Writing Roots

You hear us say it at least once every episode. Write Selfishly. It’s our motto and goal in writing, but also so much more than that. To celebrate one year of the podcast, we wanted to take a look and really explain what we really mean.

All month, we’ve been talking about ways to fix common mistakes in writing. This is one of the most common of all. If you write selfishly, it may mean you’re writing terribly, but that’s perfectly okay. Listen to this episode to hear Leigh and Ley talk about what the podcast’s motto means to them and how it has helped improve their writing.

First aired August 29, 2020.

The post S13BE – Why We Write Selfishly appeared first on Writing Roots.

Diagnosing problems in writing can be one of the most difficult tasks for any author. The creators are most often blinded to their own shortcomings. Readers may notice when something is awkward or boring while the author thinks it’s one of the more interesting excerpts. The August series is dedicated to diagnosing these problems, from continuity errors to gaps in logic the readers will inevitably question.

In school, we’re all taught sentence structure. It’s formulaic, and frankly, quite boring. Rigidly following that structure can lead to sentences always starting the same way, especially when pronouns are involved. This episode shares some ways to break up the boring, and how to find it in the first place.

First aired August 27, 2020.

The post S13E8 – All Sentences Start the Same Way appeared first on Writing Roots.

Diagnosing problems in writing can be one of the most difficult tasks for any author. The creators are most often blinded to their own shortcomings. Readers may notice when something is awkward or boring while the author thinks it’s one of the more interesting excerpts. The August series is dedicated to diagnosing these problems, from continuity errors to gaps in logic the readers will inevitably question.

Have you ever found yourself making your characters do or say something only because it needs to happen? This is a sign that a story will feel fake to the reader. This problem is most often seen when a character drops a reference to a backstory that the others in the scene should already know. It also shows when the main character falls into the trope of being a Mary Sue or a Gary Stu. This episode helps walk you through how to identify and fix those parts that are too convenient to be natural story progression.

First aired August 24, 2020.

The post S13E7 – When a Story is Fake or Forced appeared first on Writing Roots.

Diagnosing problems in writing can be one of the most difficult tasks for any author. The creators are most often blinded to their own shortcomings. Readers may notice when something is awkward or boring while the author thinks it’s one of the more interesting excerpts. The August series is dedicated to diagnosing these problems, from continuity errors to gaps in logic the readers will inevitably question.

When a reader hits their stride in devouring a book, the last thing any author wants is to break their concentration. One of the most common ways to pull a reader out of a story is by breaking the continuity. This can happen within a scene – such as a character standing twice – or across the whole book. Continuity problems will confuse or even annoy some readers. In this episode of Writing Roots, we discuss how to find and fix continuity breaks.

First aired August 20, 2020.

ANNOUNCEMENT: You have two more days for a chance to win a laptop case and a mug of your choice from the Writing Roots store. Click this link, then like and share the post. The contest is a way to thank all of our listeners for supporting us over the last year. It’s also to congratulate Leigh Hull on finishing the first draft of her novel.

The post S13E6 – When Continuity Breaks appeared first on Writing Roots.

Diagnosing problems in writing can be one of the most difficult tasks for any author. The creators are most often blinded to their own shortcomings. Readers may notice when something is awkward or boring while the author thinks it’s one of the more interesting excerpts. The August series is dedicated to diagnosing these problems, from continuity errors to gaps in logic the readers will inevitably question.

Some words bring clarity and motion to a story. They draw the reader in and paint exquisite details of the world inside the mind. Others are just dead space. Each author has their own set of what we call Red Flag words. These are ones that are used too often, incorrectly, or should simply be avoided by any author. This episode is all about figuring out how to identify these problem words and then how to fix it.

First aired August 17, 2020.

The post S13E5 – Red Flag Words appeared first on Writing Roots.

Diagnosing problems in writing can be one of the most difficult tasks for any author. The creators are most often blinded to their own shortcomings. Readers may notice when something is awkward or boring while the author thinks it’s one of the more interesting excerpts. The August series is dedicated to diagnosing these problems, from continuity errors to gaps in logic the readers will inevitably question.

There is possibly nothing more frustrating than seeing characters in a book ignore the obvious answers. Why didn’t the Order of the Phoenix just disguise Harry in the last book, rather than having seven of them dress up as Harry? These are times when the readers are looking at the book and wondering why. Authors are focused on what needs to happen, not necessarily on what could happen in that situation. That is a mistake. This episode is focused on diagnosing when readers might realize there’s a more obvious solution and how to address it to still get the story in the right direction.

First aired August 13, 2020.

The post S13E4 – Why Didn’t They Think of That? appeared first on Writing Roots.

Diagnosing problems in writing can be one of the most difficult tasks for any author. The creators are most often blinded to their own shortcomings. Readers may notice when something is awkward or boring while the author thinks it’s one of the more interesting excerpts. The August series is dedicated to diagnosing these problems, from continuity errors to gaps in logic the readers will inevitably question.

Word count is one of those things an author should ignore until they get to the editing phase. As we’re fond of saying, the first draft should be done selfishly, which means hitting however many words is necessary to just get the story out. Once that’s finished then authors and editors both should take time to make sure the word count falls within or close to the generally accepted word count for the genre. Many may say it doesn’t matter, but readers care whether they realize it or not. Some will turn away from a book if it is too long or too short unless they’ve come to trust that author. This episode talk about how to edit to hit those target word counts.

First aired August 10, 2020.

The post S13E3 – Worrying About Word Count appeared first on Writing Roots.

Diagnosing problems in writing can be one of the most difficult tasks for any author. The creators are most often blinded to their own shortcomings. Readers may notice when something is awkward or boring while the author thinks it’s one of the more interesting excerpts. The August series is dedicated to diagnosing these problems, from continuity errors to gaps in logic the readers will inevitably question.

There’s one thing that is guaranteed to turn away nearly every reader, no matter how dedicated. If the writing is dry, dragging, or otherwise boring, no ingenuity in plot or setting will hold their attention. We address the most common problems that create a boring story and how to fix it.

First aired August 6, 2020.

The post S13E2 – It’s Just Boring! appeared first on Writing Roots.

Diagnosing problems in writing can be one of the most difficult tasks for any author. The creators are most often blinded to their own shortcomings. Readers may notice when something is awkward or boring while the author thinks it’s one of the more interesting excerpts. The August series is dedicated to diagnosing these problems, from continuity errors to gaps in logic the readers will inevitably question.

While some authors excel, many more struggle to write one of the most basic elements of any story: dialogue. Character interaction can easily turn into stiff phrases tossed back and forth like robots programmed to respond only to a select few inputs. There’s a delicate balance all authors must find between realistic conversations and dialogue that can be read easily. Ley and Leigh discuss ways to identify and fix even the most awkward dialogue.

First aired August 3, 2020.

The post S13E1 – The Solution to Awkward Dialogue appeared first on Writing Roots.

The dream of many writers is to become well-known and bestselling. Unfortunately, just writing the story isn’t enough. In the world of self-publishing, it is up to the author to get their books to sell. Not an easy task when that author is also still trying to write more. This month is focused on marketing, that step just before and after publishing. Topics will include using social media, where to publish and sell, and creating interesting ads that will draw potential readers to a book.

Part of successful marketing boils down to having some author name recognition among a target audience. Breaking into the market is difficult, especially in the world of hundreds, if not thousands, of indie and self-publishing authors. One way to bolster an author reputation is to have what could be called bragging rights. In this episode, Ley and Leigh discuss how entering competitions and aiming for rewards – even for simple short stories – can help in the marketing process.

First aired July 30, 2020.

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