If you have a story worth telling and still feel completely lost, you're not behind, and you're not alone. After years of working with first-time novelists and memoir writers across every genre, I've noticed the writers who struggle the most aren't the ones without talent. They're the ones who lean on off-the-shelf beat sheets and outlines instead of trusting their own instincts. This episode is about what's actually going on when writing feels so much harder than you thought it would, and why that has nothing to do with whether you have what it takes.

Structure your story with this FREE 3-Act Worksheet. Go beyond outlining and write a story that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. Grab your FREE Worksheet here.

You’ve heard “show, don’t tell” a thousand times. But what does it actually mean to show effectively? And when is telling exactly what your story needs?

In this episode, we’ll look at common ways writers get showing wrong, what strong showing does, and when telling can deepen a scene or keep your story moving.

You’ll learn a more useful way to think about showing and telling - one that gives readers room to participate while bringing them deeper into your character’s experience.

Book mentioned in this episode:

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

Structure your story with this FREE 3-Act Worksheet. Go beyond outlining and write a story that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. Grab your FREE Worksheet here.

Your story has several characters, multiple storylines, and probably some childhood flashbacks that keep sneaking in. And you can't quite answer the question every writer eventually has to face: what is your story about?

If you've ever struggled to answer that in one sentence, this episode is for you. I'm walking through why ambitious first drafts get overcrowded, how to find the single core desire your story should orbit around, and what to do with everything else. You'll walk away with a clear way to tell a rich story instead of a crowded one, and the confidence to cut what's creating noise instead of clarity.

Structure your story with this FREE 3-Act Worksheet. Go beyond outlining and write a story that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. Grab your FREE Worksheet here.

Ever thought about quitting your draft and starting something new? You're not alone - lots of writers do. But before you abandon your story, listen to this episode first.

Most of the time, the urge to start over isn't really about the story at all. It's one of three specific things, and each one has a way forward that doesn't involve throwing out everything you've built. In this episode, I walk through all three, along with examples, so you can figure out exactly what's going on with your draft, and what to do next.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

Structure your story with this FREE 3-Act Worksheet. Go beyond outlining and write a story that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. Grab your FREE Worksheet here.

Whether you're staring at a blank page or halfway through a draft, overthinking can bring your novel to a standstill. Different symptoms, same root cause: both writers are trying to solve problems they're not ready to solve yet, overthinking to the point of paralysis. In this episode, I share a four-part framework to help you stop chasing certainty and start getting more clarity and direction for your story.

Links Mentioned In This Episode:

One Day by David Nicholls

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand

Structure your story with this FREE 3-Act Worksheet. Go beyond outlining and write a story that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. Grab your FREE Worksheet here.

For years I measured my work ethic by how many hours I put in at my desk. I'd arrive, coffee in hand at 7am, break around Noon for lunch, back at my desk till 6 or 7pm, sometimes later. I thought putting in the time was the thing that would move the needle. It was actually the thing keeping me from doing my best work.

In this episode, I share two small, counterintuitive shifts I made to change not only the volume of creative work I get done, but the quality — and in half the time it used to take me.

Structure your story with this FREE 3-Act Worksheet. Go beyond outlining and write a story that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. Grab your FREE Worksheet here.

How much exposition is too much? Should you begin your story with exposition? And how do you write exposition in a way that isn’t excessive, awkward, or dull?

In this encore episode, we'll talk about how to write exposition in a way that doesn’t sound like exposition.

We'll cover:

• What exposition is, and why it's essential;
• When to begin your story with exposition and when not to
• Two different types of exposition; and
• How to slip exposition into the action so the reader isn't aware it's even there.

Episode Website

Structure your story with this FREE 3-Act Worksheet. Go beyond outlining and write a story that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. Grab your FREE Worksheet here.

Most writers know when their dialogue isn't working. What they don't know is why. In this episode, I'm breaking down the three mistakes that make dialogue read false, and what to do to turn it around. So your reader feels like they're eavesdropping on a private conversation.

[00:00:00] Why dialogue feels so hard to write when conversation comes so naturally to us in real life.

[00:01:04] The eavesdropping illusion -- why the moment your characters start performing for the reader, the dialogue falls flat.

[00:02:21] Mistake #1: Your characters are explaining things they both already know -- and why this rings false even when the reader can't name why.

[00:04:57] Mistake #2: Your characters are saying exactly what they mean -- and why directness kills tension and deflates the scene.

[00:07:11] Mistake #3: The dialogue isn't doing anything -- why every line needs a job and how to know when a line isn't earning its place.

[00:11:04] All three mistakes come from the same place -- and what to do instead.

[00:12:24] Your final dialogue checklist -- three questions to ask every time a scene feels off.

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Structure your story with this FREE 3-Act Worksheet. Go beyond outlining and write a story that keeps readers hooked from beginning to end. Grab your FREE Worksheet here.