WriterDojo

This week on the WriterDojo, our hosts, authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia, talk Kickstarters with D.J. (Dave) Butler. All three have run campaigns of their own, and each has picked up hard-won tips and tricks along the way. What separates a campaign that funds from one that fizzles? What do they wish they’d known before their first launch? And with AI tools everywhere, how much AI is accepta...

This week on the WriterDojo, our hosts, authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia, welcome back longtime friend of the show D.J. (Dave) Butler to talk about the current realities of the publishing world. Dave always wanted to just be a writer, but he’s ended up as editor, legal counsel, and advisor to several publishers. After years of working writer conventions and getting involved in just about ev...

This week on the WriterDojo our hosts, authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia, are doing a bit of housekeeping. We get a lot of questions from our beautiful Patreon Supporters and the WriterDojo Facebook group, (plus a few things that made them ask what the @#$% they were looking at) so this week we're working through some of them. What do you do when you write short? How do you add to a stor...

This week on the WriterDojo our hosts, authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia, tear into a tweet that went viral: someone's list of dos and don'ts for a creative writing class. Some of it holds up. Most of it doesn't. (And yes, the Bad Twitter Voice makes its triumphant return!) Real talk on what actually helps a writer in a classroom versus what just sounds good in 280 characters, pl...

This week on the WriterDojo our hosts, authors Steve Diamond & Larry Correia, talk about Genre Blending with author Julie Frost. (This episode was recorded live at a panel at the Writers Cantina 2026.) How do you pull it off, when should you attempt it, and how much does staying in one lane actually matter? Different format this week, Q&A with a live audience and all, but the same goal as...

Part two! This week on the WriterDojo, our hosts, authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia, wrap up their run through Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing. More rules, more opinions, and more disagreement about which ones actually hold up in practice. The guys close out the list with the same mix of agreement, pushback, and hard-won caveats from part one. Plus plenty more on the craft and busin...

This week on the WriterDojo, our hosts, authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia, kick off a two-part dive into Elmore Leonard's famous 10 Rules of Writing (spoiler alert: they don't agree on all of them.) Which rules are absolute, which are situational, and which deserve a firm "nah"? The guys go rule by rule, sharing where they agree, where they push back, and where the truth live...

This week on the WriterDojo, our hosts, authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia, tackle Professionalism—what publishers are really looking for before they even open your pitch. Inspired by a post from Producer Jack in the WriterDojo Facebook group about a submission gone wrong, the guys break down researching your target publisher, following submission guidelines, avoiding mass mailings, personali...

It’s the Supporter Spectacular XIII! (insert firework noises) This week on the WriterDojo our hosts, authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia, dig into questions from our beautiful Patreon Supporters. What books inspired Steve and Larry as writers? How do you describe your POV character without awkwardly stopping the action for a mirror check? What’s the best way to introduce a new character withou...

What should authors actually expect from a writing workshop, and are they worth doing? This week our hosts/authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia dig into workshops: what writers can get out of them, what they should (and shouldn’t) expect, and when the experience is actually worth the time and money. They also talk about prose—how important is beautiful writing compared to simply telling a great...

Every book makes a promise in its first page. Will this story be dark and gritty, light and fun, or something in between? This week our hosts/authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia talk about tone : how it sets reader expectations from page one, why breaking that promise can backfire, and when a tone shift actually works in your favor. If you've ever wondered why some books get away with tona...

This week our hosts/authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia might just hurt some feelings as they deliver their opinions about the use of A.I. in various different parts of the writing process and their thoughts on piracy. How much are these two topics connected? Are there parts of the process that *can* benefit from using A.I.? Does piracy actually hurt anyone or does the extra exposure balance i...

During the hiatus, our hosts authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia attended the Writers Cantina (2025) and recorded their panels on giving advice for other writers. Includes some great questions during the Q&A portion of the show. If you would like to join our supporters, you can support this podcast with a small monthly donation to help sustain future episodes at Patreon.com/WriterDojo (not...

During the hiatus, our hosts authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia attended the Writers Cantina (2025) and recorded their panels on giving advice for other writers. Includes some great questions during the Q&A portion of the show. (This also includes the origin story for Dignity Johnson and the ISN!) If you would like to join our supporters, you can support this podcast with a small monthly...

During the hiatus, Larry continued his experiments in discovery writing to finish books 1&2 for his new progression fantasy series. This week our hosts authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia talk about the overall process and discuss what he's learned and more about the differences between this and plotting. Which one is better? Is it possible to use both? If you would like to join our su...

Anthology submissions are a different beast from novel queries; tighter themes, harder deadlines, and a slush pile that seems to either moves fast or not at all. In this episode, hosts/authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia break down the dos and don'ts of getting your short fiction picked: what editors actually want, formatting mistakes that get you an instant pass, and how to handle rejecti...

We're baaaack! (We've missed you too) This week we catch up with our hosts authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia and find out what's been happening, what's currently happening, and what's going to be happening. If you would like to join our supporters, you can support this podcast with a small monthly donation to help sustain future episodes at Patreon.com/WriterDojo (<--...

At last! Hosts/authors Larry Correia and Steve Diamond finally got the opportunity to sit down with Author/Youtuber the Critical Drinker to discuss writing. (Did you know Drinker has a nine book series already??) They discuss their processes, some of the differences between writing in the UK vs the USA and a whole lot more. (This one has some naughty no-no words because I am NOT going to be the gu...

In this week's episode, literary luminaries Steve Diamond and Larry Correia unravel prose's purpose in an attempt to illuminate its role as both muse and mirror. They delve into its alchemy, transforming thought into beauty and emotion into art, guiding writers to wield their words as both brushstrokes and blades, crafting worlds that shimmer with meaning and truth. If you would like to jo...

It's been about a month now of seeing how the other half lives, so hosts Steve Diamond & Larry Correia are going to discuss how Larry likes discovery writing. Along the way, they'll share tip and insights and compare to the two methods.  If you would like to join the ranks of our supporters, we appreciate it! However, Anchor (now Spotify for Podcasters) has decided that listener suppor...

This week hosts/authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia continue their discussion of some of their favorite horror movies and look at what they can learn from them as writers. (Spoilers!)  If you would like to join our supporters, you can support this podcast with a small monthly donation to help sustain future episodes at: https://anchor.fm/writerdojo _______ This week's episode is sponsored...

After a brief intermission, we're back! This week hosts/authors Steve Diamond and Larry Correia take a look at some of their favorite horror movies and look at what they can learn from them as writers. (Spoilers!)  If you would like to join our supporters, you can support this podcast with a small monthly donation to help sustain future episodes at: https://anchor.fm/writerdojo _______________...

In this week's episode, hosts/Authors Steve Diamond & Larry Correia dive into the pros and cons of releasing an author's definitive edition of a popular book. They explore how these special editions can offer deeper insights, refined storytelling, and added content, while also considering potential downsides like changing beloved elements or conflicting with fans' original experien...

his week our hosts, authors Steve Diamond & Larry Correia, share with us a zany story about each working in the other's wheel house. Larry has used the Outlining method for his last 29 books but now he's trying Discovery Writing for the first time as he works on his new progression fantasy. Steve is a Discoverer who is working with an actual outline for once. Hilarity ensues in this he...

With both of our hosts, authors Steve Diamond & Larry Correia, recently finishing one of their series, this week they took a moment to reflect on what it takes to successfully wrap it up. What are the reader expectations? How long should the book be? How many new things should you introduce? All this and more in this week's exciting episode! If you would like to join our supporters, you ca...