The Creative Writer's Toolbelt

Andrew Chamberlain
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The Creative Writer's Toolbelt

The Creative Writers Toolbelt gives practical accessible advice and encouragement to Creative writers. Each episode explores an aspect of creative writing technique, with examples, allowing you to apply what you learn immediately to your writing. We also throw in the occasional interview with writers and other artists, exploring their wisdom on subjects like story, style, character and the writing process

  1. Do you know your dead salmon from your downpipe?

    10/14/2022

    Do you know your dead salmon from your downpipe?

    Hello and welcome to one of my occasional episodes of the Creative Writers Toolbelt, this is episode 181, and I want to ask you a question - Do you know your dead salmon from your downpipe? If you know what these phrases mean, well done! But whether you do or don't, please do keep listening. In any event, I hope you found that title amusing, and that would be entirely appropriate as the subject of this episode is comedic writing, the subtle art of writing something funny. And to join me to explore this is my good friend the blogger, speak and author Ruth Leigh. Ruth is the author of the Issy Smugge series, the third installment of which is titled “The Continued Times of Isabella M Smugge.” Has just been released as of September 2022. If you’ve ever thought about comedic writing , or you’ve discovered just how difficult it is to do well, then this episode is for you – enjoy!

    35 min

  2. 08/31/2022

    Getting the marketing basics right with Written Word Media's Clayton Noblit

    This episode is a conversation with Written Word Media's Senior Marketing Manager, Clayton Noblit. In this episode we talk about what basics an author needs to focus on, using our own email lists, Facebook pages, and social media, and web pages, we also talk about how Written Word Media can take away some of the pain that authors at every level of success will feel.

    56 min

  3. 07/20/2022

    Episode 179: Escaping the submissions treadmill: could a service like Submitit be the way forward?

    Erik Harper Klass is the founder of Submitit, a company that directly addresses the stress and uncertainty of the submissions treadmill. Submitting your work, again and again, can be time-consuming and exhaustive, especially if you get more than enough rejection slips to cover the walls of your bathroom.  Submitit is a company that takes on the job of reviewing the journals to which writers might submit their work and decides on the best places to make a submission. Submitit will select the journals to submit to, craft the submission, and even make some of the editorial improvements that might be required. Submitit takes the bad dating app reality of trying to find a journal for your work and replaces it with the wise and kindly matchmaker, finding the best match for your work, and approaching the right journals. if you are writing literary fiction or narrative non-fiction this kind of service might be helpful for you. Find out more at www.submititnow.com

    59 min

  4. 07/01/2022

    Episode 178: Trust the process that gives you joy! With Jessie Kwak

    My guest for this episode is the non-fiction and science fiction writer Jessie Kwak.  In this episode, we talk about the different writing processes that people use, how to choose the right one, and why some writers have found the pandemic such a difficult time. We discuss the importance of finding a writing process that brings us joy, how essential it is for us to know ourselves as writers, and when and how to hire the right professionals to help you with your writing. I had a great time talking to Jessie I hope you find the conversation useful to listen to, here it is.

    49 min

  5. 06/03/2022

    Episode 177: The mind of the warrior. A conversation with Nick Narbutovskih of the US Air Force Special Operations Command

    Nick Narbutovskih grew up knowing that he wanted to be a pilot in the military, now Assistant Operations Officer Narbutovskih with Air Force Special Operations Command, and he now trains others who are going to be pilots in the US Air Force. On the day of our conversation, Nick was supposed to be able to talk to me from the comfort of his own home but the military being what it is he was required at the base that day so we conducted the conversation with Nick stepping out for a few minutes to his car, so I’m afraid the sound quality is a little off what I would normally hope to bring you. But this is a fascinating conversation, with some great insights for writers into the minds and characters of those in the military, there are some real gems here for anyone who wants to know how a military context would actually work, and how groups of soldiers, sailors, and airforce personnel think and behave with each other, both outside of and in combat situations.  In this conversation, we talk about how the habits and disciplines of the military have helped Nick with his writing, the character traits and behaviors of people in the military, both in and out of combat situations, and why the reason people stay in the military might be different from the reason they joined. I hope you find this conversation helpful, here it is.

    46 min
  6. Episode 176: Making peace with the internet. Practical advice for your digital presence, with Jason Smith of Social Shapes

    05/13/2022

    Episode 176: Making peace with the internet. Practical advice for your digital presence, with Jason Smith of Social Shapes

    In this episode, my guest is the Digital Marketing expert Jason Smith. In this conversation, we talk about the essentials of setting up a web and managing social media accounts for your brand as a writer. We talk about the best platform to use to design a first website, the importance of design aesthetics, and what the author needs to use their website for. We also talk about social media, how to make it not scary, what the functions of social media engagement are, how to choose the right platforms, and what kind of content to put on it. This was a fascinating conversation, full of the kind of smart insights you need to get to grips with a website and social media as an author, I hope you enjoy it, here it is. If you are listening to this before September 2022 and you are a Christian author please join us for the British Christian Writers Conference, where you can hear Jason speaking and talk to him about your digital needs. We will be at Ridley Hall in Cambridge on Saturday 3rd September, join us for marketing tips, craft insights, and encouragement for you and your writing, just search for The British Christian Writing Conference online, or go to: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/storycraftpress/636912

    31 min

  7. 04/21/2022

    Episode 175: A guest at the reader's table, with veteran publisher and literary agent Tony Collins

    My guest for this episode is someone who has spent nearly 50 years in publishing. Tony Collins has worked for a number of publishing houses, owned three magazines, published an astonishing 1,400 books, and is now a literary agent. In this conversation, we talk about the lessons he’s learned in his career. We talk about the most common error that writers make when with their work, how the author must remember they are a guest at the reader's table, and there are many other things for readers to do. We talk about the essential power of narrative, why we can’t write in the way Dickens did, the place for anecdote in non-fiction, finding the right publisher, engaging well with them, and why it's essential for your book to get the title and your hook right. Tony speaks with decades of experience and there are some wonderful, fundamental insights here, I hope you find the conversation useful, here it is.

    37 min

  8. 04/03/2022

    Episode 174: Writing your novel is part of your heart - with Lynn Hightower

    Welcome to Ep 174, my guest for this episode is the writer and writing coach Lynn Hightower. Lynn writers thriller with a darkly paranormal twist.   In this conversation, we discuss why we do need to tell as well as show, especially in terms of plot, why we need to hear the character’s voice in our head rather than try to pick and mix their traits and characteristics. We also talk about why clarity in your prose is so important, what do you do to keep the reader hooked, and why every writer needs to try to limit the number of desks they own! I had a wide-ranging conversation with Lynn,  full of humour, insight, and craft advice – I hope you enjoy listening to it.

    55 min
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    The Creative Writers Toolbelt gives practical accessible advice and encouragement to Creative writers. Each episode explores an aspect of creative writing technique, with examples, allowing you to apply what you learn immediately to your writing. We also throw in the occasional interview with writers and other artists, exploring their wisdom on subjects like story, style, character and the writing process

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