In this episode, Wray talks about what to do when you hit the halfway point in your story

In this episode, Wray talks plot reversals and revelations, how to twist your story without losing your reader, and ways to effectively set up big story payoffs in your own writing.

In this episode, Wray talks about how to develop your supporting cast, create compelling subplots, and find the organic structure of your narrative.

In this episode, Wray talks about the distinction between villains and antagonists, how to humanize them in the story, and ways to create memorable, necessary opponents for your protagonist.

In this episode, Wray discussed how to use the tools of effective world building to create the extraordinary world of the second act.

In the first episode of our Act 2 series, Wray talks about how to use allies and enemies in the extraordinary world to move your protagonist towards the change they need to undergo.

In the final episode in our act 1 series, Wray discusses the break into act two.

In this episode, Wray discusses techniques and ideas for developing characters within the first act of your story.

In 2018, famed horror writer Anna Sheridan disappeared, leaving behind only a box of mysterious cassette tapes. Detective Sam Bailey is tasked with piecing together what happened to Anna Sheridan from the seemingly impossible encounters she recorded, but as the scattered pieces of the puzzle come together, Bailey discovers that the picture is even stranger – and more dangerous – than it seemed.

In this episode, Wray talks Inciting Incidents: what they are, how they work, and ways to use them to generate strong narrative momentum.

In this episode, Wray discusses ways to use the opening of your narrative to pull readers into your story with effective hooks, questions, and setups that will strengthen and enhance your plot, characters, and structure.

In the season finale of Homestead on the Corner, Wray offers advice and encouragement on how to keep writing in difficult times, ways to make creative writing a habit, and strategies to stick with and finish long-form projects.For more info about ...

A few quick announcements as one chapter of this podcast comes to an end and another begins.

In this episode, Wray talks about how finding and strengthening the central thematic premise of your story can help direct creative choices, strengthen and clarify your plotline, and create a stronger effect on your readers.

After she is saved from a devastating earthquake by the superhero Silverman, reporter Lera Lynn begins work on an investigative report focusing on him. As they begin their final interview, however, it quickly becomes clear that one of them is hiding a deadly secret.

In this episode, Wray discusses the meaning created by your Story World, how to organically create it out of your central idea, and different techniques to make it more compelling to your reader.

At the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, ex-pirate turned pirate-hunter Eli Barrett is found adrift at sea, raving that the infamous Anne Bonny is still alive. As he tells the captain his story, a bizarre tale of sea battles, shipwrecks, and the lost city of gold unfolds... and yet Anne Bonny is dead. Or is she?

In this episode, Wray discusses sources of inspiration, the imaginative work at the heart of all writing, healthy creative habits, and how to put your subconscious mind to work in the realm of storytelling.

Twenty years after an apocalyptic storm left the world in ruins, a mysterious scientist wanders into the small settlement of Holy Cross, Alaska. There he finds a reluctant ally in a brilliant young tavern-girl, but finds that friendship tested when the truth about who he is — and what he's done — comes out.

In this episode, learn how to break down plot structure into its parts to understand how it works, and how to rebuild it more effectively.

Learn to use the four fundamental forces of plot to design strong, compelling stories that will entertain and engage your reader.

At the end of a revolution they helped to lead, the crew of the ISC Elementis is ordered to execute one of their crewmates: an immortal alien traveler known as the Castaway. But when they find themselves under attack by the Castaway's oldest enemy, the captain must put aside duty and fight alongside her friend once more.

Learn how to design compelling plots for your stories based on the relationship between character wants and needs, utilizing character development to give your narrative momentum and structure.

A blind gunslinger, fleeing his violent past, finds solace in the small town of Santa Lucia... but when a gang of outlaws appears in town, he must defend the place and the people he's come to call home the only way he knows how.

Learn how characters can change, grow, and evolve in the course of a story by using the character wheel, character arcs, and the Value Circle.