Writing Roots

Where do you go to write? Have you found that some spots work better than others? Now is the time to figure out why those places work best. We can guarantee it comes down to the environment and how well it can spawn creativity.

When it comes to the best environment for your writing, there is no one right answer. Each person is different, so their needs are different. Some people like to write in busy places with lots of people, such as a café. Others prefer the solitude of a closed office. But the environment is about more than just where. It’s the noise, the clutter, the distractions.

Hosts Ley and Leigh discuss the different ways you can prepare your environment to capitalize on your writing time, to make it the most creative and most efficient time possible.

First aired January 17, 2022.

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Computers aren’t the only thing that can be hacked. You can, over time, trick your brain into thinking and reacting the way you want. This trick is especially helpful when you want to build healthy habits.

It takes about twenty-one iterations of a thing to make it a habit, and it’s much easier to do something twenty-one times if you make it something desirable. Something we want to do. Or as James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, would say, make it a healthy addiction.

There are four steps in an addiction. The cue, craving, response, and reward. We can hack our brains into making writing an addiction by following these steps. Create a cue. Something that will trigger that craving. In order to make it an addiction, we then need to respond to the craving, and then we end by rewarding ourselves.

Listen to this episode for more about things you can do to start hacking your brain and instilling in yourself an addiction to writing.

First aired January 13, 2022.

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There are few things more counterproductive than poor time management when it comes to writing. This isn’t just about not giving yourself time to write, but about making sure the time you spend is worth it. Just sitting and staring at a blank page isn’t helpful.

Good time management with your writing is important, not only for your stories but for your physical health. Writers often find themselves wearing themselves out trying to push too hard towards their goals.

If you find yourself falling into those habits – staying up too late but not getting things written, for example – this episode may help. We talk about setting realistic timelines, making sure you’re taking breaks, and getting the most out of the time you do spend writing. This is where quality is more important than quantity. A few shorter sessions that give you great writing is better than several long sessions of no progress.

First aired January 10, 2022.

The post S28E3 – Improving Your Writing Through Time Management appeared first on Writing Roots.

Writing a whole novel is a huge undertaking. For some, it takes years to complete a single draft. If it gets finished at all, that is. That’s why setting goals for your writing is such an important step in the process. Without realistic and achievable goals to work towards, we can often find ourselves pulled away by other things in our busy lives. Goals can help you focus on your task and then feel accomplished as you make progress.

There are a number of things you can do when setting the goal that will help you become more successful. Rather than saying “I want to finish this book this year,” break it down into chunks. Steps you can finish along the way. The first version is vague and easily forgettable. Procrastinators out there will understand that kind of deadline is too far off to take the steps now. That means setting hard dates and breaking down the book into the steps needed to finish it.

Listen to this episode for more about how to set realistic goals for your writing to help you achieve your dreams.

First aired January 6, 2022.

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Writing should be a journey of self-discovery, which means allowing yourself to explore. Throughout the month of January, we’ll be talking about developing good habits when it comes to writing. That all starts with giving yourself permission to discover what we mean when we say “write selfishly.”

It’s common around this time of year for people to try to reinvent themselves. “New year, new me” is a common phrase (common enough to have become satirical in many places). Even if you aren’t trying to vastly change yourself, make this your chance to set and keep your writing goals. Build the habit of trying new things, all until you figure out what works best for you in the end. This exploration helps you find your voice, your strengths, and even you weaknesses. Go outside of your comfort zone and see how you grow.

First aired January 3, 2022.

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Just as with fashion, the world of books and writing has trends. Certain styles and genres and topics and tropes will go in and out of popularity as time passes. Ley often refers to it as a circle, going from growing, to popular, to a downslide, and into satirical before it starts growing again a few years down the line. Trends are how we know what people like, what people want to read, and what might sell the best. Following trends, though, is tricky work.

Following a trend is as it sounds. You’re behind the curve, following in the footsteps of others. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but doing so intentionally will always leave you in the dust. On the other side, it’s good to know what’s popular, what’s trending, and to let it influence your writing. Listen to this episode for more about achieving this delicate balance between following a trend and being influenced by the trends in the writing world.

First aired December 30, 2021.

The post S27E9 – What Are the Current Trends in Fiction, and Should I Follow Them? appeared first on Writing Roots.

There are two kinds of moments in a story: The Scene and The Sequel. Not every moment needs to be action. Not every moments needs to propel the plot forward. Sometimes you need a sequel. You need a moment in between the scenes. A moment to pause, to think, to talk. The idea of scene and sequel is an important one when learning how to transition from one scene to the next.

Knowing exactly when to end one scene and start another is a skill learned with time. Readers don’t want to read all of the traveling and walking and the in-betweens with nothing happens. That means whenever you have a moment of Sequel, it need to have purpose. Otherwise it’s just filler and fodder for the editing room. You need to trust your readers. Trust they will fill in the gaps. Those scene transitions aren’t as jarring as you think.

Listen to this episode for more about how to transition between scenes, and a breakdown of the concept of scene and sequel.

First aired December 27, 2021.

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For those taking the traditional publishing route, querying is the first step in the process (after finishing the manuscript, of course). That letter is what will get you an agent and a publishing deal. Which means it’s incredibly important. It needs to stand out and grab the attention of an agent who likely gets hundreds of similar queries.

In this episode, we discuss the tips and tricks from published authors to write the best query letters, along with the first steps in the process of traditional publishing.

First aired December 25, 2021.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

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Great stories begin somewhere important. Somewhere catching. You want to draw the reader in within the first chapter. Better yet, within the first page or even sentence. Knowing exactly where that is, though, is the tricky part. We know where our characters being, where they are before that inciting incident. We know where we want them to end up. We think we know what the readers need to understand before any of that occurs. Most often, we’re wrong.

Stories don’t always begin at the beginning. Books often start right at the cusp of important things – and sometimes right in middle of those important things. That means the answer to this question is most often found at the end. Once you’ve finished that first draft, you can finally know, really, where a story needs to start.

Listen to this episode for more on how to identify a good beginning, tips for a strong start, and how to get past the need to know the start at the start.

First aired December 23, 2021.

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You probably know that word choices are important in writing. Different words have nuances that can change their meaning. Consider how “angry” is different from “frustrated” or “irritated.” The same principle applies with swear words. We’ve had many writers question whether or not they can or should use swear words in their stories. The short answer is yes, but it gets a little more complicated as you dig into the writing.

There are a few important things to consider before diving in and using all the swear words in your vocabulary. The first and foremost is you target audience. On this podcast, we always tell you to not worry about the audience in the first draft. That applies here. In your first draft, write whatever words you think work best in the moment. When you edit, though, consider the best words for the audience. Especially if you are traditionally publishing, there will be different considerations for things like the target age and the book’s genre.

We discuss target audience as well as other considerations when choosing whether or not to use swear words in this episode, as well as creating your own fictional curses that fit the world and setting.

First aired December 20, 2021.

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