START WRITING – Details, episodes & analysis

START WRITING Podcast: “Writing Her Story: A heartfelt conversation with Gail Carson Levine” 

“DAMN FINE SPACE OPERA!” — James Wolfhampton 

Get your copy of STARCHILD today! http://starchild1.jwashburn.com 

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This episode is dedicated to my daughter. 

It’s an interview with Gail Carson Levine. I am sure you are familiar with her book Ella Enchanted, which was her debut novel, and it was awarded a Newbery Honor.

In our interview, she is very vulnerable, and she speaks candidly about first getting published and how close she was to giving up! She also tells a touching story of how one of her books literally changed the life of one of her readers. 

I know many of you are listening to learn about the writing craft. Gail teaches us about what it’s like to be a writer, and she shocked me when she said how many pages she usually cuts from a manuscript. She tells a funny story about why historical research has become a passion. And we also discuss two topics of personal interest: Greek Mythology and Peter Pan. 

This was such a fun interview for many reasons, not the least of which is that Gail has such a fun personality. I think I’ve never heard a greater hipster brag: She saw Bob Dylan in concert before he was cool! We talk about her background growing up in New York, and about how her parents empowered her as a woman and how that then became thematic throughout her writing. 

It was a blast to talk with her, and I hope you enjoy the interview with Gail Carson Levine. 

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WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE (with cool visuals): https://www.youtube.com/@JWashburnauthor 

LISTEN ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST PLATFORM: https://www.jwashburn.com/swag/podcast 

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GAIL CARSON LEVINE LINKS

Website: https://www.gailcarsonlevine.com/ 

On the movie set: https://www.gailcarsonlevine.com/ella_movie.html 

RECOMMENDED READS

Castle by David Macaulay https://amzn.to/3Esvcll 

Writing on Both Sides of the Brain by Henriette Anne Klauser https://amzn.to/3EsM6QE

The Mozart Season by Virginia Euwer Wolff https://amzn.to/45FjAqR

Karen Cushman books: https://amzn.to/3Pafr7n 

The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman https://amzn.to/3EzGm7y 

The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw https://amzn.to/4643NBK 

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie https://amzn.to/483maIW

Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande https://amzn.to/3PgSRKy 

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If you have questions, EMAIL US: pleasestartwriting@gmail.com 

Support us on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/StartWritingPodcast 

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BUY OUR BOOKS!

JOSEPH BENDOSKI: https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Bendoski/e/B06XX7LYKL

J WASHBURN: http://library.jwashburn.com

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“Warning” by Beat Mekanik (Johnathon M. Horner), sourced from the Free Music Archive, is licensed under Creative Commons BY 4.0.

SW 136 INT “WHAT IS LitRPG?” Interview with KEVIN SINCLAIR, author of the Creation’s Bane novels!   “DAMN FINE SPACE OPERA!” — James Wolfhampton    Get your copy of STARCHILD today! http://starchild1.jwashburn.com  * * * Today I’m excited to introduce Kevin Sinclair! He writes LitRPG, which I had heard about, but before I read his book, I’d never read the genre (unless you count Ready Player One). God of the Feast was a blast to read, and it’s a wonderful introduction to LitRPG. You also may learn a thing or two about the genre in this episode.   Let me point out a couple of things to look for in our show today.    First, at one point Kevin says, “I don’t believe in criticism.” I find it interesting that this is a theme I’ve heard from several authors on this podcast. It’s certainly something to think about.    Second, it’s cool how I came across Kevin’s work, and I tell the full story in the episode, but the short version is that the same narrator performs his CREATION’S BANE series and my STARCHILD series. (And, by the way, I’ll soon publish an interview with our narrator, the spectacularly talented and phenomenally British Simon Wright.)   Third, Kevin has a fascinating story of success that came from the covid lockdown. He comes from humble beginnings and now he is quite successful just a few short years later! It’s almost a fairytale.    Fourth, and last, Kevin has a phenomenal accent! (I believe it’s called Sunderland.) He’s from Northern England, not far from Scotland, and you can certainly hear the similarities. Having said that, I personally listen to podcast episodes at a very fast speed, and if that’s you too, you might want to slow it down just a bit on this episode.    Okay, I’ll ramble on no more. Here’s our episode with Kevin Sinclair on WHAT IS LIT RPG. * * * WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE (with cool visuals): https://www.youtube.com/@JWashburnauthor    LISTEN ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST PLATFORM: https://www.jwashburn.com/swag/podcast  * * * KEVIN’S books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ogQ3mD    GET IN TOUCH WITH KEVIN SINCLAIR:  https://kevinsinclair.co.uk  https://twitter.com/KSinclairauthor  https://www.facebook.com/kevinsinclairbookclub/    Peter Brett’s THE DEMON CYCLE:  https://amzn.to/3PSyPXX  * * * If you have questions, EMAIL US: pleasestartwriting@gmail.com    Support us on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/StartWritingPodcast  * * *  BUY OUR BOOKS!   JOSEPH BENDOSKI: https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Bendoski/e/B06XX7LYKL   J WASHBURN: http://library.jwashburn.com * * *  “Warning” by Beat Mekanik (Johnathon M. Horner), sourced from the Free Music Archive, is licensed under Creative Commons BY 4.0.

