Listen Now

Debby is thrilled to welcome Chris Trapper to the Writer’s Block.  Chris is a singer/songwriter with a soulful, honeyed tenor, sly humor, and knack for melody.  But even more, he’s a storyteller.  Today we will discuss his songwriting process and how we can use the tools of songwriting to improve our own writing. Melody often comes first Chord structure follows Instrumental of the song is third Lyrics often written last Where does the music come from? What about rhyme schemes timing…what are the rules? May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Today we welcome Charisse Glenn of TheLetGo.com to discuss the importance of clearing energy from what was, allowing what will be to have space to grow., In our books and in our soul, we need that white space, that blank space, to create stories that speak the truth in our heart May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

We at the Writer’s Block get asked all the time where one should look to find inspiration for their next book or project. Look no further than this episode as we journey down Deborah’s path of inspiration for her 4th book “The Wisdom Of Women; 10 Decades, 10 Women, 5 Questions” Inspiration is all around you just need to see it when it arrives…pay attention to the world around you Time is always of the essence…write now Write your ideas down immediately Tap into your internal guidance   May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Normally the ladies of the Writers Block are the interviewer.  Today Debby will switch roles and share her experience being the interviewee. May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Today Jessica Castillo, author of The Mark of the Dragon Whisperer, available on Amazon and Barns and Noble’s website, joins Debby to discuss the importance of transporting your readers into the world of you story.        What is world building Not much difference between fiction and non-fiction you must bring your reader in How does the time period play into the story? Show your reader don’t tell them…adding tiny details can pull your reader in deeper How can a cliffhanger ending help sell the next book? Using foreshadowing can help tie multiple books in your series May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Shelly and Debby have both finished their memoirs and will share what they learned through this very personal experience. How does it feel to finish? It’s done what question should you ask your self before moving to the next step? What did writing this book teach you? May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Join the ladies of The Writers Block as they explore the pitfalls to writing memoir. The last thing you want is for your book to fail, pick up a few tips and some easily guidelines to create a masterpiece, because a Memoir done right is an art! Should you write a Memoir? Books fail because of poor voice Transformation What is your pace? Its good to have a writing group to help you with all of the aspects of pacing and voice Bad sentences lack the five senses If you are writing about something that is a popular you should have more or more vetted credentials May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Barbara Wallace award winning author of romance and mystery will continue her discussion of the most common writing mistakes.  Weak endings are bad in lovemaking and in stories.  Debby, Shelly and Barbara will help you reach a great climax to your book. If the reader remembers the ending, they will forgive any early misgivings Don’t let your deadline stop you from flushing out your endings Is the pot so complicated that you can’t get out of the story satisfactorily? You should have an arc for your character (the murder gets solved, someone dies…) Readers like when the story ties up the loose ends You shouldn’t drag the ending out too long either Happy ending are not always satisfying endings May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

2019 has been a crazy ride for the women of the Writer's Block.  Join the ladies as they revisit the resolutions, they set one year ago today.  The past year has been like a shot of adrenaline so 2020 is sure to sparkle.   May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Barbara Wallace award winning author of romance and mystery will continue her discussion of the most common writing mistakes.  Shelly and Debby and Barbara will teach you how to make your characters memorable. We spend a lot of time developing main characters but how much time do we spend on secondary characters? Is the secondary character necessary? They exist to further the plot How do you choose who is important to move the story along? Holmes, who lacks social awareness, had Watson to balance him out May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Barbara Wallace award winning author of romance and mystery will continue her discussion of the most common writing mistakes.  Debby and Shelly will explore the benefit of showing rather than telling, which include how to emotionally connect your readers with your characters. It’s a weakness many authors have Telling is just giving the information Showing is demonstrating the narrative through the Human experience often through the Use all the senses Who is noticing what and why? Lay off the “ly” words Small details rather than the big picture Powerful verbs and adjectives Be specific to the character Dialogue vs simple narrative May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Without conflict, you have no story…good conflict is multi-layered.  A great story has two kinds of conflict we will discuss on today’s show.  External conflict is the adversity the hero faces from outside forces. Internal conflict is born of the characters thoughts, fears, obligations, needs, desires, etc. Conflict is not Constant bickering Solved quickly Balance your internal and external conflicts Character driven stories often center around internal conflict May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Pacing is the speed with which your narrative unfolds. The Writer’s Block welcomes Barbara Wallace to talk about the importance of pacing. Your book should be like a symphony The pace should be variable There should be a purpose to your pacing At what point in the writing process should pacing be addressed? Language and sentence structure can be used to control pace May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Today on the block, Barbara Wallace joins us to discuss the importance of honing your dialogue skills... in writing.  Dialogue is not just conversation between characters.  It is a vital story tool that, if done properly, should: Advance the plot Can often point out subtext Reveal story information Provide insight into character Heighten tension Character’s with heavy accents…don’t overdo it. Transition from very brief dialect and then make it easy for the reader going forward Repetitive words that you hear in real life have no place in the story…”Um, Like, Well” readers don’t want to read them over and over again Sex noises during love scenes are a no no Don’t over vary or over use your tags…”She Said, they replied, and he asked” are examples of good easy tags that can lubricate the dialogue Dialogue is not a tool for info dumping May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

