Writing Roots

S54E3 - Finding Your People: Nonfiction

If you're writing an educational or informational nonfiction book, finding your audience can be difficult. It depends on the topic, the writing style, and so much more. But there are a few steps you can take to help narrow it down as part of your marketing efforts. We talk about the who, what, where, when, and why of marketing educational nonfiction in this episode.

S54E2 - Finding Your People: Spec Fic & Fantasy

When it comes to marketing any book, it's about reaching your audience where they are. For authors of speculative fiction, particularly fantasy, that means finding them often online and enticing them with gorgeous covers and thrilling adventures. Listen for more tips on the five W's of marketing your spec fic books.

S54E1 - Finding Your People: The Marketing Recipe

We're tackling the topic of marketing once again this month, focusing on how to tailor your efforts depending on the genre of your story. We start this month by talking about the marketing recipe: who, what, where, when, and why. By understanding these five W's, you can adjust your efforts to meet your audience where they are in a way they are most likely to respond.

S53E9 - Breaking Rules: Active and Passive Voice

One piece of advice that you will encounter a lot in your writing journey, especially if you take any formal classes, is to avoid passive voice. It helps the characters take control of what is happening in their story. Active voice is more direct and often more clear. However, we believe passive voice is still a good tool to know, understand, and use under the right circumstances.

S53 Bonus - How to Identify Bad Writing Advice and Rules

There are a lot of people out there giving advice about writing, sharing their opinions and experiences to help you in your journey. Unfortunately, some of that advice is not good. Not that the advice won't help someone, but no piece of advice is right for everyone. But it can be a confusing landscape for newer writers trying to get their start. If you try to listen to every piece of advice, you'll end up confused and bookless.
In this episode, our hosts talk about the process of looking at writing advice and identifying signatures that indicate it might just be plain bad advice.

S53E8 - Breaking Rules: Avoid Detailed Descriptions

Perhaps it's an overcorrection from the extremely verbose fiction of the 1800s to early 1900s, but there has been a shift in writing advice to avoid detailed descriptions. Authors are constantly told to keep the story moving, only include relevant details, and don't chase away a reader with boring details. You might find yourself asking, "what about scene setting? What about immersing the reader in the world?"
That's why we recommend breaking this rule, but in moderation. No one wants the unnecessary details of the Victorian Era, but we also need something to get us into the world you've crafted. Listen to this episode to learn why this rules exists and how to best break it.

S53E7 - Breaking Rules: Kill Your Darlings

One piece of good advice that is often applied too often is to "kill your darlings." It is good to approach the editing process with a sort of ruthlessness that can rival your story's villain, but removing your "darlings" simply because you like it is going to far. Applying this rule to anything you are attached to will remove the joy from the process. So instead of killing it, we recommend you analyze those pieces you enjoy and find a way to make it relevant.

S53E6 - Breaking Rules: Only Use Said

This is another one of those contradictory rules you've probably heard: Only ever use "said" in your dialogue tags. Yet you've also probably heard "said is dead." So which is it? The real answer is found in breaking both of these and finding a balance.
While using said is great for its invisible nature, other words can better describe the mood or volume you're trying to convey in fewer words than it would take to describe. As with most writing, it's about finding the right word rather than the one people say you should use, or not use.

S53E5 - Breaking Rules: Never Open Your Story With _____

When it comes to advice for starting your story, you've probably found lists of what not to do. Sometimes, those lists contradict themselves in ways that make it a confusing process to figure out exactly how a story is supposed to start.
That's why we recommend breaking this rule. Before you can do that, you need to know why the rules for starting off a story exist in the first place so you can avoid the problems and make those beginnings intentional and compelling.
First aired April 15, 2024.

S53E4 - Breaking Rules: Word Count

Word counts are a rule for very good reasons. From audience expectation to publisher requirements, word counts are an established part of writing. For each time you've heard the standard for whatever genre, you've probably thought immediately of several exemptions. So why is there a rule in the first place if exceptions are so common? Listen for more about the rules of word count and how to break them.