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PODCAST

The Write Focus

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.

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All Episodes

18:50

4:09 / 4 Types of Leaders / Discovering Characters

The Write Focus ·

2023/02/22

Celebration! We’ve achieved 150 episodes since we began podcasting in 2020. We check-in with new and upcoming releases. Then we launch into this week’s episode. 4 Types of Leaders Whether protagonist or antagonist, our central character is a leader. The question is What Kind of Leader? We have the 4 expected types, 4 unheroic heroes, 4 strong women or their polar opposites, and 4 we don’t consider leaders even though they are. That’s 16 types of leaders. Which one did you want now? Over the next

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21:57

4:08 / Boxing Characters to Build Foundations /...

The Write Focus ·

2023/02/15

Boxing Characters helps the writer explore the many sides of their characters … so those characters come alive on the page and don’t change personalities in the center of the story. After all, the greatest of all writing crimes is to betray the reader by having characters change on them. Plot holes and unsurprising twists can be forgiven when our readers love our characters. Few readers will forgive characters who change their goals and behaviors in the story. Then how do we create a strong

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18:59

4:07 / Reaching the Psyche of Protagonists and...

The Write Focus ·

2023/02/08

What happens when a story idea strikes? If we don’t start with the central character, then very quickly our minds will focus on that single character. Our minds will swirl around a scenario and the character who controls our perspective of that scenario. Any character can serve as that central focus. We writers decide who will be the focus based on which character is best suited to confront the conflict. Our characters spin around an interactive conflict with a push-pull synergy. Two characters,

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20:29

4:06 / Characterization / Basic Terms pt 2 /...

The Write Focus ·

2023/02/01

What details do we writers need to manipulate for the readers to see and understand our characters? This unfolding view, presented in scattered snippets throughout our stories, is Characterization. Herewith, 6 ways plus 2 pairs to develop your characters (did I just call gin rummy?) as well as a bit on Non-Primary Characters. Contents 0:39 Intro 1:13 Characterization 2:00 6 types of Characterization 8:00 Placeholder vs. True Character 9:52 Constant vs. Change 12:53 Decisions about

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20:37

4:05 / Perspective / Basic Terms pt 1 / Discovering...

The Write Focus ·

2023/01/25

How do we present the story to our readers? This question is often asked on social media. Should I write in first person? Deep Voice? Limited? All of these are the narration of the story through a character’s eyes and opinions—or more than one characters’ eyes and opinions. This is Perspective, viewpoint, point of view. Our choice of viewpoint matters. How do we make that choice? This episode will help you with that basic decision. Contents 0:39 Introduction 1:15 Start 3:52 Perspective 7:30

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12:40

4:04 / Interview / Discovering Characters

The Write Focus ·

2023/01/18

The character interview is a vital method to reach into your characters’ voices. Before launching into a major storyline, writers should interview their primaries: protagonists & antagonists as well as the important secondaries whose decisions will affect the primary characters. Yet what questions do we ask? We’ve an excellent interview adapted from several sources, starting with M.A. Lee’s years in journalism (before she escaped the real Nosy Parker business and entered the fictional NP one). We’re

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22:19

4:03 / Templates / Discovering Characters

The Write Focus ·

2023/01/11

Templates are the easiest way to build a character from ground up. The only problem is that most templates barely cover more than appearance and bits & pieces of relationships and angst and secrets. Don’t fret. We have 10 templates that delve deeper than the surface façade, into the interior spaces where characters live. We’re Discovering Characters. Contents 0:39 Intro 1:20 Start 6:52 Templates ~ Basic (3) 10:40 ~ Character in Society (3) 14:26 ~ Secrets plus (4) 16:50 Example 21:20

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16:26

4:02 / Introduction & Getting Ideas / Discovering...

The Write Focus ·

2023/01/04

Where do writers get their ideas? How do we build characters? Those 2 essential questions start every bit of writing. All else (situation, plot, genre, tropes, length) comes from those questions. Our work as writers is to make the answers that we discover hide on the page, so that readers have only the enjoyment of the story. Contents 0:39 Opening 1:21 Introduction to Discovering Characters 6:47 Getting Ideas 15:27 Closing Special Links “How 50 Famous Authors Find Writing Inspiration” /

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26:16

4:01 / Freebie Story Start / Fantasy

The Write Focus ·

2023/01/01

January 1 falls outside the parameters by offering a freebie. This year Edie Roones and M.A. Lee give us “The Poisoner and the Faerie Huntsman”, from the Wild Sherwood series, collected into the anthology Into Wild Sherwood. Melly and her hound encounter strange black hounds. Then the Huntsman of the Wild Hunt arrives. Has the fallen into greater trouble? The entire story is available free on Book Funnel: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/c639tkoihp Also available free is last year’s New Year’s story from

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35:09

3:50 / SMART Biz Planning / Enter the Writing Business

The Write Focus ·

2022/12/07

The year’s final episode, for the rest of December is busy, busy, busy! And that’s in our Biz Plan. We talk the SMART Business Plan, turning dreams into goals with specific objectives and strategies. How do we do it? Content 00:37 Intro 1:50 Tangible Objectives 3:27 Outside Help / Online Presence 6:22 Professional Improvement / Networking 11:02 Strategies / Expected Results 17:30 Logistics ~ Plans / Projects / Needs & Wants 24:50 Build the Plan / Review to Preview / Failures 33:40 Closing Workbook

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33:28

3:49 / eyes on the Writing Biz Plan / Enter the...

