Writing Roots

Continuing from our last episode, we wanted to talk about other natural toxins that can be used in your story to kill a character. These are more likely to be accidental in some way, but can also be utilized by the right character as an intentional killing. Listen for more ideas and inspiration about plant- and animal-based toxins for your story.

One of the ways you might use to kill someone in your story is through poison. In this episode, we focus specifically on poison from heavy metals such as arsenic and cyanide. We look into what happens to the body, how these poisons are used, and historical references you can use in your own research.

Welcome to spooky season! To celebrate, we will be digging into death. Across all genres, one common thread that connects many of them is the idea and fallout of death. Whether it's a character working through grief or on-page violence, you will likely have an experience writing about it. In this episode, we talk about the moment of death: how to set it up, and what happens when someone dies.

**Trigger warnings: Topics throughout this month will address all aspects of death, which may include graphic descriptions.**

Rebranding words - taking words that exist and making them mean something particular for your story - is a time-tested way to engage readers with your story. They offer almost an easter egg quality to your story progression. Listen for more on how to rebrand words and why it can be useful.

Mystery is a friend to all writers, no matter the genre. Sometimes, what you leave out tells your reader a lot more about characters or the world than what you explain. In this episode, we talk about what you can leave out, tricks to knowing when to wait, and what makes backstory interesting.

Intentional or not, you are always making promises to your reader. Whether it's promises related to the genre or how you establish your first chapter, you're setting the reader's expectations. When you break those promises, it can guarantee bad reviews - or at the very least, no word-of-mouth promotion. In this episode, we discuss the kinds of promises you make and how to be intentional about it.

The topic of this episode ventures slightly into written communication, though not within the bounds of the text itself. There are lots of useful tools with formatting that can help your readers navigate your book and understand the full context, especially with non-fiction books. In this episode, we talk about the table of contents, headers and footers.

The final formatting of a novel is a key part of connecting with your readers. From font size to chapter headers, it influences the reader's experience. In this episode, we talk about when font matters and basics of formatting chapters and scenes.

One of the questions we see often popping up in writing circles is "what is head hopping?" It's often confused with simply having multiple points of view, but they are two very different things. In this episode, we look at how to identify POV in order to avoid head hopping, and different formatting tools you can use to show your readers whose thoughts they're seeing on the page.

Another way to create a rhythm in storytelling is through the sentences themselves. From the length of each sentence to the choice of punctuation, you can direct how the reader interacts with each scene. In this episode, we discuss how to use these two tools to establish the pace you want.