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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.

fiction how to

All Episodes

08:40

5:33 / Word Count Challenge / Check In 2 / Managing

The Write Focus ·

2024/08/14

Hi, Everyone. It’s the second check-in for the Word Count Challenge here in August.How have you done? Leave a comment about your goals and successes. I’ve managed to meet my goal of 500 words daily, no matter the interruptions, and they were many. Things tugged at me every day of the past week. The massive part of the day is lost to writing but early mornings and late evenings have saved me—and twice, both evening and morning writing saved me. At our last check-in, the first draft of the third

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13:44

5:32 / Word Count Challenge / Old Challenge vs. New...

The Write Focus ·

2024/08/07

Old Challenge vs. New Challenge ~ that’s the theme for this week’s episode.We say goodbye to the Summer Writing Challenge, which tracked all the pesky jobs that writers have to do in addition to the writing, and we welcome in the August Word Count Challenge, which is the kind of challenge that writers want to focus on: NEW WORDS ONLY. No sketched words, just an estimate from the Rough, any overage in changing Rough to Draft as well as overage that comes with Revision and Proofing. The only way to

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21:04

5:31 / Summer Writing Challenge / Check In 9 /...

The Write Focus ·

2024/07/31

Hi, all. It’s the last full week of the Summer Writing Challenge. We’ll have one last day to report in our first August episode. This week, though, finishes out our challenge.Did I succeed? Did I fail? What can I do better? What changes can I make to be more successful in the future? Let’s start with our day-to-day report before we answer those major questions. TIMINGS 00:00 Welcome 00:40 Check in 9 02:10 Counting Projects this Year 03:20 Priorities, Goals, Boundaries 08:34 Hurry Up to Wait 10:10

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20:18

5:30 / Summer Writing Challenge / 8th Check-in / A...

The Write Focus ·

2024/07/24

Hi, all! It’s our 8th check-in for the Summer Writing Challenge. A little over a week to go to the end of July BUT not the end of the Summer Writing Challenge.I’ve struggled and I’ve soared in this past week. It’s all a matter of juggling the bad with the good to keep a mental balance and motivation. Last Wednesday, first day of our work week, is a perfect example of this juggling act. We cover a lot this week, including characters who are ciphers and easy-out solutions to plots; objective

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24:30

5:29 / Summer Writing Challenge / 7th check In /...

The Write Focus ·

2024/07/17

Hi, all. Time for Check-In #7 of our Summer Writing Challenge with the theme of “What’s Up, Doc?”The challenge this week was to steady up and recover from last week’s losses. Luckily, most of my weekly activities are on hiatus in July although my personal commitment remain strong. A Special BONUS this episode: 9 minutes from Dashiel Hammett on Accurate Details TIMINGS 00:00 Welcome 00:40 Check-in 7 02:01 Kanban Flow 05:55 Sputter to Flow 08:50 Research for Reality 11:15 Failure vs. Success 13:45

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21:17

5:28 / Summer Writing Challenge / 6th Check-In

The Write Focus ·

2024/07/10

Hi, All! Welcome from the Land of the Lost ~ Lost Days, Lost Time, Lost Plans, Lost Chances.That’s me this past week, and I’m still dealing with the aftermath. I’m also scouting the area to find out who infected me. Yes, in a week when I knew I would lose three days before it started—the holiday, you know—I lost three more days because I came down with a horrid respiratory sickness, with coughing and crusty eyes as the bane of my existence. This episode is only coming to you with the assistance of

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17:21

5:27 / Summer Writing Challenge / 5th Check-In

The Write Focus ·

2024/07/03

Hi, all! Herewith is our 5th check-in for the Summer Writing Challenge. We’ve started a new month; we still have the same goals.Of everything that I expected to happen in June, that did happen, disruptions and distractions but also a slow-moving progress toward the goals. Of everything that I wanted to accomplish, not there yet. Am I upset and frustrated by the disruptions? No. Did I have some time-wasters? Yes. Do I want to kick myself for those. Yes and No. Am I irretrievably behind? Well—One

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19:25

5:26 / Summer Writing Challenge / 4th Check In

The Write Focus ·

2024/06/26

Hi, y’all! It’s been a hectic week of the expected and unexpected again, with so many things swirling about that it’s best to call this Challenge episode “Spinning Wheels” or “Tornadoes”.“Spinning Wheels” seems more appropriate because I did gain headway in all three project areas. It’s a tornado, though, because—well, I’ll explain as I detail this week. TIMINGS 00:00 Welcome 00:40 Check-in #4 03:35 Major Goal Achieved! 05:10 Three-Step Proofing 07:11 Walk Away from a Problem 11:03 Step 11

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14:00

5:25 / Summer Writing Challenge / 3rd Check In

The Write Focus ·

2024/06/19

Hi all! We’re onto our third check-in for the Summer Writing Challenge.As usual, I’ve overloaded myself in contemplating everything that I want to accomplish for June and July. To complete everything may take me into August. And I’ve already encountered one problem that may require me to extend the Challenge into August. This means that I’ve bitten off much more than I should have with my three projects and the additional admission that I may switch a project mid-stream … if Project 2 continues

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17:35

5:24 / Summer Writing Challenge / 2nd Check-In

The Write Focus ·

2024/06/12

Hi! It’s the 2nd Check-in for the Summer Writing Challenge, all through June and July, tracking not only words but also those other tasks that a write needs to do to pursue success.For the first days of June, four days, Saturday to Tuesday, we had achievements on two of our projects in the Master Plan. Project 1 had 15,617 new words on the manuscript of Defeat Writers Block. Project 3, we had the 1st check-in Podcast, prep, draft, and everything involved in producing a podcast episode. These past

