Author Archives: Jeff Elkins

In this episode, Jeff talks with author Carmen Dillion about writing in a way that empowers the reader’s imagination. They talk about how Carmen has empowered the reader to imagine her character playing an instrument, how to write a Big Cast scene, providing spacial awareness for the reader, giving us a descriptor of each characterContinue reading “Episode 79 – Carmen Dillion and Cinematic Writing”

In this episode, Laura sits down with author Lon Varnadore to look at a science-fiction and fantasy piece Lon is working on. They talk about building emotional beats in a story, creating a sense of intensity, breaking up larger paragraphs with dialogue, and they take a deep dive into the pacing of a story. ToContinue reading “Episode 78 – Laura Humm and Lon Varnadore Talk about Pacing in a Story”

In this episode, Jeff is joined by some of the Three Story Method Editors. They talk about what makes great characters, characters they want to see more of, and character tropes they think are played out. To listen on Spotify, click here. To listen on iTunes, click here. To listen on Google Podcasts, click here.Continue reading “Episode 77 – Talking Characterization with the 3 Story Method Editors”

In this episode, Jeff sits down with author Paige Theriot to edit a piece together that she wrote. They talk about painting a cinematic scene for a reader, making sure the reader can track all the characters, and mixing in prose with dialogue. To listen on Spotify, click here. To listen on iTunes, click here.Continue reading “Episode 76 – Paige Theriot and Adding Descriptions to Dialogue”

In this episode, Laura sits down with writers Faye and Amy to talk about what it is like to work on a book with someone else. They discuss the benefits of community, how to track an editor’s notes, how conflict spurs ideas, and what is the job of an editor. To listen on Spotify, clickContinue reading “Episode 75 – Writing in Community with Laura Humm, Faye Whyte, and Amy Schottenfels”

In this episode, Alicia McCalla (from episode 2) returns to examine a short story she has written for an anthology that she is considering turning into serial fiction. They discuss the emotional movement of the story, they plot out an emotional flow, they talk character transformation, they look at world-building with dialogue, they debate internalContinue reading “Episode 74 – Alicia McCalla and the Emotional Flow of a Scene”

In this episode, Jeff and Laura debate the next Dialogue Doctor tool they are going to build and then discuss their radically different approaches to managing projects and goals. To listen on Spotify, click here. To listen on iTunes, click here. To listen on Google Podcasts, click here. To listen on Amazon Music, click here.Continue reading “Episode 73 – Jeff and Laura New Year Q&A”

This week Jeff and Laura are joined by members of the Dialogue Doctor Slack Community to discuss TJ Klune’s amazing book, The House in the Cerulean Sea. We talk characterization, demonstrating character growth through voice, using repeated scenes to show character growth, and writing dialogue for a Big Cast (3-5 characters in a scene). TheContinue reading “Episode 72 – The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune Book Club”

In this episode, SW Millar (also on episode 58) returns with a new scene from his short story, “A Thief’s Magic.” Shane and Jeff discuss using dialogue tags, making sure the reader has cinematic awareness of the scene, emotional pacing, and communicating characterization through choices the characters make. You can find more of SW Millar’sContinue reading “Episode 71 – SW Millar”

In this episode, Jeff is joined by seven other Three Story Method Editors to talk about the Three Story Method story rubric, what they each enjoy about editing, what is the hardest thing to catch as an editor, and what they think a writer should consider when they are picking an editor. Links from theContinue reading “Episode 70 – Three Story Method Editors on Editing”