FictionEducationHow To

The Write Focus

M.A. Lee

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.

Play

Open in

20 episodes
weekly
Avg 10 min
English

Episodes 20

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

S4 · E337
Wednesday · 16 min
Writer's Block ~ Defeat It! / Pro Writers' Advice, part B / 7:42
We’re back with more advice from Pro Writers on Defeating Writer’s Block. Let’s launch straight into business. TIMINGS 00:00 Welcome 00:40 Introduction 00:48 Barbara Kingsolver 03:00 William Stafford (poet) 03:50 Scott McCormick 09:15 Philip Pullman 12:07 Charlaine Harris 14:43 Last Words / Closing Total Run Time = 16:27 LINKS Quotations came from a variety of internet sites Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/09/writer-block-defeat-it-pro-writers-b-743.html Defeating Writer’s Block is easy to say, not so easy to do. We writers have to discover the problem we’re having Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It!, originally airing as “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS. The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book. Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed 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 Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand. Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. 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.)
- Chapters
S7 · E336
September 23 · 12 min
Writer's Block ~ Defeat It! / Pro Writer's Advice part A / 7:41
In the first four episodes of this series, The Write Focus shared how to defeat the three-headed monster called Writer’s Block. When we research the topic, we find articles that claim 5 types or 10 types of Writer’s Block. Shudder. I don’t want even to contemplate 10 types. Yet I read the article—so you don’t have to. Guess what? Those 10 types are actually just an expansion of the 3 types we covered in our series—as were the 5 types. And the solutions were exactly what we listed: breaks and escapes, switching projects, overcoming fears and learning new writing skills, pursuing a healthy lifestyle, regaining curiosity, and practicing creativity. We can do this. We can DEFEAT WRITER’S BLOCK. (Shout it!) In this segment, we’ll explore advice from other writers, pro writers who have to meet deadlines and are too professional to churn out boring words. Let’s explore what they say. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 01:52 Ernest Hemingway 05:05 Hilary Mantel 06:22 Norman Mailer 07:24 Mark Twain 09:30 Last Words 11:25 Closing Total Run Time = 12:26 LINKS Quotations came from a variety of internet sites. Video https://youtu.be/h2P27MXEIjw Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/09/writers-block-defeat-it-pro-writers.html Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Still images are in the public domain or author-generated. Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It! originally airing as “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS. The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book. Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed 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 Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand. Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. 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.)
- Chapters
S4 · E335
September 16 · 16 min
Writer's Block ~ Defeat It / Overcoming Type 3 / 7:40
Writer’s Block looms like a sharp-clawed monster over every writer. A daily discipline—No Day without Lines—is extremely helpful, no matter how many you schedule for a particular day. Nulla Dies Sine Linea is our mantra, right? We can overcome a simple refusal to write by maintaining discipline and side projects and our escapes when we’re overwhelmed. We can defeat Procrastination by overcoming the Twin Fears of Failure and of Judgment. If our worries are failure and judgment, those problems are not with our writing but are inside ourselves. Root them out. Our writing is for us. Improve whatever weaknesses we see. When people point out weaknesses, consider these learning opportunities and keep improving. We’ve reached the slimy cave of that real Horrible, Terrible Monster than can destroy everything, not just our writing but our hopes and joys. Type 3 Writer’s Block is Inertia, and Writer’s Inertia kills words and contentment, plans and dreams, grace and well-being. Yet we can and must defeat Inertia. Here’s how. TIMINGS 00:00 Welcome 00:38 Introduction 01:43 Writer’s Inertia 02:45 Healthy Habits Defeat Inertia 09:05 Avoid Stagnating Slime 13:15 Wrap-Up 14:23 Last Words / Closing Total Run Time = 16:08 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/09/writers-block-defeat-it-overcoming-type_01363288349.html Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It! originally airing at “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS. The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book. Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed 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 Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand. Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. 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.)
- Chapters
S7 · E334
September 9 · 15 min
Writer's Block ~ Defeat It / Overcoming Type 2 / 7:39
