Latest On writing Podcast Episodes
#118 - Mental Health in America with Dr. Bonnie Wims
The Douglas Robbins Show - July 11, 2024 16:00 - 49 minutesSend us a Text Message. Many of us suffer alone, in silence, with those negative thought loops keeping us stuck, small, afraid. But if you had a broken arm that got treated, there would be no shame in it. Shouldn't we treat the mental and physical the same? Mental health, or should I say ment...
#194: Scene Goals: Why You Need Them, How To Write Them
Writer Unleashed - July 09, 2024 06:00 - 18 minutesOften what gets in the way of an otherwise great scene is a lack of compelling character goals. Without a goal in each scene, a story lacks two vital things: tension and momentum. In this episode, we’ll explore why you need a goal in every scene, and 3 types of goals that urge characters throug...
Reprise: 3 Powerful Writing Exercises When You Don't Know What To Write
Writer Unleashed - July 02, 2024 06:00 - 19 minutesWhat do you do when you want to write, but don't think you have anything to say? Or you do have something to say, but don't know how to say it? In this episode from the 2023 vault, you'll learn 3 powerful writing exercises to help you find your way into your story. These exercises will help ...
193: 5 Must-Have Scenes To Include In Your Story
Writer Unleashed - June 25, 2024 06:00 - 33 minutesScenes set up the structural pace of your story. Some scenes are more action driven, so they move at a faster clip. Other scenes are more reflective, and move slower. Some scenes have more intensity, some have less. Which is why you need different types of scenes. In this episode, we’ll expl...
#117- Philosophy Professor Daniel Berthold and His Work with the Bard Prison Initiative
The Douglas Robbins Show - June 19, 2024 13:00 - 53 minutesSend us a Text Message. Systemic racism, kids of color forgotten by the system, and raised in a violent world with no escape, and a country who's not asking deeper questions of itself. Join Daniel Berthold, philosophy professor from Bard College who teaches at a maximum security prison throu...
#192: How To Write Your First And Final Scenes
Writer Unleashed - June 18, 2024 06:00 - 27 minutesDo you write your first scene over and over, trying to get it just right? But you never feel like you're nailing it? Many writers spend way too much time on their opening scene without considering its role in the main character's entire arc of change. There's a relationship between your first...
#191: Getting Feedback On Your Writing: A Survival Guide
Writer Unleashed - June 11, 2024 06:00 - 22 minutesEver receive feedback on your writing that crushed you to the core? In this episode, learn 5 ways to make sure you not only survive, but get the most constructive feedback on your story, with more generative results. You'll learn how to take a more active role in the feedback process, so you...
#190: How To Create Page-Turning Tension
Writer Unleashed - June 04, 2024 06:00 - 30 minutesHow do you create tension in your story that makes it impossible for readers to put it down? By placing your characters in some kind of danger, even if it's subtle. Danger can be as harrowing as a plane crash, or as nuanced as unrequited love. In this episode, we'll explore two types of dange...
#116- Healing with Food and a Tea that Saved a Village
The Douglas Robbins Show - May 29, 2024 19:00 - 49 minutesSend us a Text Message. Lainie "Sevante" Wulkan, known as "The Food Oracle," is the visionary Founder of CIFT Center for Intuitive Food Therapy™. A wellness author, intuitive, and advanced energy healer, she has authored several bestselling books, including The Food Healing Oracle Deck® series ...
Rewind: How Much Backstory Does Your Reader Really Need to Know?
Writer Unleashed - May 28, 2024 06:00 - 14 minutesHow much backstory does your story need? And how much backstory does your reader need? In this reprise episode from the deep in the vault, learn what backstory is important for you to know as the author, and what backstory belongs on the page. In this episode, we'll cover: The two things you ...
#189: 5 Ways To Create A More Captivating Antagonist
Writer Unleashed - May 21, 2024 06:00 - 20 minutesOften writers create antagonists who do bad, immoral, sometimes evil things. They might be abusive or neglectful parents. An enemy. Or an otherworldly foe. But when you're writing about your most trouble-rousing characters, you don't want to portray the givens. You want to surprise us. You w...
#188: How to Prioritize Writing When You Have A Career And Family
Writer Unleashed - May 14, 2024 06:00 - 22 minutesHow do you make writing a priority when other commitments compete? When you have a full time career and family? We all know writing a book is a colossal commitment. And it's so easy to get off track, especially when so much is competing for our time and attention. In this episode, I’ll walk ...
#115- Meditation Changes our Brain Chemistry with Kara Goodwin
The Douglas Robbins Show - May 08, 2024 14:00 - 42 minutesSend us a Text Message. This was such a great conversation. In today's show I speak with Kara Goodwin, the host of the Meditation Conversation Podcast. Meditation brings us back to the moment and can help transform our brain chemistry with certain techniques while being present can help calm ...
#187: 3 Ways To Write With More Confidence
Writer Unleashed - May 07, 2024 06:00 - 13 minutesStruggling with confidence when it comes to writing your story? Maybe you swing from excitement to self-doubt. Or you worry that no one will care to read it. Maybe you lack enough confidence to even start. In this episode, learn 3 ways to boost your confidence. This is all about shifting y...
#186: Plotting The Character-Driven Story
Writer Unleashed - April 30, 2024 06:00 - 31 minutesWhat do you do when your novel or memoir doesn’t follow the typical plot structure? What if there’s no crime to be solved, tsunami to survive, or evil wizard to slay? What if your character’s only story problem is an internal one? In this episode we’ll explore 4 thresholds your character w...