A good setting isn't just where your story takes place.  It is an integral part of your story, sometimes to the point where it could actually become a character itself.  When you are in your characters POV, you're not just writing what they're saying and thinking... you are writing where they are, what is happening around them, and what stimuli is involved.  Written correctly, what they notice about their environment can tell so much about a character.  What a real estate agent notices about a house will not be the same thing as what a criminal breaking in will notice.  Barbara and Debby will share ways to make your scene stand out by using setting most effectively. Setting is one of the main characters of the book The setting is another way to reveal hints about different characters. A criminal is going to look at a room different than someone who stages homes for sale Choose your scenes that will work your plot Setting can be similar archetypes: Sad theme set on a rainy day Setting can be opposing archetypes: Sad theme on a bright sunny day May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Barbara Wallace, award winning author of romance and mystery, will continue her discussion of the most common writing mistakes.  This week's topic is Character Derailment.  This is when the character does something so "out of character" that the writer loses credibility and the reader loses interest.  Characters need to feel like real people to the reader so the writer can't make them do things just to move the story along or to hit a plot point.  Is your hero too stupid to live? Every scene should have conflict but it needs to stay within the confines of the character that you have created When you really understand your character you will be less likely to derail them What is pre-writing? What is your character's motivation? May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Barbara Wallace and Debby will discuss one of the biggest mistakes rookie writers make... info dumping.  To be fair, info dumping ins't limited to beginner writers, but the experienced writer usually knows when the words need to hit the cutting room floor.   Back-story, Transition scenes, and world building are three of the common dumping grounds.  Barbara and Debby will discuss how information can be woven through-out the story Too much too quick vs picking and choosing what is important Let the story play out like and onion layer after layer What would be important to the character in that scene right now Sometimes you do have to catch the reader up in the case of time traveling...6 months later... Science fiction tends to have the most info dumping with respect to technology May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Barbara Wallace, award winning author of romance and mystery, will join Debby today to discuss the ten biggest mistakes writers make.  They will show you how to identify them, how to avoid them, and how to fix them when you do make them.  This week they're discussing what makes a good beginning that will grab your reader and hook them into your story.  A good opening scene will introduce us to the main character and their big problem.  It will set the tone of the book and hint at the story's theme.  Most of all, a good beginning will make the reader want to keep reading! A good beginning should grab the reader Set the tone Introduce the main character Identifies the main conflict Never break the promise with the reader Story action vs action action What is your character's motivation? Do you really need a prologe or is that cheating? May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Author Jill Sylvester joins the Writer's Block to discuss her latest book, Trust Your Intuition.  In her book she shares 100 ways to transform anxiety and depression for stronger mental health.  As a licensed mental health counselor, she guides people to health and wellness. Self published Why 100 ways and not the top 10? How did she find her intuition? This book is part of a series Fiction work to follow How does Jill find time to Write, be a therapist, and a mother? Why does she think that anxiety a good thing? May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.

Debby doesn't like traditional marketing tools so she's broken the rules and created her own marketing plan that resonates with her.  Today she launches the grand opening of her Etsy store, DeborahMonkBooks.  From her Seeds of Wisdom hand-made books to her inspirational jewelry, the shop will be home to all the art from her heart.   May you be inspired, feel empowered, and B. Well. All this and more on this week’s episode of The Writer’s Block Podcast recorded at the Studio 21 Podcast Café and hosted on the United Podcast Network.