The Write Focus

M.A. Lee
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Successful writing requires The Write Focus. Hosted by M.A. Lee with occasional forays from Remi Black and Edie Roones, we focus on productivity / tools / craft / process for fiction and nonfiction, entertainment and academic writing.

  1. 12/20/2025

    MORE: Advent week 4 with Writing Connection

    The fourth candle for the last Advent Sunday stands for Love. What Christ has done for us, what He is doing, and what He will do—all reveal His love for us. The greatest gift in the world? That is giving what is most dear. Sacrificing what we want to provide what others need. The dearest thing in the world? Our own lives. What would cause us to sacrifice ourselves for others? Great love. So, we ask again ~ what is the greatest gift in the world? Christ, who sacrificed His mortal life to grant redemption for us all. In today’s episode of The Write Focus, we discuss Christian Love and review our last seven Chrismons. The Writing Connection discusses crafting stories with flow and breaking the flow, positive and negative, order and chaos, appropriate at this transition time, Old Year becoming New Year. TIMINGS 00:00 Intro 00:40 Advent ~ the Week of Love 02:30 Chrismons ~ last 7 06:21 Twelve Days of Christmas 09:35 For Writers 12:30 Closing Total Run Time = 13:33 LINK Website  https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/12/more-advent-week-4.html

    14 min

  2. 12/13/2025

    MORE: Advent week 3 with Writing Connection

    Look around. Even with the sun radiantly bright, our world is dark. Humans can argue about raising a family, budgeting for expenses, politics, politicians, climate change, whether the change is cyclical or anthropogenic, diet, exercise, sleep deprivation, big Pharma, vaccines, green spaces, carbon footprints, and more and more and more and more. That list barely grazes the debatable differences we have with each other. Shadows upon shadows create a darkening world. Then we remember cancer and other diseases, the bad health suffer from our own causes and the poisoning that the modern industrial world causes. Drug abuse and depression and other psychical injuries can destroy our interest in the world, damaging us as much as disease does. And I haven’t even touched upon digital addictions. Count all of these shadows, and our world is dark. What gives us light? What gives us Joy? Hope. Promise. Unconditional love. Peace. All embodied in Christ our Savior, the Light of the World. Christ’s all-powerful light casts the darkness away. That gives us JOY, the theme of the third week of Advent. In this episode, we discuss the spectrum of crosses that reveal all aspects of Christ, then in the Writing Connection, we reveal the uses a writer can make of spectrum as well as how to use spectrum, with an example story discussed.   TIMINGS 00:00 Opening 00:40 Content 03:37 Chrismons 05:42 For Writers 08:48 Closing Total Run Time = 9:48 LINK Website  https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/12/more-advent-week-3.html

    10 min

  3. 12/06/2025

    More on Advent / Week 2 with Writing Connection

    As the first week is Hope, the second week is preparing the way for Christ. That knowledge—of what Christ has done, is doing, and will do—gives us PEACE, for we know that He directs our lives. Many people become caught up in the questions: Who and What? Why and How? Christ is a mystery that we can’t answer. Should we try to understand Him? Yes, but the factual details only reveal bits and pieces. We have historical evidence of His life. Yet we also have Truth, and Truth is eternal. Christ is Truth, at one with God the Father, the great Atoner. Everything He does and says reveals to us the Kingdom of Heaven. When we believe on Him, we have our entry to Heaven. This is the heavenly Peace, when everyone is dealt with equally, when the innocent are protected and the violent are judged. The Chrismons for this week all contain symbolic imagery, a picture or icon. Each presents an essay of meaning through the image. The Lighted Candle / the Burning Bush / Manger / Lyre / Alpha & Omega / Crossed Keys / the Lamb with a Flag The Writing Connection of More:  This time let’s look at motifs, metaphorical imagery that return several times during the course of a story. Chrismons are metaphorical imagery, images that carry meanings. Motifs occur several times for stories as long as novellas and longer, at 30,000 words and more. For shorter than novellas, think of repeating the motifs about one per 4,000 to 5,000 words. More than that becomes too repetitive and obvious. TIMINGS 00:00 Welcome 00:40 Content 02:36 Chrismons 07:23 Writing Connection 10:58 Closing Total Run Time = 11:56 Website Link: https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/12/more-advent-week-2.html

    12 min

  4. 11/30/2025

    MORE: Advent wk 1

    More: Advent, Chrismons, & Writing ~ 1st Week Welcome to More and a celebration of the Advent season. The denomination of my formative Christian years didn’t celebrate the church year. We had Easter and Christmas, but those two Sundays were the only ones devoted to special events of the church: Sunrise Service and Gift-Giving for the Poor. All the other Sundays were a ceaseless progression of one sermon to the next. My soul was unhappy. I didn’t know that I needed more, and that part of that more was discovering the church year as a constant reminder of God’s relationship with people. Gradually, I encountered elements of the church year. Lent was mentioned because my high school French class celebrated Mardi Gras. All Hallow’s Eve was followed by All Hallow’s Day on an almanac calendar. Epiphany and Pentecost were Christian words; while I knew them, I didn’t understand their importance. Advent is upon us, and I’ve learned to celebrate More. Join me as I share a bit of More with you as well as relate each Advent with More on Writing.   TIMINGS 00:00 Intro 1:15 Opening 1:55 Advent ~ the Week of Hope 4:10 Chrismons ~ 1st 7 7:12 For Writers 10:00 Closing Total Run Time = 11:00 LINKS Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/11/more-advent-week-1.html

    11 min

  5. 10/29/2025

    6:43 / On Hiatus / The Write Focus

    Well, this has never happened. Changes disrupt ~ but do bring progress. Listen to learn while The Write Focus is on hiatus.

