Writer Unleashed

For many writers, first-person narration comes naturally.  And for memoir writers, it's the only choice.

First-person has some advantages over third person.

But it comes with unique challenges.

In this episode, we'll cover the pros of first-person, 5 common challenges, and how  to overcome them. So you can capture the full range available to you with first-person.

We'll cover how to:

• Create a strong, distinct character voice that sustains your story;
• Avoid the overuse of I; I  saw, I heard, I smelled, I tasted,  etc.
• Go beyond the limitations of your first-person perspective; 
• Describe your first-person's appearance or home without being awkward, and;
• Get out of  your character's head and into the world of the real.

Episode Web Page

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me

In last week’s episode, we  talked about 3 foundational elements to explore before you outline. 

And in this episode, we’re going to start building that outline. I’m going to walk you through six steps I learned from Philip Gerard.

This method leaves plenty of room for invention and surprise.

Think of it as a living outline, one you can adjust as you write and revise. And a great touch point whenever you're stuck.

If you haven’t  listened to last week’s episode, 118: Before You Outline: 3 Core Foundations To Build First, go have a listen. Then come back here and go through the six steps I’m about to walk you through.

An outline is ultimately a tool to help guide you through the murky and overwhelming process of storytelling.

It’s a way of thinking your way through your story. It helps you stay on track, but it’s  flexible. 

This outline will help you do some careful thought about your  story so you arrive at something that holds surprise, mystery, and beauty.

An outline that grows with you and your story.

Episode  Web Page

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me

When it comes to structuring your story, there's no one-size-fits-all. Some writers wing it all the way, others craft meticulous outlines before they write. Both can produce stunning results.

But what's often missing in the I'll just wing it approach, and even in the most detailed outlines, are essential foundations that make a story work. 

In this episode, we'll explore 3 foundational elements to explore before you outline.

If you're a panster, you'll love the exploratory nature of these foundations. And if you're a plotter, you'll build a deeper, richer, stronger outline.

In this episode, you'll;

• Focus and expand your story idea
• Land your setting, and;
• Get  to know your main cast of characters' desires,  beliefs, and fears. 

Episode  Web Page

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me

How do we take our characters from their sketchy beginnings and make them come alive?

How do we make them convincing?

All writers struggle to make characters believable.

But much of what readers come to know about a character isn’t stated explicitly. It's  submerged in the way a character speaks, moves, thinks, and behaves.

It's beneath the surface.

The challenge is conveying all that's beneath the surface to your readers.

In this episode, learn 3 ways to write convincing characters.

We'll cover:

• How to tap into your emotions to create believable characters;
• Why you don't have to experience what your characters are experiencing in order to write  about it; 
• How characters are revealed in  relation to one another, and why creating situations that bring characters together is a more organic way to think about plot, and;
• Why revision is essential to creating characters readers believe in.

Episode Web Page

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me

Great stories often start with a trigger. One persistent image, a childhood memory, a family story, or a phone conversation you overhear on  the train ride to work. 

In this episode, we’ll explore story triggers: what they are, where they come, how to tap into your own triggers, and select which ones are worthy of expanding into a story. 

You'll learn about the triggers that gave rise to stories and novels by Hemingway, John Fowles, Joan Didion, and Joyce Carol Oates.

And you'll get exercises to help you spark your own powerful stories.

Episode Website

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me

How do you bring a textured, multi-dimensional sense of place to your story?

And why is it important?

Well, just as plot isn't separate from character, neither is place.

Place defines, reveals, and in many ways creates who we are. It's an extension of your characters, and can reflect your  story's central conflict and theme.

In this episode, we'll explore 5 questions to bring depth, texture, and a more vivid place for your readers to inhabit. And a powerful way to depict character.

Grab a pen!

Episode Website

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me

Among all the POVs, 3rd person is arguably the most confusing.

Let's say you're writing in limited third from your main character's POV,  and there are points in the story where other characters do things your MC doesn't yet know, but need to be explained for the reader to understand what's happening.  How do you do that in limited 3rd?

Are you allowed to change POV in the same chapter? Is this 3rd person omniscient? Or is it head hopping? What's the difference between head hopping and 3rd person omniscient? 

In this episode, I'm answering these questions and more.

You'll learn:

• The primary purpose of POV;
• The difference between person and POV;
• The 3 main categories of 3rd person and how to use them;
• Common  misconceptions about Omniscience, plus 4 tips to write it better; and
• A simpler way to craft POV, whether writing in omniscient, limited, or objective 3rd person.

By the end of this episode, you'll know how to take fuller advantage of the range, depth, and angles of perception available to you in 3rd person .

Episode Website

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me

How much exposition is too much? Should you begin your story with exposition? And how do you write exposition in a way that isn’t excessive, awkward, or dull?

In today’s episode, we'll talk about how to write exposition in a way that doesn’t sound like exposition. 

We'll cover:

• What exposition is, and why it's essential;
• When to begin your story with exposition, and when not to;
• Two different types of exposition; and
• How to slip exposition into the action so the reader isn't aware it's even there.

Episode Website

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me

Dialogue between characters is one of those things writers struggle mightily with.

You want the dialogue to sound like real life, but when you try to make it sound like a real conversation, it just sounds boring and fake.

Maybe it's the back and forth, the quotation marks, or that it just doesn't sound right..... but dialogue can be exhausting and futile to write.

Is there an easy way to do it?

The answer is Yes.

In this episode I have 3 techniques to make your dialogue more realistic, dynamic, and compelling to read.

Episode Website

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me

Each scene is your story in miniature, a story unto itself. 

And each follows the same 3 - Act structure.

So, in this episode, you'll learn the story arc of a scene.

We'll explore:

⇒ What information to get into your scene 's Act 1 set up, and how previous scenes prepare the reader for what will unfold. 

⇒ How to bring direct conflict and crisis into your scene's Act 2; and

⇒ How to land your scene with a resolution in Act 3. 

Episode Website

📚 Get the character-led method to shape your story from start to finish, without the overwhelm, second-guessing, or endless rewriting. Enrollment closes Thursday, October 22, at 7 pm ET. → https://3actstory.me