The hidden shapes in stories and why drama isn’t what you think it is – interview with @EHeathRobinson

This is a massive headline, I know. A massive headline for a massive and far-ranging conversation about storytelling.

My host is Heath Robinson, whose YouTube channel has seen a stellar line-up of story nerds, including Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler, Matt Bird, author of The Secrets of Story, John Truby, author of The Anatomy of Genres, and Vic Mignogna, creator of Star Trek Continues. I’m honoured that he asked me to be his guest.

We discussed many important fundamentals of stories, including classic story structure, my admiration for the writers of Pixar movies, the reader’s trust in the author (a huge subject of its own) and squeezing the lemon.

Squeezing the what? You’ll see. Do come over. Bring lemons if you have them.

There’s a lot more about writing in my Nail Your Novel books – find them here. If you’re curious about my own work, find novels here and my travel memoir here. And if you’re curious about what’s going on at my own writing desk, here’s my latest newsletter. You can subscribe to future updates here.

OMG I wrote a poem – where I’m from with Alyson Shelton

I’m not a poet. Certainly I read poetry. I respect the medium fiercely. I am fascinated by how poets do what they do. And now I’ve accidentally found myself tasked with the writing of one, for a series called Where I’m From.

Where I’m From is a blog and podcast series by essayist, graphic novelist, scriptwriter and director Alyson Shelton. I saw Alyson interviewed about it on the Brevity blog, which I love, and was captivated. Participants fill in a detailed series of questions, based on a poem about childhood by George Ella Lyon. A family detail, a sensory memory, a special place or name. Alyson first did it as an exercise in a writing class and felt so changed and moved by the pieces that she decided to make a series out of it.

Since 2021, writers of all stripes have followed her prompts and I’m number 94, poeming for better or for worse.

The whole video is about 30 minutes, and don’t worry, the poem is about 90 seconds. (Starts at 10 mins, if you’re curious.) Otherwise, we talked storytelling and writing, as writers will. There was plenty of nerding about our love of structure, sleight of hand, wrong-footing the reader with relish and also with fairness. And the nature of poems and poetic language – how a genius prompt like Where I’m From can bring you to new kinds of writing that you didn’t, hitherto, know how to do. For Alyson, it brought her to a memoir, which is now in progress.

I don’t know if poetry will become my thing because I like the freedom of prose, but I enjoyed the chance to test-drive a different form. And maybe I’m a bit changed by it too. Do come over.

There’s a lot more about writing in my Nail Your Novel books – find them here. If you’re curious about my own work, find novels here and my travel memoir here. And if you’re curious about what’s going on at my own writing desk, here’s my latest newsletter. You can subscribe to future updates here.

How to use research to build an authentic story – interview with @Tomokarres at #booksgosocial

How do you use research to build a plot? If you’re writing beyond your own personal experience – and most of us are – what details make a difference? How can you use your actual experience as a starting point? What are the absolutes to cover if you’re writing historical fiction, or fiction set in a special world?

Today I’m at BooksGoSocial, talking about this to Tom Burkhalter. He writes World War II novels created from meticulous research and deep understanding of his subject – indeed he’s often complimented on his flying experience, which he admitted to me was 90% research. And I have wide experience of writing what I don’t physically know, from my years as a ghostwriter and now with my own novels. Just for my most recent novel, Ever Rest, I learned two special worlds – music and mountaineering.

We also talk about how to organise material for a novel and how to teach yourself revision techniques that are effective and rewarding. If you’ve hung around here for any length of time, you’ll know I’m zealous about revision – for me it’s one of the great creative processes. Do come over.

If you’d like help with your own writing, my Nail Your Novel books are here. If you’re curious about my work, find novels here and my travel memoir here. And if you’re curious about what’s going on at my own writing desk, here’s my latest newsletter. You can subscribe to future updates here.