John Helps You Write Better

In today's episode, we need to talk about what makes you an artist.

In today's episode I bring up 3 things maybe you haven't considered when it comes to how you're building the world of your story.

In today's Writers Chat, I want to talk to you about Chekov, a jerk named Lubbock, showing, telling, how you express your story in the reader's imagination.

In today's episode, I've got a tool for you to help get your themes organized and represented in your manuscript.

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about how David Milch sees characters.

In today's episode, let's have a dialogue about your dialogue.

Here's the audio from today's 2 HOUR workshop covering some basic writing exercises and tools for telling your story better.

In today's episode, I want to answer one of the most basic writing questions - How do you describe something to the reader?

In today's episode I want to talk to you about a shift in my thinking.

In this week's pre-recorded Writers Chat, I'm answering questions about genres, tension, organizing your story, publishing decisions, marketing, sales figures, and bad mental health days.

In today's episode, I want to you think about the questions you ask, and if you've ever been on a diving board.

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about the downsides and upsides of starting something new when you're not sure what to write.

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about how dull things can be when they're perfect.

In today's episode (sorry it's out late), I want to talk to you about characters and readers.

In this week's Writers Chat, I answer questions about being overwhelmed, finishing your work, some fundamental starting points, and immune systems.

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about some dangerous that we should all stop accepting as normal and good and right.

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about the person on the other end of you book.

Be your best self.

In this week's Writers Chat, I answer questions about: getting dropped by a publisher; what to do with Larry the wizard; naming gods; handling your back catalogue; skipping query letters, and why I do what I do.

In today's episode I want to bring up some bad habits, what to do about them, and trying to put an eye on your own.

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about a question a lot of writers ask themselves.

In today's episode, I want to tell you about spicy paninis. Or something.

In this week's Writers Chat, I talk about why GoodReads and the "spicy" label are garbage; how to market your work; how to take writing more seriously; how to help other people take your writing more seriously; how to use a pen name; what makes YA a YA; and flesh swords.

In today's episode, I'd like to invite you to be your own boss and do your writing job.

In today's episode, I want to answer that "what do you mean I have to do my own marketing?" question from social media.

In today's episode, I'm sick.

In today's episode I want to talk to you about how creative fields all blend and swirl together and what we can learn about ourselves through them.

Here is the audio for the Writers Chat of 2.6. In this week's Chat, I talked about manuscript length, writing romance, being a hobby writer, learning the elements of writing, helping people write better, hashtags, and social media.

In today's episode, I'd like to talk to you about the early 2000s and some things that both are and aren't that important.

In today's episode I want to tell you about fast food. And writing.

In today's episode I want to talk to you about some risks in being a creative and what to do about any of them.

So I forgot to record the Chat audio. If you're looking for the Chat, it's up on YouTube. What I've got for you today is a few selected questions with better answers.

In today's episode I want to tell you a story about what I used to do and what I'm doing again.

In today's episode, we should talk about marketing. And risk. And vulnerability. And being a person.

And here we are at the very end of ESIAC, where we talk about what is normally the most visual part of the process. So of course I'm going to cover it in a non-visual medium. Today I want to talk to you about arranging sentences and focusing your reader.

In today's podcast I want to talk to you about voice and load you up with a few things to think about as we distinguish not only character voices but also narrative and authorial voices. Yeah, this one's kind of a lot.

In our continuing discussions about how every sentence should be a camera for the reader to put a movie in their mind, I'm going to talk to you about a writing intangible: mood and how it's like air.

In this week's Writers Chat I talk about setting goals, writing experts, narrative risk, planning sequels, and trying new holes.

I've got to figure out a better naming convention for this series. In today's episode we continue ESIAC by talking about pacing.

In today's episode I talk about what the plan is for a week of podcasting as well as helping you improve your dialogue.

It's time to talk about doing your best, when and where and why.

Let's talk about shovels and premises and complexity.

In this week's Chat I talk about comparing yourself to other people, organizing your ideas, flash fiction, and how to arrange sensory information, among other things. This one's a good one.

In today's episode, I have some feelings about making George Carlin into some AI garbage.

Getting back to work after a cold, in today's episode I tell you about a conversation I had last week.

I've got a cold. There's a Chat today, no workshop tonight, and everything gets back on track next week.

In today's episode, Vin Diesel and I remind you that you make art for you and not everyone's going to understand it.

In today's episode, I want to talk to your about what editing is and what it isn't ... and how you should be paying for it.

So ... booktube ... is that helping anyone?

In tonight's workshop, I talk about themes. What they are, what they aren't, how to do anything with them, and how to use them effectively.