The Family Writing Journey: Recent Episodes
The Family Writing Journey
What happens when two middle-aged parents and their teenage son set out to become fiction writers? Join us (Michael, Sunny, and Matthew) as we share our experiences as beginning writers. We aren’t experts (not even close!), but together we talk about our struggles and successes with the writing process. If we can do it, so can you!
Website: https://www.podpage.com/the-family-writing-journey/
Contact us at: familywritingjourney@gmail.com
This episode follows episode 40, in which we talked about barriers to dissemination. This week, we discuss ways to address common barriers to successfully sharing our work, including lack of time, lack of knowledge and experience, lack of resources, lack of money, and lack of confidence. Join us!
https://sunnyrwinstead.carrd.co/
What keeps people from successfully publishing or otherwise sharing their writing? Michael and Sunny share their thoughts on some of the common barriers they’ve experienced as fiction and professional writers.
Sunny’s book: The Lady Guardian
The Lady Guardian has been released! In this episode, we talk about how the release is going, with an emphasis on the hiccups and goofs.
In this episode, Matthew and his friend Ember join us for a conversation about creativity and the process of starting new writing projects. Or at least thinking about it!
Click here to check out The Lady Guardian:https://books2read.com/The-Lady-Guardian
Description: Sunny’s first book, The Lady Guardian, will be released on January 15! We talk about the process of using Draft2Digital for self-publishing support, and what’s next.
Click here to check out the ebook: https://books2read.com/The-Lady-Guardian
After an accountability check-in, we discuss Sunny’s decision not to pursue professional editing (possibly a big mistake if she ever wants to be a billionaire novelist). We also have some conversation about writing as a leisure activity and end with Sunny's blurbs:
The Lady Guardian
Book 1 of The Realm of Light
She has achieved her dream, but she wants something more.
Marolaine is a Guardian of the Peace, sworn to the protection of the magic that holds the realm in balance. But her accomplishments have come at a cost, and lately she finds herself questioning her choices. When Marolaine agrees to take on an uncomfortable new task, she is drawn into a cascade of mystery, romance, and danger that threatens to disrupt her quiet world forever.
The Dark Lake
Book 2 of The Realm of Light
There is nothing she won’t do for the people she loves.
A threat to Marolaine’s family sends her on a journey away from the Guardians’ Peace and toward a dangerous unknown, where she will need all her training and skill if she is to solve a hundred-year-old puzzle and defeat a menacing darkness. With the help of old friends and questionable new allies, Marolaine faces the perils of an enspelled mansion and the uncertainties of her own choices.
In this episode we talk about our experiences with the final stages of revision, and Michael presses Sunny to set some goals for next time.
In this episode, we discuss guidelines for providing manuscript feedback. We include our own experiences, plus some tips that might be helpful.
In this episode, we talk about the feedback process that’s currently underway for the two books in Sunny’s light fantasy series. We also hash out Michael’s recent suggestions for an action scene.
In this episode, we return to the podcast after a break. We’ll provide some updates on our writing, and give a preview of what’s next for each of us.
Michael's author pagehttps://www.amazon.com/author/michaelsandritter
A few episodes back, Michael talked about wanting more internal and external accountability. In this mini episode, we follow up to see how he’s doing!
In this episode, Matthew’s back as we talk about our experience with one unique (and challenging!) element of fiction prose: character dialogue.
In this episode, Sarah joins us as we talk about the experience of giving and getting book feedback.
In this episode, we discuss the role of the audience in our writing. Do we write for ourselves or for someone else? Do we write for an audience or to an audience, and what’s the difference?
In this episode, we talk about how we hold ourselves accountable to ourselves, and also to others, and which accountability strategies we find most helpful as new writers.
In this episode, we discuss common strategies for improving our prose. This includes: diction, syntax, grammar, figurative language, feedback, and more.
In this episode, we talk a bit about prose and the mechanics of our writing. We’ll focus on four common aspects of fiction prose.
In this episode, we experiment with a commonly-suggested editing technique: reading your work out loud. Only, instead of reading it himself, Michael has Google software read some of his draft for all of us to hear and discuss.
In this episode, we share our thoughts on pacing, including how to balance the movement of the plot with the development of characters and the world.
In this episode, we discuss common expectations for characters in the genres of fantasy and sci-fi, and how we have (or haven’t) used them in our own writing.
In this episode, we talk about the inner journey of characters, sometimes called a “character arc.” We discuss strategies we use to create characters who change over the course of our stories.
In this episode, we start the new year by thinking about how we each experience creativity, and how creativity shapes our writing and other activities.
In this episode, we wrap up the year with some updates on our work and a discussion of goals for the new year.
In this episode, we talk about how we develop and build our characters, during the planning process and also during the writing process.
In this episode, we begin a discussion of character by talking about some of the common types and the purposes they serve in our writing.
In this episode, we discuss worldbuilding, which is the process authors and others use to create fictional worlds.
In this episode, we talk about why a novel’s beginning and ending are important, plus share our perspectives on epilogues and prologues and how (if?) we’re using them.
In this episode, we talk about the pros and cons of sharing your work with others, and our experiences with sharing and getting feedback.
In this episode, we talk about strategies and resources for improving one’s writing. Some are things we’ve done, others are things we’ve heard about or might try!
In this episode, we discuss our experiences with first person (“I”) and third person (“she, he, they”) points of view (POV).
In this episode, we’ll be talking about plot development. We’ll describe our own experiences, including our understanding and use of plot structures.
In this episode, we’ll have some casual conversation about how our personal experiences (or lack thereof) influence our writing.
In this episode, we’ll describe the elements and focus of our own stories, plus what we’re learning about how to tell a good story.
In this episode, we each talk briefly about what we’re currently working on. We’re each in a different stage of the writing process, so this episode lets our listeners catch up on our current goals, successes, and struggles.
In this episode, we’re recording from a peaceful location in western New York, where we’ve gone to spend a weekend focused on writing and writing support. We’re joined by Sunny’s sister Sarah, also a novice author. Hear our conversation about goals and expectations on Day 1, and our assessment of how things went on Day 3.
In this episode, we talk a little bit about fiction genres and sub-genres. We also touch on genre expectations and common tropes, and how these have affected our writing so far.
In this episode, we describe our understanding of the basic forms of fiction stories, including short stories, novellas, novels, and series. We discuss our own experiences and preferences as readers and also as novice writers.
In this episode, we talk about how we first got motivated to start writing, our early roadblocks, and how we got our initial ideas. We also reflect on the value that writing as a “shared occupation” has had for us as a family.
In this episode, we discuss different approaches to outlining, including “pantsing” and “plotting.” We each share our strategies and experiences with this part of the writing process.
In this episode, we describe when, where, how often, and how much we write. We discuss which writing habits work well for us, which don’t, and how we keep our writing fun
Welcome to the Family Writing Journey! This is our inaugural episode where we introduce ourselves and discuss the purpose of our podcast. We hope you enjoy!