Episodes
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Don't fear the tropes and cliches
In today's episode, I want to talk you about tropes and cliches. They're nothing to overthink or fear.
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I've been sick. Have a podcast episode.
In today's episode, I've gotten out of bed to talk to you about pushing yourself to work and being kind to yourself about doing it
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You need to start AND finish AND finish what you start.
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about that first draft you've been working on since the dawn of time and somehow still haven't finished it yet.
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You're going to need to learn to take a punch.
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about how you're handling rejection and the less-than-ideal feedback you might be getting.
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Why do you want to rush? What's the hurry?
In today's episode I want to ask you why you think "taking too long" matters and why you want to go faster.
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And why exactly are you using AI?
In today's episode, I'd like to ask you about why you're using AI to "edit" your work.
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Separate your character from your plot
In today's episode, I want to encourage you to make your character not just the being doing the plot, but a wholly formed person who happens to be doing a plot.
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Local royalty vs global royalty AKA Who's the most specialest person?
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about the royalty problem in your story.
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Global global versus local global - Worldbuilding and scale
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about how a character can operate in their world versus the world of the story.
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Have you been complicating your world-building?
In today's episode, I've got the audio from a workshop I did this past weekend on world-building. I think it'll help you.
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We never know what we're doing or where we're going, and that's fine.
As the year ends, I want to talk you about the not-knowing of making things and how it's okay to not know how things are going to be.
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Answering 27 questions from webnovelists and new writers
In this nearly 90-minute Q&A session, I answer 27 questions from webnovelists and new writers. I think you'll find it really useful and enjoyable.
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You and your voice and trying to be like other authors
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about trying to ape someone else's style.
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How are you feeling about your progress?
In today's episode, I want to talk you about your goals and what you're doing to reach them.
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Let's talk about beats and scenes
This is the audio from a workshop I gave on 12/21 to some webnovelists and self-publishing authors about scene and beat usage in their writing. I think you'll find this helpful
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What the hell happened to Superman in the Superman movie?
In this episode, we need to talk about Superman.
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And now, a word for co-authors
In today's episode, I'd like to talk to you about co-authorship.
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How's that fantasy going?
In today's episode, I want to talk you about your fantasy of being a writer.
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What do you think you're doing?
In today's slightly cantankerous episode, I want to ask you what you think you're doing.
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How Do I Make A Plot? (Audio from A Plot Building Session)
In this bonus audio from this past weekend, here's me talking to a group of writers about what plot is and what plot isn't and how to build an effective plot.
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Why are you waiting?
In today's episode, I want to ask you about why you're waiting and not making art.
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Just start.
In today's episode, I want you to just start.
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The anti-pants system of writing
In today's episode, I would like to tell you how to get away from pantsing forever.
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The #1 excuse of pantsing.
In today's episode, I want to take the bite out of pantsing's number one excuse.
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Pantsing is making it harder for you to succeed, here's why
In today's episode, I want to keep talking to you about pantsing. It's a theme all week.
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Why Pantsing is Bad, part 1
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about why pantsing is ruining your writing.
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You should be reading critically
In today's episode, I want to explain what people mean when they say you should read more.
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At and To and With
In today's episode, let's talk about how we talk to or at or with our readers.
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"New" and "experienced" are labels that don't matter
In today's episode, I want to explain how two labels so many writers use don't actually matter.
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Can you connect with someone else?
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about abandoning the right/wrong dynamic.
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The audio-only re-do of the Writers Chat for 11-19
In this re-do of a crashed stream, I answer questions about the state of the world, webnovels as pulps, cozy mysteries, grammar, and two brothers. Lots of good stuff here.
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How's that voice going?
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about your voice and how you can be using it do to what you want.
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Are you asking questions in your exposition?
In today's episode I want to talk to you about those times where you're asking the reader questions directly in the text.
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11-12-24 Writers Chat
In this week's Writers Chat, I answer questions about insecurity, editors, prologues, conversations, payment plans, and genres.
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How familiar are you with your genre?
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about genre and conventions.
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You don't have to reinvent the wheel
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about not trying so hard to do something "new" in your writing.
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We all face stairs.
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about my mom and some stairs.
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Some disjointed thoughts on art and no one seeing it
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about what happens if you paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling in your garage.
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Don't forget to connect to your reader
In today's episode I want to talk to you about your reader and the bridge you're trying to build to them.
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What kind of backstory are you writing?
In today's episode I want to talk to you about the backstory you're using.
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What kind of outline are you using?
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about your outline. Which kind are you using? Did you know about the other kind?
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Your character operates with logic
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about how your character is doing whatever they're doing.
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Some options for the symphony of your opening
In today's episode, I want to give you a few more options for opening your narrative that aren't dialogue.
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Are you really sure about opening your work with dialogue?
In today's episode I want to talk to you about that opening line your character says at the start of your story. Are you sure you want to do that?
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I still don't want you worrying about pacing.
In today's episode, I have more things to say about pacing. Stop worrying about it.
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What you need to know about tension and release
In today's episode, I want talk to you about how to manipulate tension and do something with it, no matter what you're writing.
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The return of the Writers Chat 10-17
The Writers Chat emerges from its long slumber to be your spot to get answers to all your creating, writing, editing, and publishing questions. In this chat, I talk about the value of art, why NCIS Origins doesn't work, why flashbacks can be boring, and how much procrastinating is "just right"
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You should put some good out into the world.
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about the power your words have.
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No, I don't want you to worry about pacing.
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about your pacing and why it may not be the issue you're swearing that it is.
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Big and little character goals
In today's episode, I want to talk to you about the goals your character may have.
About this show
John Helps You Write Better is your all-in-one better-than-college help and advice in writing and publishing your books. It's all about giving you the career as a successful author you've always dreamed of.
Hosted by
John Adamus
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