Episode #30: More Games to Help Character Development

This episode Marc and Jenni look at games and tips to help your character development.

Just like Mary Poppins (Disney version, not the PL Travers version) we are going to sprinkle some fun into the ways you can develop your characters.




Listen to us on

> iTunes
> Stitcher
> Spotify
> Acast

or right here...

You want to make characters that people believe in and care for, so how can you create depth for the personalities that make up your novel or creative writing piece? Jenni and Marc look at the different games and situations that you can use with your characters to make them well rounded, interesting people that your readers want to get excited about.

Whether it’s moral dilemmas, practical spreadsheets, jumping off points, interesting questions or suggestions to push your characters forward, we cover it all. We had two years pretending to be trees in Theatre Studies A Level so we know characterization. Come and join us on our journey!

Also this episode:

• We steal a whole episode of The Good Place
• Marc is very stern with himself about tangenting
• We rate the attractiveness of various Robin Hoods
• Sexy foxes!
• Introducing improvisation into your life in a safe space.
• Put the TV on and... TELLY TIME!

This episode we looked at:
The Readsy Website
FuckYeahCharacterDevelopment


Thanks to our sponsor, BadFish - use offer code POW for 10% off

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @POWpodcastUK
Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com
Find all our episodes: Pow Podcast UK Episodes

Music credit: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes


If you're reading this far, maybe you have time to like and leave a review on our podcast...also, don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list, to keep up to date with all our latest news.

Episode #26: How Do You Plot Your Book?

We have hit a wall in our book writing process, so we’ve decided to work on our plots.

Join us this episode to discuss techniques to structure plots and writing advice to plot your novel.

Listen to us on
> iTunes
> Stitcher
> Spotify
> Acast

or right here...


Doing some research for once and looking at techniques from Jericho Writers, amongst others, Jenni and Marc break down some plots from famous novels and try and apply them to their own book. We also look at classic plot structures from Well-Storied.com, using Freytag’s Pyramid, the Fichtean Curve and the Hero’s Journey.

Is our problem that we have so many main characters? Do we need to keep structuring our plot? Is our timeline enough? We try and work out how to finish off our novel, and Jenni then tries to completely change the book by just having one main character. And Marc shuts her down. Quite rightly.

Also in this episode
· Writing down the Status Quo
· Who is the main character in Lord of the Rings?
· Is Harry Potter the main character in the Harry Potter books? (yes, yes he is)
· Our main plot line appears to be ‘he’s being a naughty boy and shagging about a bit’
· Jenni’s kids book plots – The Dog Stuck in the Fence and The Trip to the Post Office
· An update of the effect of the lovely Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s book on Jen and reducing phone time
· Our amazing idea of a pub, where your loyalty card gets you story updates! Plus red wine and steak night!


****


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Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com

Find all our episodes: Pow Podcast UK Episodes

Check out Jen's 2018 booklist

Music credit: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

If you're reading this far, maybe you have time to like and leave a review on our podcast...also, don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list, to keep up to date with all our latest news.

Episode #16: How to Develop Your Storyline and Plot

How do you develop a plot? In this episode we talk about the best ways to develop your storyline, what the classic plotlines are and how our own novel fits into it all. We also try to fit in a discussion about Horcruxes wherever we can.

You can find to our 16th episode here...


on iTunes
on Soundcloud
on Acast
on Stitcher

or right here...




Jenni has a massive problem in developing plots on her own, but finds the process easier when writing with Marc. Why is that? We look at different techniques of plotting and storylines, structuring a novel, whether a character can carry a story and if actually it’s all down to confidence.

Also, are plots like songs? Is it all down to character? Are there really only six real plots? Are Christopher Booker’s plots plots, or are they themes? We try to classify our own novel into one of the seven classic plots and work out how we are structuring our storyline. 

Marc also talks about the fantastic background work he's put in on character development behind one of our characters, Darvin, and how it fits into how our plot is developing. Darvin goes from flimsy weirdo to Guy With a Backstory.

What else do we learn in this episode, we hear you cry...

• Where to get the best chips in Belgium...Angela Merkal approved!
• Harry Potter and the Importance of the Horcruxes
• Christopher Booker’s The Seven Basic Plots (no Horcruxes)
• George Polti’s 36 Dramatic Situations (still no Horcruxes)
• Jenni calls the Bible a non-fiction book and then immediately regrets it (again, very few Horcruxes)
• Should we make our own novel into a Penny Vincenzi-style epic saga?
• Jenni's dog learns how to knock on doors
• Jenni's current obsessions - Queer Eye & Domesday Preppers
• Why Marc has given up on the Handmaid's Tale
• Dick Turpin's grave is really close to Marc's house and the graveyard is full of Adam and the Ants fans.
• We're reading, or attempting to read Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli, Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig, Bookworm by Lucy Mangan and much more!

Follow us on twitter: @POWpodcastUK and tweet us! 

Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com

Find all our episodes: Pow Podcast UK Episodes

Join our mailing list 

Music: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

If you're reading this far, maybe you have time to like and leave a review on our podcast...also, don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list, to keep up to date with all our latest news.

