The Taylor Stevens Show

In today’s episode, we discuss the importance of description, the ultimate purpose of description, and how to avoid the two extremes of writing description in your stories. Thanks so much for joining us again this week! If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from you. You can leave your […] The post TSS206: Avoiding the two extremes when it comes to writing description appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In today’s episode, we discuss the importance of action and emotional beats in our stories, and how to be sure you gain maximum benefit from those beats. Thanks so much for joining us again this week! If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from you. You can leave your […] The post TSS205: The Importance of Getting Your Action and Emotional Beats Right appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In today’s episode, we finish what we started last week, by digging deeply into the idea of building characters for whom smarts is their secret weapon. Thanks so much for joining us again this week! If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from you. You can leave your suggestions […] The post TSS204: How Careful Plotting Helps To Make Your Characters Smarter appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In today’s episode, Taylor shares her thoughts on the need for subject matter expertise when it comes to choosing the weapon of choice for your protagonist. The show opens with a chat about Friday the 13th (not the movie) and winds up with Ricochet Rabbit. Thanks so much for joining us again this week! If […] The post TSS203: Choose Your Weapons – Guns, Knives, Fists, or Smarts appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In today’s episode, Taylor uses the show Deadwood as a springboard to a discussion of adding emotional depth to the villains in your stories. Thanks so much for joining us again this week! If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from you. You can leave your suggestions as comments […] The post TSS202: Adding Emotional Depth To Your Villains appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

Today we have something completely different. Taylor recently purchased a new computer, but she chose a different path, (the path with a Hello Kitty USB drive). She bought an inexpensive Windows laptop for the sole purpose of setting up Linux and running it as her primary operating system. Thanks so much for joining us again […] The post TSS201: Taylor Gets A New Computer, A Cautionary Tale appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

Do books have expiration dates? Steve read a recent blog post in which the question of expiration dates for books was raised. In this week’s show, we discuss that concept as well as Taylor’s new hobby. Thanks so much for joining us again this week! If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d […] The post TSS200: What’s The Expiration Date On That Book? appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s show, we discuss the issue of delivery dates within publishing contracts, what happens when those dates aren’t met, and the value of an agent when it comes to dealing with contract issues. Thanks so much for joining us again this week! If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love […] The post TSS199: How Do Delivery Dates Work Within Publishing Contracts appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s show, we begin by chatting about a recent Library event that Taylor attended, then she shares her experience in working with libraries and librarians and why they’ve been so important to her career. We also spend time sharing thoughts on how both traditionally published and indie authors can improve the chances of […] The post TSS198: The Importance of Libraries to Your Writing Career appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s show, Taylor shares a question she saw online the other day about the differences between teaching art and teaching writing, which got her thinking about the fundamentals of writing. Are there fundementals that hold true for everyone, or do the fundamentals change depending on the student? Thanks so much for joining us […] The post TSS197: What Are The Fundamentals of Writing? appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s show, Taylor takes on two additional writer questions. The first comes from a writer struggling to finish because she keeps adding storylines as she polishes. The second question has to do with the issue of time-skipping, and when and how to skip forward with your story. We also mentioned the Lessons From […] The post TSS196: More Q&A – Including questions on finishing and time-skipping. appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s show, Taylor tackles a question from an author who is curious about the possibility of including scenes whose primary purpose is to show the personality of your main point of view character. Thanks so much for joining us again this week! If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love […] The post TSS195: Keeping Your Scenes Connected to Your Story appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s show, Taylor and Steve discuss professional organizations for authors, including: International Thriller Writers Sisters In Crime Mystery Writers of America Romance Writers of America Science Fiction Writers of America Thanks so much for joining us again this week! If you have questions or suggestions for future shows, we’d love to hear from […] The post TSS194: Should You Consider Professional Organizations as an Author? appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s show, Taylor shares a story that you’ll just have to hear to believe, and then we get into creativity. Do you have to be creative to be a successful author? Can it be taught? And how to avoid the toxicity that can kill creativity. Thanks so much for joining us again this […] The post TSS193: How Important Is Creativity to Your Success as an Author? appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s show, we hear Steve’s reaction (recorded immediately after we recorded the four back-to-back Hack The Craft episodes) to Taylor’s work on the scene we used. Then we dig into what can be done when you’re stuck working on material that just isn’t working. Thanks so much for joining us again this week! […] The post TSS192: What to do when your material isn’t working appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s episode, Taylor finishes the line by line comparison of Steve’s original material with her re-writes and explains why she made the changes she made to the scene. This started out as something that would focus on Dialogue, but as you hear (and see if you check out the video on Patreon) her […] The post TSS191: Making the Most of your Dialogue – A Hack the Craft Episode (Part 5 of 5) appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s episode, Taylor goes line by line comparing Steve’s original material with her re-writes and explains why she made the changes she made to the scene. This started out as something that would focus on Dialogue, but as you hear (and see if you check out the video on Patreon) her work goes […] The post TSS190: Making the Most of your Dialogue – A Hack the Craft Episode (Part 4 of 5) appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this week’s episode, Taylor digs even deeper into the material we’ve been discussing for the past few weeks. This started out as something that would focus on Dialogue, but as you hear (and see if you check out the video on Patreon) her work goes well beyond just dialogue and into several story elements […] The post TSS189: Making the Most of your Dialogue – A Hack the Craft Episode (Part 3 of 5) appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

This week’s episode marks the beginning of a four-part deep dive where Taylor works through a 2,000-word scene that Steve wrote for an upcoming book. This started out as something that would focus on Dialogue, but as you hear (and see if you check out the video on Patreon) her work goes well beyond just […] The post TSS188: Making the Most of your Dialogue – A Hack the Craft Episode (Part 2 of 5) appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.

In this episode, Taylor takes a deep dive into dialogue, what it must accomplish in fiction and how to balance between the need to reveal character and to inform your reader and drive the plot forward. This is the first of what will become a series, and the next episode(s) will include video. In this […] The post TSS187: Making the Most of your Dialogue – A Hack the Craft Episode appeared first on The Taylor Stevens Show.