Words to Write by

Jan 22 2025 77 ep. 48 mins 27

Words to Write by Podcast artwork

Welcome to Words to Write by - a podcast where we discuss, chapter by chapter, those wonderful writing craft books purchased with the best of intentions but now gathering dust on the bookshelf. No judgement! We’ve got our own bookshelves. Let’s tackle these books together and become the better writers we know we can be.

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End of the Road: The Last Two Stages of the Hero's Journey

Jan 22 2025 55 mins

Just when you thought you had the Hero's Journey all figured out, we're back with a surprising twist! In our previous episode, we confidently declared that the "Road Back Home" stage was the climax of the journey. But according to Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey," we may have jumped the gun. It turns out that the true climax lies in the "Resurrection" stage.Confused? Int

Lost in the Ordeal: Navigating the Hero's Darkest Hour

Jan 13 2025 54 mins

Think you know where your hero's journey is headed? Think again. We're diving into the Ordeal - that gut-punch moment some people still confuse with the Climax (spoiler alert: they're not the same thing, folks). This episode had us playing cartographer through the wonderfully labyrinthine (read: headache-inducing) chapters of Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey. Because appar

Writing the Return Home: More Than Just a Victory Lap

Jan 08 2025 71 mins

Remember family road trips? When you're finally past the halfway point and it's nothing but "Are we there yet?" from the backseat? That's where we are in Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey" - six more stages to go on his Hero's Journey roadmap, and in this episode we're hitting two big ones. First up is "Rewards," where our hero catches their breath after surviving Act 2's

Empowering the Powerless: Tim Waggoner's Tips for Keeping Horror Heroes Active

Jan 01 2025 31 mins

Horror stories and the hero's journey - a match made in hell? In this insightful workshop episode, we talk with award-winning horror writer Tim Waggoner to explore his plotting techniques. Tim shares strategies for keeping everyday protagonists actively engaged during the challenging Ordeal stage as they fight for survival. As a bonus, Tim discusses his other cool writing gig: adap

The Road to Armageddon: A Workshop with Summer H. Hanford

Dec 11 2024 31 mins

How do you craft a journey worthy of an apocalyptic showdown? Epic Fantasy author Summer H. Hanford reveals the art of preparing characters for those fate-of-the-world battles that define the genre. Through insights from her Summer God Adventure series, Hanford uncovers the delicate balance of building tension, raising stakes, and keeping readers riveted as heroes ready themselves

Get Thee Characters to the Cave!

Dec 04 2024 49 mins

Remember how we've occasionally side-eyed Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey? Well, today we fully roast this bewildering mess, starting with his "Approaching the Innermost Cave" stage, which is the part of the story where the protagonist(s) prepare to face their greatest order (Which is somehow not the story’s climax... we're as confused as you are.) Despite Vogler's best

Fixing the Saggy Middle: A Workshop with Kristen Tate

Nov 27 2024 29 mins

Looking for help with your novel's middle section? While countless craft books offer guidance on crafting gripping openings and satisfying endings, the challenging second act often gets overlooked. In this workshop episode, we dive deep with freelance editor Kristen Tate, author of the new craft book Novel Study, who reveals why middles become "saggy" and explains why so many write

Tests, Allies, and Enemies, Oh My!

Nov 20 2024 48 mins

What really happens between "accepting the call" and facing the big bad? Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey skims through this crucial story phase with vague talk of Tests, Allies, and Enemies. But Kim and Renee aren't settling for that. Armed with John Scalzi's Kaiju Preservation Society (and ditching those tired old Hollywood examples), they'll show you exactly how to craf

Crossing the Threshold

Nov 13 2024 59 mins

After the hero finally accepts the call, it's onto the next stage, crossing the threshold, provided they have some helpful mentor guidance. Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Wednesday. Check us out.

Writing Your College Application Essay

Nov 12 2024 23 mins

In today's episode we take a break from discussing and analyzing creative fiction to examining possibly one of the most important, and certainly most stressful, nonfiction projects in a young person's life: writing their college application essay. Our guest, journalist Martha Mendoza, has been helping high school seniors with these essays for over a decade and is one of the organiz