Episodes
Monday Sep 12, 2022
Trailer – What is the ‘Write the Story’ podcast?
Monday Sep 12, 2022
Monday Sep 12, 2022
Stories that ‘work’, touches something inside of us. They have a sense of magic to them that reach the reader on a fundamental level. But how do we create a story that ‘works’? Do we focus on the characters? The plot? The theme? Something else…?
With the Internet booming with advice, and associated acronyms, it’s like tumbling down a bottom-less rabbit hole of confusion.
Great stories aren’t about the plot. It’s about how we deliver the story as a tightly knitted flying blanket that carries the reader away so fast that they never even stop to wonder what might happen next.
Many writers (and readers) mistake the story for what they can see on the page. They believe prose, action and dialog to constitute creative writing. All of this is important, no doubt about it, but these elements will never be able to bring a story to life and give it meaning. To write a truly great book, story structure is far more important than talent or having a distinctive voice will ever be. That’s not to say that imaginative plotting will deliver this effect on its own either. No. But, a firm grasp of story structure will set you down the path of success.
In this limited podcast series, Autumn Birt and Jesper Schmidt – two bestselling authors and writing coaches - will plot a story from scratch in to help YOU understand Story Structure better.
Friday Nov 04, 2022
Trailer: The Story Premise. The starting point for this podcast
Friday Nov 04, 2022
Friday Nov 04, 2022
Stories that ‘work’, touches something inside of us. They have a sense of magic to them that reach the reader on a fundamental level. But how do we create a story that ‘works’? Do we focus on the characters? The plot? The theme? Something else…?
With the Internet booming with advice, and associated acronyms, it’s like tumbling down a bottom-less rabbit hole of confusion.
Great stories aren’t about the plot. It’s about how we deliver the story as a tightly knitted flying blanket that carries the reader away so fast that they never even stop to wonder what might happen next.
Many writers (and readers) mistake the story for what they can see on the page. They believe prose, action and dialog to constitute creative writing. All of this is important, no doubt about it, but these elements will never be able to bring a story to life and give it meaning. To write a truly great book, story structure is far more important than talent or having a distinctive voice will ever be. That’s not to say that imaginative plotting will deliver this effect on its own either. No. But, a firm grasp of story structure will set you down the path of success.
In this limited podcast series, Autumn Birt and Jesper Schmidt – two bestselling authors and writing coaches - will plot a story from scratch in to help YOU understand Story Structure better.
Friday Nov 18, 2022
Episode 1 – The Seven Pillars of Story Structure
Friday Nov 18, 2022
Friday Nov 18, 2022
In the first episode of ‘Write the Story’ podcast, Jesper and Autumn discuss the premise they've developed in preparation for this podcast and look for ways to improve upon the general structure of the story.
Do you need more insight on developing a story premise: https://books2read.com/StoryIdeas
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy
Friday Nov 18, 2022
Episode 2 – Character Development
Friday Nov 18, 2022
Friday Nov 18, 2022
The time has come to develop the characters further; especially Dramna, the protagonist.
Jesper and Autumn discuss character roles - also for the secondary characters, making a Priestess much more interesting - before, in the second half of this episode, the focus is on developing the personality for the protagonist of the story.
Do you want the book, Jesper and Autumn are using as a guide for this podcast series? Get it here: https://books2read.com/Plot-Development
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy
Friday Dec 02, 2022
Episode 3 – Character Arc and Personalities for Secondary Characters
Friday Dec 02, 2022
Friday Dec 02, 2022
In this episode of the Write the Story podcast, Jesper and Autumn flesh out the character arc for the main protagonist, Dramna.
It's also time to expand upon the personalities of the secondary characters in the story.
Do you want the book, Jesper and Autumn are using as a guide for this podcast series?
Get it here: https://books2read.com/Plot-Development
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Episode 4 – The Intro, Inciting Incident, Reaction Phase and New Info
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Friday Dec 16, 2022
When creating stories they consist of some cornerstones. Autumn and Jesper call these Plot Posts.
Plot Posts are intended as a “catch all” phrase for the major turning points of a novel. There are seven of these Plot Posts: The Intro, Inciting Incident, Reaction Phase, New Info (or Dark Night of the Soul), Develop Plan, Climax and Wrap Up.
In this episode of the Write the Story Podcast, Autumn and Jesper discuss the first four of the plot posts. They develop The Intro, Inciting Incident, Reaction Phase, New Info (or Dark Night of the Soul).
The Intro constitutes the start of your novel.
The Inciting Incident is the first major turning point of the novel and one that changes everything. Up until this point, the protagonist have been busy dealing with the mini story in the Intro, but he or she is now going to cross a threshold where the hero’s “normal” world will come to an abrupt halt. The change is caused by the resolution of the Intro’s smaller problems, catapulting the character into the Inciting Incident.
The Reaction phase is a vehicle, used to show character change and foreshadowing what’s to come.
The New Info is where the discovery of new information forces the protagonist to face reality. It’s where you’re handing the keys-to-greater-insight over to the character, and as a consequence, it changes how the hero decides to move forward.
Do you want the book, Jesper and Autumn are using as a guide for this podcast series?
