S18:E15: 5 Ways to Identify Your Writing Weaknesses (and Become a Better Writer)
How do you identify your writing weaknesses? And, even more importantly, how can you tell if something really is a weakness? In this episode...
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Helping Writers Become Authors
Helping Writers Become Authors provides writers help in summoning inspiration, crafting solid characters, outlining and structuring novels, and polishing prose. Learn how to write a book and...
Episodes
20 of 735 episodesS18:E14: The Lie the Character Believes: A Deeper Look at Consciousness and Character Arc
What if the Lie the Character Believes isn't really a lie? For years I've taught the Lie the Character Believes as the foundation of charact...
S18:E13: The Psychology of Story Endings (+5 Tips to Write a Truly Satisfying Ending)
A great ending is about much more than resolving the plot. Why do satisfying story endings stay with us for years, while others leave us emp...
S18:E12: Why We Need Heroic Stories: The Courage We Borrow From Fiction
Why do we need heroic stories? More than entertainment, the best stories shape our imaginations, awaken courage, and remind us who we can be...
S18:E11: How to Write Mythic Fiction: 7 Practices to Reconnect With the Lost Art of Mythmaking
When we talk about mythic fiction, it's easy to assume mythic stories are created through familiar ingredients: archetypes, symbolism, old m...
S18:E10: How to Write Mythic Fiction: Stop Borrowing Old Myths and Start Creating New Ones
What makes a story feel truly mythic? Many writers assume mythic fiction comes from borrowing archetypes, retelling old myths, or layering s...
S18:E09: Thoughts on How the Marketplace Is Shaping the Stories We Tell
For most of human history, stories were not primarily viewed as commercial products to be sold. Story functioned first as myth, meaning-maki...
The Emotional Toll on Writers in the Modern Landscape (And Why So Many Are Burning Out)
Many writers are struggling with burnout in today's creative landscape—but the cause isn't always personal habits. In this episode, I explor...
S18:E07: Internal Conflict vs. External Conflict: The Shift From Projection to Agency in Character Arc
Most stories frame conflict as something happening "out there"—a villain to defeat, an obstacle to overcome, or a problem to solve. But the...
S18:E6: 9 Tips for How to Write Dark Stories Responsibly (And Make Hope Feel Earned)
What does it really mean to write dark stories responsibly—and how can you make sure hope feels resonant? In this episode, we explore the cr...
S18:E05: Embodied Writing: How to Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Story
Are you writing from your head—or from your body? In this episode, we're exploring embodied writing and why so many stories lose emotional d...
S18:E04: The Four-Act Structure and the Circular Shape of Story
When we talk about story structure, we usually jump straight to acts, beats, and turning points. But beneath all of that is a deeper questio...
S18:E3: Story as Cosmology: A Framework for Meaning
What does it mean to think of story as cosmology? In this episode, I explore story not as entertainment or belief, but as a deeper framework...
S18:E02: Why Writers Need a Sense of Wonder in Fiction More Than Ever
We're living in a storytelling moment deeply fascinated by darkness—and for good reason. Stories have always helped us metabolize fear, trau...
S18:E01: How My Writing Career Evolved in 2025—and the Author Business I'm Building for 2026
In this episode, I'm looking back on how my writing career evolved in 2025—a milestone year marked by turning forty, rediscovering my teachi...
S17:E29: The Best Books I Read in 2025: My Top Fiction and Nonfiction Picks
It's that time again—my annual roundup of the best books I read this year! In this episode, I'm sharing the top 10 reads that made my 2025 u...
S17:E28: Reflections on Turning 40 (+40 Things You Might Not Know About Me)
Today, I'm turning forty and taking a quiet moment to reflect on the decade that brought me here. My thirties were a season of transformatio...
S17:E27: 5 Ways to Keep the Story Moving Between the Big Moments
Do you ever feel stuck in the "in-between" sections of your story that come after one major plot point but before the next? You're not alone...
S17:E26: The Real Purpose of the Second Act (And Why You Can't Skip It)
What would stories be without their long, uncertain middles? In this episode, we explore the real purpose of the Second Act in story structu...
S17:E25: "Who Am I?" The Midpoint as Self-Recognition in Story Structure
Discover how the Midpoint in story structure is more than a Moment of Truth. It's self-recognition in which characters remember who they are...