The Write Focus ·

2022/11/30

We’re to the last 2 episodes of our focus on the Writing Business. These last two episodes for this season of The Write Focus will concentrate on a business plan for our writing. Yes, writing is a business. Do it the SMART way. Content 0:39 Intro 2:05 What is a Business Plan? 2:57 The Writing Business Plan 4:09 Expected Audience 7:45 Product vs. Project 8:25 Vision / Mission / Objectives 17:01 SWOT: our A-Team 19:40 Awareness of the Marketplace 21:51 SMART 23:45 Anticipate Problems / Adaptation is

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28:48

3:48 / Practicalities / Enter the Writing Business

The Write Focus ·

2022/11/23

Herewith, the most boring yet essential of all the writing business information: Practicalities MS Preparation and the Nuts & Bolts of the everyday Writing Life. Content 0:40 Intro / 7 Common Manuscript Elements 2:16 Boilerplates 3:27 Disclaimers 4:30 Front Titles List 6:10 Acknowledgements and Reader Notes 7:40 Table of Contents 8:22 Chapter Headings & Page Breaks 10:55 A Book of the Book 12:50 Word Processing Basics 15:07 Fonts and Special Images 18:11 Page Breaks and Text Flow 20:34 Oxford

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28:05

3:47 / Soul-Suckers / Enter the Writing Business

The Write Focus ·

2022/11/16

Long before the dreamed reality of writing will support us, we have to have those humdrum, mundane jobs that try to kill our writing spirits. Fair Warning: Along with jobs, people will try to kill our writing spirits. How do we handle these two-sided slaps to our dreams? Content 00:44 Intro 2:03 Jobs that pay the bills 5:45 When Day Jobs suck away our creative energies 9:50 Soul-Sucking People 10:17 Toxic Writers to Avoid 13:22 Shysters who Prey on Writers 15:23 Remember WIBBOW 19:10 Mine the Real

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31:56

3:46 / On Creativity / Enter the Writing Business

The Write Focus ·

2022/11/09

Every discussion of the Writing Biz needs a focus on Creativity. What does creativity actually mean? How do we put it into practice? How do story visions change when creativity is applied? Also ~ Writing can be a hell and a heaven. How do we know when the writing biz is worth it? Content 00:40 Intro 2:17 Growth Depends on Challenges 3:20 Creativity = Unique Spins on Classics = Freshness 6;40 Freshness Requires Thought / Planning 7:25 Saggy Pantstering Defined 9:48 Daily Writing / Avoiding the Lures

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24:20

3:45 / 3 P’s & Project Progress / Enter the Writing...

The Write Focus ·

2022/11/02

We’ve reached the month-long Fall Writing Challenge. Many are participating in the November global writing challenge. Whether we take on the challenge or not, we can use November to consider our writing life: past, present and future. Before we know it, the New Year will be upon us (because December is jam-packed with distractions and disruptions). In today’s episode, writers need to analyze the whys and hows of the kind of writer that they think they are—then break that mold. None of us fit into

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23:19

3:44 / Laser-Eyed Writing / Enter the Writing Business

The Write Focus ·

2022/10/26

Here in PrepToBer and on into the Fall Writing Challenge, The Write Focus guides us toward the ultimate goal: the Writing Life! Edie Roones gives great focus with Enter the Writing Business. We’re bookcasting all the way to December. In this episode, we looked at “Laser-Eyed Writing”, what we need to create stories continuously. Timings / Content 0:36 Laser-Eyed Writing ~ money-wise / relationship-wise / job -wise / TIME is free 10:00 Invasion of the Story-Killers ~ different brains for writing /

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26:24

3:43 / Dream It / Enter the Writing Business

The Write Focus ·

2022/10/20

Here in PrepToBer and on into the Fall Writing Challenge, The Write Focus guides us toward the ultimate goal: the Writing Life! Edie Roones gives great focus with Enter the Writing Business. We peruse these concepts: Dream into a Belief and then a Reality A Laser-Eyed Focus on Writing Planner vs. Plotter Creativity Soul-Sucking Jobs Practicalities Eyes on the Writing Biz SMART Biz Planning We’re bookcasting for these last two weeks of October, all through November, and into December. This episode

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41:07

3:42 / Lynn Cahoon Interview / Mixed Miscellany...

The Write Focus ·

2022/10/12

Writer, Interrupted Yet Resumed! Lynn Cahoon ventured away from writing because of life disruptions only to return years later. Starting with essays then short stories, she eventually wrote her first novels … and woke up to her name on the NY Times best-seller list for ebooks. Currently juggling five series along with a major move, Lynn shares her writing journey and guidance. Her newest release, only a few weeks ago, is A Vacation to Die For, #14 in the Tourist Trap series, available on Amazon,

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35:44

3:41 / Interview with Heather Weidner / Mixed...

The Write Focus ·

2022/10/05

JUGGLING JOBS and COZY MYSTERIES Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries. Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, and Murder by the Glass. She is a member of Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia, Sisters in

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38:44

3:40 / Interview with Marilyn Levinson / Mixed...

The Write Focus ·

2022/09/28

25+ books and counting, Marilyn Levinson is still penning mysteries. With a series recently completing and a new series to start, she is eager to explore new ideas, settings, and situations. Timings 00:15 Opening with Marilyn’s writing journey 1:23 the Haunted Library series under her Alison Brook pen name. Newest release Dewey Decimated 3:45 Completing the story arc for that series and the beginnings of that series 7:00 Setting and Situation for the Haunted Library series 9:58 a Series should have

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184 results

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