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Successful writing requires The Write Focus. Hosted by M.A. Lee with occasional forays from Remi Black and Edie Roones, we focus on productivity / tools / craft / process for fiction and nonfiction, entertainment and academic writing.
Episodes
Wednesday Sep 27, 2023
Wednesday Sep 27, 2023
Every plot has a beginning / middle / end. Tensions and suspense drive each of these sections.
Plotting prose? Poetry? That choice doesn’t matter in narrative. Telling a story is the focus, and all stories are formed through a series of scenes and sequels, which bridge between scenes.
Two things control the main plot and each subplot. These are the heart and the brain that will drive every scene and its sequel. The heart is the theme which is the key to unlock the brain, our conflict that controls the plot.
These are the four plotting essentials. Theme. Conflict. Scene. Sequel.
Timing
- 00:00 Welcome
- 00:40 Opening Words
- 01:31 Theme
- 06:32 Conflict
- 12:36 Scene & Sequel
- 20:00 Last Words and Closing
Link to Dwight Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer https://www.amazon.com/Techniques-Selling-Writer-Dwight-Swain/dp/0806111917/
Link to Think like a Pro: 7 Lessons for Writers by the host M.A. Lee https://books2read.com/u/4AxWAd or
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DYJDY5S/
Links to the Ebook Discovering Your Plot
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0838PTN49
https://books2read.com/u/bOJK6K
Links to a paperback 8 x 10 bundle for plot / characters / branding / sentence craft, called Discovering Your Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Trailer https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Discovering Your Plot, from host M.A. Lee’s guidebook of the same name.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
- You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
- Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.
For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Tropes are those genre category-specific details, characters, and events that readers relish and anticipate: a magic sword, the hard-nosed detective who drinks on the job, and the corpse found and lost in a cozy mystery. Some tropes—such as the Golden Child—transcend a single genre and can be found in all major genres.
Genre tropes can build a plot, but tropes are not plot. They are tools. Not every screwdriver in your tool box is used every time you need to screw in a screw. If you do use every tropes to build a plot, well, as a writer, you are S.C.R.E.W.E.D.
I won’t list genre tropes in this episode. Those are easy to find. I will explain the reason we writers are screwed when we depend on tropes for our plot and characters.
Yet we can use tropes ... just don't let them use you!
TIMINGS
- 00:00 Welcome
- 00:39 Opening Words
- 01:54 Genre Tropes
- 03:31 Folk Ballad Tropes
- 06:08 Commedia dell’ Arte Tropes
- 08:05 Epic Hero Tropes
- 12:13 Writing Fast with Stock Spinners / Story Wheels
- 15:24 Pulp Writers and Preventing Trope Repetition
- 17:48 Last Words
- 18:31 Closing
Total Run Time: 19:31
LINKS
Karen Woodward: “NaNoWriMo, Erle Stanley Gardner, Perry Mason, and Plot Wheels” – https://blog.karenwoodward.org/2013/10/nanowrimo-erle-stanley-gardner-perry-mason-plot-wheels.html
Lester Dent’s Plot Formula, as a pdf, is at multiple places on the Internet.
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Discovering Your Plot, from host M.A. Lee’s guidebook of the same name.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
- You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
- Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.
For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
Links to the Ebook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0838PTN49
https://books2read.com/u/bOJK6K
Links to a paperback 8 x 10 bundle for plot / characters / branding / sentence craft, called Discovering Your Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Trailer https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Genre expectations are reader expectations of the plot they will encounter. With all the books on the electronic and physical shelves, a classification system more than Fiction and NonFiction is necessary.
Here comes Genre to save the day, like the famed Mighty Mouse.
We have 10 major genres of fiction and countless subgenres within each category—and then we have stories that fuse genres or bend the genre boundaries.
As long as we writers interest, amuse, or instruct our readers, that’s all that matters.
Timings
- 00:00 Welcome
- 00:39 Opening Words
- 01:23 Genre Expectations
- 4:02 Major Genres of Literature
- 09:33 All Genres and the 1st 4
- 12:18 The Last 6 of the 10
- 17:05 Closing
Total Run Time 18:06
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Discovering Your Plot, from host M.A. Lee’s guidebook of the same name.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
- You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
- Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.
For more links and resources, see below or visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
LINKS
Ebook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0838PTN49
https://books2read.com/u/bOJK6K
Links to a paperback 8 x 10 bundle for plot / characters / branding / sentence craft, called Discovering Your Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Trailer https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk
Wednesday Sep 06, 2023
Wednesday Sep 06, 2023
What do writers want to know about plot? What do writers need to know about plot?
The Write Focus takes a comprehensive view of plot in the series Discovering Your Plot. Genre expectations, major story structures, pacing / tension / suspense ~ we cover it all.