Defeating Writer’s Block is easy to say, not so easy to do. We writers have to discover the problem we’re having with those pesky little words. 1st, we have to find those pesky words—and they do like to hide. 2nd, we have to write those found words down—whether in a notebook or straight to the keyboard. That’s a whole problem on its own. We can’t count the Block as a simple disruption, a wholesale explosion of our writing time. It’s the Desire and the Initiative to write that’s the problem. In our diagnostic quiz (at the end of the Introduction segment), the weakness of our desire and the weakness of our initiative are the driving factors that keep us out of our chair. Last episode’s Type 1 of Writer’s Block is Writer’s Refusal, and I consider it the easiest of the Blocks to diagnose, admit, and defeat. This episode’s Type 2 is a harder Block to defeat. What is the Type 2 Block? Writer’s Procrastination. TIMINGS 00:00 Welcome 00:38 Introduction 01:38 Writer’s Procrastination 06:58 Fear #1 09:33 Fear #2 10:40 Trolls 14:15 Last Words / Closing Total Run Time = 15:59 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/09/writers-block-defeat-it-overcoming-type_0885496330.html Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It!.It’s a Blast from the Past, originally airing at “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS. The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book. Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed 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 Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand. Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. 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.)
- Chapters
S7 · E333
September 2 · 22 min
Writer's Block ~ Defeat It / Overcoming Type 1 / 7:38
Hey! Our claim is that Writer’s Block doesn’t exist? And you say, “I don’t believe it. I’m blocked. I’m suffering with Writer’s Block.” Believe it or not, the truth is that Writer’s Block does NOT exist. Not. No way. Nope. We can write, but something keeps us from writing what we very well need to write. At the end of our last episode, the introduction to this series on Defeating Writer’s Block, we classified 3 types. Knowing the type that’s affecting us, that’s part of the solution to any Writer’s Block . . . for we can make claims, we can repeat a mantra–but something’s blocking us. The other part of the solution to Writer’s Block is our WILL–even if we don’t want to write, we MUST. We NEED to. We gotta! The only problem with saying “MUST and NEED and GOTTA” is that I’m afflicted with bloody-mindedness. As soon as someone commands must / need / have to / gotta–my bloody-mindedness kicks in. “Oh yeah? I think NOT.” That’s where WILL comes in—and that’s our focus this week. Overcoming Type I of Writer’s Block, classified as Writer’s Refusal. TIMINGS 00:42 Introduction 01:55 Writer’s Refusal 03:30 Overcome with Escape 11:27 Overcome the Over-Schedule 21:00 Last Words / Closing Total Run Time = 22:43 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/writers-block-defeat-it-overcoming-type.html Licensed Music with the content is available on Audio Jungle, entitled "Simple Acoustic Guitar". The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It!.It’s a Blast from the Past, originally airing at “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS. The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book. Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed 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 Also available: 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.) Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.
- Chapters
S5 · E332
August 26 · 17 min
Writer's Block ~ Defeat It / Intro & Quiz / 7:37
Can you name a phrase that every writer fears? Try “Writer’s Block”. We writers all have a deep-seated fear when we hear those two words side by side. Writer’s Block—those should be forbidden to speak together. We have quite a number of pro writers who claim there’s no such things as Writer’s Block, and I’m one of them—but I will admit that I find myself refusing to write or avoiding my desk or just stuck on a story. Distractions and disruptions occur, and before we know it, weeks—not days, weeks—have passed. With few words written, our writing plans are blown. Guilt descends—and the clouds of guilt and disappointment and dismay and more disrupters descend and . . . gosh, we don’t even want to think about it. That’s the purpose of this series: we want to Defeat that Writer’s Block. To do that, we have to look more closely at Writer’s Block than we want to. TIMINGS 00:00 Welcome 00:42 Intro 02:10 Writer’s Block Doesn’t Exist 08:42 The Truth about Writer’s Block 14:15 Diagnostic Quiz 16:20 Closing Total Run Time = 17:20 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/07/writers-block-defeat-it-intro-quiz-737.html Licensed Music for the content portion is “Simple Acoustic Guitar,” available on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It!.It’s a Blast from the Past, originally airing at “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS. The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book. Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed 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 Also available: 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.)
- Chapters
S7 · E331
August 19 · 10 min
Writing is a Biz / Quick Tips for Writers 19 / 7:34
Writing is a Business. Yes, it is a creative endeavor … with a business result. I do not like to call my writing a Product. I think in projects, not products. Yet each blog post, short story, flash fiction, novel, guidebook, they are products that I am selling in my business. When you put your writing out there, whether you offer it free or charge for it, it’s a product you are selling. Yes, even free things are being “sold”. Your reader’s attention buys that product. So while writing is an art, it’s also a business, and we need to treat it like a business. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 01:10 Writing as a Biz 09:00 Closing Total Run Time = 10:01 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/08/writing-is-biz-quick-tips-for-writers.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.)
