What's the most important thing in creating a plot and story development? It's knowing your guiding principle, or 'Controlling Idea' as the master of story telling,Robert McKee, calls it. In this episode we identify what that guiding principle is, and why it's critical to your story. ...
Writing the closing scene of a story is more than just tying up the loose ends and sending our characters off into the sunset. We want to leave our readers with the best possible impression of our work, so that they have fond memories of reading what we have written but also to ensure they come back for more, and tell others why they should read our work as well. In this episode we look at the principles for finishing well, as they apply to the stand alone story, and one of a series. ...
This episode is a conversation with the author, writing coach and academic Dr Ginger Moran. We talk about the right mindset for writing, the different disciplines that we need to bring to the first draft and editing, learning from great writers, and why we writers are such tender souls. And yes, Ginger tells us what that one thing successful books have in common is, enjoy! ...