The Story Biz Podcast: Recent Episodes
Chris & Brock
Your guide to the business of modern day storytelling and StorySELLING. Award-Winning authors Chris Miller and Brock Eastman bring you strait-forward strategies you can put into action today to make your creative writing and sales skyrocket.
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Danielle Hitchens had an idea for a book, she found her artist and then lead a successful funding campaign on social media that also resulted in a publisher picking up the book and creating a best selling series.
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Brock and Chris catch up and talk about what has kept their writing and business lives going during tough times. Your hero relies on community to pull them through adversity...and so do you.
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Your hero’s journey of transformation has begun at last and it begins by learning the new rules of this new world. Who are your allies? Who are your enemies? What are the new skills you’ll need to survive? It’s all part of the first scenes of Act 2. Let’s dive in to adventure together.
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It’s time at last to leave your hero’s ordinary world behind. No more debating. No more delay. It’s Action...and time to throw this story into full throttle. Chris and Brock draw out the moment your story “breaks into two” and ushers your main character into a whole new world.
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Great stories are filled with great characters. One of the most common characters in any story is the Mentor, a must-include character if you’re writing a Hero’s Journey story. In fact, the next step of the Hero’s Journey is Meeting the Mentor. Who is your hero’s Mentor, and how do they challenge them? Meeting the Mentor occurs after the hero has been Called to Adventure and discovered that the task ahead will be incredibly difficult. The Mentor then provides the hero with training (physical, mental, spiritual, or a combination thereof) and often accompanies the hero on the journey.
The mentor is frequently an older or “wiser” character no longer able to fulfill the heroic role on his or her own. If you don't have a character in the mentor role yet in your story...it's time you got one!
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Inspiration and ideas don’t always come when we need them. They often come at the most random of times. I have so many ideas for stories I sometimes wonder which ones are worth pursuing. Ideas abound...But if I’m not careful, that is all they will ever be...story ideas are not stories. So how do you capture those moments of inspiration and what do we do with our ideas when they hit us? That’s our five minute focus today.
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Refusing the Call is the first step in our character's eventual acceptance of the journey our story will take them on. Our heroine refuses to break out of her shell and go on an unsupervised camping trip with her friends because...well...she just isn't ready for that kind of adventure. The jock blows off the spring play auditions because he's not ready to try something new and set aside his friend's and parent's expectations of who he is. Every decision to leave the ordinary behind comes with a healthy debate of what is really at stake. Give your heroine something to chew on before diving into the adventure, and let us watch her wrestle with it for awhile.
Download our StoryMap at http://thestorybiz.com and follow along with us.
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We needed help with Valentines Day so we turned to amazing Romance Fiction author Angela Ruth Strong for advice. Learn how to write better love stories, what kind of topes to include or avoid and how to impress your date using these tips from an amazing Romance Novel writer. If you're in need of help this Valentines, look no further than our expert Angela Ruth Strong.
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What wakes your character up? What puts them into motion and pushes them to explore something new? This is the Call to Adventure!
The thing that calls your character from their ordinary world into the world of the story can come in a variety of ways. Like I said, it's a question. So, it might come in the form of someone asking a question. Think of Hagrid showing up to offer Harry a spot at Hogwarts. That someone often becomes a mentor to the MC--Hagrid, Obi Wan Kenobi, the White Rabbit, are all characters who serve as mentors and deliver the question of the Call to Action.
The call might be internal. A longing inside the hero, like an itch they are compelled to scratch. Dorothy is literally picked up by an act of God and put back down in the special world of her story, but the reason she isn't safe in the storm cellar where she should have been is because she was drawn to run away by an inner longing for something she couldn't find at home. Anyone who watches The Wizard of Oz feels Dorothy's longing when she sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Let's dive in and explore what makes this moment in your story essential to getting things moving!
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Today I want to talk briefly about fears and how we best overcome them as writers.
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What does it look like to build a writer's life? What disciplines and structure do you need to give yourself the edge in this journey to becoming a writer? Jennifer Grant is BACK bringing a world of expertise in what has worked for her and the authors she has helped along the way.
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"Do you believe in second chances?", “Be careful what you wish for," or “Family is more important than money.” All of these messages represent a glimpse at the heart of your story...it's theme! A strong theme gives the audience a reason to listen to your story. Somewhere in the first moments of a well-structured story, someone needs to pose a question or make a statement (usually to the main character) that will become the theme of your story. It will be conversational, an offhand remark that the main character doesn’t quite get at the moment — but which will have far-reaching impact on the direction of his/her journey in the scenes ahead. Today, we discuss this moment in your story and help you find your theme so that your audience will connect with the purpose of your story.
Be sure to download the storymap we've created for you at http://www.thestorybiz.com and follow along.
