Master Fiction Writing

Stuart Wakefield
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With 25+ years in theatre, media, and coaching, I’ve honed the art of storytelling. Now, I’m thrilled to share that expertise with you on “Master Fiction Writing.” Whether you’re crafting memorable characters or building gripping plots, each episode is backed by examples from literary pros. Recognised as a top book coach, my mission is to help your stories shine. Ready to master the craft? Subscribe today!

  1. 20 HR AGO

    Worldbuilding Pitfalls That Quietly Sabotage Your Story

    This episode's for anyone writing speculative fiction who’s ever vanished into worldbuilding “for five minutes” and resurfaced three hours later with a fully functioning sewer system and… no actual scene. This episode is about the quiet ways worldbuilding can sabotage your story when it becomes a substitute for plot, character, pacing, and reader trust. Not because worldbuilding is bad. Because it’s powerful. And power needs a steering wheel. In the episode, I break down the biggest traps and how to fix them fast, including: - The World Bible Trap, where planning replaces drafting. - The Museum Tour Opening, where the story starts with a brochure. - The Encyclopaedia Dump, where exposition sits on the reader’s chest. - The Currency Exchange Problem, where too many invented terms overload the brain. - The Map Is Not a Plot problem, where geography pretends it’s narrative. - Rules Without Consequences, where magic and tech don’t actually bite. - The Stakes Inflation Spiral, where you start with the apocalypse and have nowhere to go. - The Contradiction Sinkhole, where reader trust quietly leaks away. You’ll also get a simple “worldbuilding that serves story” framework you can apply to a current WIP in 20 minutes, plus a 10-minute rewrite challenge to turn exposition into action. If you’re drafting or revising fantasy, sci-fi, horror, alternate history, or slipstream, this one will give you instant traction. Listen, then try this quick diagnostic: if you cut a paragraph of worldbuilding, what actually breaks? If the answer is “nothing”… congratulations, you’ve found a scene-level diet plan. If you enjoy the episode, like, share, and subscribe, then come on over to www.thebookcoach.co to check out my story development service.

    18 min

  2. 6 FEB

    Back to the Book: Restarting a Shelved Draft Fast

    Back to the Book: Restarting a Shelved Draft Fast is a practical, no-nonsense episode for writers who’ve stepped away from a manuscript and want to re-enter it without rereading the whole thing. You’ll learn a 60-minute re-entry sprint to regain story context fast, a 2-hour reset to rebuild your “story map,” and a simple toolkit for avoiding the biggest time-wasters like polishing old chapters instead of writing new pages. If opening your draft makes you think, “Who are these people and why are they in a barn?”, this episode will get you writing again today.

    9 min

  3. 18/12/2025

    Set Up Your 2026 Writing Year: A Plan That Survives Real Life

    Set yourself up for a 2026 writing year that actually survives real life. In this episode, you’ll build a simple, motivating plan without hustle-culture guilt or impossible schedules. We’ll choose a one- to three-word theme to guide your decisions, pick three clear priorities (plus one powerful “not this year”), map your year by quarters, and set a weekly minimum that keeps you moving even when life gets loud. You’ll also learn how to put writing into your calendar for the next two weeks, create a few tiny systems that make showing up easier, and use a straightforward reset plan when you miss a week (because you will - and that’s normal). Grab a notebook and follow along: by the end, you’ll have a writing map you can trust, and a next step you can take today.

    9 min

  4. 04/12/2025

    The Pink Plot Machine: Why Legally Blonde Is a Story-Structure Powerhouse

    Is Legally Blonde secretly one of the best-plotted films of the 2000s? In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, host Stuart Wakefield performs a full story autopsy on Elle Woods’ journey from dumped sorority president to victorious Harvard lawyer. We dig into how the film builds a rock-solid causal chain (where every major beat grows logically from the last) and how Elle’s external quest (Harvard, the internship, the murder trial) welds perfectly to her internal arc from “choose me” to “I choose myself.” Along the way, we unpack the emotional climax after Callahan’s harassment, the perm-fuelled courtroom payoff, and why the Bend and Snap is the least important thing in this script. You’ll walk away with concrete questions and exercises you can apply to your own story, whether you’re writing novels, screenplays, or plays. Spoilers for Legally Blonde abound, but the craft lessons are evergreen.