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13:51

5:23 / Summer Writing Challenge / 1st Check-in

The Write Focus ·

2024/06/05

Welcome to our 1st Check-in for this Summer Writing Challenge, tracking not only words but also other tasks that a writer needs to pursue success. We began tracking on June 1, and we’ll continue to July 31.As part of my Master Plan, I have three projects. Turning the Defeat Writer’s Block series into audiobook, ebook, and paperback. A massive project writing five short story, creating audiofiles for 15 stories, and publishing the 5-story collection and the 15-stoory bundle in ebook, paperback, and

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12:26

5:22 / Summer Writing Challenge / Introduction

The Write Focus ·

2024/05/29

All through June and July, The Write Focus turns its lens to the Summer Writing Challenge, 61 days of writing as well as presenting all the other tasks that writers should be doing in their writing business.In addition to tracking our progress on writing projects, we’ll cover market copy, cover designers, promotional posts, and newsletters as well as audio projects. These are just a sample of the myriad additional tasks performed by every writer, indie or traditionally published. Podcast posts

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15:11

5:21 / Wish I'd Known / Writing Retrospective

The Write Focus ·

2024/05/22

This year and the next are celebratory years for me. I began publishing in 2015 and podcasting in 2020 (yes, that coronacoaster year). It’s time for a retrospective, totting up the gains, cringing at the worst failures (some of which will never see the light of day), and dwelling on the chief lessons. You know, what I do wish that I’d known before launching into the ocean realm of writing.The ocean of writing is a great metaphor. Writing has depths that no one will ever reach. Each writer is a tiny

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16:59

5:20 / Wish I'd Known / A Podcasting Retrospective

The Write Focus ·

2024/05/15

We don’t often take the time to look back, to do a retrospection. We track our accomplishments and diligently write down the small steps that take us to our short-term goals and on to our long-term ones. If we’re good little bunnies, we check our Master Plan once a year and rewrite it every third or fifth or seventh year. I can’t imagine a 10-year Master Plan. I had to drop back from five to three because my plans change so much. I get new information. I clarify my goals I shove things forward that

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26:23

5:19 /Defeat Writer's Block / Whitney's Solutions

The Write Focus ·

2024/05/08

A handful of years ago, after I had started publishing, I stumbled across Phyllis A. Whitney’s Guide to Fiction Writing. Originally published in 1982, that date was 6 years before the Mystery Writers of America gave her a Grand Master award for Lifetime Achievement and 8 years before a similar award came from the Romance Writers of America. When she died in 2008, Whitney had published more than 70 novels, mostly for adults but a few for young teenagers were also in that total. Whitney has also been

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22:08

5:18 / Defeat Writer's Block / Burnham Talks Blocks

The Write Focus ·

2024/05/01

We’re approaching the finale of our examination of Writers Defeating Writer’s Block.We’ve diagnosed the three major issues, how to recognize them, and how to resolve them to return to writing. We’ve examined advice from 10 different writers, from Neil Gaiman to Barbara Kingsolver, Charlaine Harris to Philip Pullman. We delved deeply into famous blockbuster Erle Stanley Gardner’s techniques as he dealt with the unmentioned unmentionable. Mary Stewart revealed the writer’s life in her short novel The

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25:09

5:17 / Defeat Writer's Block / Storyteller and Story...

The Write Focus ·

2024/04/24

Many writers—newbies, early wannabees, flash-ins before they flash out—many of these writers never reach the mature writer’s self-analysis stage. These writers don’t learn to seek new methods when the story won’t flow. They don’t seek solutions to plot conundrums and character rebellions. They don’t analyze their writing blocks and seek ways around or over or under or through that writer’s block. Some mature writers don’t do this, either. They stop and wait. For what? Inspiration? The spark of the

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20:07

5:16 / Defeat Writer's Block / M Stewart on the...

The Write Focus ·

2024/04/17

A funny thing happened on the way through entertainment this past weekend. I read Mary Stewart’s The Stormy Petrel. That’s not the funny thing.Mary Stewart is my all-time favorite author. Wonderful character development, intriguing plots, lovely lyrical writing. She’s a guaranteed satisfying entertainment. My favorite novel of hers is My Brother Michael with The Moonspinners as a close second. (If you’ve seen the film, you haven’t met Stewart’s story.) I read The Stormy Petrel years ago. The story

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19:13

5:15 / Defeat Writer's Block / Avoid These Mistakes...

The Write Focus ·

2024/04/10

When we’re browsing for information to help our own particular problems, we reach for the weighty titles, the ones that analyze to the nth degree and provide six or seven or thirteen examples. That kind of information scan would miss Judy Delton’s surprisingly valuable little guidebook The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.My own bookshelf, physical and electronic, is scant on information about Writer’s Block. That doesn’t mean I haven’t suffered from it, the way many writers

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26:52

5:14 /Defeat Writer's Block / Avoid These Mistakes

The Write Focus ·

2024/04/03

Writers read. In reading we are voracious consumers of anything that catches our eye.We may also be hoarders, little dragons perched on a Keep-Forever Book Stack, surrounded by a myriad of smaller To-Be-Read stacks: This Stack First, This Stack Second, This Later, Helpful Stuff, I Wanna But Not Now, Maybe Later, I Dunno, and more. When we climb down from our hoard, we may stop and investigate those TBR stacks and do a little re-organizing. And thus I found an unexpected gem which has a lot to say

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