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PODCAST

Master Fiction Writing

Stuart Wakefield

With 25+ years in theatre, media, and coaching, I’ve honed the art of storytelling. Now, I’m thrilled to share that expertise with you on “Master Fiction Writing.” Whether you’re crafting memorable characters or building gripping plots, each episode is backed by examples from literary pros. Recognised as a top book coach, my mission is to help your stories shine. Ready to master the craft? Subscribe today!

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All Episodes

00:13:24

The Art of Character Want vs Need (Without Clichés)

Master Fiction Writing ·

2026/03/04

If your character’s “need” sounds like a motivational poster, readers won’t feel it in scene.In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, Stuart Wakefield breaks want vs need out of the self-help zone and turns it into a practical decision tool you can use immediately: the Want / Need / Cost triad.You’ll learn why vague “needs” kill scene friction, how to define want and need in operational terms, and how to add teeth with the Cost Ladder (three escalating levels: comfort, relationship/status,

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00:16:18

The Inciting Incident Isn’t Big. It’s Binding.

Master Fiction Writing ·

2026/02/25

Big events don’t create story. Binding does.In this practical follow-up to “The Art of a Story Premise That Actually Drives Scenes,” Stuart Wakefield reframes the inciting incident as the moment your protagonist becomes unable to WALK AWAY and shows you how to build that pressure on purpose.You’ll learn what “binding” really means, why it’s the secret to Act 1 momentum (and the cure for saggy middles), and how to spot the most common fake-outs: false binds, external-only pressure, “volunteer”

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00:15:26

The Art of a Story Premise That Actually Drives Scenes

Master Fiction Writing ·

2026/02/18

The difference between an “interesting” idea and a story that actually moves? Your premise.In this episode, I'll break down why so many drafts end up with “optional chapters” - scenes that could be shuffled, skipped, or swapped without changing anything. Then you’ll learn a simple, repeatable framework for building a premise that creates real story pressure: Protagonist + Pressure + Price.You’ll get:The 3 ingredients that make a premise generate scenes automaticallyA quick Premise Stress Test (3

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00:18:01

Worldbuilding Pitfalls That Quietly Sabotage Your Story

Master Fiction Writing ·

2026/02/13

This episode's for anyone writing speculative fiction who’s ever vanished into worldbuilding “for five minutes” and resurfaced three hours later with a fully functioning sewer system and… no actual scene.This episode is about the quiet ways worldbuilding can sabotage your story when it becomes a substitute for plot, character, pacing, and reader trust. Not because worldbuilding is bad. Because it’s powerful. And power needs a steering wheel.In the episode, I break down the biggest traps and how

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00:09:21

Back to the Book: Restarting a Shelved Draft Fast

Master Fiction Writing ·

2026/02/06

Back to the Book: Restarting a Shelved Draft Fast is a practical, no-nonsense episode for writers who’ve stepped away from a manuscript and want to re-enter it without rereading the whole thing.You’ll learn a 60-minute re-entry sprint to regain story context fast, a 2-hour reset to rebuild your “story map,” and a simple toolkit for avoiding the biggest time-wasters like polishing old chapters instead of writing new pages.If opening your draft makes you think, “Who are these people and why are they

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00:09:02

Set Up Your 2026 Writing Year: A Plan That Survives...

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/12/18

Set yourself up for a 2026 writing year that actually survives real life. In this episode, you’ll build a simple, motivating plan without hustle-culture guilt or impossible schedules.We’ll choose a one- to three-word theme to guide your decisions, pick three clear priorities (plus one powerful “not this year”), map your year by quarters, and set a weekly minimum that keeps you moving even when life gets loud.You’ll also learn how to put writing into your calendar for the next two weeks, create a few

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00:23:36

The Pink Plot Machine: Why Legally Blonde Is a...

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/12/04

Is Legally Blonde secretly one of the best-plotted films of the 2000s? In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, host Stuart Wakefield performs a full story autopsy on Elle Woods’ journey from dumped sorority president to victorious Harvard lawyer.We dig into how the film builds a rock-solid causal chain (where every major beat grows logically from the last) and how Elle’s external quest (Harvard, the internship, the murder trial) welds perfectly to her internal arc from “choose me” to “I choose

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00:12:07

The Inciting Incident Isn’t Big. It’s Binding.

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/11/26

If your opening goes boom but your hero can shrug and carry on, that’s fireworks, not story. In this episode I breaks down the real job of an inciting incident - to bind your protagonist to an obligation that costs something now and points the story arrow.Here's what you'll learn:What “binding” means in plain English and how to spot it fastThe five ways a moment can stick Bond, Irreversibility, New stakes, Direction, PressureA spoken mini-exercise you can even do while walking the dogA quick

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00:09:40

Because And Then: Building Stories with Causality...

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/11/18

And then” isn’t a plot, it’s a queue. In this craft-forward episode, we swap “and then” for the more muscular because / but / therefore and show how tight causality turns scenes into story. You’ll get a clear, jargon-free framework for chaining choices to consequences, plus two case studies that prove the point: a mini-autopsy of Pride & Prejudice and a contemporary comparison with Knives Out.In this episode you’ll learn:Why causality (not act labels) is the real backbone of structureHow to

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00:23:55

Whose Eyes, Which Truth? Mastering POV in Your Novel...

