1.8 Making Promises with Tracey Neithercott

1.8 Making Promises with Tracey Neithercott: Caitlin is up to no good, Cameron works too hard, Kristen makes a mean sweet potato fry and Tracey will not fold laundry for a kingdom. Tracey Neithercott joins the Literary WIP team to discuss what it means to make promises in your first chapters and ho... by Lit Service

33 min listen

2.13 Improving Your Craft with Rosalyn Eves: This week we chat with Rosalyn Eves about rhetorical devices and how to go about learning and using them (and maybe when not to use them). Some of the things we mention in the podcast worth checking out: Soundbite from Ira Glass on "The Gap" https://www.... by Lit Service

33 min listen

3.3 The Anatomy of a Fight Scene with Tricia Levenseller: Tricia Levenseller is the author of the Daughter of the Pirate King duology and standalone Warrior of the Wild. She likes to describe her books as young adult alternate–world historical fantasies with heavy romantic subplots. One thing that a lot of new... by Lit Service

27 min listen

2.17 The Fantastic First Chapter with Ben Grange: The Lit Service Crew chats with Literary Agent Ben Grange about what goes into a fabulous first chapter and how to approach getting yours into that fabulous category, red flags and things that make Ben pass over people in his query slushpile, and some of... by Lit Service

29 min listen

2.18 Writing Original Characters: Literary agent Ben Grange joins the Lit Service crew to chat about how to approach writing original characters. Some things we mention: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill Avatar: The Last Airbender The Scarlet Pimpernell by Baroness Orczy Litt... by Lit Service

28 min listen

2.8 Characterization by Lit Service

35 min listen

1.12 Plot Types and Formulas with Kate Watson: Want to know where your book fits on a bookshelf? We do too, and so do the agents and editors reviewing your query letters. With guest Kate Watson, we chat about why it's important to know where you fit into your genre and how it can help your writing. Y... by Lit Service

28 min listen

1.3 Pacing with #1 NYT Bestseller Aprilynne Pike: Caitlin, Kristen, Cameron, Dan and guest author Aprilynne Pike talk about the do's and don'ts of pacing. They then critique a submission about a girl who has a perfect life, but something terrible is about to happen to her. by Lit Service

24 min listen

1.6 Character Sympathy with Tricia Levenseller: Caitlin, Kristen, Cameron, Dan, and Tricia discuss how to make characters sympathetic (and why that's a thing you want to have happen), then critique a submission about a girl who isn't too fussed about super villians destroying her city. by Lit Service

32 min listen

2.10 Before You Query . . . with Literary Agent Ben Grange: Ben Grange from L. Perkins agency joins the Caitlin, Cameron, and Aliah to discuss some things that authors ought to research and think about before they begin querying agents, including awareness of genre, researching agents, word count, titles, and sub... by Lit Service

34 min listen

1.11 Character Motivation and Stakes with Mckelle George: With special guest Mckelle George, the Literary WIP team talks about how to make a story move forward by establishing stakes and motivation. We had some technical difficulties on the recording for this week...so, sorry in advance. You can check out this ... by Lit Service

23 min listen

3.5 Pacing your Backstory: You have your fabulous main character, their deliciously dark past, their wealth of relationships, habits, memories, and everything else that makes them who they are-- and then you have to write the first chapter. What can you put in, what should you lea... by Lit Service

26 min listen

1.4 Show, Don't Tell with Emily R. King: Caitlin, Kristen, Cameron, Dan and special guest author Emily R. King chat about how to show instead of tell. They then critique a submission in which a young lady stows away on a train only to find out it's a circus train, and the circus knife-thrower n... by Lit Service

27 min listen

2.2 Villains and Antagonists with Sarah McCabe: The Lit Service crew chats about what makes a compelling antagonist or villain with Simon Pulse assistant editor Sarah McCabe. We highlight some of our favorite examples of antagonists such as Mayor Prentiss from Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness, Jackal and... by Lit Service

31 min listen

2.6 Plot Twists with Ben Grange: Literary Agent Ben Grange joins the podcast to tell us why plot twists will make or break your book...but not for every genre. We discuss how to go about setting up plot twists and some ideas as to why the do or don't work for readers. In this episode we... by Lit Service

