I Should Be Writing

Conflict shows us how people relate to each other, much better than a bad day will. Conflicts include everything from an injury, lack of sleep, to fights with significant others, rude folks on the road, and then the big one with the meteor coming to the earth. The worse the day is, the more we learn about the character and what matters to them.

After 20 years I've finally figured out how to find that elusive time to write. And the reason I never found it before was because finding time, or making time, is more challenging than people say it is. Sure, OK, "make time" -- but HOW?

There is a lot of contradictory advice on the internet. Even the same articles/lists will have contradictory advice. And when are looking for specific advice, the pithy "Do this, no, wait, don't do this" blog posts are infuriating. So how do you know who to trust when it comes to looking for advice?

I'm delighted to welcome interviews back to ISBW with my good friend SB Divya. She's my co-editor on Escape Pod, but her first full-length novel, Machinehood, came out in March! We talk about how that's exciting and what it's like to have a debut during Covid.

Once you're done with your novel or story, what do you do? Edits? Submissions? Beta readers?  Go to murverse.com for full show notes.

People talk about character and plot and climax, but no one covers how novel structure is needed to put it all together. SPOILERS for A Song of Ice and Fire Series and the Broken Earth Series by N.K. Jemisin. Get the extended version of this podcast via Patreon!

Had a personal emergency and was unprepared, so the audience and Twitter questions keep me going! Get the extended version of this podcast via Patreon!

Every few years there's a very concerned think piece about the innocent writer who got a six figure advance and blew it all, or sold zero books, or just felt betrayed by publishing, and I am sick of it. If only we all could get articles written about us when we have a bad day at work, or show ourselves unwilling to do basic research into our new profession.

Ohhhh... pretty notebooks. Mentioned: Moleskine Leuchtturm 1917 The Artist's Way Field Notes Passion Economy Podcast JetPens I Should Be Writing Ink Stained Fabulists Community

I have three projects going on right now that need edits, and for the next two months I'm going to be doing this thing that I HATE. So let's go into why, and how. 

I talk about my books from initial concept all the way through to the end, both Six Wakes and my current WiP.

I'm thrilled to welcome my good friend and Very Smart British Person Alasdair Stuart to the show to talk about, if we can weaponize language, how do we use it for hope?

"Your character must want something, even if it's a glass of water!" Characters must always have wants, but it takes a bit more work to think about what they need, and more importantly, when in the story for them to address those needs.

I look at two productivity methods and am entirely flummoxed by the two that seem at odds with each other: the 10X Rule that suggests if you shoot for 10X your goal you won't necessarily make 10X, but you'll very likely get much more than you would have had you, say, gone the compound method talked about in Atomic Habits and The Compound Effect where if you get just a little bit better every day then you will see real results.

"I should be writing" is what people say, but they rarely do it. This podcast is designed to help you get past those blocks, whether it's what your teacher told you when you were a kid, to being totally sure you'll never be as good as (FAV AUTHOR) so you might as well quit.