Get it here: https://books2read.com/Plot-Development
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy
Friday Dec 30, 2022
Episode 5 – Develop Plan or Planning Phase of the Story
Friday Dec 30, 2022
Friday Dec 30, 2022
Develop Plan – or at times Autumn and Jesper refer to it as the Planning Phase – makes up the second half of the middle of your story. There’s actually quite a lot to achieve here before we bump into the next Plot Post, the Climax.
In this part of the story, you’ll be setting up the conclusion to the character arc while simultaneously allowing enough time for both the hero and the villain to make the necessary “chess moves”.
Throughout this Plot Post, the hero will gain the resources needed to achieve the goal. It could be skills, knowledge, allies… Whatever it is, it’ll elevate the character from being a novice to an intermediate level.
While all of this is taking place, the pace of the story will also pick up and escalate the tension further.
In order to handle this escalating tension, and add some structure to it from a story plotting perspective, we’re going to build out five levels of hurdles and lulls.
Listen in to episode 5 of Write the Story podcast and hear how Autumn and Jesper go about it.
Do you want the book, Jesper and Autumn are using as a guide for this podcast series?
Get it here: https://books2read.com/Plot-Development
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy
Friday Jan 13, 2023
Episode 6 – The Climax and the Wrap Up
Friday Jan 13, 2023
Friday Jan 13, 2023
All the work done so far was leading up to this point – the Climax and the Wrap Up.
While it’s fair to assume that everyone understands that the Climax is the final showdown, where the protagonist will either achieve or fail the goal, it’s not as safe a bet to expect that the true purpose of the Climax is always that clear. Unless you’re able to tie beginning and end together in a satisfying way - confirming to the reader that this was the story they had been hoping for – the ending won’t be very enjoyable.
The Climax is created from five key events. In this episode of the Write the Story podcast, Autumn and Jesper discuss the Climax of their short story.
Once that has been achieved, they move on to the Wrap Up.
If the Climax was what made the entire book worthwhile, the Wrap Up is what sets the stage for how the novel will be remembered. It cements the final feelings or longings in the readers mind and is also where you create the setup for another book, if there is more to come.
Do you want the book, Jesper and Autumn are using as a guide for this podcast series? Get it here: https://books2read.com/Plot-Development
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy
Friday Jan 27, 2023
Episode 7 - Sub Plots and How to Create Strong Chapters
Friday Jan 27, 2023
Friday Jan 27, 2023
Sub plots can add to the context and complexity of a novel or they can derail the entire plot. Why one sub plot works and another doesn’t, isn’t always clear.
In this episode, Jesper initially believes that there isn’t much more to add in terms of sub plots to their short story, but he will soon think otherwise once he and Autumn starts discussing story structure.
Sub plots are like the instruments of a symphony orchestra. The wonderful sound of percussion instruments mixes with strings, woodwinds and brass until everything melds together in a unified whole. However, when the orchestra members train, they spend hours upon hours practicing in both isolation and as a group. When the day of the concert finally arrives, they take to the stage and plays as if they’ve been performing a single, fluent, melody all along.
You can think of sub plots in much the same way.
When plotting, every story layer is added one by one, yet all the reader experiences is a novel where each chapter advances the story and develops the characters. How the writer actually managed to string many different elements together and deliver such a harmonized story remains invisible.
Another part of writing an engaging story is how chapters are structured. Autumn and Jesper explain this concept in detail in today’s episode of Write the Story.
The fact that there is a framework in place for structuring chapters doesn’t put restrictions on your imagination. Quite the opposite.
In general, each of your chapters contains a healthy degree of momentum where the protagonist’s goals are clear. A sense of conflict and uncertainty is also constantly present, but let’s break it down step by step.
Here is, Autumn and Jesper’s chapter template:
1. Character Goal2. The Hook3. Conflict & Dilemma4. Reaction & Decision5. The Disaster
All will be explained. Tune in and enjoy the episode.
Do you want the book, Jesper and Autumn are using as a guide for this podcast series?
Get it here: https://books2read.com/Plot-Development
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy
Friday Feb 10, 2023
Episode 8 - Opening and Closing Lines of a Story
Friday Feb 10, 2023
Friday Feb 10, 2023
In the eight, and final episode, of Write the Story podcast, Autumn and Jesper starts out by reviewing whether the introduction of the protagonist in chapter one has been handled well enough.
After that, they take a closer look at the opening and closing lines of the story.
The opening line is the first chance to snare the reader’s attention and get them into the story. Such a demand could suggest an impossible mission for a single sentence, but as you’ll learn in this episode, that’s actually not the case.
A great opening line should: Show the character, Capture the soul of the story, Invoke curiosity in the reader, and could make use of Dialog.
The closing line is a bit different. Here, you need to pay attention to Pacing, whether or not this sentence is Sending the character Off in a strong way and Hints at the Future.
Do you want the book, Jesper and Autumn are using as a guide for this podcast series?
Get it here: https://books2read.com/Plot-Development
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/AmWritingFantasy
About Write the Story
As my writing partner, Jesper, and I set out to create a new story, we decided to record our conversations. This turned into the ‘Write the Story’ podcast. A show dedicated to make you a better writer. To help you understand story structure better and use the methods we’ve attained after writing and publishing more than twenty books between us.
We’re both bestselling authors. We are writing coaches and the creators behind multiple author courses. We’re also the hosts of the former Am Writing Fantasy podcast. You get to listen in to our conversation about this new story of ours. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the process of creative writing.
Write the Story podcast is a limited series which starts late summer 2022.
—Autumn