#038: Drew Starling – The power of short stories, real-time feedback, and emotionally insulating yourself.

Activated Authors

English - June 04, 2020 23:01 - 49 minutes - 46.6 MB - ★★★★★ - 2 ratings
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Previous Episode: #037: Lindsay Weisner – Finding ‘happy,’ the Neurotic Nourishment podcast, and talking is healing.

Next Episode: #039: Jenna Moreci – YouTube for writers, diversifying income streams, and cultivating superfans.

Drew Starling is an Amazon bestselling author of horror and dark fiction, a husband and dog dad who loves strong female leads, martial arts, and long walks in the woods with canine companions. He would like to think his plots are better than his prose, but strives to make his words sound both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. He listens to Beethoven, Megadeth, and Enya when he writes.

His only rule of writing: the dog never dies.

In this episode we go deep into:

Why the dog never dies
Drew’s writing journey and how he’s gotten to where he is
How beneficial author communities are online
Why short stories are a great way create emotional insulation
The incredible influence of Stephen King
Whether the TV series of “The Outsider” was better or worse than the book
The power of the short story submission loop
Why short stories are a great way to build an author reputation
How to maximize your chances of getting short stories submitted and published
The benefits of real-time feedback in author communities
Using StoryGrid to edit your novel
Why something must happen in a scene
Drew’s writing process
Why you shouldn’t measure success in words written
Finding a relationship that complements your writing career
Why Drew writes

Drew answers questions from Patrons:

Ian J Middleton: what Must Read books would you put on a horror writers reading list?

This week’s question:

What systems do you use to gain real-time feedback?

Find out more about Drew:

Get your free story https://www.drewstarling.com/dan

Links from the show:

Https://www.patreon.com/greatwritersshare

Https://books2read.com/anatomyofprose

https://www.doesthedogdie.com/

https://www.thenosleeppodcast.com/

https://www.cormacmccarthy.com/