Writer Unleashed

You hear it all the time - Find your voice!

Publishers say they're looking for "fresh new voices."

But what does writer's voice mean, exactly?

In today's episode, we'll explore:

• What writer's voice is
• How you can encourage your voice to come out and play. 
• Excerpts from stories by Meghan Daum and Ernest Hemingway to get a fix on what makes their voices distinct from any other. 
• And I'll give you an exercise straight from Twyla Tharp's book, The Creative Habit, to help you access your own voice.  

Notable Books:

Meghan Daum's Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House
Ernest Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit

For more writing resources, visit me at NanciPanuccio.com

Why is it so damn hard to keep a writing routine?  In today’s episode, of Writer Unleashed, I’ll give you 3 strategies backed by science to break through your barriers so you can start and keep a consistent, thriving writing practice. 

A plot outline provides a blueprint. It’s safe, known territory. It would seem then that knowing where our story is going before we write should produce our best stories.

But this is far from the truth.

Today, we’re going to talk about why too much focus on plot can make your story dead on arrival. We’ll also talk about the difference between story and plot. Nope, they’re not the same thing. But you cannot have one without the other. 

"Show, don't tell" is a common writing mantra. And while it's solid advice, it gives telling the short shrift. Sometimes it's better to show and sometimes it's better to tell. You can't do one or the other arbitrarily. 

In this episode of Writer Unleashed, we'll explore when to show and when to tell, and how to blend both showing and telling to their best-combined effect. 

If you’re like me, there comes that moment when you loathe what you’ve written.

You read what poured out on the page in a meteor shower of inspiration. And then everything that felt glittering and brilliant just yesterday now feels trite. Flat. Messy. Implausible.

We read our favorite books and think, Jeez, I’ll never write like that. My work’s no good. I’m no good.

This is our inner spoiler talking. And it’s inherent in any act of creation.

In today’s episode of Writer Unleashed, I’m going to give you 5 strategies to put your spoiler in its place and get out of the funk.

What’s your story about? 

In other words, what's your plot? What happens?

If you’re anything like me, you trip over this question. You find it hard to sum up your story in an elevator pitch. That’s because it's the wrong question to ask. 

In today’s episode of Writer Unleashed, I’ll give you 3 questions to help you get clear on, not only what your story is about, but why your story matters.

You only have a matter of seconds to hook your reader into your story. Start too soon or too late, give away too much or too little, and your reader moves onto another book or hops on Netflix. 

So, how do you craft a story opening that pulls readers in and keeps them wanting more? 

In today's episode, we'll explore 3 story opening techniques that captivate. 

How do you keep writing after your work's been criticized? In today's podcast, I'm going to share 5 mindset shifts to help you not only survive harsh feedback, but come back writing stronger than ever.

 

You've heard it before - "Write what you know."

Sounds simple. But writing what you know is deceptively complex.

And when you take it at face value, it can restrict your story.

In this episode, we're going to challenge this advice. We'll explore what it really means to write what you know. And I'll give you 3 ways to transform details of your life into powerful fiction and memoir.