Tiffin Inn Writing Workshop (with Imposter Syndrome & Unlimited Refills)

Tim and Art discuss the two biggest takeaways from building a quality setting in your book. Tim and Art make a case for not allowing your setting to be arbitrary and to build it from the "inside out" to improve the reader's experience. Tim and Art also discuss their own in-progress manuscripts to illustrate where their book's settings are helping to support their theme, plot, character, or action....

Theme is what your story is (in big capital letters) ABOUT... that central idea, untethered to the plot or characters, that emerges from the descriptions, situations, snippets of dialogue, symbols, and all the little choices you've made throughout the narrative. Art explores how Theme is emergent in your drafts, and identifies how to spot symbols, motifs, and ultimately themes in your work. To con...

Tim and Art discuss how themes arrive in your work, whether intentional or accidental. Does the author fully control the themes that are present? Or is the reader essential as a co-creator of the themes? Do you even need theme in your work? What is theme anyway? We have opinions! For a primer on the concept of theme, check out this exceptional essay that covers definitions and examples of common t...

Art comes clean about how little progress he has made on his novel draft. The result is a hard look at why we let the everyday crowd out our writing time and, more importantly, how to recommit to the work. Art recaps how to use Draft Zero to plot out the nearest scenes (not the whole story) then ends the episode with two tactics for breaking through inertia to get back into a flow state. To connec...

Tim and Art discuss how they are trying to keep pushing their manuscripts forward, from applying the "Draft Zero" concept to writing out your story's theme to planning (and achieving) incremental progress. To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

Art reviews the five "lenses" we can use to strengthen our first draft dialogue-Melody, Brevity, Plausibility, Tension, and Subtext-and how to use them to improve your dialogue in subsequent drafts. To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

Tim and Art discuss the five main filters or "lenses" we can use to examine if our first draft dialogue is working hard enough. Join us for a discussion about Melody, Brevity, Plausibility, Tension, and Subtext. We tell a couple of personal stories, a few self-deprecating jokes, and set goals on how to attack dialogue in our revisions to ensure the most value in the smallest space. To connect with...

Tim recaps the four questions we can ask ourselves when inserting exposition into our narratives that can ensure the exposition is not too long or too short.   To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

Tim and Art explore some best practices in weaving exposition into your narrative, including four essential questions to ask yourself when presenting exposition in your initial drafts and revisions.   To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

Art tells a little story that helps him remember the sequence of steps in the "Dive the Trench" plot structure, then recaps how each section helps build the narrative of your story. The steps of the "Dive the Trench" plot structure are listed below. It is based on the main character's power relative to the run time of the story, which creates a slanted "U" shape: Define the Normal World The Main C...

Tim and Art deconstruct standard plot templates to uncover why they work. The result is a 10-point plot structure that chunks the larger story into manageable sections, thus allowing us to tackle the story in pieces. Compare the 10-point plan with your chosen plot template and see where they align!  The result is a "Dive the Trench" plot structure based on the main character's power relative to th...

Conflict is the fuel that keeps the engine of your story running. Art explores how to use three different types of conflict: Character vs. Themselves, Character vs. their Environment, and Character vs. Others. Using these broad categories, which are intentionally aligned with Aristotle, simplifies the process of selecting quality obstacles to boost conflict for your main characters. To connect wit...

Tim and Art discuss how to develop meaningful conflict for your characters. They present a framework of three main sources of conflict, three ways characters experience conflict, and three best practices for writers when injecting conflict into their stories. To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at  TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

Have you ever been surprised by something one of your characters did? Ever been frustrated by an unexpected turn your character made off your cleverly paved outline? Art presents how giving your characters control of the story is ultimately a positive.    To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com.

Tim and Art expand on the 5 elements of main characters, discussing film and TV examples to explore how to achieve the desired results.   To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

We welcome author JL Lycette as our guest to the corner booth to discuss her experience as a first-time novelist with a small indie publisher.  JL Lycette is a novelist, award-winning essayist, rural physician, wife, and mom. She has a degree in biochemistry from the University of San Francisco and attained her medical degree at the University of Washington. Mid-career, she discovered narrative me...

We welcome author J. Adams Oaks as our guest to the corner booth to discuss the craft of writing. J. Adams Oaks is a writer, editor, and translator from Chicago. His first novel, WHY I FIGHT (Atheneum Books, Simon & Schuster), was a Junior Library Guild selection, an ALA Best Book For Young Adults and won awards from the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Linc...

Tim and Art explore the excitement and dread of committing to drafting their novels. Gain an inside look into how they are preparing to do the work, from outlining to version control to time management!  To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com.

Tim and Art look back at how their writing process has changed as a result of Season 1 and what new focus you can expect in Season 2.  Art's articles referenced in the show are below: AI and You: Emerging Technology and What It Means for Writers Gamestormers Review To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

Tim recaps the five key elements of writing strong main characters and takes a jaunt into discussing how one-liners can help sum up your main character for the reader. To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at  TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

Tim and Art outline their Top 5 Needs for a strong main character, listing notable examples from page to stage, from big screen to small screen. To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

Every writer faces rejection. It is built into the process. Art tells the story of how he displayed his rejection letters and why it ultimately missed the mark in helping him write better fiction. Art's new perspective offers advice on how to spin rejections into a positive so you can stay motivated to do the work. To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gm...

We welcome author David Alexander Baker as our guest to the corner booth to discuss the craft of writing. David Alexander Baker is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker. He's the author of the novel VINTAGE and the nonfiction title THE LOST CONTINENT, and his films include SAVING ATLANTIS and THREE DAYS OF GLORY. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in a range of publications. He lives in Oreg...

Art applies the concept of "neuroplasticity" to your writing practice, making the case that even brief bursts of practice can improve your performance over time. Art outlines a way to convert downtime into working time to help boost your skills and inch you closer to where you want to be.   To connect with Tim and Art directly, email the show at TiffinInnWritingWorkshop@gmail.com .

Ever struggled to find the time (or energy) to write after a full shift on the job? How can we balance work and life to help us write new fiction? Join Tim and Art in the corner booth as they discuss tips and strategies on how to repurpose downtime to stay productive, how to compartmentalize as a way to stay focused on what's important, and how to recognize when to prioritize your own self care an...