Scratch Paper Podcast

Faithful listeners, the day has arrived! My revision of my manuscript Finding Lucy is done! Tune in for a fun celebratory update, plus my new favorite memoirist, an awesome essay about marketing and social media and ambition, and how to get the best ebooks in the Seattle Public Library system. Shownotes and links at aliciadelosreyes.com.

Want to publish a novel or a short story, and don't know where to begin? This episode details the process from how to find literary journals, how to pick ones that might publish your work, and how exactly to submit (including what to put in a cover letter). I share the journals I've submitted to and the feedback I've gotten. The same rules apply for personal and lyric essays, so if you are a creative nonfiction writer, tune in! Find shownotes at aliciadelosreyes.com

The path to publishing can seem murky and opaque. How do writers get published? I mean--how exactly? What are the steps between writing and book deal? In this episode, I kick off a series on how to get your work published. Today, I give you an overview of the general path fiction and nonfiction writers typically take, based on my own experience and that of my friends. I also share about that strange breed of writers called "bloggers." Comment with your own questions on aliciadelosreyes.com and I'll answer (or find someone who can!).

There are two things in writing that teachers and readers expect, but don't necessarily ask you for: clarity and concision. These are the unspoken expectations--the "secret rules"--of writing. I share how to figure out if you need to follow them, how to check if you are following them, and how to improve your own clarity and concision no matter what you are writing. Find show notes with links at aliciadelosreyes.com

A quick, somewhat somber episode recorded after some sad days of shootings by and of police. I believe that fiction can be a force for good. What do you believe? How does writing fit into your values, your ethics, your goals for life? Please share at aliciadelosreyes.com/podcast9.

Have you read "Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert? It's a book about inspiration and it has some haters. I share why I like it and how I think it gets at the eternal tension of writing--love it so that you do it, but don't do it so that everyone will love it (or something like that). Also, this is the last episode in our series on how to get started writing a novel, and it's all about research--how to use research to get ideas, and how to use research to structure and add to your story. (Hear more about how I spent time in an evangelical church to research evangelicalism!)

A quick episode packed with resources that work for me to help me start and finish big drafts (aka novel manuscripts). If you are working on your rough draft and feel stuck or don't know how to begin, try reading these books/essays and using of these techniques (Pomodoro ftw!). Do you have resources or tricks to make yourself write? Please share them at the shownotes: aliciadelosreyes.com/podcast7

Are you getting ready for NaNoWriMo? Or thinking about writing your first novel? Listen to this episode to find out more about outlining vs. "pantsing" (aka improvising). You can hear how I outlined the first chapter of my manuscript, too, down to the nitty-gritty details of going from outline to actual story (and revision, blah. #revisionistheworst).

Last week, I shared how to use place to get ideas. This week, I share prompts related to character and questions that you can use to generate ideas! Plus, some meta-tips on how to use prompts. Listen in!

Want to write a novel but don't have any idea where to begin? This week's episode kicks of a short series on how to get started! In this episode, I'll give you prompts related to place and examples from my own novel-writing to help you brainstorm *big* ideas for your novel. If you've never written a novel but have always wanted to, grab your notebook and pen and listen in!

Rejection is the worst, and the writing community can be a sad, lonely place. I share some of the things I've learned from participating in the knitting community on Ravelry, a magical online platform and the happiest corner of the internet. Listen in to hear how we can lift each other up and perhaps make sending out work into the world suck a little bit less.

Welcome to episode 2 of Scratch Paper! I check in with a writing and reading update and share some motivation for tackling a huge project (like my massive revision, going on right now). Listen in and share your own ways to motivate yourself on aliciadelosreyes.com

Welcome to Scratch Paper, a writing-related podcast by Alicia de los Reyes, author of the DIY Writing series. In this episode, I introduce myself and my writing and share two ways to make yourself write--especially if you've gone weeks without writing.