Today, we look at writers’ wants and needs for plot as well as story basics and story length.
TIMINGS
- 00:00 Welcome
- 00:39 Opening Words
- 01:23 Introduction
- 04:33 What is Story?
- 08:40 Story Length
- 14:08 Projecting MS Length
- 18:00 Closing
Total Run Time 19:01
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Discovering Your Plot, from host M.A. Lee’s guidebook of the same name.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
- You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Just up is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
- Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.
For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Wednesday Aug 30, 2023
Our last episode on Branding continues a focus on book trailers. For sample trailers, view the Show Notes for the August 23 episode at the website.
It’s the Key Fundamentals of the Script for Trailers and Clips along with the skeletal framework that can expand or contract as needed.
Beginning in September to the end of this season, The Write Focus launches the next series. Plot is the structure that develops characters in conflict. We’ll discuss different kinds of structures before examining in detail the best structure I know, highly adaptable, well-paced, with opportunities for dynamic character development and growth. It’s Discovering Your Plot.
TIMINGS
- 00:00 Welcome
- 00:39 Intro
- 01:30 Key Fundamental #1
- 02:55 #2 with an adapting script
- 05:22 #3 and #4
- 08:06 #5 with the trailer’s shape
- 09:42 #6 and #7
- 11:52 Caveat
- 13:00 Last Words & Closing
Total Run Time 14:25
LINKS
KEY FUNDAMENTALS FOR VIDEO TRAILERS available at Buy Me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr/e/150474
A Video Trailer showing Branding in Action: https://youtu.be/uthI5gEWic8
Purchase the ebook at these inks:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YL8GBM1
https://books2read.com/u/bPyKQ7
Purchase a paperback 8 x 10 with Characters / Plot / Branding / Sentence Craft here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
As always, THANKS for listening to The Write Focus.
We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our next focus is PLOT: What Writers Want to Know and Need to Know.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
- You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Just up is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters series.
- Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.
For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
We’re talking Branding, and we’re almost through with this series.
Promotion is a key element of the writing business, for indies as well as traditional authors. All writers need to learn the basics of self-promotion.
That doesn’t mean promoting our selves. It does mean discovering and pursuing the best ways to promote our writing, the books or blogs that are our product.
1st Key Question: What amount are we willing to spend? For new writers, with few products (less than 5 or 7 stories), spending for ads doesn’t pay off. The ROI / Return on Investment isn’t strong enough. We should concentrate on building our catalog. 20 books or more is the common discoverability measure.
For writers with those 20 books, or 15 or more, spending for ads can begin to have a higher and more reasonable ROI.
2nd Key Question: Where do we place our ad expenditure? Social media, obviously.
But that’s a crowded game. So~
3rd Key Question: What kind of ad do we place? Ah, this is the interesting question.
Simple posts, without any cost, can work as a starting point.
When people browse right past ads, what can we do that will catch their attention? I’m not talking reviews; that is long past the attention-getter for the browsing reader. We’re at that first nanosecond, when the cover hooks the reader.
Ad people—pro marketers—say we need to see something 7 times before we consider buying. We need additional looks—something beyond a static image when we must complete with a crowded social media.
These last two episodes in our Branding series focus on one way to reach beyond a static image. This way may not appeal to many, but it satisfies a great need inside me. I’ve made it a hallmark of the M.A. Lee brand.
It’s the book trailer. Let’s explore.
TIMINGS
- 00:00 Welcome
- 00:39 Intro
- 03:05 Trailer and Clips
- 04:15 2 Cardinal Sins
- 08:40 3 Cardinal Virtues
- 12:41 Locating Music
- 13:50 Last Word & Closing
Total Run Time: 15:18
LINKS
- Melissa Marr’s trailer for Wicked Lovely https://youtu.be/-orEn_zdKSM
- K.M. Weiland’s Dreamlander trailer www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOLD_rTDTBU
- M.A. Lee’s historical mystery Digging Into Death https://youtu.be/zX1BPx6VUnU
- M.A. Lee’s Regency mystery The Key to Secrets https://youtu.be/1Sj7NfvxzXg
- Edie Roones and M.A. Lee’s trailer for Outlaws of Wild Sherwood https://youtu.be/aCftiZFqq1E
- A Video Trailer showing Branding in Action: https://youtu.be/uthI5gEWic8
Purchase the ebook at these inks:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YL8GBM1
https://books2read.com/u/bPyKQ7
Purchase a paperback 8 x 10 with Characters / Plot / Branding / Sentence Craft here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Branding: the Way Writers will Reach the Readers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
- You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Just up is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
- Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.
For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
We’re talking Branding, and we’ve covered Books and Series. Now we take a look at how writers brand their own business.
