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Two writers with slow-burn allegations spill everything they know about pacing--and they do promise it doesn’t lag in the middle. Mer and Bri discuss the somewhat nebulous concept of pace, while also offering tips—like using multiple POVs—to keep the narrative arc moving.

Their worldviews get slightly rocked when it’s revealed one of them likes writing toward the mid-point of the book instead of the ending, while their Grey’s Anatomy knowledge helps them remember what those heart-reading charts are called. Come for the flashing neon warning Bri offers about saving your work and stay for a little daydreaming about nineties boyband hair. 

Books we recommend on this episode:

American Fantasy by Emma Straub

Go Gentle by Maria Semple

Episode Outline

00:00-09:35 - Intro/What's going on in our writing lives

09:36-1:13:30 - Craft Topic: Pacing

1:13:30-1:17:30 - Book Recommendations

You know when you go to a magic show, you’re going to be tricked… and you’re going to love it. But how does the magician get the audience to look the other way when everyone is just as eager to catch him in the misdirection as they are to be delighted?

Mer and Bri discuss the best way to write twists while at the same time solving a murder involving a greedy developer and some rat poison. Finally, they parse through the ways twists can mean different things in genre and literary fiction. Come for a a break down of the satisfying/unexpected endings quadrant and stay for a debate over a real-life, six-figure twist.

 Books we recommend on this episode:

Cherry, Baby by Rainbow Rowell

Whidbey By T Kira Madden

Episode Outline

00:00-15:00 - Intro/What is going on in our writing lives?

15:00 - 1:05:00 Our Craft Topic: Twists

1:05:00 - Book Recommendations

Opening and Closing Titles by Simon Schweitzer

Audio Production by Simon Schweitzer

She woke up, walked down the stairs, made herself some breakfast and then posted her podcast about how you decide the right place to start the story. Mer and Bri discuss the fine balance between hooking readers’ interest and forcing an inciting incident too early into the plot, and how just because TV executives want big action to come within the first thirty seconds—to keep audiences from changing the channel—that doesn’t mean you should shove your first chapter full of dead bodies. Come for our honest reaction on some bad writing advice, and stay for us working through Big Feelings about editorial feedback. 

Books we recommend on this episode:

Last Stop at Union Station by Sarah James

Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang

Murder on Sex Island by Jo Firestone

With the pop culture spotlight on genre books such as Heated Rivalry and Project Hail Mary, there has been some heated discourse about what constitutes “good writing.”

Join Bri and Mer as they discuss genre expectations, why those don’t equate to low standards, and whether the current state of Capital L literary fiction is as dire as pearl-clutchers might have you believe.

Come for the discussion on whether forgoing quotation marks is deeply artistic or deeply annoying and stay for advice on how to level up your own prose. 

Books we recommend in this episode: 

The Secret Lives of Murderers’ Wives by Elizabeth Arnott

Heated Rivalry series by Rachel Reid

Crux by Gabriel Tallent

The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts by Kim Fu 

Check out our books!

https://briannalabuskes.com/

meredithhambrock.com