What is the interior life of the character, and what sort of interior life should we be showing in our work?This episode looks at the thoughts and feelings of our characters, and gives practical advice on what sorts of interior life should be shown in a story, and how it should be done. Cut the banal day dreams and focus on the blade in the mind, the thoughts that have a sharp edge to them. Dark or angry, comedic or sexual, there's a truthful and cutting thought lurking in every character that will help to set a scene, drive a plot and develop a character. Don't be afraid to reveal the interior life of your character, just make sure it's grabbing the reader and driving the story when you do it.

What is the interior life of the character, and what sort of interior life should we be showing in our work? This episode looks at the thoughts and feelings of our characters, and gives practical advice on what sorts of interior life should be shown in a story, and how it should be done. Cut the banal day dreams and focus on the blade in the mind, the thoughts that have a sharp edge to them. Dark or angry, comedic or sexual, there's a truthful and cutting thought lurking in every character that will help to set a scene, drive a plot and develop a character. Don't be afraid to reveal the interior life of your character, just make sure it's grabbing the reader and driving the story when you do it.

Episode 48 - The blade in the mind. Exploiting the interior life of your characters

In this episode we start to explore the third of the six stages of story, and answer the question: how can we make this tricky middle section of our work as compelling and excellent as possible? The answer comes from knowing one of the fundamental truths of human psychology: we all love a challenge, and we all love to see others challenged. This episode explores how to harness this truth in the third stage of story, and capture readers and keep them all the way through to the end.

Episode 39 - Harnessing the power of human psychology for your story

Back to first principles. We're asking a couple of fundamental questions in this episode as the foundation for going on to look at a whole range of aspects to creative writing over the weeks and months to come. These will include: plot, character, theme, genre,setting, style, and viewpoint.

Episode 19 - Writing for others-writing for yourself

This is the last of the five techniques for showing not telling - and arguably it's the hardest one to do. Humour is a serious business and requires precision and integrity in its execution. Precision in terms of timing and editing, and integrity in terms of keeping the characters and scene believable.

Episode 6 - The serious business of writing something funny

The Creative Writer's Toolbelt provides practical, accessible advice for Creative Writers

Episode 1 - Showing not telling

How to use a small number of very specific descriptive cues to show your reader both scene and character

Episode 3 - Sparse and Specific Description

It's what your character does, rather than what you say about them, that defines them for the reader. In this episode Andrew talks about how action defines character and gives examples for both heros and villains

Episode 14 - Deeds not words

In this episode I cover two issues, using precise and powerful verbs, and also using the active rather than passive voice to energise and drive your story

Episode 9 - Get Active! Using the right verbs and the right voice to energise your story

Practical, accessible advice on using dialogue in your creative writing to develop character, build tension and progress the plot of your story.

Episode 2 - Dialogue

Stephen King

In this episode we condense about 2,300 years of story theory into ten minutes(!) and then look at four practical lessons we can apply to our writing, including how to make a great first impression with an opening line, why it's so important that we get our work into the best possible state, and how to tell whether a clever plot element really is as clever as we think it is.

Episode 31 - From Aristotle to Stephen King. Story theory tips for your writer's toolbelt

The Creative Writers Toolbelt gives practical accessible advice and encouragement to Creative writers.Each episode explores an aspect of creative writing technique, with examples, allowing you to apply what you learn immediately to your writing. We also throw in the occasional interview with writers and other artists, exploring their wisdom on subjects like story, style, character and the writing process

I love this podcast. I’m a nonfiction writer, and it’s helped me so much in my work. 100% recommend!

Such a great podcast for writers!

Can’t believe that I just clicked on this podcast for the first time and saw “thank you and goodbye “!!! Just my luck. Anyway. It is amazing. After listening to just one episode... I MUST listen to all due to the amazing info and advice. Ty!

Great advice for emerging writers.

The Creative Writers Toolbelt gives practical accessible advice and encouragement to Creative writers. Each episode explores an aspect of creative writing technique, with examples, allowing you to apply what you learn immediately to your writing. We also throw in the occasional interview with writers and other artists, exploring their wisdom on subjects like story, style, character and the writing process

The Creative Writer's Toolbelt

Cynthia Morris

This episode can be summed up with a single, wonderful word: encouragement! My guest is the author, artist, and coach Cynthia Morris, and in this episode we discuss the fears writer's feel, the need to be kind to ourselves, and how we should sneak up on ourselves to write something great.

