Writing Roots

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use. Two guests join the hosts of Writing Roots in this bonus episode about resources. Jason Prado and Becky Bue...

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use. A writing career often comes with opportunities to work with others, whether it’s for a collaborative effor...

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use. Not all writers write books. Some write poems, speeches, scripts, or articles. In this episode, Ley and Lei...

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use. Have you ever stopped reading a book to look up the meaning of a word? It’s not so bad once or twice, but i...

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use. New writers often find themselves wondering about how to use punctuation not often taught in schools. In th...

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use. Muses can be fickle things, but writers rely on them often. It can be dangerous territory and enable a writ...

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use. A key element to being able to write is finding a good environment in which to sit and focus. For some that...

Writing Roots is beginning a new segment called Industry Spotlight. These episodes will feature interviews with people involved in the publishing process, including authors, editors, and publishers. Our first Industry Spotlight features Dennis Medbury, author of the newly-released Secrets of the Runestones. First aired November 9, 2019. Author information – Amazon: Secrets of the Runestones – Face...

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use. In this episode, Ley and Leigh battle it out to attempt to figure out which is the better starting point: W...

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use. November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. Writers everywhere set out to write 50,00...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. Happy Halloween! In this episode, Ley Esses and Leigh Hull talk about the things that go bump in the night and how to make it work in your...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. Religion is a large part of earth’s history and the motivation for more than a few wars. In fiction, religion can play a part in not only...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. We return with the Forge in this episode, the writing group that helped start AspenHouse Publishing. Listen to hear Halloween-themed stori...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. Weaknesses are for more than just powers. Characters need weaknesses to make them interesting. Leigh Hull and Ley Esses talk about what we...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. What is the difference between superpowers and magic? Ley Esses and Leigh Hull discuss what superpowers mean in a story and how those powe...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. In this extended version of our last episode, Ley Esses and Leigh Hull dive deeper into how to write death via a range of weaponry, and wh...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. Almost every story (sans children’s books) contains at least one death. Not all writers, though, understand what is actually happening whe...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. Some authors struggle to make their world feel real to the reader. That usually goes back to how much effort – or lack thereof – was put i...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. While we explored some of the basics of magic in the Worldbuilding, part 2 (aired in August), Leigh and Ley explore deeper into using spec...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. Magic and technology are often seen as opposing forces within fiction. A common trope is one cannot work around the other. Leigh Hull and...

Every writer has heard the adage “write what you know” at least a dozen times. What does it even mean? As writers, especially of fiction, we constantly write what we don’t know. This month, we explore how to navigate the balance between imagination and reality. The first episode focuses on the broader spectrum of writing outside what you know. From research to simple creativity, Ley Esses and Leig...

What happens after reaching “The End” in a manuscript can be a very difficult and daunting time. In series two of Writing Roots, hosts Leigh Hull and Ley Esses dig into the steps between finishing the manuscript and getting it into the hands of the readers. It’s time to celebrate! If you’ve reached the time to release your book, you need to congratulate yourself. In this episode, we talk about the...

In this bonus episode of Writing Roots, we’re taking a step away from the Final Draft to discuss emotions. Most everyone feels emotions, but none of their experiences are exactly the same. Leigh Hull and Ley Esses use this bonus episode to explore emotions using four main categories: mad, glad, sad, and scared. We discuss how to write realistic emotion and how to make your reader feel what your ch...

What happens after reaching “The End” in a manuscript can be a very difficult and daunting time. In series two of Writing Roots, hosts Leigh Hull and Ley Esses dig into the steps between finishing the manuscript and getting it into the hands of the readers. Metadata is the necessary evil to self-publishing. Ley walks us through all the different steps of gathering the metadata in order to publish...

What happens after reaching “The End” in a manuscript can be a very difficult and daunting time. In series two of Writing Roots, hosts Leigh Hull and Ley Esses dig into the steps between finishing the manuscript and getting it into the hands of the readers. Audiobooks are an oft forgotten piece in the self-publishing process. It’s a growing market, especially compared to both e-book and print mark...