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/11/11

POV isn’t just a grammar choice - it’s the engine that controls intimacy, suspense, and what your reader knows when.In this craft-deep episode, we demystify point of view by breaking it into three practical dials (access, scope, and distance) then walk through the pros and cons of first person, third limited (close and deep), free indirect style, omniscient, objective, second person, epistolary, multiple-POV, and stream of consciousness.To make it real, we take a baseline scene (Edward at Inkerman

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00:09:19

Author Brain vs. Editor Brain (and When to Use Each)

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/10/29

Stop polishing your first paragraph into oblivion. In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, we split your process into two clean modes: Author Brain for discovery and Editor Brain for decision—used at different times for different jobs. You’ll hear a live “before/after” paragraph where we draft messy, then run a tight verbs-and-cuts pass that sharpens pace and tension without killing momentum. We’ll also set up a simple 30-minute loop you can run twice to produce real pages today.You’ll learn:The

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00:10:05

Becoming the Person Who Writes

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/10/21

Stop waiting for motivation. Start acting from identity. In this mindset kickoff for Master Fiction Writing, we shift the sentence that runs your day from “I want to write a book” to “I’m a person who writes.” You’ll hear a simple, athlete-style routine (warm-up, reps, cooldown), examples, and a 10-minute drill that makes writing easier to start than to avoid.You’ll learn:Why identity beats motivation for consistent pagesThe 3 design levers: place, time, triggerA tiny training loop: warm-up → reps →

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00:14:05

Open Strong, Close True: Drafting Your First and...

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/10/14

Your novel’s bookends do the heavy lifting. In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, we pair Step 16 (Writing the Opening Scene) and Step 17 (Writing the Closing Scene) to help you start with momentum and finish with meaning. You’ll learn what a scene is (and why something must change every time), how to centre your protagonist’s thoughts and feelings, and a simple timer method to draft three different openings and three different endings - fast. Then we “mirror test” your bookends so the final

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00:09:01

Plot With Heart: The Inside Outline

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/10/07

Outlining doesn’t have to strangle your creativity—or leave you drowning in spreadsheets. In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, we introduce The Inside Outline: a fast, 2–3 page method that pairs each major Scene (what happens) with its Point (why it matters to your protagonist). The result? A plot that moves and a character arc that means something.You’ll hear how to build 10–15 Scene/Point pairs, link them with clean cause-and-effect (“because of that…”), and pressure-test the outline so

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00:16:24

Plot Without Panic: Using the Pixar Story Spine

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/10/02

Plotting doesn’t have to feel like wrangling an octopus into a cardigan. In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, we turn to Pixar’s Story Spine - seven simple prompts that reveal your story’s engine: who we meet, what upends the status quo, how cause-and-effect escalates, where the climax hits, and what the change means. We unpack each beat (from “Once upon a time…” to “And ever since that day…”) and keep things focused with just two “Because of that…” moves to force clean causality. You’ll hear

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00:08:03

Time & Bookends: Your Story’s Timeline, Start, and End

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/09/30

How much time passes between Page 1 and “The End” - and where, exactly, do you begin and finish? In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, we pair Step 12 (Story Timeline) and Step 13 (Opening & Closing) to shape your novel’s container and its proof of change. You’ll learn how to define your story present (the “now” of your narrative), pick a time span that supports tension, and design opening/closing scenes that mirror each other to reveal transformation.In this episode, you’ll learn:What

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00:10:14

Voice & Vantage: Who’s Telling the Tale... and When?

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/09/25

In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, we'll delve into the intricacies of narrative voice and perspective, focusing on the importance of point of view (POV) and time stance in storytelling.We'll discuss various narrative techniques, common pitfalls to avoid, and practical exercises to help writers refine their craft.

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00:05:05

Whose Story Is It? Choosing Your Protagonist and...

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/09/23

In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, we'll discuss the importance of choosing the right protagonist for your story, emphasising the need for a single human centre that readers can connect with, the distinction between external wants and internal needs, and the significance of crafting tailored opposition to enhance conflict.We'll also cover the role of point of view in storytelling and provides practical exercises for writers to refine their narratives.

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00:09:09

Mastering World Building

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/09/19

In this episode, we'll delve into the intricacies of world building, establishing clear rules and consequences, and ensuring that characters and their motivations are relatable to readers. Practical exercises are provided to help writers create immersive worlds that enhance their narratives without overwhelming them with unnecessary details.We'll also highlight common pitfalls to avoid in world building, encouraging writers to focus on realism and character-driven storytelling.

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00:05:37

Who is Your Ideal Reader?

Master Fiction Writing ·

2025/09/18

In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, we'll discuss the importance of identifying your ideal reader in the writing process, how understanding your audience can enhance the emotional connection of your story - and making it more impactful.By focusing on a specific reader rather than trying to please everyone, writers can create stories that resonate deeply and fulfil the needs of their audience.We'll also highlight the significance of envisioning the reader's experience and the

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81 results

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