Episode 151 - Do it without having to prove you're good! Encouragement for the writer's life with Cynthia Morris

What must a scene have to really make it work? It's not action, it's not dialogue, it's not sparkling description, wonderful those these things can be. For a scene to work something that matters needs to change. In this episode, we explore these changes or polarity shifts to show this principle, with an example story that contains some scenes with these shifts and some that do not to show what a difference that make.

Episode 130 - Energising each scene in your novel with polarity shifts and scene turns

Ellen Brock

This episode is the second half of my conversation with Ellen.  We talk about a range of issues including making the right choice for the Point of View of your work, how to create the ideal query letter, and how to utilise the resources that Ellen has made available.

Episode 127 - A conversation with Ellen Brock: professional novel editor and writing coach Part 2 of 2:

This episode is a conversation with the novel editor and writing coach, Ellen Brock. You may know Ellen from her annual Novel Boot Camp event and her series of videos on YouTube. Ellen has a real heart for helping people who want to develop their skills in the craft of writing, and in this first half of our conversation, we talk about the biggest problems writers have with both structuring their work and refining narrative quality.

Episode 126 A conversation with Ellen Brock: professional novel editor and writing coach (Part 1 of 2)

Abidemi Sanusi

My guest for this episode is Abidemi Sanusi. Abidemi is a Nigerian born former human rights worker turned author, and has been writing and publishing books across multiple genres for fifteen years. Her novel, Eyo, about a 10 year old girl trafficked to the UK with promises of a better life,  was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.She's also the founder of abidemi.tv, the website for ambitious writers', and she provides business success templates for freelance writers.A self-confessed tech geek, she is also the founder of writethemes.com - gorgeous Wordpress themes for writers that turn their Wordpress website visitors into paying fans.

My guest for this episode is Abidemi Sanusi. Abidemi is a Nigerian born former human rights worker turned author, and has been writing and publishing books across multiple genres for fifteen years. Her novel, Eyo, about a 10 year old girl trafficked to the UK with promises of a better life, was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. She's also the founder of <a href="http://abidemi.tv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">abidemi.tv</a>, the website for ambitious writers', and she provides business success templates for freelance writers. A self-confessed tech geek, she is also the founder of <a href="http://writethemes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">writethemes.com</a> - gorgeous Wordpress themes for writers that turn their Wordpress website visitors into paying fans.

Episode 145: Own it! How to take charge of your own destiny as a writer with Abidemi Sanusi

Can we talk about our work without hesitation, and without feeling like there's some aspect to it that could have been better? Have we done your best with our book project? In this episode, I look at what it means for us writers to be proud of our work, how we achieve that, and what the benefits are.

Episode 133 - Why it's so important for writers to feel proud of their work

I recently spoke with fellow podcaster, essayist and award-winning journalist Brendan O'Meara. We talked about the challenges that writers of both fiction and non-fiction face, the issue of finding time to write, the value of having momentum, and the goal of building up a body of work to close the creative gap

Episode 117 "Who are you and why are you good to tell it?" A Conversation with Brendan O'Meara of the Creative Non-fiction Podcast

Wendy H Jones

Patrick O'Donnell

One of the most popular genres for fiction writers is the murder mystery or police procedural. But this is also a genre where writers can easily get things wrong. In this episode I'm joined by crime writer Wendy H Jones and we speak to Patrick O’Donnell, a serving officer with 25 years of experience in a large city police department in the US. In this conversation we cover: responding to a homicide, the arrest and court process, hostage situations, and what writers usually get wrong with police work.

Episode 149 Cops and Writers! Tips for authoring your police procedural with Wendy H Jones and Sergeant Patrick O'Donnell

Lori Puma

This episode is a conversation with story grid developmental editor Lori Puma. In our conversation we talk about why stories matter, and what we as writers should do about that. We discuss the way in which Story Grid, and a developmental editor can actually help authors, and we reflect on the way in which personal tragedy can inform both our lives and our stories. You can find out more about the Story Grid process here: www.storygrid.com and about non-violent communication here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX4N0VryiC4 And you can find out more about Lori at her website: www.loripuma.com

This episode is a conversation with story grid developmental editor Lori Puma. In our conversation we talk about why stories matter, and what we as writers should do about that. We discuss the way in which Story Grid, and a developmental editor can actually help authors, and we reflect on the way in which personal tragedy can inform both our lives and our stories. You can find out more about the Story Grid process here: <a href="http://www.storygrid.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.storygrid.com</a> and about non-violent communication here <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX4N0VryiC4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX4N0VryiC4</a> And you can find out more about Lori at her website: <a href="http://www.loripuma.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.loripuma.com</a>

