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Episodes
Pro-novelist mother and aspiring novelist daughter discuss writing fiction for love AND money -- and how to do it yourself.
Episodes
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
Tuesday Apr 21, 2020
How to Write Fiction: Why do people tell me all of my character’s sound the same and what can I do about it?
Ah… character voice. We’ve all been there. Maybe you’ve written a few stories and published or shared them. Or even the first draft of a novel. Either way you’ve got trusted writer friends telling you your characters “sound the same” or are missing a distinct “voice”.
What can you do?
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss Character Voice (not to be confused with your voice), what it is, what it is not and what you can do to work it into your work in a way that deepens and enriches the final product.
What does your characters’ dialogue say about them without them spelling it out? How can mixing it up create deeper, more interesting characters? What is specialized dialogue and why do we have to be so damn careful with it? How does being the weirdo eavesdropping on others help you out as a writer?
After the episode: Have something to say? A question to ask? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes!
Join us in this week’s episode and if you have a question for us join us in the forums at HollysWritingClasses.com and get to typing!
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes! Good reviews help us find more writers like us!
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
Tuesday Apr 14, 2020
How to Write Fiction:
Some people are naturally good at coming up with names for their projects.
This episode is not for them, but if they'd like to drop into our podcast forums and help out, we'd love to hear their take on this!
For the writers out there who struggle to come up with titles that get the book into a reader's hands but also evoke an almost magical desire to read the subject matter, we hear you and we're going to do our best to discuss the subject matter today!
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss titles, how to dig deep to create ones that fit, the importance of maintaining objectivity on what you've created and talk about a few examples here and there.
Join us in this week’s episode and if you have a question for us join us in the forums at HollysWritingClasses.com and get to typing!
After the episode: Have something to say, your own opinions or helpful tips? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes! Good reviews help us find more writers like us!
Tuesday Apr 07, 2020
Tuesday Apr 07, 2020
How to Write Fiction:
The Internal Conflict. This can be either the driving force of an entire series... or the doom of your book (and anywhere in between, but that's less dramatic).
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss a question posed by a listener regarding internal conflicts, common problems with how they're written and how to do them justice while driving the plot ever onward!
Join us in this week’s episode and if you have a question for us join us in the forums at HollysWritingClasses.com and get to typing!
After the episode: Have something to say? A question to ask? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes! Good reviews help us find more writers like us!
Tuesday Mar 31, 2020
Tuesday Mar 31, 2020
How to Write Fiction: What is Process and can I change it? How does Process effect my writing?
Have you been struggling with writer's block? Maybe you've got a ton of Hard Drive Zombies and you just can't seem to finish anything. Or maybe you've been writing a long time, have a decent amount of established work... and now what you've always done is failing you.
You're not alone.
So many writers have writers have run up against the agony that slams you full body into a brick wall when your process suddenly just stops working. Some writers don't know what process is in general, much less can define their own.
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss several different processes she has worked through when creating several different works of fiction including different genres and a collaboration. So listen and then jump into the forums to let us know: What is YOUR process? Has it changed? Has it ever failed or is it staying strong? What do you do: cling to process and force it to the end? Or drop it at even the hint of Muse Resistance?
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss
Join us in this week’s episode and if you have a question for us join us in the forums at HollysWritingClasses.com and get to typing!
After the episode: Have something to say? A question to ask? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes! Good reviews help us find more writers like us!
Tuesday Mar 24, 2020
Tuesday Mar 24, 2020
How to Write Fiction:
Who doesn't worry at some point that they're going to bomb with their fiction? Many writers put off publishing, revising or even creating for fear of a lack of skill.
If you're a non-linear writer with scattered scenes, how do you know if you technically have a first draft?
Should I change a process I love if I feel it's not getting results I think I am supposed to be getting?
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss several questions emailed to us by two writers who feel their issues were not common enough to warrant a post in the podcast forums - but these are very, very common issues! Let's get to working on some solutions together.