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If a book is published in a forrest and nobody is there to read it...does it make an impact? These are the questions we ponder and resolve in our interview with master Book Launch expert Christie Thomas. Put these Launch Team tips to work to ensure your next book release isn't a dud.
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Do you ever wonder if your work is good enough? Want to put some polish on your nearly final draft but don't know where to start? In today's episode we chat with Jennifer Grant, a professional editor and author of several books about specific tips you can use to make your work better before you submit it for review. This is the episode we ALL NEED in order to make our work the best it can be.
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[SPOILERS AHEAD] As the Disney + show "The Mandalorian" has been taking the nation by storm, we consider how its main characters work together to engage audiences. In this interview with blogger, author and all around Star Wars fanatic, Elizabeth Van Tassel, the "Baby Yoda" effect is fully analyzed and we have good fun wondering where this character will take us. Also, Brock's fanboy card is revoked after this episode.
Join us as we travel to a galaxy far away, and explore the Star Wars Mandalorian.
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When it comes to deciding where to establish your story, it's important to ground your readers or viewers in the ordinary world of your hero. That doesn't mean it has to be boring or ordinary to you and me. No! Boring will KILL your story. But we have to establish the ground rules of your hero's world so that we know when she is being called out of it to some kind of adventure. Follow along as we unwrap the mystery of the Ordinary in this extraordinary episode of the StoryBiz Podcast.
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We continue our conversation with Linda Howard from Tyndale and learn what publishers are looking for in the children’s book market.
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Do you have a picture book of children’s book that you are looking to publish? Our interview with Linda Howard of Tyndale Publishing is going to help you navigate the world of Children’s Publishing.
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Every story has a moment when your hero has their friends and allies stripped away...one by one...and it’s just him/her left to face his inner demons or villain. In this episode Chris talks about how you can bring your MC to the point where he has to Dig Down Deep and decide if he really has what it takes to overcome the obstacle.
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Creating the optimal writing space for productivity is not just about where you will write...but when. Sean helps us develop our plan for a better writing space to “create in the margins” with more intentionality despite our busy schedules.
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Whether it’s long ago in a galaxy far, far, away...or just your corner drug store, the setting in your novel should be as living and purposeful as any character. Join us as we try to unravel what makes the settings in your story worth visiting.
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Do you ever feel unqualified to write? Do you feel discouraged in your writing? We all feel that way sometimes. If this is you, this is the episode you need to hear today!
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In this episode we’ll help you “find your spine” by developing 5 key scenes that will guide you through the perfect story. If you can identify and draw out these 5 moments you will significantly enhance your chance of impacting your audience and make a lasting impression.
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In our final episode on the Characters Write Themselves series, we get to play with our characters and get them to interact with each other. When they interact you get to have fun watching the drama unfold.
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It’s time to get out of the way and give your characters space to do what they would naturally do. Building great characters ahead of time allows you the freedom to throw fun plot points at your characters and simply record what they would instinctively do in that situation. Stop being a nagging parent telling your characters what they SHOULD do and let them do what they WOULD do and learn and grow from their own experiences.
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Developing great characters is not as hard as it seems once you know their fears, desires, backstory and behaviors you can really have fun. It’s time to Raise the Stakes and press those fears and desires to their extremes to make great drama unfold.
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How do you get 1000 ravenous readers? How do you write 1000 words an hour? These are some of the questions best-selling Sci-Fi author Christopher Hopper covers with us. Join us as we learn along with you from some of the best storytellers and storySELLERS in the industry.
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Our series on Character Development continues as we discuss everyday behaviors of your characters. Behaviors are the personality “quirks” that breathe life into our characters, but where do they come from and how do you develop meaningful ones? Join us for a LIVE experiment as we attempt to develop a new character on the fly using behaviors related to our backstory.
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Building on the last two podcasts Chris and Brock explain how your characters fears and desires ARE the key to knowing the most important elements of backstory. Don’t waste time telling pointless backstory. Get to the stuff that matters.
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Knowing your character’s fears is not just a gimmick, rather it is a powerful outlet into what makes them tick and an amazing opportunity for growth. A character who faces their fears is one who we can relate to...and isn’t that what storytelling is about. Join us as we explore the power of fear and how it can help you write better characters.
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Getting to know your characters is one of the best things you can do when starting a new writing project. The more you know them...the more they come alive...and the more they will help you write your story. Chris and Brock explore tips to knowing your characters desires and how that can help you bring life to your story.
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Award-winning published authors Chris Miller and Brock Eastman share why they decided to start the Story Biz Podcast, what you can expect in future episodes and why the heck you should listen to them anyway. From humble origins comes a super podcast...and we hope it inspires you to do something awesome on your own.
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