Episode 114 "You've got to know what you want to say!" A conversation with Story Grid Certified Developmental Editor Lori Puma

As of this month (April 2017) I’m working hard on the Creative Writer's Toolbelt Handbook. As I look back on nearly 100 episodes I’ve realized that there's one fundamental thing we writers have to do to create great work, and it's this: be authentic! In this episode we explore what it is to be authentic, and we look at some practical tools to achieve that authenticity.

Episode 97 - If you only get one thing right in your writing make it this

Writing the first draft of a novel, like scaling the north face of the Eiger, presents particular difficulties. In this episode, we look at what those challenges are, and how we can overcome them to get the first draft done.

Episode 116 - Climbing the North Face. Why completing the first draft of your writing project is so hard and how to achieve it

In this episode we are going to look at a number of very different examples of writing that excel in the area of how the writing sounds. They are deliberately different in terms of style, and authorial voice, but each of them can teach us something. And because they are very different the benefits that they bring to their respective stories is very different.

Episode 77 - Listen to the voices! What we can learn about voice from great writing

In the previous episode we explored the two essential qualities of setting through describing the need for setting to be credible and immersive. In this episode we focus on one of those qualities, the immersive setting, and we explore how to make the setting an immersive and compelling place for readers by taking the time to research and plan the backstory, creating a mood and style for the setting, and by presenting the setting with sparse, specific, and sensory language.

Episode 62 - In at the deep end. How to immerse readers in your story

You might have a lot of research for your story, but how do you apply it effectively to create a rich and compelling setting, not just for the story itself but for the foundational backstory you need to give your work depth and credibility?In this episode we examine the steps you can take to do this, by laying out the framework and the environment of your work, and then bring your research to bear so that you can create individual scenes that are authentic and vibrant, drawing the reader into the story. We'll explore the way in which settings can be broken down into specific scenes throughout the story so that each scene can be transformed by your research.

You might have a lot of research for your story, but how do you apply it effectively to create a rich and compelling setting, not just for the story itself but for the foundational backstory you need to give your work depth and credibility? In this episode we examine the steps you can take to do this, by laying out the framework and the environment of your work, and then bring your research to bear so that you can create individual scenes that are authentic and vibrant, drawing the reader into the story. We'll explore the way in which settings can be broken down into specific scenes throughout the story so that each scene can be transformed by your research.

Episode 67 - From Research to Reality: using the raw material of research to create compelling setting and backstory

Nothing holds the reader in your story like a compelling, authentic character, and an essential element of developing a character is developing their character arc. In this episode we explore the essentials of developing the arc for your protagonist and principle characters. I'll explain why the character arc is so important, why it has to develop in harmony with the story arc, and why we need to pay attention to the inner and outer journey of our lead characters.

Episode 51 - True to the End. The keys to developing your protagonist's character arc

This episode looks at the emotional and psychological cost of marketing and promotion for writers. There are plenty of opportunities but it's hostile territory, so we look at the need to create an excellent product, what to do when you're feeling addicted to the numbers, and how to be sociable on social media.

Episode 121 Another tour of duty - surviving and thriving in the world of book marketing

This episode will guide you though the process of taking the raw material of your character research and ideas, and putting them through the prism of the character components to create believable characters together with their backstory.

Episode 68  - Building characters from the foundations up: how to develop compelling characters & backstory

What is excellent writing style? And how can we develop that style without simply mimicking the writers we admire? In this episode we apply some of the ideas presented in episode 73 by looking at the way in which clarity, brevity, and precision can help us to develop our writing style. These, together with knowing who you are writing for, and working with the story, are the keys that unlock the secrets of great writing style.

Episode 75 - Unlocking the secrets of excellent writing style

Amanda Rutter

Writers are becoming more convinced of the need to use professionals to help them with their work, and one of the essential members of the team is the Development Editor. But what do Development Editors do and how can they add value? In this episode I talk to my development editor Amanda Rutter who worked with me on my book The Centauri Survivors. We explore how writers should approach this stage of the edit, and how to get the best out of the relationship with your Development Editor.

Episode 140 How to work with your development editor. With Amanda Rutter and examples from The Centauri Survivors

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