Episode #11: Forbidden by Faith. Interview with Negeen Papehn

In this episode we speak to first time published author and lovely lady Negeen Papehn on the release of her book Forbidden by Faith.

You can listen to our 11th episode right here...

or at iTunes

or Soundcloud

or now at Acast

or right here...

Jen speaks to Negeen via the wonder of the internet in our first INTERNATIONAL interview! 

We find out Negeen’s writing process, how she deals with procrastination and writer’s block and her journey to publication.

We also spend time with a fun writer’s game delving deep into another character in our own book – Hilary! What makes Hilary’s morning? If Hilary’s mum was a celebrity, who would it be?

Jen drinks a hot toddy as she slowly succumbs to tonsillitis while Marc is FORBIDDEN BY FAITH (geddit???) as he’s giving up weekday drinking for Lent, so he just has a Ginger Pepsi Max.

Negeen is doing a live Facebook webchat HERE on 10^th March at 8pm GMT. Be sure to stop by and say hi!

You can find out more about Negeen on her website, 

You can also find her in these places too...
Twitter,  
Facebook, 
Instagram 
Goodreads. 

Buy Negeen's book on Amazon here!

Follow us on twitter: @POWpodcastUK and tweet us!
Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com
Find all our episodes: Pow Podcast UK Episodes
Join our mailing list 

Music: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

Please like and rate our podcast. The both of us really appreciate all your lovely support.
...also, don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list, to keep up to date with all our latest news.

Is it a Blurb? Is it a Subtitle? No...it's a...

People ask us, "What's your book about?".

Right now, it's difficult to summarise it, as we're not quite finished...so who knows if a subplot is suddenly going to become just as interesting as the main plotline? Basically, we're keeping our options open and not committing to a full on this.is.our.blurb.

However, we do have a yummy little pocket of text, which would work nicely as a mini blurb, or even a subtitle to our book. Here it is...

TOO MUCH.
Four lives intertwine into a tangled web of lust, deceit and betrayal

Hope that's satisfied your curiosity for the mo'!

Keep your eyes peeled for our next episode coming soon...and don't forget, you can:

• Find us on iTunes (...don't forget to subscribe)
• Follow us on Twitter
• Listen to us on Soundcloud
• If you like what we're doing, or just fancy supporting us, you can make a small contribution by buying us a drink at "our pub"

See ya next time,
Marc x

Episode #3: Games to Help Character Development

Hello to you, dear POWer listeners,

It's us again, with another episode from the Proscrastinate or Write HQ. We play a little game in this episode and eva-reh-thang...

You can find our latest episode on iTunes. Yay!
or listen directly here...



Show notes:
We are Jenni and Marc. We have been friends for years. We’re writing a book…here’s the latest update on our writing adventure

This episode includes the following discussions:
- Writing to conquer phobias
- What we’ve been reading: The Decision (Penny Vincenzi), Secrets of a Happy Marriage (Kathy Kelly) and Tales From the Dance Floor (Craig Revel Horwood...pssst this title is currently FREE on amazon kindle unlimited) ...Craigy boy...oh yeah!
- We explore another character of ours, Niamh (and compare her to Italian biscuits)
- We talk about resources online to support writers, such as wrightingwords.com
- We play a game to help get to know our characters, using this resource specifically: wrightingwords.com/writing-starters << This link is also great for anyone with Writer's Block!

Things we’ve learnt in this episode:
- Drinking and podcasting isn’t always a good combo, upon closer research, it turns out that Ben Price went into Coronation Street in 2009, not this year …who knew?
- If you like listening to us, you can even buy us a beer, if you fancy.

Today’s management meeting is supported by red, red wiiiine.

Find us:
Follow us on twitter: @POWpodcastUK
Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com

Music:
"Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

Please like and rate our podcast. The both of us really appreciate all your lovely support.



Cheers,
Jen and Marc xx

Episode #1: Why Aren't We Writing Enough?

Hello!

Listen to episode #1: Why Aren't We Writing Enough?

Find us on iTunes

or Soundcloud

or listen to us directly here:

Show notes:
We explain a little bit about our writing project and why we’re doing this podcast. We’re not writing enough…WHY?

We share ideas on how to avoid procrastination… we also a good catch up about all those things that contribute to us procrastinating! Does being outside the house help us write? Where are the best places to work? All good questions!

Other discussions include:

- How we’re writing our book

- Rupaul’s Drag Race, What’s The Tee podcast with RuPaul andMichelle Visage, Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Podcast and Richard &Judy’s Book Club podcast

- Fringe festivals

- A Handmaid’s Tale, American Gods, The Crystal Maze and GLOW

- The power of the jigsaw puzzle

- Lethal Weapon 3, Eddie Izzard Documentaries and The Theoryof Everything

- Coffee shops, white noise and lack of professional writer deadlines

- Characters, plotlines and how we find them

- Ideas how to defeat the dreaded procrastination

Today’s episode is sponsored by gin

Follow us on twitter: @POWpodcastUK

Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com

Music:

"Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/

Please like and rate our podcast. We’d really appreciate your support.