
- Writing relics – Tiki, rune & painted pebble
- Always character focused – the story is a learning experience for the characters
- ‘William Gibson’s short story collection kicked me in the head’; writing real people into scifi
- You don’t know if you’re measuring yourself against the right people
- Write 100 words every day
- Balancing two different novels in different genres at the same time
- Space opera inspired by technology available for the Titanic; the call for help
- Madeleine’s tip – The Heroine’s Journey
“Ack Ack Macaque is the bastard child of Biggles and John Belushi in the film 1941”
“I wanted to get back to sarcastic self-aware spaceships.”
Links
- Gareth L. Powell
- Embers of War
- Ack Ack Macaque
- The Brazilian Husband – Rebecca Powell
- Using the Heroine’s Journey – Mythcreants
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29 min - #13 – J. Elizabeth Vincent – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 13 with J. Elizabeth Vincent – fantasy writer & freelance editor“Writing is like any other job; some days you do it well, other days not so well.”
Episode 13 – J. Elizabeth Vincent – Show Notes- The Hero’s Journey
- Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) turned into Raven Thrall
- Making writing a priority in life
- Editing other people’s work helps you learn
- Writing short stories for prologues or back stories
- Inspired by Stephen Donaldson, Jim Butcher, Seanen McGuire, Patricia Briggs
- Raven Thrall is ‘Jessica Jones with wings’
- Madeleine’s tip – The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
“Fantasy is the highest form of escapism.”
Links- J. Elizabeth Vincent
- The Hero’s Journey
- The Writer’s Journey – Christopher Vogler
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26 min - #12 – Oscar de Muriel – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 12 with Oscar de Muriel – writer of Victorian murder mysteries“It’s not sipping a glass of wine and staring out the window.”
Episode 12 – Oscar de Muriel – Show Notes- Fuelled by wine and cheese
- Jurassic Park (the book) the first inspiration
- Discipline
- Spreadsheets
- Being a chemist is very useful for murder mysteries
- Isaac Asimov – The Black Widower’s Club and Lucky Starr series
- Banshees, MacBeth and Bram Stoker
- Not a whodunnit but a ‘who will do it’ – balancing reader’s expectations while trying something new
- Madeleine’s tip – Text to Speech functions
“Thanks to Malbec for its contribution to this book”
Links- Oscar de Muriel
- Ellen Terry as Lady MacBeth
- Henry Irving – inspiration for Dracula?
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28 min - #11 – Steve Turnbull – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 11 with Steve Turnbull – Fantasy, steampunk & erotica writer“The thing that improves your writing is writing.”
Episode 11 – Steve Turnbull – Show Notes- Don’t feel guilty for not writing
- Themes include ‘all your favourite prejudices’
- Changing and developing as an artist. Inspired by Bowie
- Not necessarily trying new things but rather telling a story the way it needs to be told
- Kymiera from screenplay to novel and back to screenplay
- Cider with Rosie
- Don’t write too many series at once, your fans will be demanding sequels
- Madeleine’s tip – Reading Widely
“Don’t you pity our protagonists and what we put them through.”
Links- Steve Turnbull
- Instrumental Swedish jazz trios – Esbjorn Svensson Trio and Tingvall Trio
- Laurie Lee, Stephen Donaldson
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39 min - #10 – Dee Dee Chainey – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 10 with Dee Dee Chainey – Folklorist & freelance content marketer“Bringing magic to the mundane”
Episode 10 – Dee Dee Chainey – Show Notes- Do your writing first
- Instagram pictures of cake
- Dark folklore; Krampus, hand of glory and the tooth fairy
- Confidence
- Don’t keep rewriting the same piece, move on
- Squeezing a massive topic into an introductory book
- A non-fiction writer mainly influenced by fiction
- Aubrey Burl, Carrie Ann Noble, Jackie Morris, Phillip Pullman
- Madeleine’s tip – 10 story ideas per day
“What do you want to say to the world and to yourself”
Links- FolkloreThursday
- Dee Dee Chainey
- Carrie Ann Noble’s Instagram
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34 min - #09 – Garth Nix – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 09 with Garth Nix – uber best selling YA & children’s fantasy writer“The foundation of my writing is reading, and broad reading.”
Episode 09 – Garth Nix – Show Notes- Having multiple stories on the go all at once
- Momentum in writing – spending 80% of his time to write first half, 20% to complete the second half
- Writing stories for yourself, which make you curious to find out what happens
- Reading widely equips you with instincts for your writing and gives you the broadest set of tools to draw on
- The role of a good editor to make you a better writer
- Experimenting with form and points of view but the story dictates how it should be told
- Madeleine’s tip – Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages
“As you add more energy into it, it (the story) takes on a life of its own”
“I don’t think ‘how am I going to challenge myself?’, I think what is the best way to tell this story.”
Links- Garth Nix
- Morning Pages
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31 min - #08 – Dave Hutchinson – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 08 with Dave Hutchinson – award winning sci-fi writer & prophet“You know in your head what a good book is. Try and be that good book.”
Episode 8 – Dave Hutchinson – Show Notes- A natural short story writer and more comfortable in 1st person but currently writing novels in 3rd
- Winging it
- Europe books: prophetic by accident
- Write something that satisfies you as a reader. Read widely – it’s all writing
- Discovering ordinary people in sci-fi
- Struggling with the fourth Europe book
- Madeleine’s tip – no internet before writing
“I’m a better writer than I am a plumber.”
“John Le Carre is the guv’nor.”
Links- Dave Hutchinson
- Reading: Deighton, Le Carre, Priest, Niven, Chandler
- Jim Kwik
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37 min - #07 Dominic Dulley – Write Through The Roof
Welcome to Write Through The Roof, the podcast for writers who want to improve their craft.
Episode 07 with Dominic Dulley – writer of rollicking space adventuresCritiques Groups, Spreadsheets and Con Women in space
“When I didn’t get picked up, the next book I’d write I’d try something different, another tangent, to give myself the best chance to get a deal”
Episode 07 – Interview with Dominic Dulley – Show Notes- Great fan of spreadsheets
- Plotting only a few chapters ahead
- Hunting down chocolate hobnobs
- Exploring friendship, loss, wealth and privilege in space
- Critiquing others is equally important as receiving feedback in your improving writing
- Debut novel ‘Shattermoon’ inspired by True Grit but in space
- Madeleine’s tip (or is it a fail?)
Links- Dominic Dulley
- Shattermoon
- British Science Fiction Association Orbit critique groups
- Critters
- Reading recommendations: Scott Lynch, Harry Harrison, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson
- Chuck Palahniuk’s advice on removing excess words
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29 min