Write Better Together
Write Better Together is an interactive podcast hosted by writer/educator Emily Brooks and writing instructor/conference speaker Jon Meyers—designed with YOU in mind. After months of extensive strategic planning, Write Better Together is trying to incorporate your needs and input into every aspect of building a community of encouragement, support, and hope to make you comfortable exploring more deeply the writer lifestyle.
Episodes
Stories contain many elements, but which are the most important to get right?
We discuss the three things you must have in a story as well as whether or not characters must change over the course of a novel or screenplay.
00:00-3:28 Why do literature teachers teach 6 or 10 elements rather than just 3?
3:28-6:28 Why hero, goal, and obstacle are the most essential elements to story
6:28-7:03 How to turn your idea into a story
7:03-...
We interviewed romance author Pinar Tarhan about her unconventional productivity tips for writers! Because we had so much to talk about this is only part one of our amazing conversation!
No writer is the same, and so we need to discover what advice techniques work for us. Pinar Tarhan helps break down the "rules" of writing so we can write more freely.
Pinar Tarhan is the author of several romance novels that even men l...
We talk about how our brains crave stories, the importance of free will, the limitations of our brains, and how we might even need to reshape the stories our brains "automatically" tell us.
Why and how do our brains create stories?
Neuroscientist Rachel Barr explains on her instagram account how our brains form stories as an automatic response.
Does this answer diminish our free will?
If our brains tell stories to fil...
As writers, we are often compelled to tell the truth.
Kerrie Droban is an author, podcaster, and criminal defense attorney who is committed to the truth. Today, we talk with her about her true crime books and podcast and how she uses narrative storytelling to reveal reality.
We learn about what compelled her to share these stories and how she dug deep into each character and event to not only get things right but also to make the ...
How do you revise your log lines?
We practice revising log lines by reading Emily's log line for her work-in-progress!
Our hope is that these critique sessions help you work on your own log lines and pitches. If you have a log line you would like to send us to critique, please feel free to share it in the comments or email it to us at writebettertogethernow@gmail.com!
SHOUT OUTS
Jon Meyers recommends the book Writing and Selli...
There are some disagreements (and outright confusion) going on about what defines speculative fiction. So we hope to clarify things with the help of the Oxford English Dictionary and Neil Gaiman's introduction to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (which is now in our Bookshop!).
Have you ever come up with a great concept and then discovered that someone else is already doing it?
It may be discouraging at first, but we actually think this can be a good thing.
Today, we discuss why we think you should keep writing.
CALL TO ACTION RESPONSES
Dani Martinek responded to Bob Sáenz's Call to Action from Episode 3—Go outside and write a log line about the first thing you see. You can learn more about Dani here...
We read the log lines we wrote in response to Bob Sáenz Call to Action from Episode 3!
We share our favorite advice for writers and why it impacted our own writing journeys. Emily shares a lesson from Brandon Sanderson that shifted her mindset so she could write freely, while Jon Meyers uses a lesson in cheesemaking to explain his favorite tip for getting details right.
RESPONSES
We heard from our friend Morgan Stevens, whose log-line reminded Jon Meyers of a poem by our poet laureate, Ada Limón.
BIG IDEA
David Lynch uses a stick, but how else can you judge your own writing? We talked about thinking-feelings, getting feedback, and other ways we can know our work is finished.
CALL TO ACTION RESPONSES
This week, we heard from actor and screenwriter Ashley Hargrove, and Kadey Bernhardt, editor of WriterCon Magazine!
SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO...
We respond to our earlier Call to Action—If money and training were no object, what would you do?
We discuss Michael Jamin's recent video on prioritizing writing over being "well rounded," and we praise his book, A Paper Orchestra!
In episode 1, we argued that having hobbies enhances your writing and your life. Screenwriter Michael Jamin, who worked on King of the Hill among others, has a difference perspective: Writers should devote their free time to their craft. So we decided to talk about!
What do you think?...
We were honored to have Bob Sáenz as our first guest on the podcast to talk about networking and embracing imposter syndrome!
Bob Sáenz is a screenwriter whose work includes: CHURCH PEOPLE (Shaw 2021), A DASH OF CHRISTMAS (Dunne 2023), and THE CHRISTMAS YULE BLOG (Hawthorn Doyle 2020) Find the Jon Meyers name drop!
He is also the author of Jessica's Vampire Diary, a humorous YA novel, and That's Not the Way it Works: A no-...
In this episode, we talk about how everything you have experienced has brought you to where you are now.
Your past isn't history. It's still part of you today, and that means you can still learn and grow from it.
And, of course, as artists, it means we can draw from our experiences to create meaningful work.
Call to Action Responses
Our response today came from David Hal Chester. You can read about his work here!
Correc...
In this episode, we talk about the importance of non-writing hobbies and interests for inspiring ideas for your stories, poems, screenplays, and more!
Also, we hope you like birds, because Emily Brooks waxes eloquent about her obsession with bird watching.
Read our full show notes at: https://writebettertogether.com/how-hobbies-enhance-your-writing-and-your-life/
Try as they might, Emily Brooks and Jon Meyers can't fully explain this podcast without your involvement.
Note: Oops! We forgot to share the details of our speaking appearance!
We are speaking at The Southern Oasis Film Festival! Come see us! https://www.facebook.com/SouthernOasisFF
Read our full show notes at https://writebettertogether.com/episode-0-who-what-where-and-more-than-sometimes-why/
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