#89: Student Spotlight: How She Used Short Stories to Hone Her Craft (and Publish Her Debut Novel) with Pauline Yates

In today's episode, I’m sitting down with Pauline Yates to talk through how she used short stories to hone her craft and publish her debut novel. Here’s a preview of what’s included: [03:05] An introduction to Pauline Yates and her story, Memories Don’t Lie. [03:55] How she used short stories to hone her craft and practice submitting her work to publishers (and spoiler alert: she’s now published many of her short stories!) [13:45] Pauline’s take on what it was like to work with me (and how there was one little thing I kept harping on—if you know me, you know it was scene structure) [18:40] How she develops her characters and “spends time” with them until she knows exactly what they’d do and how they’d behave in any given scenario [24:55] The aspect of writing Pauline struggles with the most—and spoiler alert: it’s worldbuilding—plus, what’s she learned about worldbuilding during revisions [37:25] A behind-the-scenes look at her experience querying over 30 agents before finally finding her dream publisher in her own (Australian) backyard [50:25] Final words of wisdom and advice from Pauline Rate + Review + Follow on Apple Podcasts "I love the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast!" ← If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing this show! Your rating and review will help other writers find this podcast, and they're also super fun for me to go in and read. Just click here, scroll all the way to the bottom, tap five stars to rate the show, and then select "Write a Review." Let me know what your favorite part of the episode was, too! Also, if you haven't done so already, make sure you're following the podcast! I'll be adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed, and if you're not following the show, there's a good chance you'll miss them. Click here to follow now! Links mentioned in this episode: Visit Pauline’s website here Pauline’s debut novel, Memories Don’t Lie on Amazon Read Pauline’s short story, The Secret Keepers, in this edition of Metaphosis Magazine Check out other books published by Black Hare Press Want to learn more about my Notes to Novel course? Click here to sign up for my FREE TRAINING: The 5 Little-Known Mistakes Most Writers Make (& What to Do Instead) FREE QUIZ: Take this 30-second quiz to get a custom action plan that'll help you move from stuck writer to published author! Support the show