- 1st Question: Pen name or not? Different pen names?
- 2nd Q: What guide helps create our brand?
- 3rd Q: How do we create an author biography?
Finally, picking up from the last episodes, we offer a last look at Blurb Scripts, boiled down to essentials with two examples.
TIMINGS
- 00:00 Welcome
- 00:39 Intro
- 01:15 Inquiring Minds of Curious Readers
- 04:00 Author Branding & Pseudonyms
- 07:10 Key Questions / Author Bios
- 09:46 Brief Blurb Script with 2 Examples
- 15:05 Last Word & Closing
Total Run Time: 16:33
LINKS
Link to Joanna Penn’s “Using Different Author Names or a Pseudonym as a Writer” www.thecreativepenn.com/using-author-pseudonyms/
A Video Trailer showing Branding in Action: https://youtu.be/uthI5gEWic8
Purchase the ebook at these inks:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YL8GBM1
https://books2read.com/u/bPyKQ7
Purchase a paperback 8 x 10 with Characters / Plot / Branding / Sentence Craft here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Branding: the Way Writers will Reach the Readers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
- You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Just up is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
- Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.
For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
Saturday Aug 12, 2023
Saturday Aug 12, 2023
It’s our Branding “between” addition for Market Copy, featuring Ellis Peters and Elizabeth Peters.
We pick up right where we left off in this stripped-down episode. No powerpoint / mp4 for this previous episode. Visit the previous episode for links and expanded show notes.
Timings
- 00:00 Start
- 00:39 Intro
- 01:04 Market Copy in Action / Ellis Peters
- 07:04 Market Copy in Action / Elizabeth Peters
- 14:12 Last Word
- 14:40 Closing
Total Run Time 15:40
Thanks for Listening!
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
We’re talking Branding. Clever Titles was last episode; this one is Clever Market Copy.
Market Copy means taglines and book descriptions, also known as Blurbs.
We have 3 Rules that govern all Market Copy.
Success happens with our understanding of the different roles of taglines and blurbs. Don’t be surprised if you spend hours and hours crafting the perfect market copy. Remember, along with a great cover that blazes with story and an intriguing title, clever market copy will turn that browsing reader into a buying reader.
We have an in-depth look at Tony Hillerman, first with titles that intrigue but need covers and market copy to sell and then two blurbs that clinched sales.
Look for an additional “between” episode on Saturday with examples for Ellis Peters and Elizabeth Peters (otherwise, this episode with run super-long!).
Timings
- 00:00 Start
- 00:39 Intro
- 01:39 Taglines / Taglines vs. Loglines
- 07:56 Blurbs
- 09:05 Example: Tony Hillerman
- 15;55 Last Word
- 16:23 Closing
Total Run Time: 17:23
Branding Worksheets at Buy Me a Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr/e/150472
A Video Trailer showing Branding in Action: https://youtu.be/uthI5gEWic8
Purchase the ebook at these inks:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YL8GBM1
https://books2read.com/u/bPyKQ7
Purchase a paperback 8 x 10 with Characters / Plot / Branding / Sentence Craft here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Branding: the Way Writers will Reach the Readers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
- You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Just up is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
- Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.
For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
We’re talking Branding. Before we launch into this week’s episode, let’s have a reminder.
1st ~ We have nanoseconds to capture a reader’s interest. We can capture that reader with three glances. The 1st glance is a cover that blazes with story. Our cover has to represent our story with 3 little words focusing on 1] the protagonist, 2] the subniche of our story, and 3] on setting.
2nd ~ We select images that tweak what our competition is doing. Those 3 little words, ever so important, guide us, then we narrow in to capture the mood or tone of our story.
3rd ~ Glance III, which we start this episode, seals our contract with readers through Clever Titles and Cover Copy.
Let’s look at Clever Titles.
TIMINGS
- 00:00 Start
- 00:39 Intro
- 01:50 1st Job ~ What hooks a reader?
- 06:12 2nd Job ~ Understand our Keys
- 07:40 Titles with Tricks
- 09:40 Examples with Perry Mason and Victoria Holt
- 12:25 Examples with Nora Roberts and Alistair MacLean
- 14;42 Examples with Dick Francis and Phyllis A Whitney
- 17:05 Last Word
- 17:33 Closing
Total Time 18:33
A Video Trailer showing Branding in Action: https://youtu.be/uthI5gEWic8
Purchase the ebook at these inks:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YL8GBM1
https://books2read.com/u/bPyKQ7
Purchase a paperback 8 x 10 with Characters / Plot / Branding / Sentence Craft here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S
Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.
Our current focus is Branding: the Way Writers will Reach the Readers.
Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr
- You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Just up is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Coming soon are worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.
For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .
Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.
If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)