Fiction Writer's Toolshed: Practical Tools for Authors

Join the Unstoppable Maker newsletter. Every Thursday, you'll get one simple, practical writing tool to help you make the next decision, solve the next story problem, and keep writing. Get the next tool delivered to your inbox. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  I want to help you with the actual fiction you're working on-- for free. Since launching Fiction Writer's Toolshed, I've been turning my own writing proces...

Join the Unstoppable Maker newsletter. Every Thursday, you'll get one simple, practical writing tool to help you make the next decision, solve the next story problem, and keep writing. Get the next tool delivered to your inbox. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-  What does selling a screenplay require  beyond writing a good script? In this episode of Fiction Writer's Toolshed, screenwriter and novelist Doug Hall ret...

Could writing your ending first help you build a more satisfying story? In this episode of Fiction Writer's Toolshed, I talk with screenwriter and author Doug Hall about choosing your destination before writing toward it. After reaching roughly page 80 of a 100-page screenplay without knowing how to end it, Doug changed his approach. He explains how starting with an ending helps him develop charac...

How do you turn a screenplay into a novel? Mathew Tekulsky returns to Fiction Writer's Toolshed to help me work through a real version of that question: I'm trying to turn a musical I co-wrote with Jacob Lowry into prose. Neither of us has completed this exact kind of adaptation, so we build a current best approach together. Mathew suggests working through the script scene by scene, adding the poi...

How do you adapt a novel into a screenplay? Award-winning, bestselling author Mathew Tekulsky joins me to talk through the choices he makes when bringing his own fiction to the screen. Mathew wrote his novels before adapting them, but a finished book is only the starting point. He describes how he finds scenes to dramatize, why he removed a character from the screenplay of Saving Annie, and how he...

What does "kill your darlings" actually mean for fiction writers-- and how do you know which parts of your story should be cut?  In this episode, I explore a problem with one of writing's most popular pieces of advice: and give you a solution that works well for me. I'll give you a way to decide.  I also break down two ways you might notice a possible "darling" in the first place.  Then I give you...

Robert E. Howard didn't tell Conan the Barbarian's life in chronological order. One story might find Conan as a young thief, another as an older adventurer, and another somewhere entirely different-- and somehow those gaps make his world feel bigger rather than incomplete.  In this episode, I'm joined again by writer and editor Matt Click to talk about what Conan can teach fiction writers about wr...

What makes your writing original when your story idea isn't completely new? In this episode, I explore why 'original fiction' isn't about having an idea nobody has ever had.  I'll use Pokémon to show how influences can pass through one creator and become something new. Then I give you a simple exercise for finding the fingerprints already present in your own fiction.   Most importantly, I make the...

How do you write a scene that actually earns its place in the story? A scene can be well "structured", full of dialogue, conflict, action, or exposition and still feel like nothing happened .  In this episode, we talk about how a scene is a specific sort of container, and how to fill it. You'll learn how to separate activity  in a scene from real change, choose a change target, and use a simple "d...

Trey Parker and Matt Stone's famous South Park writing rule is deceptively simple: if the beats of your story are connected by "and then," you may have a problem. Instead, they recommend building stories with "but" and "therefore," so one event causes or complicates the next. It's great writing advice. But how do you actually use it to fix a story? What's the formal tool ? In this episode, I trace...

Links from Steven: https://www.thesukha.co/for/writers https://www.thesukha.co/post/the-magic-and-science-of-flow-states What actually happens when a writer enters a flow state? And can you learn to reach that true flow state more reliably? In this follow-up conversation with Steven Puri, founder of The Sukha Company, former vice president at Fox, and former executive vice president at DreamWorks,...

Links from Steven:  https://www.thesukha.co/for/writers https://www.thesukha.co/post/the-magic-and-science-of-flow-states How do you get into a flow state as a writer-- without needing the perfect morning routine, the perfect playlist, or some magical burst of inspiration? In this episode of Fiction Writer's Toolshed, I'm joined by Steven Puri, founder of The Sukha Company and creator of the Sukha...

Ever sit down to write a scene you can already see perfectly in your head, and watch it go stiff and lifeless the moment your fingers hit the keys? In this episode of Fiction Writer's Toolshed, we look at the gap between the part of your brain that makes the story and the part of your body that has to get it onto the page-- and why, for a lot of writers, the bottleneck is the hands. You'll learn h...

