Ep. 27: Grace Rachow
Host Fred Klein chats with Grace Rachow about her extensive history in the writing community in Santa Barbara and her role as Volunteer Coordinator (a.k.a. Queen of the Universe) at …
Ideas for Writing an Article
Writing for magazines can be fun and sometimes you can even get paid to write an article. First you need to brainstorm some ideas. In On Writing Well William Zinsser …
How to Write Great Beginnings for Your Stories
The beginning of a new year is a good time to think about how we begin our stories. When you pick up a novel or short story where do you …
Writing Better Dialogue
Writing better dialogue starts with character development. What does their voice quality and style of speech tell your readers about the character? Now think about their educational background, favorite subject, …
Ep. 11: Monte Schulz
Host Fred Klein talks to author Monte Schulz about his forthcoming novel The Last Rose of Summer, and his plans for the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, which he recently purchased. …
Ep. 10: Jane Heller
Jane Heller regaled host Fred Klein with stories about promoting writers, her own 13 witty novels, and her first book of nonfiction book Confessions of a She-Fan: The Course of …
Your Character’s Point of View
Once you’ve fleshed out your characters you have to decide how to tell the story. Whose eyes will the reader see through and how much information will they get? This …
Creating Living, Breathing Characters
When asked what makes a story tick, Jack Canfield, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, said he’s noticed a common tread. “More dialogue and more character development. …
Ep. 7: Laird Koenig
On our latest episode Laird Koenig talks about his fascinating career as a novelist and screenwriter. Our apologies for the technical difficulties, including the fact that this episode is on …
Improve Your Writing
It is rumored that James Joyce worked on one sentence in Finnegan’s Wake for fourteen years. We don’t need to go that far, but a polished story is the editor’s …