    6 min

  6. 10/22/2025

    6:42 / Fall into Poetry with Poets / Nancy Brewka-Clark

    Nancy Brewka-Clark is our guest poet for this episode of The Write Focus. With clever one-liners, Nancy shares how poetry affects writing and life. Her collection Beautiful Corpus published just as Covid struck, and the intended splash of a new publication became lost in the lock-down world and had lost all shiny newness when society re-opened its doors. Yet Nancy continued, for—as with any true writer—we are happiest when we are creating. BIO: Winner of the 2019 Amy Lowell Poetry Prize and the 2024 Maria Faust Sonnet Laureate Prize, Nancy Brewka-Clark is the author of the 2020 poetry collection Beautiful Corpus. Her short mysteries have been anthologized in the U.S. by Malice Domestic and Crime Spell Books, in the U.K. by Flame Tree and Midnight Street Press, in Australia by Black Hare Press and in South Africa by Sentinel Creatives. She's a member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society and lives in Beverly, MA.  TIMINGS 00:40 Welcome and Introduction 1:19 Interview with Nancy Brewka-Clark 34:54 Last Words and Closing Total Run Time = 36:33 LINKS Website  https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/10/642-fall-into-poetry-with-poets-nancy.html   Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our current focus is Fall into Poetry, 12 episodes of writers sharing how poetry improves their fiction. These 12 episodes will broadcast this autumn, September to December. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7K1x02UAlihWKKom_5keJrg Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS. Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand. For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  . Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com. If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

    36 min

  7. 10/15/2025

    6:41 / Fall into Poetry with Poets / donalee Moulton

    Returning to The Write Focus podcast, this time to talk poetry and fiction, is Canadian writer donalee Moulton. We talk free verse vs. pure verse, twilight creativity, the benefits of poetry to our writing and to our souls, and many more topics. We also consider the dilemma facing many writers. It’s the question Am I spreading myself too thin by pursuing many different types of writing, or does pursuing poetry and fiction and different genres keep me fresh? Is there an easy answer to this? donalee Moulton’s first mystery book Hung out to Die was published in 2023. A historical mystery, Conflagration!, was published in 2024. It won the 2024 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense (Historical Fiction). Her newest release is Melt.  A short story “Swan Song” was one of 21 selected for publication in Cold Canadian Crime. It was shortlisted for an Award of Excellence. Other short stories have been published in numerous magazines, journals, and anthologies. donalee’s short story “Troubled Water” was shortlisted for a 2024 Derringer Award and a 2024 Award of Excellence from the Crime Writers of Canada.     donalee is an award-winning freelance journalist. She has written articles for print and online publications across North America including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Lawyer’s Daily, National Post, and Canadian Business.  As well, donalee is the author of The Thong Principle: Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say and co-authored the book, Celebrity Court Cases: Trials of the Rich and Famous. TIMINGS 00:40 Welcome and Introduction 1:21 Interview with donalee Moulton 28:15 Last Words and Closing Total Run Time = 29:43   LINKS Website: donaleemoulton.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donaleemoultonauthor LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaleemoulton/ X: @donaleeMoulton Instagram: donaleemoulton Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/10/641-fall-into-poetry-with-poet-donalee.html     Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our current focus is Fall into Poetry, 12 episodes of writers sharing how poetry improves their fiction. These 12 episodes will broadcast this autumn, September to December. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7K1x02UAlihWKKom_5keJrg Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS. Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand. For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  . Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com. If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

    30 min

  8. 10/08/2025

    6:40 / Fall into Poetry with Poets / Janet Innes

    Welcome Back to Fall into Poetry with a Poet, from The Write Focus. Our poet for this episode is crime fiction writer Janet Innis. While we suffer through storms and glitches, we do still manage to have a great conversation about poetry, fiction, and writing in general. Poet before she began writing crime, Janet Innes has always told stories, writing narrative poetry as well as flash fiction, short stories, longer poems, and novels. Whether poetry or prose, her focus is the exploration of personality, with the motivators and drive toward boundary-breaking action. Janet Innes is a crime fiction writer whose work can be found in Mystery Tribune, Guilty Flash, Lucent Dreaming, Savage Cheese, and the anthology Futures That Never Were. Based in Rhode Island, she's a member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society and Sisters in Crime. When she’s not writing, she’s logging the insect life in her native plant garden. Find her at janetinnes.net or on Bluesky @janetinnes.bsky.social TIMINGS 00:40 Welcome and Introduction 1:30 Interview with Janet Innis 33:57 Last Words and Closing Total Run Time = 35:15   LINKS Website  https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2025/10/640-fall-into-poetry-janet-innes.html    Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our current focus is Fall into Poetry, 12 episodes of writers sharing how poetry improves their fiction. These 12 episodes will broadcast this autumn, September to December. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7K1x02UAlihWKKom_5keJrg Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS. Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand. For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  . Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com. If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

    35 min
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About

Successful writing requires The Write Focus. Hosted by M.A. Lee with occasional forays from Remi Black and Edie Roones, we focus on productivity / tools / craft / process for fiction and nonfiction, entertainment and academic writing.

Information

  • Creator
    M.A. Lee
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2020 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Write Focus