34 min listen

1.7 Why and How to Use Concrete Details: Find out much more about Cameron Harris than he wants you to know! Caitlin, Kristen, Dan, and Cameron chat about what concrete details are and why they're important. We then critique a submission about a boy who has a little trouble with hallucinations. ... by Lit Service

24 min listen

2.20 Horror Elements with Dan Wells: For our final episode of the season we chat with Dan Wells about how to incorporate horror elements into our work. Because Dan is really smart, we let this one go a little long. Some of the things we mention: Zero G by Dan Wells (available for free on au... by Lit Service

37 min listen

3.6.5 Bonus Q&A with Charlie Holmberg and Brian Lee Durfee: Bonus episode! Listen to our our fabulous guests at FanX (Charlie Holmberg and Brian Lee Durfee) answer questions from the audience. Charlie N. Holmberg is a Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestselling author, whose debut series, The Paper Magician, has b... by Lit Service

17 min listen

3.17 Save the Dragons with Jodi Meadows: Caitlin, Cameron, and Aliah discuss with Jodi Meadows why books need themes, where themes come from, and how to make the ones that creep up on you seem intentional. Jodi Meadows wants to be a ferret when she grows up and she has no self-control when it c... by Lit Service

27 min listen

2.16 YA Thrillers with Karen M. McManus: The Lit Service Crew chats with Karen M. McManus, author of NYT Bestselling One of Us is Lying, about the rise of the YA thriller and the elements that go into writing a good thriller (and thriller elements that you can apply to any other genre you write... by Lit Service

31 min listen

2.7 STEM in YA with Emily Suvada: The Lit Service crew chats with Emily Suvada about science, technology, engineering, and math, it's importance in literature and how to write it through research, creating believable characters and craft. Be sure to check out the submission on our websit... by Lit Service

36 min listen

2.14 Subplots with the Lit Service Crew (reunited!): The Lit Service crew chats about subplots, what they are, how to use them, and when you don't need them. Some of the books and movies we talk about are: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson Jurassic Park, the movie based on the book b... by Lit Service

32 min listen

1.5 Yes, You Really Do Need A Writing Group by Lit Service

30 min listen

3.6 Surviving your First Novel: Have you started a novel you've never finished? Wanted to write a novel and never started? Award winning authors Charlie Holmberg and Brian Lee Durfee join us to talk about their first novels and share tips and strategies for actually finishing. Charlie... by Lit Service

27 min listen

Bonus Episode: Reactions to The Rise of Skywalker with Emily Duncan: The Lit Service Crew chats with Emily Duncan about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the Mandalorian. Spoilers abound (though not so much on the Mandalorian front!) so be forewarned. by Lit Service

14 min listen

Bonus Episode: Query Examples with Nicki Pau Preto: Nicki Pau Preto, author of Crown of Feathers shares the query that got her an agent along with thoughts from her agent about why it worked. Nicki Pau Preto lives just outside Toronto, Canada. After getting a degree in visual arts, a masters in art histor... by Lit Service

3 min listen

3.8 Brick by Brick (but only the bricks that matter) with Nicki Pau Preto: This week we talk to Nicki Pau Preto about how she approaches world building and how to keep yourself from feeling overwhelmed and also how to create a lush secondary world. Nicki Pau Preto is the author of Crown of Feathers. She lives just outside Toro... by Lit Service

30 min listen

2.15 Brainstorming with Ben Grange: This week the Lit Service crew chats with literary agent Ben Grange about brainstorming techniques. Some things we mention: Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans Struck By Lightning https://beta.prx.org/stories/176346-struck-by-lightning ... by Lit Service

37 min listen

3.14 The Jack Skellington Effect: Our guest, Stacy Whitman, is the founder and publisher of Tu Books, an imprint of Lee and Low that focuses on diverse middle grade and YA books. Stacy was a founding member of the CBC Diversity Committee. She is also currently looking for submissions for... by Lit Service

38 min listen

3.13 The Weeds in Frodo's Garden: This is our fiftieth episode!!! The Lit Service crew discusses when to go "into the weeds" with your writing and when to stay out and summarize by Lit Service

30 min listen

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1.8 Making Promises with Tracey Neithercott

1.8 Making Promises with Tracey Neithercott

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