- Chapters
S7 · E330
August 12 · 11 min
Plan your Work & Work your Plan / Quick Tips for Writers 18 / 7:33
Plan your Work, & Work your Plan. Back at Quick Tip 14 we talked about overcoming difficulties by setting work deadlines, using math skills to determine the number of writing days and how that time will fit into the calendar. Knowing that time frame helps us to avoid that dark fear of back-pedaling instead of progressing. Face it, writing is a steady uphill climb before we whiz downhill until we start setting up our next writing project. And that’s the second truth: that writing works in projects. The first truth: we can finish what we start through persistence and resolution. That second truth, working in projects, helps us look into the future. Each single project has a start, middle, and end point before it becomes linked to the other elements of a larger project. Success in all of those projects means planning what and when and how as well as following that plan daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and over several years. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 01:10 Planning & Working 010:43 Closing Total Run Time = 11:43 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/05/plan-your-work-work-your-plan-quick.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.)
- Chapters
S7 · E329
August 5 · 11 min
7 Stages of Writing / Quick Tips for Writers 17 / 7:32
Tackling the next book requires three sets of seven. The Plot 7 determines the conflict that will drive the story. 7 Character Sets will develop the story’s heart and mind. Our focus in this segment will be the 7 Writing Stages. I did not say seven drafts of the novel—These are the seven work stages, each requiring a different part of your writing mind. We're using 7 different parts of the brain! TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 01:10 Seven Work Stages 10:56 Closing Total Run Time = 11:56 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/05/7-stages-of-writing-quick-tips-for.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.) Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.
- Chapters
S7 · E328
July 29 · 12 min
7 Character Sets / Quick Tips for Writers / 7:31
As with the seven scenes that build the story, introduced in the last segment, seven character sets develop the story, increasing the conflict, intensifying suspense or adding complications. The four main characters who drive the conflict of the story are protagonist, antagonist, an important friend or ally, and the seeming ally. Our purpose in this segment is to list and briefly explain these 7 Characters. We need more than their skeletons; we need their minds and hearts. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 01:10 7 Character Sets 11:20 Closing Total Run Time = 12:21 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/05/7-character-sets-quick-tips-for-writers.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.) Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.
- Chapters
S7 · E327
July 22 · 14 min
Tackle the Next Book / Quick Tips for Writers 15 / 7:30
In considering your next writing, what is your first approach? Many start with a situation: a thriller in the backwoods. Others start with character: a free-willing type faced with his two orphaned nieces. Or you wake up with a title, and the story springs out when you sketch a few ideas. We are never truly blank when we start. No sooner do we have an idea than a main character emerges, a glimmer that solidifies as we consider that shining idea for the protagonist. At this point, many say start with character templates. I disagree. I think our best start is that shining character in conflict. I propose a start with what I call the Plot 7 ~ seven major scenes that will tell if you have a story or not. What are these 7 scenes? TIMINGS 00:41 Introduction 01:10 Plot 7 13:01 Closing Total Run Time = 14:01 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/07/tackle-next-writing-quick-tips-for.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.)
- Chapters
S5 · E326
July 15 · 9 min
Overcoming Difficulties / Quick Tips for Writers 14 / 7:29
Overcoming difficulties is a constant process, no matter which profession you enter. All my guidebooks on writing contain insights that I wish I had understood then. Instead, I nodded along, thinking I understood, but I didn’t turn those insights into practical application. Many writers talked about difficulties and consistency, but they usually added the dreaded word “Deadlines” whenever they talked about keys to success. After years of experience, I must agree with them. Every project has a deadline, and deadlines get things done. TIMINGS 00:41 Introduction 01:10 Deadline Tricks 08:07 Closing Total Run Time = 9:07 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/07/overcoming-difficulties-quick-tips-for.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.) Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.
- Chapters
S7 · E325
July 8 · 5 min
Writing Is a Wonderland / Quick Tips for Writers 13 / 7:28
Alice followed the White Rabbit into a hole that dropped her into a strange world. Writing is like that, a hole into a strange wonderland. A project is an intriguing white rabbit luring us to follow even as it reminds us that the project has to meet a deadline or be “late for that important date”. Our Writing Wonderland operates on 3 Basic Rules. Get these writing rules right, and your Wonderland will not turn into a horror story. TIMINGS 00:41 Introduction 01:15 The Writing Wonderland 04:20 Closing Total Run Time = 5:20 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/07/writing-is-wonderland-quick-tips-for.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.) Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.