SW SPECIAL J‘s Beginner‘s Guide (part 9) EDITING ALONE   WATCH ON YOUTUBE (with cool visuals): https://youtu.be/dcrIFhpq6HY    Episode 9 of A BEGINNER'S GUIDE to Writing a Novel teaches you how to be a damn fine editor. We talk about when you should NOT be editing. The different levels of editing are CONTENT, CHAPTER, and COPY editing, and we review examples of each of these. J edited STARCHILD one last time (and added a chapter!) before sending the book to his audiobook narrator. We take a forensic examination of book edits (The DaVinci Code adapted for Young Adults and the Anatomy of Peace 4th edition) to see what the pros change. Editing is a careful balance between being too clear and too obscure—go too far either direction and you’ll lose readers. Finally, you should make your book perfect before sending it for other to see (as we’ll talk about in the next episode).    * * *   If you have questions, EMAIL US: pleasestartwriting@gmail.com    * * *    Buy our books!   JOSEPH BENDOSKI: https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Bendoski/e/B06XX7LYKL    J WASHBURN: http://library.jwashburn.com/

We talk about the different theories that exist for blurbs, and go through writing one to show how each works.

We interview David Wright about the struggles of a common name as a writer.

SW SPECIAL J‘s Beginner‘s Guide (part 8) SUBPLOTS (Joe’s favorite episode)   WATCH ON YOUTUBE (with cool visuals): https://youtu.be/HOYNat1l03Y    Episode 8 of A BEGINNER'S GUIDE to Writing a Novel teaches you how to do subplots. First, we review PLOT CLOCKS. Then we look at a model called SUBPLOT RAINBOWS. We follow along with how J.K. Rowling outlined the Order of the Phoenix. We see how the innovative MUSICAL PLOT STAFF works for organizing multiple viewpoints. And finally, we look at three short tips, which are (1) get a good editor, (2) start with the smallest plottable story chunk, and (3) keep the plot personal (not epic).    If you have questions, EMAIL US: pleasestartwriting@gmail.com   * * *    Buy our books!   JOSEPH BENDOSKI: https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Bendoski/e/B06XX7LYKL   J WASHBURN: http://library.jwashburn.com/

SW SPECIAL J‘s Beginner‘s Guide (part 7) PLOT CLOCK   WATCH ON YOUTUBE (with cool visuals): https://youtu.be/zR-IPvGfAbg    Episode 7 of A BEGINNER'S GUIDE to Writing a Novel teaches you how J Washburn structures a story using a PLOT CLOCK! The main points of this clock are (1) HOOK, (2) PLEDGE, (3) TURN, (4) PRESTIGE, (5) FINALE. We take an in-depth look at Jurassic Park and Star Wars: A New Hope as examples of how this structure works. And we also takes quick glance as the kishotenketsu model for plotting. And finally, I reveal the behind-the-scenes story of the ECKSDOT finale!    If you have questions, EMAIL US: pleasestartwriting@gmail.com   * * *    Buy our books!   JOSEPH BENDOSKI: https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Bendoski/e/B06XX7LYKL   J WASHBURN: http://library.jwashburn.com/

SW SPECIAL J‘s Beginner‘s Guide (part 6) PLOT FROM SCRATCH   WATCH ON YOUTUBE (with cool visuals): https://youtu.be/_dWnYmQ83M8    Episode 6 of A BEGINNER'S GUIDE to Writing a Novel is the easiest way to write a plot!    We start with a letter from a listener, and we address questions like these:  - Should I write my story from the finale and work backward? - Should I just figure out the plot as I go or should I write an outline?  - How does George Martin plan his FANTASY NOVELS? - How do you fix a broken plot? - Is it faster to just skip outlining and just start writing?  - What models can I structure my plot around?  - What’s the absolute simplest way to think of plot?    If you have questions, EMAIL US: pleasestartwriting@gmail.com   * * *    Buy our books!   JOSEPH BENDOSKI: https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Bendoski/e/B06XX7LYKL   J WASHBURN: http://library.jwashburn.com/

OUR PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/StartWritingPodcast WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/Ggg13QPw8qs Ray's RUNNING OFF THE RAILS podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/running-off-the-rails/id1546572690https://pca.st/podcast/6c329090-2adc-0139-32e0-0acc26574db2https://runningofftherails.com/WEAVE BREAKER D&D build: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/351499/The-Weave-Breaker--The-Ultimate-Spell-Sword-Class https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/meh5ff/the_weave_breaker_the_ultimate_spell_sword_class/GETTING STARTED IN D&Dhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkVdb9Yr8fc05_VbAVfskCA

Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YaUGPWGYM0w Jeanne Cavelos is an author, editor, scientist, and writing coach. In this episode, we talk about several of her works, including THE SCIENCE OF STAR WARS, several BABYLON 5 novels, and her upcoming near-future scifi novel called FATAL SPIRAL. She is the founder of a nonprofit that brings out the best in writers called the ODYSSEY WRITING WORKSHOP.   Apply to the Personal Odyssey Workshop here: http://www.odysseyworkshop.org Read some writing tips on the Odyssey Workshop Blog: https://odysseyworkshop.wordpress.com/ Listen to the Odyssey Workshop Podcast: https://www.odysseyworkshop.org/resources/podcasts/   [NOTE FROM J: Sorry for the audio quality in this episode. That's my mistake. But I'm absolutely delighted to have had this conversation with Jeanne. And my thanks to you for listening!]