Ever feel like you're writing the kind of story you think you're supposed to write instead of the one you actually want to tell? In this episode of Fiction Writer's Toolshed , we explore the hidden cost of filtering your creative instincts through trends, genre expectations, and the pressure to fit in. You'll learn why developing your unique creative voice isn't about inventing a style-- it's abou...

A multiverse isn't the only way to create different versions of the same characters, worlds, and stories. In this episode of Fiction Writer's Toolshed , I'm joined by my longtime collaborator, editor, and Absolute Tabletop co-founder Matt Click to explore polycontinuity : a method for building multiple distinct continuities from the same fictional property. Matt and I discuss how to identify the c...

Is writer's block real? I make the case that it absolutely is-- but that almost everyone misunderstands what's actually happening when they experience it. This week I'll talk about writer's block in a new way, and I'll hand you a simple three-part equation for getting unstuck and moving again. If you've ever pushed all the way to the end of a project only to feel like the ending didn't quite it la...

This week's episode is my current best approach on getting into the water of writing, and a specific mentality while doing it. I'll also discuss a specific, sneaky kind of danger that catches-- and often KILLS-- more writers than the big scary projects ever do. There's a warning in here I really want you to hear, and some good old fashioned inspirational talk to get you writing. We need you. Ready...

This episode is for every writer who has ever stopped cold in the middle of a scene because they didn't know the perfect line, the perfect detail, the perfect plot turn, or the bravest thing the story was asking them to say. We're talking about what happens when a draft opens up a gap,  and how writers can keep moving instead of freezing at the edge. If you've ever felt stuck because you didn't kn...

Your favorite characters weren't born perfect-- and yours won't be either. In this diagnostic follow-up to "You're Strangling Link, Wolverine, and Mario," we look at the warning signs that you're trying to perfect your story before it has had a chance to exist. From getting stuck wit  Name Lock to hiding in the Lore Panic Room , polishing endlessly on the Page-One Treadmill , this episode gives yo...

Your favorite characters weren't born perfect. Wolverine, Mario, and Link all started as strange, rough, and surprisingly humble ideas before evolving into cultural icons over years-- sometimes decades. In this episode, we explore why modern creators often get trapped trying to perfect their work before anyone ever sees it, and how that fear can suffocate great ideas before they have the chance to...

Every writer knows the feeling: the cursor blinking, the page going nowhere, the project that started with such promise now collecting dust. In this episode of Fiction Writer's Toolshed, I sit down with Ramona Ausubel-- award-winning author and longtime teacher-- to talk about her new book Unstuck: 101 Doorways Leading from the Blank Page to the Last Page (a LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2026)....

In this episode, we go to a quiet corner of the toolshed, where I sit down with author J.A. Merkel to talk worldbuilding, long-term creative projects, and the ideas behind The Fourth Portal (1 book released) and  The Fall Gauntlet (3 books released, with 4 coming this summer). From early inspiration to publishing ambitious, interconnected stories-- this episode is all about what it really takes to...

You should try the Unstoppable Maker newsletter.  You'll get simple, practical writing tools to stop overthinking and start finishing stories. Click here to try it: https://makeexist.beehiiv.com/ -=-=-=-=-=-  You're probably not stuck-- you're just not aware of what part of the journey you're on. In Part 2 of The Creation Funnel , I'll give you a full diagnostic of the 8 stages of making anything,...

You should try my Unstoppable Maker newsletter.  You'll get simple, practical writing tools to stop overthinking and start finishing stories. Click here to try it (it's free): https://makeexist.beehiiv.com/ -=-=-=-=-=- There's a moment on a long road trip where it feels like you should already be there… but you're not even halfway. Most writers quit in that moment. Not because they're incapable--...

You should try the Unstoppable Maker newsletter.  You'll get simple, practical writing tools to stop overthinking and start finishing stories. Click here to try it: https://makeexist.beehiiv.com/ -=-=-=-=-=- In this episode of Fiction Writer's Toolshed , we're talking about the moment before the work-- the hesitation, the resistance, and the quiet lie that you need to  feel like it before you begi...