    24 min

  5. 26/11/2025

    The Inciting Incident Isn’t Big. It’s Binding.

    If your opening goes boom but your hero can shrug and carry on, that’s fireworks, not story. In this episode I breaks down the real job of an inciting incident - to bind your protagonist to an obligation that costs something now and points the story arrow. Here's what you'll learn: What “binding” means in plain English and how to spot it fastThe five ways a moment can stick Bond, Irreversibility, New stakes, Direction, PressureA spoken mini-exercise you can even do while walking the dogA quick diagnostic to fix fake incidents that are loud but optionalA simple before and after that turns a limp delivery into a clock-ticking crisisWe'll also look at: Pride and Prejudice Darcy’s slight and Lizzy’s promise to herselfLegally Blonde Elle’s public vow to Harvard LawA Streetcar Named Desire Blanche’s choice to stay and concealWant help binding your own opening? Start here and visit ⁠⁠https://www.thebookcoach.co⁠⁠

    12 min

  6. 18/11/2025

    Because > And Then: Building Stories with Causality (feat. Pride & Prejudice + Knives Out)

    And then” isn’t a plot, it’s a queue. In this craft-forward episode, we swap “and then” for the more muscular because / but / therefore and show how tight causality turns scenes into story. You’ll get a clear, jargon-free framework for chaining choices to consequences, plus two case studies that prove the point: a mini-autopsy of Pride & Prejudice and a contemporary comparison with Knives Out. In this episode you’ll learn: Why causality (not act labels) is the real backbone of structure How to convert event beats into decision beats with costs The Because/But/Therefore test to expose sagging “and then” sequences A quick Coincidence Audit (allowed to enter a story, never to exit it) A repeatable Scene Ledger: Goal → Opposition → Outcome → New Problem → Forced Next Action

    10 min

  7. 11/11/2025

    Whose Eyes, Which Truth? Mastering POV in Your Novel (with Live Rewrites)

    POV isn’t just a grammar choice - it’s the engine that controls intimacy, suspense, and what your reader knows when. In this craft-deep episode, we demystify point of view by breaking it into three practical dials (access, scope, and distance) then walk through the pros and cons of first person, third limited (close and deep), free indirect style, omniscient, objective, second person, epistolary, multiple-POV, and stream of consciousness. To make it real, we take a baseline scene (Edward at Inkerman hearing Pendleton’s voice) and rewrite it in each POV, showing exactly what changes on the page and how those changes shape reader experience, for better and for worse. You’ll learn how to pick the right lens for a scene, avoid head-hopping and tense drift, trim filter words for immediacy, and keep character voice aligned with era and education. Ideal for both first-time novelists and seasoned writers tuning their instrument!

    24 min

  8. 29/10/2025

    Author Brain vs. Editor Brain (and When to Use Each)

    Stop polishing your first paragraph into oblivion. In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, we split your process into two clean modes: Author Brain for discovery and Editor Brain for decision—used at different times for different jobs. You’ll hear a live “before/after” paragraph where we draft messy, then run a tight verbs-and-cuts pass that sharpens pace and tension without killing momentum. We’ll also set up a simple 30-minute loop you can run twice to produce real pages today. You’ll learn: The core jobs of Author Brain (invent) vs. Editor Brain (select) Why separating them in time stops stalls and unlocks flow The TK tactic and “Again:” restart to keep drafting forward How a verbs-and-cuts pass lifts energy, clarity, and pace fast The one-line scene change test to confirm forward motion

    9 min
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About

With 25+ years in theatre, media, and coaching, I’ve honed the art of storytelling. Now, I’m thrilled to share that expertise with you on “Master Fiction Writing.” Whether you’re crafting memorable characters or building gripping plots, each episode is backed by examples from literary pros. Recognised as a top book coach, my mission is to help your stories shine. Ready to master the craft? Subscribe today!

Information

  • Creator
    Stuart Wakefield
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    78
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Stuart Wakefield
  • Show Website
    Master Fiction Writing

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