#185: Your Opening Scenes: What To Reveal, What to Withhold
Writer Unleashed - April 23, 2024 06:00 - 25 minutesWe can all agree that your opening scenes are your only chance to capture your reader's attention. It's what hooks them into the story. Your first scene and several scenes that follow are your story's setup. The setup is essential to master. You have to be concise, deliberate, and selective ...
#184: 5 Questions To Help Focus Your Story Idea
Writer Unleashed - April 16, 2024 06:00 - 17 minutesOur stories can become so overrun with ideas, they run away from us. Each idea leads to another and another until you’re lost in the vortex. There are stories within stories. Endless possibilities. So many directions the story can go. And then writing your story feels like an insurmountable ta...
#183: How To Link Your Character's Interior Story To The Plot
Writer Unleashed - April 09, 2024 06:00 - 14 minutesMost writers know how their characters need to change. They know what happens on the plot level. They know their character's struggles. Often, though, the main character doesn't seem to change, even though the external events change dramatically. Other stories stay mainly in their character...
#114 - Education Leaves Parts of Us Behind
The Douglas Robbins Show - April 03, 2024 12:00 - 9 minutesSend us a Text Message. Education needs to radically change or we are failing ourselves and our futures. It should inform and develop the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. So when we are finished, we are ready for adulthood. It should provide tools on how to be an adult and navigate t...
Reprise: 4 Writing Myths Holding You Back
Writer Unleashed - April 02, 2024 06:00 - 22 minutesThere’s no shortage of writing advice. Especially in the online space. Google is not the best gatekeeper. And some FB groups are doling out conflicting advice, canned advice, bad advice. Writers hear the same advice so often, a lot of them have come to regard them as the only way to craft a s...
Reprise: What Readers Really Want From Your Story
Writer Unleashed - March 26, 2024 06:00 - 16 minutesWhy do readers read? Is it just for entertainment? To escape everyday life? Or is there a deeper need? What is it about story that keeps us captivated from beginning to end? It helps to understand why stories are so impactful and precisely what readers are hungry for when they turn to a book....
#113- The Releasing of Victimhood
The Douglas Robbins Show - March 20, 2024 18:00 - 6 minutesSend us a Text Message. Do you feel like a victim? You probably are to some event and more importantly to your own thoughts. We all are until we set it free. Even if an event shaped your life and outlook do you want to hold onto it forever as a reminder? Or do you want to move forward and be yo...
#182: 5 Ways To Nail Your First Chapter
Writer Unleashed - March 19, 2024 06:00 - 32 minutesYour first chapter matters. It's what binds readers to your story. It makes them care. And when they care, they can't help but keep reading. There's a lot riding on your first chapter. So you want to get this right. Bore them with too much exposition, long forays into backstory, too many c...
181: Writing Emotions: 3 Ways To Move Readers
Writer Unleashed - March 12, 2024 06:00 - 21 minutesWhen a story moves us, it’s not because of beautiful writing, or a strong voice – it’s not because of a great plot. All these things are important, but those things on their own don’t move us. What makes a story unputdownable and unforgettable is that the reader goes on an emotional journey of...
#180: Show, Don't Tell: Your Top Questions Answered
Writer Unleashed - March 05, 2024 07:00 - 22 minutesShow, don't tell. How many times have you heard this advice? You may understand the concept, but it's still not sinking in. So, what's the difference between showing and telling? Should show don't tell be applied to every line and paragraph of a story? Are there times when it's better to tell...
#112- Are You Afraid of Death or Life? With Author Kate Manser
The Douglas Robbins Show - February 28, 2024 17:00 - 45 minutesSend us a Text Message. Today is such a powerful interiew. Kate Manser is the author of You Might Die Tomorrow: So Live Today. In the span of six months, three of Kate's friends died in unrelated, unexpected tragedies. She developed a fear of death that began to take over her life: She would i...
#179: Writing Dialogue: 5 Do's and Don'ts
Writer Unleashed - February 27, 2024 07:00 - 19 minutesYou want your characters' dialogue to sound natural, like real people talking. But what do you do when the dialogue just sounds mundane, forced, and dull? Writing dialogue requires practice. And there are some ways to think about dialogue to help you write it better. In this episode, learn ...
#178: How To Uncomplicate Your Plot
Writer Unleashed - February 20, 2024 07:00 - 14 minutesIf I had to pick one thing that makes readers stop reading, it's the overcomplicated plot. Both novice and experienced writers fall into this trap. They include too many characters, too many events, storylines, and extraneous details that don’t feel connected or integrated. This makes it c...
#111 Happy Relationships with Marriage Counselor Paul Sigafus
The Douglas Robbins Show - February 13, 2024 17:00 - 43 minutesSend us a Text Message. Have you ever wondered what a healthy and happy relationship looks like? On this Valentine's Day Special we dive into that very topic. Paul Sigafus has degrees in both Marriage & Family Therapy and Marriage, Family, and Human Development and has been practicing as a th...
#177: 3 Ways To Deeper, More Fascinating Characters
Writer Unleashed - February 13, 2024 07:00 - 17 minutesYou want to bring more depth and complexity to your characters so that readers are interested and invested in what happens to them. But how do you do that? In this episode, I’m sharing 3 ways to create deeper, more fascinating characters. These are often things I see lacking in student manus...
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