Join us in this week’s episode and if you have a question for us join us in the forums at HollysWritingClasses.com and get to typing!
After the episode: Have something to say? A question to ask? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes! Good reviews help us find more writers like us!
Tuesday Mar 17, 2020
Tuesday Mar 17, 2020
How to Write Fiction: Listener's Questions!
How can I know if the writing is boring to just me as the writer or to everyone? How do you write flashbacks, dreams, and premonitions well and are they necessary for your main character to gain information when you're limited by point of view? How do you avoid an info dump when the character has no information but needs it to figure everything out?
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss all of these questions in depth. If you feel you're still lost, please come into the forums and let us know!
Join us in this week’s episode and if you have a question for us join us in the forums at HollysWritingClasses.com and get to typing!
After the episode: Have something to say? A question to ask? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes! Good reviews help us find more writers like us!
Tuesday Mar 10, 2020
Tuesday Mar 10, 2020
How to Write Fiction
Technical difficulties have left us in a bit of a lurch, but we're not leaving you without content. In today's episode we are republishing more of the much-requested Holly Lisle On Writing - the episodes 4 and 5 from Holly's original 2006 podcast.
In this blast from the past Holly answers questions from listeners and readers covering collaborations, world building, languages, themes and more. We'll have updated links on anything possible in the show notes at AloneWithInvisiblePeople.com
The regular podcast will return next week (3-17-20).
After the episode: Have something to say? A question to ask? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes!
Tuesday Mar 03, 2020
Tuesday Mar 03, 2020
How to Write Fiction: With so many ideas, how do I know which ones are best?
If you're stuck in overwhelm on a current novel or story, surrounded by the ideas coming at you from everywhere, this episode addresses just that. When we're writing fiction, ideas flood in. The more you write, the more ideas you get. So how in the world can you tell the difference between a good idea that supports your work and a bad one that derails it?
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss the overabundance of ideas, what to do with them, how to tell if they're good for a current work or not, and how to maintain your focus on the current story.
Join us in this week’s episode and if you have a question for us join us in the forums at HollysWritingClasses.com and get to typing!
After the episode: Have something to say? A question to ask? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes! Good reviews help us find more writers like us!
Tuesday Feb 25, 2020
Tuesday Feb 25, 2020
How to Write Fiction: Story Ideas VS Fiction Length
Two common scenarios, each is one side of the same coin: 1. you're writing a short story that won't end or 2. you've run out of steam with your current novel. The short story is too involved, while the novel isn't involved enough.
So how can you tell whether or not your story matches the length of the work you want to write?
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss just this question, providing you with a few examples (real and imagined) as well as questions to ask yourself if you find you're running into this very familiar problem.
Join us in this week’s episode and if you have a question for us join us in the forums at HollysWritingClasses.com and get to typing!
After the episode: Have something to say? A question to ask? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes! Good reviews help us find more writers like us!
Tuesday Feb 18, 2020
Tuesday Feb 18, 2020
How to Write Fiction: Example of How to Revise
Man... revision. Whew. 'Nuff said, am I right?
Revision can feel like you're stumbling around in a room the size of a football stadium, one with booby-traps and sharp objects, big, hard furniture - and you're blindfolded. Did I mention you're also trying to find a particular object in this quest?
In this episode Author and Fiction Teacher Holly Lisle and I (host, Rebecca Galardo) discuss what revision is (and what it is not - hint, editing) and we'll break it down into very basic steps. We'll use flash fiction examples written especially for this episode. You'll hear the first drafts, the revised but still rough versions and listen as we try and help each other out with our stories. If you work on this yourself, please share your work in the forums!
Join us in this week’s episode and if you have a question for us join us in the forums at HollysWritingClasses.com and get to typing!
After the episode: Have something to say? A question to ask? Jump into the FREE forums at HollysWritingClasses.com (no purchase or ownership of courses necessary) and share with us.
Share, rate and subscribe for weekly episodes! Good reviews help us find more writers like us!