The First Draft Club: Recent Episodes
Mary Adkins | Author & Book Writing Coach
A podcast to help you overcome resistance and write with more joy, clarity, and confidence. If you’re working on a novel or memoir, stick around. Whether you haven't written a word since your 5-paragraph essay days or you have an MFA in Creative Writing, this weekly podcast is now your favorite writing companion on your journey to finish your first draft.
The first blank page is the hardest one to take down. In this episode, Mary offers original 10 hacks for overcoming your demons and getting your book draft underway.
Mary breaks down the 9 Enneagram types and evaluates different writing goals for each one. If you loathe the term "writing goals," you need to listen—you may just need a different kind.
Here's the pep talk—and a bonus assignment—that will help you overcome resistance, if not once and for all, at least for this week.
Mary teaches you her signature method for handwriting your novel or memoir—The Four Notebooks Method—and tells you how you can pre-order her notebook and corresponding system. Check out https://www.maryadkinswriter.com/fournotebooksmethod
How do we deal with the fact that our stories, once on paper, are never as good as they were in our minds? Mary offers 3 strategies for handling this situation.
Mary wraps up a four-episode series on the 3-act structure with a breakdown of her favorite of the three acts, Act 3, and talks about how to find the magic of it in your own writing.
Mary talks all things Act 2—and, most importantly, gets into why Act 2 isn't a formula but a personal challenge for you, the author.
In the second of four parts on the 3-act structure, Mary dives into what we mean by Act 1 and how to break it down into a manageable tool.
In the first episode of Season 4, Mary kicks off a four-episode series breaking down the 3-act structure...in a way that won't terrify you, turn you off, or make you feel like you're supposed to be writing by formula.
Choosing a point of view is a critical early step in the novel-writing process. In this episode, Mary talks about how to choose a point of view, and what to look out for in third person.
There are a lot of book writing coaches out there these days. What should you look for in one?
When is a good time to hire a book writing coach? Here's how to know that it's the right call.
I had never heard the term "book writing coach" until I became one. What does a book writing coach do, and how might one benefit you?
You have to get a literary agent to sell your book, and for me, this was the hardest part of getting published. Here are the 5 big mistakes to avoid.
Ever want a writing prompt but not one written for a 12-year-old working on a Halloween story? This writing prompt generator is the only one you'll ever need to jog you out of a stuck place.
What's a book advance, how is it paid out, and how do you get a really big one? Mary covers the last taboo in publishing: money.
Can you write a whole novel draft on the Notes app on your phone? Sure—Gertrude Stein basically did.
Mary covers all aspects of selling your book, from getting a literary agent to signing the contract.
Feedback is critical, but not until the right time. Ask too early, and it can derail you. In this episode, Mary covers when, who, and how to ask for feedback on your book draft.
Revising is necessary, but not a hundred times. In this episode, Mary talks about how to nail a solid first draft so that revising isn't a nightmare.
To publish with a publisher, you'll likely have to get a literary agent, which requires querying them. This episode has some bad news and some good news (you're not alone).
In this episode, Mary talks about how to know when a draft is done, and how even after a book is published, she keeps editing.
Mary gets trolled, feels insecure, and talks about what insecurity means...and what it doesn't.
In this episode, Mary navigates the murky world of balancing fact and fiction when your fiction is set in a world like our own.
Mary shares her inverted pyramid guide to researching for a novel and talks about why she does all her best research after 3 p.m.
In this episode, Mary talks about juggling projects, following creativity's lead, and The Bachelorette.
The trick to writing believable dialogue is to remember a key thing about humans: we're bad at it.
If you have to have a protagonist, you must need an antagonist, right? No. What you do need is more interesting.
All stories have a history. How much of that history you share with the reader, and where you bring it in, can determine whether that reader sticks with your book or not. In this episode, we discuss a rule of thumb for incorporating backstory into your novel or memoir.
Am I writing a short story or a novel? Am I ready to write my memoir? Mary addresses how to decide, and when the right time is to make the call.
Every writer struggles with the middle. In this episode, Mary shares her favorite tactic for making it through.
A writer asks when writing her book will start to feel like a real project, and not like a side hobby she may or may not finish.
A writer asks about that terrifying term "the inciting incident," and Mary gets real in her answer.
In this episode, Mary talks everything chapters: yes or no, how long, how many, and what about parts?
This week, a writer asks, should I revise as I go, or wait? Mary has a very strong opinion on this question.
In this episode, Mary tackles the question of what to do when you just can't finish a &%$ draft. If you have six half-written books in your home, this episode is for you.
In this inaugural episode of The First Draft Club, Mary answers a writer's question about how long it should take to write a first draft of a book and how long one should expect to revise.