Writing Roots

There is one thing that can help an author improve their skills above all others. That is to read. New authors say all of the time they don’t have time, or that they would rather focus on their writing. While it is good to keep consistent with writing, only good can be gained by picking up a book.

The process of reading as a writer is slightly different than reading for enjoyment. Any genre, any book, can serve as a learning resource. This episode breaks down why it is important to stay reading and how to use that time to develop the skills and instincts all writers nee.

First aired June 27, 2020.

The post S11 Bonus Episode – Read: How to Read as a Writer appeared first on Writing Roots.

There are all kinds of four-letter words people consider to be bad. In writing, those four-letter words aren’t the traditional ones most people think about when they hear the phrase. The four-letter words of writing are the difficult topics to consider, write about, or simply just to do. None of the words are bad, but can be frightening for new authors or authors unfamiliar with certain topics. They are all something that needs to be addressed, at least, and decisions made on how to use them to the author’s advantage. Through June, this podcast will be breaking down those difficult words, such as edit, time, LGBT, and best.

Planning a story is a daunting task, especially for pantsers (or discovery writers). Even if there’s no official outline, there is a lot to be gained from thinking about how the story arc will flow. In this episode, Ley and Leigh put their heads together to plan a hypothetical story as an example of how simply it can be done. However, no author should feel bound to the plan created at the beginning. The hosts also discuss how to plan an use an outline to make the best story possible.

First aired June 25, 2020.

The post S11E8 – Plan: Basics of Planning a Story from Start to Finish appeared first on Writing Roots.

There are all kinds of four-letter words people consider to be bad. In writing, those four-letter words aren’t the traditional ones most people think about when they hear the phrase. The four-letter words of writing are the difficult topics to consider, write about, or simply just to do. None of the words are bad, but can be frightening for new authors or authors unfamiliar with certain topics. They are all something that needs to be addressed, at least, and decisions made on how to use them to the author’s advantage. Through June, this podcast will be breaking down those difficult words, such as edit, time, LGBT, and best.

Time is an elusive subject for many writers. It can be difficult to know exactly how to make time feel like it’s passing in a story without listing it out. Momentum is also difficult to maintain if the story is spread out over a long period of time. This episode details some of the ways to maintain momentum and mark the passing of time, such as using the ticking clock method, to make sure a story keeps moving and readers stay interested.

First aired June 22, 2020.

The post S11E7 – Time: Maintaining Momentum Through a Story appeared first on Writing Roots.

There are all kinds of four-letter words people consider to be bad. In writing, those four-letter words aren’t the traditional ones most people think about when they hear the phrase. The four-letter words of writing are the difficult topics to consider, write about, or simply just to do. None of the words are bad, but can be frightening for new authors or authors unfamiliar with certain topics. They are all something that needs to be addressed, at least, and decisions made on how to use them to the author’s advantage. Through June, this podcast will be breaking down those difficult words, such as edit, time, LGBT, and best.

Self-published books have long had a bad name. It was first seen as the route taken by those whose books no publisher wanted. With the advent of sites like Amazon, it soon became an easy route for thousands of aspiring authors to get their stories out there without going through the hassle of traditional publishing. However, that also meant many of those authors skipped the editing phase. Too many go from first draft directly to eBook. This is a huge problem and has driven many people away from wanting to read any self-published works. This episode is designed to talk about why all authors should take the time to edit.

First aired June 18, 2020.

The post S11E6 – Edit: Why Editing is Essential for the Business of Publishing appeared first on Writing Roots.

There are all kinds of four-letter words people consider to be bad. In writing, those four-letter words aren’t the traditional ones most people think about when they hear the phrase. The four-letter words of writing are the difficult topics to consider, write about, or simply just to do. None of the words are bad, but can be frightening for new authors or authors unfamiliar with certain topics. They are all something that needs to be addressed, at least, and decisions made on how to use them to the author’s advantage. Through June, this podcast will be breaking down those difficult words, such as edit, time, LGBT, and best.

It’s not uncommon for writers to hit a point in their work where ideas are slowing and interest is fleeting. Each author deals with these times differently, with some choosing to keep plowing through and others putting aside the work entirely. Neither decision is wrong, but there are things to consider before deciding to set aside a manuscript temporarily or permanently. This episode is designed for authors who are struggling to make the decision between making the process feel like a burden and giving up on something they once loved.

First aired June 15, 2020.

The post S11E5 – Stop: Making the Decision to Abandon or Pause a Story appeared first on Writing Roots.

Pride Month is the perfect time to address one of the most complicated and oft avoided topics in writing. Many new authors who aren’t part of the LGBTQ+ community find themselves avoiding those characters for fear of misrepresenting the community. That leads to a lack of diversity among the characters. No author, however, should shy away from striving for good representation. It simply means research. This episode addresses many concerns authors may have about having an LGBTQ+ character and how to make sure the representation is accurate and realistic.

The topic of representation is difficult to cover in a single session, especially one that only lasts about ten minutes. We spent a lot more time discussing how to correctly include LGBTQ+ characters, and knew this would need an extended version. This episode does cover some of the same issues as released in the episode released earlier this week, but also goes deeper into the conversation.

First aired June 13, 2020.

The post S11E4 Extended – LGBT+: Further Discussion of Quality Representation of the LGBTQ+ Community in Writing appeared first on Writing Roots.

There are all kinds of four-letter words people consider to be bad. In writing, those four-letter words aren’t the traditional ones most people think about when they hear the phrase. The four-letter words of writing are the difficult topics to consider, write about, or simply just to do. None of the words are bad, but can be frightening for new authors or authors unfamiliar with certain topics. They are all something that needs to be addressed, at least, and decisions made on how to use them to the author’s advantage. Through June, this podcast will be breaking down those difficult words, such as edit, time, LGBT, and best.

Pride Month is the perfect time to address one of the most complicated and oft avoided topics in writing. Many new authors who aren’t part of the LGBTQ+ community find themselves avoiding those characters for fear of misrepresenting the community. That leads to a lack of diversity among the characters. No author, however, should shy away from striving for good representation. It simply means research. This episode addresses many concerns authors may have about having an LGBTQ+ character and how to make sure the representation is accurate and realistic.

First aired June 11, 2020. An extended version of this episode will be published Saturday, June 13.

The post S11E4 – LGBT: Writing Quality Representation of the LGBTQ+ Community appeared first on Writing Roots.