X-Write-Z

We’re baaaack!

Welcome to season 2 of X-Write-Z. To get back in the swing of things, we wanted to cover secondary characters and consider the crucial work that they do. They deserve so much more than simply being known as a love interest, a mentor, a sidekick, or a schoolyard bully.

In this episode, we cover 5 functions, or types of work, that a secondary character might complete in a story. This episode will help you brainstorm ways to make your secondary characters earn their place on the page or complete an “audit” to double check that they do. All of our “real-world” examples come from The Hunger Games because we have impeccable taste (and Suzanne Collins’s secondary characters are brilliant).

For the 5 functions discussed here, check out and download this PDF  (https://drive.google.com/file/d/10jW0LXv7qachDIv79iipscUx9SWAw5f9/view?usp=sharing). No subscription or signup is necessary. 

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/. 

Check out https://www.fictionflock.com/ to join a cozy corner of the internet for people who love to read. Get your bookoscope, participate in fun quizzes, earn entries towards monthly giveaways, and find your next great, human-recommended read.

Some writers' eyes light up when talking about story structure. Others want to run for the hills. No matter how you feel about structure, all stories have an inherent structure. There's a beginning, a middle, and, eventually, an end. As soon as you go beyond this foundation, though, you'll discover a lot of different methods and formulas for story structure. How do you choose the right one for your story? 

It's a bit like deciding how you want your eggs! Fried, scrambled, poached, or perhaps an omelet? No matter how they’re cooked, they’re still eggs. In the same vein, different story structures share many core characteristics. They’re just presented differently.

In this episode, we explore 8 methods for structuring a story to help you find the one (or pieces of ones) that might work well for you. 

For insights into each method discussed in this episode, check out and download this PDF  (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cOOCozQLyM5KhRruKE-A3zi4UixmTq0L/view?usp=sharing). No subscription or signup is necessary. 

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/. 

What if you could go to a place where everything and everyone around you had the potential to inspire your writing? What if we told you that you’re already there? This week, we’re headed to Ideation Land – a writer’s Candyland! 

This week’s episode challenges the idea that inspiration strikes like lightning. We say, get out there and make your own lightning. And have fun while you’re at it!

With the right mindset and lens, the things in your everyday life become the raw materials necessary for writing. We invite you to bring freedom and play back into the picture to transform what’s around you into fiction. 

For all the lessons + tips from this episode in one spot, check out and download this PDF  (https://drive.google.com/file/d/14vwifoddMbq0jj_F5r_TVPg78fFVFeuA/view?usp=sharing). No subscription or signup is necessary. 

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/. 

This week, we’re looking at common mistakes or habits surrounding the portrayal of events in a story.

Whether a manuscript has multiple actions smushed into one sentence or entire scenes worth of unnecessary set up and transition, we’ve got some solutions. 

P.S. Just because it happened, doesn’t mean you have to tell readers about it.  

For all the lessons + tips from this episode in one spot, check out and download this PDF  (https://drive.google.com/file/d/13duj5elX1l5IjxHpfk5jLgCEhFzpHsAN/view?usp=drive_link). No subscription or signup is necessary. 

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/. 

Do you want to know what Anna's reading? Check out her instagram @annaotations (https://www.instagram.com/annaotations/).

If we could only show you one thing, we’d love for it to be this: the importance of reducing filter words in your writing. 

In this episode, we break down what a filter word is and discuss why it’s worthwhile to cut them + how you can. 

Filter words add unnecessary distance between your POV character and your reader, effectively turning intense, emotional, and profound moments into reported, secondhand summaries. Unless you want to keep your reader at bay, these sneaky words have got to go. There are, of course, exceptions that we explore here too!

For the lessons from this episode + a list of filter words in one spot, check out and download this PDF:  (https://drive.google.com/file/d/165sWgtLmAvEGdCaa_xWxx-ZmZk1fWWgl/view?usp=sharing). No subscription or signup is necessary. 

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/. 

Do you want to know what Anna's reading? Check out her instagram @annaotations (https://www.instagram.com/annaotations/).

This week, Anna and Veronica tackle the common mistakes they see (and, yes, have made) in dialogue writing. 

Strong dialogue elevates stories, giving us character, voice, conflict, shocking reveals, swoonworthy declarations of love, and more. When it comes time to edit your manuscript or short story, you can use the tips and tricks explored in this episode to refine what your characters say…and how they say it. 

For all the lessons from this episode in one spot, check out and download this PDF  (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w3EWQpg0iduOYcgBU4zmbylCJhWowbaC/view?usp=sharing). No subscription or signup is necessary. 

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/. 

Do you want to know what Anna's reading? Check out her instagram @annaotations (https://www.instagram.com/annaotations/). 

We’re baaaaaack! 

To kick off 2026, Veronica and Anna are considering what romance and horror can teach writers of any genre about worldbuilding. 

In this episode, we dig into some favorite examples of worldbuilding and discuss how you can apply the same, or similar, techniques to your own writing.

For all the lessons from this episode in one spot, check out and download this PDF  (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kdH3LxSDM9EjR9H_g_O31PEEaF05kVyS/view?usp=drive_link). No subscription or signup is necessary. 

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/. 

Do you want to know what Anna's reading? Check out her instagram @annaotations (https://www.instagram.com/annaotations/). 

Are you telling me you built a time machine…out of a DeLorean?! For the last episode of 2025, Anna and Veronica geek out over Back to the Future.

Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads! Come along with us to explore what makes Back to the Future so good–and what writers can learn from it. 

For all the lessons from this episode in one spot, check out and download this PDF (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O1ZHKchli_cUs4Cirjd9Vx3tcCOK2mff/view?usp=drive_link). No subscription or signup is necessary. 

Happy holidays, and happy writing!

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/.

Are you looking for your next excellent read or a bookish gift for yourself or someone else? Check out Veronica's curated books and goodies shop, Fiction Flock, at https://www.fictionflock.com/. 

Do you want to know what Anna's reading? Check out her instagram @annaotations (https://www.instagram.com/annaotations/). 

This time of year tends to make us feel anxious about wrapping everything up and accomplishing our remaining goals. We don’t need to feel this way, though. Especially when it comes to writing. 

In this episode, we invite you to experiment with your writing routine and explore different ways to get into the writing mood/mindset. 

For all the tips and tricks from this episode in one spot, check out and download this PDF. No subscription or sign up is necessary. 

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/.

Are you looking for your next excellent read or a bookish gift for yourself or someone else? Check out Veronica's curated books and goodies shop, Fiction Flock, at https://www.fictionflock.com/. 

Do you want to know what Anna's reading? Check out her instagram @annaotations (https://www.instagram.com/annaotations/). 

Remember Flat Stanley? We sure do, but we don't want your characters to be like him! Veronica and Anna are back this week to discuss character dimension. 

In this episode, we invite you to explore different ways to breathe life and dimension into your characters. We discuss some of our favorite techniques for character development and, of course, look at real world examples from literature.

For all the tips and tricks from this episode in one spot, check out and download this PDF. No subscription or sign up is necessary. 

Do you need support with your writing? Check out our coaching and editing services at https://veronicajorden.com/ and https://annaschechter.org/.

Are you looking for your next excellent read or a bookish gift for yourself or someone else? Check out Veronica's curated books and goodies shop, Fiction Flock, at https://www.fictionflock.com/. 

Do you want to know what Anna's reading? Check out her instagram @annaotations (https://www.instagram.com/annaotations/).