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PODCAST

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of Writing

Melissa Bourbon

Writer Spark is a biweekly broadcast about business, creativity, and the craft of writing fiction hosted by bestselling author, fiction writing teacher, and writing coach, Melissa Bourbon. It’s your go-to resource for all things writing! Featuring successful authors who share invaluable insights on various craft topics, each episode is designed to inspire and educate. Enjoy stand-alone episodes packed with essential writing tips, from plotting and character development to mastering the art of

education how to

All Episodes

13:44

Letting Go of Perfection & Five Hacks to Chase Away...

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2023/06/20

Episode 25 Here’s a great lesson. Whatever you do can be changed. Because things evolve and nothing is perfect the first time around. That’s what today’s episode is all about. We're talking about the importance of letting go of the idea of perfection and remembering that you can change, improve, revise, or enhance anything. On the flip-side, we also need to banish negative self-talk, which can stem from not being perfect out of the gate. I have five hacks to help you chase away that negative

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48:21

How to Tackle Your Financial Life as an Author

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2023/05/23

Episode 24 Finances for authors. It’s not the most appealing topic for people who spend their time with words…but wherever you are on your writing path, it’s never too early to start thinking about how to tackle your financial life as an author. Managing your expenses, especially in relation to current and/or future profits--or even just knowing what you are spending--is pretty important. Honing in on what’s most worth spending money on is vital. With all of the resources out there, it’s easy to

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22:55

Going into Deep Point of View by Adding Thought,...

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2023/04/28

Episode 23 Today's WriterSpark episode is about deep point of view and how to incorporate it into your fiction writing. Deep point of view is a concept that can be hard to explain and hard to understand. But you CAN master it if you use these four elements as you write your scenes: Emotion Thought Action Decision Today I'm showing you exactly how to do that through examples. Take a listen! I'd love to hear if this helped you understand the concept. Leave a comment! Please like and follow

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40:20

Writing from a Perspective that’s Different from your...

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2023/04/03

Episode 22 Who says you can't write from a woman's perspective if you're a man? Or from a man's perspective as a woman? Writing is about understanding people, and not just people who look and sound and live like you. Today's conversation is about just this: writing from a perspective that is different from your own, whether that means gender, race, or ethnicity. Join me in conversation with John DeDakis, author of the Lark Chadwick mystery series. John is a former White House correspondent and

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34:58

Publishing Your First Book with the Wisdom and...

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2023/03/01

Episode 21 Publishing is a tough industry no matter what age you are. Author Martha Anne Toll's award-winning book, Three Muses, was published when she was 64 years old. Today I am in conversation with her to talk about what it means to publish your first book as an older person--because with age comes wisdom, experience, and perspective. I loved having this conversation with Martha and I know you will enjoy listening to it and learning about her very fascinating career, her book Three Muses, and

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53:19

How to Make the Shift from Writing One Genre to Another

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2023/02/19

Episode 20 Making the shift from writing in one genre to another...or from genre fiction to a traditional fiction category...can be daunting. As writers, we sometimes feel as if we are going to be stuck in the genre in which we started. Or we may think we'll never want to make a change. In this episode, USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle and I have an insightful conversation about this topic, specifically how to make the shift from writing in one genre to another. She's done with her

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57:04

The Importance of Creating Diverse Characters in your...

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2023/01/17

Episode 19 As writers, creating diverse fictional worlds that reflect the world and communities we live in is so important. And it is a conversation we don't have nearly often enough. Cozy mystery author VM (Valerie) Burns and I talked about this (among other things) on this episode of the WriterSpark podcast. Valerie and I talked about the importance of adding diversity to your cast of characters. It's essential to have conversations like these so we all learn how to represent races and

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50:03

How Weather Can Play an Important Part in Your Writing

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2023/01/08

Episode 18 Weather can be an Important Part of Fiction Writing and no one does it better than Katherine Ramsland. Katherine is one accomplished woman. She holds multiple graduate degrees and currently teaches forensic psychology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania, where she is also the Assistant Provost. Listen to this. Katherine has appeared as an expert in criminal psychology on more than 200 crime documentaries and magazine shows. She is an executive producer of Murder House Flip, and

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44:41

Tools to Mine the Depths of Your Characters

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/12/15

Episode 17 As writers, we are always learning and filling our virtual toolboxes with new information. It's how we continue to grow as writers. In today's episode, I'm chatting with Leslie Budewitz, who also writes as Alicia Beckman. Rants and free writing to channel characters are two of Leslie's Go To methods of mining the depths of her characters. Learn more about her tried and true methods. I came away with several new ideas, and you will, too! Please LIKE this episode, follow the podcast,

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17:19

What are Turning Points in a Story?