- Chapters
S7 · E324
July 1 · 5 min
Cover Considerations / Quick Tips for Writers 12 / 7:27
Consider your Cover is Quick Tip #12. One of the greatest expenses that an indie writer will have is the cost of a professional cover. Yes, yes, people say that the editorial cost is the highest one. Development editors and content editors and line editors are expensive. Let me argue with that. The first attractor for a book is the cover design. To capture and charm readers, invest in a great cover design. How do we ensure the best cover design? Follow along for the tips. TIMINGS 00:41 Introduction 01:15 Cover Considerations 04:56 Closing Total Run Time = 5:57 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/07/cover-considerations-quick-tips-for.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.) Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.
- Chapters
S7 · E323
June 24 · 5 min
Juggle Projects / Quick Tips for Writers / 7:26
Writing constantly, writing fast ~ these can outpace our creativity, leaving us drained. The answer is to Juggle Projects. I cannot simultaneously write two fiction projects; the projects we juggle have to be different. This episode talks about that HOW. TIMINGS 00:41 Introduction 01:15 Juggle Projects 04:50 Closing Total Run Time = 5:49 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/juggle-projects-quick-tips-for-writers.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).
- Chapters
S7 · E322
June 17 · 4 min
Think Cocoons / Quick Tips for Writers 10 / 7:25
“Cocoons” is the Quick Tip for Writing in this episode. When the words do not come as soon as we are ready to write, what can we do? We have to think like inchworms, the ones that eventually become beautiful butterflies. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 01:15 Think Cocoons 03:43 Closing Total Run Time = 4:42 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/think-cocoons-quick-tips-for-writers-10.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.)
- Chapters
S7 · E319
June 10 · 3 min
Loss Leaders / Quick Tips for Writers 9 / 7:24
Long before a writer pens the last word in a story and launches into the Proof-Plus, that writer is considering promotions. Promotions, marketing, that’s the same thing. So much of marketing depends on spare cash and good fortune in eyes discovering it. The chief marketing tool, however, is something the writer can totally control. Let’s look at the Loss Leader, also known as the Reader Magnet. TIMINGS 00:41 Introduction 01:15 Reader Magnets 06:18 Closing Total Run Time = 3:45 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/reader-magnets-quick-tips-for-writers-9.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 Also available: 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.)
- Chapters
S7 · E318
June 3 · 5 min
2 Key Elements for Every Story / Quick Tips for Writers 8 / 7:23
Every successful story, short or long, has two key elements. These two keys recur throughout the story. One takes a new form at every instance, teasing the reader into reading more. The other also teases the reader, but this time the key remains the same, merely doubling and re-doubling, increasing and intensifying. What are these key elements? You’ll have to listen to discover that answer. ;) TIMINGS 00:41 Introduction 01:15 Two Key Elements for Successful Stories 04:16 Closing Total Run Time = 5:17 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/2-keys-to-successful-stories-quick-tips.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).
- Chapters
S7 · E317
May 27 · 4 min
Antagonists, part 2 / Quick Tips for Writers 7 / 7:22
In our second episode on antagonists, we discuss the additional evil actors that drive a plot, as much a part as our main character, our Protagonists. We offer three Quick Tips, first about our major antagonist and then two more about minor antagonists. A key element whips by pretty rapidly, in that each minor antagonist teaches the protagonist a skill or a way to defeat the major antagonist. We don’t want you to miss that. ;) Quick Tips for Writers continues next week with 2 Requirements for Every Story. TIMINGS 00:41 Introduction 01:15 Antagonists, part 2 03:31 Closing Total Run Time = 4:31 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/03/antagonists-part-2-quick-tips-for.html Licensed Music with the Quick Tips content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator applehillstudios on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Quick Tips for Writers. Here is a link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JoFvT3aJEZPpneLjOH1Ur_&si=j8n2yOeaJz05H4bY 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 series. • Also available: 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.)
- Chapters
S7 · E321
May 24 · 9 min
Pentecost / MORE: Easter / 7:26
Pentecost concludes the Easter Season. Fifty days after the Resurrection, ten days after Ascension, it completes the jubilation that starts before sunrise on Easter Day with the Son’s rise. “He is risen” does not complete everything. Pentecost is the completion. Let’s ground ourselves in the reasons. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 00:50 Pentecost 08:55 Closing Total Run Time = 9:54 LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/05/pentecost-concludes-easter-season.html Licensed Music with the Easter segment is entitled “Soft Beautiful Hope Piano” from the creator Nehliudoff on Audio Jungle while that with the Writing segment, with the same title, is from the creator Little Victory, also on Audio Jungle. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration. All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound.
- Chapters

Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes