Our question for today is:

Is plotting vs. pantsing a helpful dichotomy?

Mentioned in the Episode:

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

WWF S4E14 The best mindset shift for your writing

Hi! Hillary here with a new summer mini episode. We'll keep things casual and spend a few minutes chatting about a writing question that's been on my mind lately. And our question for today is:

How do I keep the beta reading process from becoming overwhelming?

Do you have your own beta reading tips? We'd love to hear from you. Our email address writingwithfriendspodcast@gmail.com.

And until our next chat, keep up the writing!

Mentioned in the Episode:

S1E9 Beta Readers and Zotero

S4E3 Fireside Chat: How should I use the revision spreadsheet?

S1E10 Tool Deep Dive: The Revision Spreadsheet

Hillary here. We’re on a summer break right now between seasons, but I’m still here some weekly mini-episodes. We'll keep things casual and spend a few minutes chatting about a writing question that's been on my mind lately. Hopefully I'll leave you with some takeaways for your own writing journey!

Our question for today is: Why should you consider writing a craft rather than just and art, and what benefits will you see from this way of framing your writing practice?

Mentioned in the Episode:

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

The York Minster’s Statue of Elizabeth II

Writing Excuses Podcast’s Close Reading Series

WWF S4E12 Hillary’s Ask Me Anything

Today, we’ll be talking to writer Jaimie Woo. She’s a Creative Producer, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Consultant, and Communications Expert. Tune in to hear about her career as well as her advice for aspiring writers. Mentioned in the Episode: Yes She Can: 10 Stories of Hope & Change from Young Female Staffers of the Obama White House

Jaimie's Website

Are You There, Universe (Jaimie's Podcast)

culture.house Media

Jaimie's Picks:

Underworld

Shogun

A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

It’s time for an ASK ME ANYTHING! We’ll be chatting with Hillary, getting a little more personal about her own writing practice, and learning more about what she’s been thinking about and working on these days.

Picks of the Week:

H: “Of All Things” by Isabel Gallymore

BJ: On Having No Head by Douglas E. Harding

Mentioned in the Episode:

Jessica Brody (Save the Cat! Writes a Novel)

Lisa Cron (Story Genius and Wired for Story)

Elizabeth Gilbert (Big Magic)

Hillary Mantel (A Memoir of My Former Self: My Life in Writing and the Wolf Hall series)

Harlen Coben (thriller writer, series on BBC Maestro)

Cal Newport (Slow Productivity)

The TV show Travel Man with Richard Ayoade

If you have any other questions for either of us, let us know by writing to us at writingwithfriendspodcast@gmail.com. We’ll have some more Ask Me Anything episodes in future seasons of Writing with Friends!

Welcome to a tool deep dive episode, where we highlight the features and the challenges of a tool we think you’ll find helpful as a writer. And the tool we’ll be talking about today is movie trailers!

Picks of the Week:

BJ: Making Sense: Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity by Sam Harris

H:Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Mentioned in the Episode:

WWF Season 2 Episode 4: Three-Act Structure

Email us your pick of the week at writingwithfriendspodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you.

We’ll be talking about editing your own work. Okay, so you’ve written a first draft of your novel and you know things need to change. But how? And what? Our editing tips today can help!

Picks of the Week:

H: Happy Place by Emily Henry

BJ: “Twelfth Night: Or What You Will” by William Shakespeare

Mentioned in the Episode:

Order—Method: Trollope Learns to Write by Susan L. Humphreys

Mythbusters Video about polishing a turd

Season 4 MINI2: Why should I let my manuscript rest?

If you try out these editing tips, let us know which one was your favorite by writing to us at writingwithfriendspodcast@gmail.com.

We’ll be gathering around our metaphorical fireplace for a fireside chat– an honest conversation about how we’re applying a craft topic or tool to our own writing practices, and how you might incorporate this topic or tool into your writing life as well. The tool we’ll be talking about today is our favorite piece of writing software, Scrivener. We’ll focus on the pros and cons of the software.

Picks of the Week:

H: Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry

BJ: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarity

Mentioned in the Episode:

Organizing your manuscript in Scrivener’s Binder System

Scrivener’s Corkboard Feature

Scrivener’s Composition Mode

Adding notes in Scrivener

Organizing research in Scrivener

Split-screen mode in Scrivener

If you try out one of the options from this strategy menu in your own writing practice or if you have your own suggestions about how to best use Scrivener, let us know by writing to us at writingwithfriendspodcast@gmail.com!