Writing Roots

Welcome to 2024! It’s a new year and many people across the world are setting those resolutions and goals. Among those goals to clean up, get fit, or learn a new skill is often a resolution to write a book. We’re here to help with that. Throughout January, we are going to address the basics of how to write a book, starting with addressing the most common excuses people use to avoid writing at all....

To end the year with a touch of levity, we decided to collect some of our best bloopers from 2023 and compile them for our final bonus episode of the year. Enjoy a break with us and find out how silly it can get behind the scenes. It’s a good reminder to make sure you have fun in all of your creative pursuits. First aired December 30, 2023.

If you find yourself writing only dialogue – or vice versa – it’s not always a bad thing. First of all, you’re writing! That alone is an accomplishment. Keep going and trust yourself to fix it later. When it is later and it’s time to fix those scenes that are too heavy towards dialogue, there are several tricks you can use to make it smooth. That includes things from acting out the scene to identi...

A major part of querying and even marketing is finding the right comp titles for your book. It’s a tricky business, though, to find ones that both fit your book and show your knowledge of the current reading market. When looking for comp titles, you want to find newer books that fit not only the genre and target audience, but the overall vibes of your story. First aired December 25, 2023.

This is a question we see a lot in the writing spaces where newer authors are looking for advice as they set off on their careers. There seems to be a belief that if an author is starting, they cannot branch into other genres – that they should pick one and stick with it in order to build their fanbase. While there is some truth to that, the answer is not so simple. Especially early on, exploring...

It’s happened to all of us at some point. We sit down to write, and the only thing our brains can think of in the moment are the most basic words. It’s admittedly frustrating when we know we have a large vocabulary, but every word seems like an elementary school word. We’re here to tell you that is perfectly okay. In some cases, the more simple the words used, the better the story. What’s more imp...

There are a variety of monsters you can have in your writing, and not all of them appear like monsters at first glance. When we dig into what a monster is, we encounter the question “what qualifies as a complete monster?” The answer is rarely its appearance or species. Rather, a complete monster is quantified by actions and choices. In this episode, we discuss the different kinds of “bad guys” in...

If you are creating a story that is heavy with war, battles or politics, you may need to build a military structure for your worldbuilding. That will lead you to the question we received from one of our listeners: How do I build a military for a speculative fiction story? Listen for more on the different steps to development based on what is best for your own story. First aired December 11, 2023.

This is a question we see a lot in the writing forums and discussion groups: Is head hopping the same thing as having multiple points of view within a single story? The short answer is no. These two are very different in how they are presented on the page, and head hopping is rarely seen as acceptable by the reader. In this episode we break down the differences and look at how to write multiple po...

Every December, we try to answer the questions we’ve received throughout the year that don’t quite fit into a normal season theme. This first question – why we have a podcast – is one we get most often at conventions and other live events. The answer is as simple as we love talking about writing. More than that, we have learned a lot through helping each of you avoid the troubles we had when we st...

Intentional or not, it is important to recognize when writing is sexist. It can be as simple as how you describe different characters to the stereotypes you use as broad strokes information. Listen for examples and tips on how to know when writing is sexist. First aired November 30, 2023.

Readers want a story to keep moving forward, whether that’s the plot or character development. When we are writing, however, it can be all to easy to write nothing in particular happening. In this episode, we talk about how to identify when you’re writing nothing. Things like someone didn’t do a thing, not showing emotion, or even simply vague phrasing. First aired November 27, 2023.

Every writing journey has to start somewhere. No writer out there started with perfect stories, even the bestselling authors we know and love. One thing we want all of our listeners to know is that writing is a never-ending journey. Each story, each piece of writing, makes you a better writer, even if the writing itself was terrible. We’d be the first to admit our writing is still improving. Howev...

Head hopping is one of those problems that, unless you know what to look for, you probably don’t realize you’re doing. Unlike an omniscient point of view, where the narrator is talking about the events from a wide third-person perspective, head hopping happens when you’re trying to write from a third-person close perspective and swap that POV character without a clear delineation. First aired Nove...

It’s too easy to accidentally create contradictions in your writing. Often it happens at the sentence level, coming through in the form of gerunds or misaligned descriptions. In this episode, we talk about how to identify simple contradictions, and when it’s okay to leave them in. First aired November 20, 2023.

There is a delicate balance to providing descriptions to the readers. Write too little and your characters are empty shapes on a blank stage. Too much and it slows the pace of the book. Of all the problems we talk about this month, this is one of the more difficult to identify. In this episode, we discuss how to spot when your descriptions need work. First aired November 16, 2023.

Nothing can confuse a reader quite like having too many characters in a single sentence. This is especially the case when pronouns get involved. This problem extends beyond just characters, though. Listen for more about how to identify and fix convoluted sentences. First aired November 13, 2023.

If you’re trying to pare down a complicated sentence, you may want to look for any extra adjectives and adverbs. While clarity and descriptions are good, they can also bog down your writing and cause more confusion in the end. In this episode, Ley and Leigh talk about how to identify when those descriptions are causing more problems than they solve. First aired November 9, 2023.

Keeping a cohesive timeline through your story is more than simply maintaining an order of scenes. Even sentences can be out of order, causing little bursts of confusion that send the reader backwards in time. There are a few things you can look for to help you identify when you’re accidentally creating a confusing timeline of events at the sentence level. First aired November 6, 2023.

We talk a lot on this podcast on how to fix problems with your writing or story. The most difficult aspect of that is figuring out if there’s even a problem in the first place. Throughout November, we will be talking about how to identify common problems. We start with good writing. Knowing what bad writing and storytelling is can only get us so far in our writing journeys. We also need to know wh...

There may come a time, especially if you’re a pantser or a flexible plotter, that you’ll find yourself needing to add foreshadowing during your editing process. It is easy to accidentally put in too much, or place it in the wrong spots of your story. In this episode, we talk about what to look for when adding in foreshadowing and how to identify when and where would be best. First aired October 30...

Foreshadowing is a delicate matter when it comes to storytelling, which means there are many ways to do it wrong. In this episode, we talk about the more common mistakes people make when trying to foreshadow. First aired October 28, 2023. NaNoWriMo starts soon! Join our Discord for discussions, sprints, and other writing help all month.

True villainy is about the choices a character makes. If you want to write a story where your main character descends to become the villain, you need to foreshadow it through the choices they make. Listen for more on how to show these changes slowly through the three acts to properly lay the groundwork for the ending. First aired October 26, 2023.

Enemies to Lovers is one of BookTok’s favorite tropes, yet it so often executed incorrectly. To create a relationship progression that doesn’t feel forced, you must foreshadow each step of their relationship. Listen for more on the four steps to progress from enemies to lovers and how to lay the foundation through foreshadowing. First aired October 23, 2023.

One of the ways you can foreshadow is through the use of an unreliable narrator , specifically one who is descending into madness. Throughout the first part of the story, anything odd can be explained away. Slowly, it is revealed those oddities were foreshadowing, hinting at some plot twist on which the whole narrative hinges. Hosts Leigh and Ley discuss ways to carry out this kind of storytelling...