No "I" in Writing

We talk about the advantages and pitfalls of writing groups, debate team style! Christy tries to convince Chris, a writing group skeptic, that there are advantages to an author-focused feedback group. We talk about how to get good feedback and how to establish strong, productive relationships with writing partners and groups.

Shout outs:

• Diana Ma
• Amanda Kost
• Felicia Rose Chavez’s “The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop”: FELICIA...

We chat about where we are in our novel projects. Christy talks about her slow crawl towards the end of her book. We discuss how synopses can help you clarify narrative arc and how writing friends can help you get out of your own way. Chris explains how his project management expertise applies to crafting a novel. Christy tries to convince Chris to channel his anxiety into a horror novel and encourages him to write down of his mess...

We’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time. We finally got to chat with Terry Scheuer (Christy’s dad) about his many concerns around writing and editing.

We cover so much ground in this one, it’s like a writing (and editing) 101 class! Have you ever wondered how editors do their work while still honoring the author’s voice and intention? Terry did! He asked us about it. He also had concerns about the definition of “goo...

In this episode, Chris does himself (and Christy) a huge favor and writes a synopsis of Interface, his work-in-progress. They discuss how creating the synopsis was very clarifying and how it helped him identify and solve problems with character development, plot, and pacing.

Shouts Out

• All the introverts at the Scheuer family Christmas party! (Like, we literally shouted at them)
• Toby Hinnebusch (Rest in peace, cousin)




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The internet isn’t terrible when you ask people to be creative! Chris gives examples of how he has reached out to his social media community and incorporated their feedback into his creative processes.

Chris asked the social media hive-mind to help:

• Come up with the name of a job in the Universe of his latest book.
• Believably describe how mushrooms could make vaccines
• Help make the disease, scab, a believable pathogen in H...

Chris and Christy talk with Sitong Che about her many creative projects, including a fun and challenging story concept she’s been working on. We discuss multiple approaches to getting to know your main characters, how putting characters in conflict can teach you about your story, and some of the differences between performance-based art and stories on the page. We also talk about Sitong’s collaborative process and why both Chris an...

Note that there are many potential spoilers for Chris’ new book. If you don’t want to know any of the plot twists, please do not listen to this podcast. If you would like to hear an author struggle mightily in a very normal way, or you would like to see how a book changes from the author’s original conception, this is the podcast for you!

Christy practices some book coach magic to get Chris to think about issues with his current wo...

In which we start with a slightly strange question that Christy had for Chris: What if we talked about creative collaboration between characters in a story?

Being able to collaborate is a mindset, so can you collaborate with yourself? More specifically, can letting your characters work things out amongst themselves count as a version of collaboration?

Tangents include how the Scheuer family Thanksgiving kid table changed the cou...

In which, we talk about the pros and cons of self-publishing – and why creative collaboration is central to the self-publishing process.

We also discuss Chris’s favorite things about being a writer, why it is so important to understand what you want to get out of the publishing process, and why Chris is mad at the whole game of golf.

Shouts out:

• Todd Lubsen
• Carly Jayne (@lovelikesalt on Instagram)
• Angelina Odievich
<...

On this episode of “No ‘I’ in Writing,” we talk about where Chris is in his novel-writing process. Chris talks about the different drafting processes he has used for each book of his trilogy and opens up about elements of this novel that are making him feel insecure. (Giant Bugs!)

Christy talks about ways to help identify the main character (which is harder and more complicated than you might think), and how to structure an in...

Christy gives tells us what she did and didn’t take from Chris’ advice and gives us an update on the impact that their coaching session from Episode 11 had on her forward progress.

We also touch on how coaching is different from mentoring or just giving advice.

Shouts out:

·      Writing Excuses Podcast (https://writingexcuses.com/)

·      The Coaching Habit (https://boxofcrayons.com/boc/the-coaching-habit-book/ )

·      Terry...

On this episode of “No ‘I’ in Writing,” Chris puts on his book coaching hat, and we talk about where Christy is in her novel-writing process and strategies she can use to get unstuck and start writing forward again.

We talk about why it’s important to get a first draft out quickly, how to tie deadlines to more specific goals, and why Sauron has a backstory and every Orc does not (aka why you should focus on developing a single anta...

In which we discuss the importance of constructive feedback in the creative collaboration process and how to give and receive it effectively to improve the quality of the work.

Hear why Chris’s new novel is currently full of square brackets and all about his terrible teenage poetry. How to enlist the help of your beta readers and the kinds of feedback you might hope to get from them. Why diversity is important in your beta readersh...

We talk about pantsers and plotters. Who are Pantsers? What are Plotters? How does one collaborate with such people? Where do you fall on this spectrum?  

Hear about how Chris pantses his characters and how Christy gardens her plots. Learn how writing his series moves Chris away from pantsing toward plotting and architecting.

Fact check for this episode: It was George RR Martin who mentioned “Gardeners” as a metaphor for a writing...

Content warning: There is mention of the mass culling of fuzzy creatures in this episode.

When Christy told her friend Phil Partington that we were addressing the question “How do you begin to write?,” he asked, “What do you mean? How do you begin writing a book? How do you begin a writing session? How do you begin writing again after a long break?” In this episode we cover ideas for all of those moments of beginning. We also cover...

In which we talk about large language model AIs, Chris’ Book Systemic. Existential threats to both writers and editors. Why computer-generated art makes us lonely. The role of the writer/artist in the era of AI. Do artisan books have any appeal? Are we making up reality as we go? Mrs. Thenell’s philosophy class. How to be a good person in a ubiquitous surveillance society.

• ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com/)
• Eva Moon, Pinocch...

This is the second in our series on editing, in which Christina and Chris discuss how writers can help keep each other on track and how to know if you’re ready to hear critique and feedback.

Shouts out to: Amanda Kost, Rogan Carr, Bobby Gilliam, Terry Scheuer, Amy Lodwig, Chris’ daughter Anya

Various links and such:

• Chris' Novels: Systemic and Host: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BP9VDQ8C ⁠
• Christina's website: ⁠https:...

In which Christina and Chris talk about what a book coach is and does, developmental editing, and how your non-witting friends can help develop your book.

Shouts out to: Chris’ wife Amy and, of course Christina’s daughter, Freya

Various links and such:

• Stephen King’s On Writing: https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Memoir-Craft-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B000FC0SIM
• Link to Chris' Novels: Systemic and Host: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/...

In which Christina and Chris talk about how they collaborated to build a flat, milk-toast, antagonist into an anger-inducing structure-providing full-fledged villain. 

Terry Scheuer, Chad McEvoy, and Chris' Mother-in-law all get shouts out.

Various links and such:

• Link to Chris' Novels: Systemic and Host: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BP9VDQ8C ⁠
• Christina's website: ⁠https://www.christinascheuer.com⁠
• Chris'...