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/12/10

Episode 16 What are Turning Points in a Story? Are they necessary? What do they do? Let’s talk about it! Whether you are a plotter or a pantser, understanding certain components of storytelling will help you create a more engaging story, which keeps readers turning the pages. In today's episode we’re talking about one of these key components: Turning Points. The simplistic explanation of a Turning Point is that something in the story changes. While that is true, there is a lot more to it. You

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43:41

Planning Your Book Like a Pro with Plottr

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/12/07

Episode 15 Every writer plots, we just do it differently. Some of us are meticulous. Some...not so much. Personally, I land somewhere in the middle on the plotting spectrum. Which is why I was so curious about how plotting software like Plottr can help someone like me. In this episode, I talk with Troy Lambert, an education specialist with Plottr, about different ways to use their software. I actually learned a lot and am excited to give the Plottr trial a go to see how it can work for

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37:46

Using JournalisticTools (Who, What, When, Where, Why,...

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/11/30

Episode 14 There is no shortage of plotting and planning methods when you're writing a book, but no matter where you are in your writing journey, you can learn new methods and who knows, maybe something will resonate. In this episode, I talk with historical mystery writer, Dianne Freeman, about her use of journalistic tools (who, what, when, where, why, and how) in her planning and plotting process. Take a listen, and happy writing! Please LIKE this episode, follow the podcast, and leave a

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12:24

Three Tips for Writing Compelling Characters

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/11/19

Episode 13 There are a lot of strategies for creating compelling characters in fiction. I have three tips for you to consider. These are, by no means, the only ways to help bring your characters alive. Part of it is about Stimulus; Response; and Result. Take a listen, and happy writing! Download the Cheat Sheet: Three Tips for Writing Great Characters Cheat Sheet. Please LIKE this episode, follow the podcast, and leave a review! I appreciate you! Join me on WriterSpark: Tips and Tricks for

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42:37

Adding Myth and Lore to the Novels you Write

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/11/11

Episode 12 Adding Myth and Lore to the Novels you Write Author Julia Buckley writes the Hungarian Tea Shop cozy mystery series. She embeds myth and lore to her stories through setting, character history, and memories. Why should writers think about how to do this? I believe it adds depth to a story and layers to characters. Take a listen to my chat with Julia and be inspired to dig into myth and lore. Please LIKE this episode, follow the podcast, and leave a review! I appreciate

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16:37

Core Qualities of the Reluctant Hero in Fiction Writing

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/11/04

Episode 11 What is a reluctant hero? The answer to that question is very simple. A reluctant hero is someone who does not set out to act heroically, but ends up doing so. They are often considered an "ordinary man (person)" who is a reluctant participant in a story. They don't want to be heroes, but they end up being heroes anyway. There are several core qualities most compelling reluctant heroes share. Keep listening for more! If you'd like to follow along, read the blog post, and Please LIKE this

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29:20

The Hero’s Journey through the lens of Percy Jackson...

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/10/26

Episode 10 Have you looked at The Hero's Journey through the lens of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief? If not, you are in the right place because that is exactly what I do in this podcast. One of the best ways to really begin to internalize the steps and importance of The Hero's Journey in writing is to analyze books and movies that use the story structure. Disney and Pixar movies offer particularly strong examples of this story structure in action. Watching movies and breaking down the

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25:59

How to Research and Write Historical Mysteries

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/10/24

Episode 9 How to Research and Write Historical Mysteries Writing historical mystery books--or any novel, for that matter--is no easy feat. It takes time, research, a desire to learn about the era about which you are writing, And if you want to write a real showstopper, you have to fully immerse yourself. Heather Redmond Heather Redmond knows just how to do the research required to write truly authentic novels. She is the author of the Dickens of a Crime series with Kensington. Heather's

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01:10:20

Creating Workable Systems for Writers to Elevate Your...

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/10/20

Episode 8 Creating workable systems for writers is a clear and strategic way to elevate your writing career. As a creative, my brain doesn't naturally skew toward creating systems. Being an author is one thing, but elevating that writing career to a business that earns in the 6 figures is a different ballgame for most of us. Prolific USA Today bestselling author Tonya Kappes has figured out just how to do this--to go from an author to a savvy businesswoman running Tonya Kappes Books. She has

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29:02

Lessons Fiction Writers can learn from the Hollywood...

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/10/17

Episode 7 WriterSpark: Tips and Tricks for Fiction Writers Podcast How writers in a writer's room write is different from fiction writers. But there are lots of lessons to be learned from those writer's rooms. Really, wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall in a Hollywood Writer's Room? I would! Reality Unfortunately, most of us don't get that chance, but mystery author Ellen Byron spent years in a variety of Writer's Rooms. On the podcast today, she is sharing lessons she learned from those

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26:05

My Author Origin Story

Writer Spark: Business, Creativity, and the Craft of... ·

2022/10/16

Episode 6 All authors were unpublished, aspiring authors at one point. All authors started at the beginning. They all have an origin story. How did they get their start? What was their path to publication? Inspiration These stories can be inspiring. Motivating. Whether it’s the Joker’s, Batman’s, or our own, they are all meaningful. WriterSpark WriterSpark is me…I am WriterSpark. Today I am sharing my origin story. I started my writing journey in the early ’90s, but my first book wasn’t

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