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Writing Roots

Writing Roots

Writing Roots

A 10-minute podcast to improve your writing skills

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Top 10 Writing Roots Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Writing Roots episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Writing Roots for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Writing Roots episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Writing Roots - S24E6 – Fairy Tales and Bedtime Stories
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09/20/21 • 11 min

Fairy tales have been one of the go-to ways to teach children about the world for centuries. Though the stories have changed greatly since their origination, we can recognize titles such as Snow White, Thumbelina, and The Little Red Riding Hood.

When it comes to the history of storytelling, fairy tales and bedtime stories cannot go ignored. While they had a surge of popularity in the 1700s to 1800s, parents had already been reciting these tales for centuries. Most have some kind of moral or warning, teaching children to avoid very real dangers even if the objects in the story were fairies and witches.

Most importantly, though, are the impacts these types of stories had in developing fiction as we know it today. Many fantastical works have some kind of basis in the extraordinary fairy tales told centuries ago to children falling asleep for the night. The magic and mystical elements of these tales helped spawn the fantasy genre.

For more about how fairy tales helped shape fiction, listen to this episode below.

First aired September 20, 2021.

We’re still buying your books to celebrate our two-year anniversary and thank all of you listeners for your support! Hosts Leigh and Ley are buying self-published books from our listeners and followers. We’ll keep buying until our fund runs out. Find out more on our Facebook or Instagram. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter (found on our homepage) while you’re here.

The post S24E6 – Fairy Tales and Bedtime Stories appeared first on Writing Roots.

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From the other players at your table to the vast cultures available within the worlds, there is a lot to learn about diversity from engaging in TTRPGs. You can explore different experiences through your characters and their interactions. You can learn about team balance, where everyone has their unique role and contributions. All of this you can translate over into your own storytelling through writing.

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One of the main jobs an author has is to immerse their audience in the story. One of the most effective ways to do this is to engage all of the reader’s senses – or at least their memories of those senses. We need to use sights, sound, smell, touch, and taste as we craft worlds and scenes. But that can be difficult. Books are limited in what they can actually show. Most of us tend to focus mostly on the sights of the world since it’s easiest to paint that mental picture. True worldbuilding involves so much more. That’s why we wanted to address this question.

Listen to this episode for a breakdown of how to include sensory details, both as you write and as you edit.

First aired December 15, 2022.

The post S38E5 – How Do I Add Sensory Details to My Writing? appeared first on Writing Roots.

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Writing Roots - S4E7 – Writing Other Media
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11/25/19 • 11 min

Every writer needs tools to help them along the way. This series will be focusing on the toolbox. We’ll talk about the pros and cons of the medium used for writing, how to find the ideal location and setting to optimize your writing time, and get into the details of punctuation and word use.

Not all writers write books. Some write poems, speeches, scripts, or articles. In this episode, Ley and Leigh discuss the differences for different mediums and what you need to expect when you branch out of the book business.

First aired November 25, 2019.

The post S4E7 – Writing Other Media appeared first on Writing Roots.

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Ernest Hemingway is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century, his influence expanding beyond just his works alone. His writing is as straightforward as his advice for writers. We review some of that advice and break down how it applies to modern writers.

First aired January 28, 2021.

The post S18E8 – Pearls from the Masters: Ernest Hemingway appeared first on Writing Roots.

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Writing Roots - Writer’s Retreat: Worldbuilding
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06/24/19 • 29 min

Worldbuilding is an essential part of almost every book, whether it’s fantasy or historical fiction. Every author needs to do at least some worldbuilding to help their readers become submersed in the story.

If you’re creating a world from scratch, there are a lot of things you should be considering. They are things a lot of new authors forget, like how the weather would impact architecture, or how magic might play into the economy.

This presentation was given by Leigh Hull at the AspenHouse Writer’s Retreat in June 2019, and talks about how to remember both the physical and cultural aspects of a world you wish to create. Please forgive the audio quality, as it was recorded outside in the wilderness on a windy day.

Below, you can download a PDF version of the presentation to accompany the audio.

Worldbuilding – Leigh Hull

The post Writer’s Retreat: Worldbuilding appeared first on Writing Roots.

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Writing Roots - S12E3 – Choosing the Right Medium for Your Book
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07/09/20 • 11 min

The dream of many writers is to become well-known and bestselling. Unfortunately, just writing the story isn’t enough. In the world of self-publishing, it is up to the author to get their books to sell. Not an easy task when that author is also still trying to write more. This month is focused on marketing, that step just before and after publishing. Topics will include using social media, where to publish and sell, and creating interesting ads that will draw potential readers to a book.

Self-publishing authors all need to decide – hopefully early in the process – what mediums they will choose for publishing their books. It’s never an exclusive decision, as you can publish in all three main mediums: print, ebook, and audiobook. There are different things to consider for each one, such as upfront cost and possible return. This episode discusses the benefits and possible setbacks of each one.

First aired July 9, 2020.

The post S12E3 – Choosing the Right Medium for Your Book appeared first on Writing Roots.

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Writing Roots - S47E5 – Symbolic Foreshadowing
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10/16/23 • 11 min

Symbolism is a great tool to hint at what it is to come in your story. This is the kind of element your school teachers might have pointed to in classic novels regarding the weather or color of the curtains. Intentional symbolism can set the mood for the rest of your story.

Listen to learn more about different ways you can use symbolism to hint at the ending of your story.

First aired October 16, 2023.

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Writing Roots - S51E6 - Interacting With Other Authors
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02/20/24 • 10 min

Authors often feel pressure to be active on social media, particularly TikTok, in order to get and keep a substantial following. This is largely new territory, and some long-time authors are finding themselves in hot water because they don't understand the spaces they're stepping into. Particularly, they don't understand the support out there for self-published books.

When you decide to be an author, you decide to be a public figure of sorts. You will need to interact with other authors for a variety of reasons. As a result, you need to learn how to interact with other authors without making enemies or offending large groups who may choose a different writing path than you.

First aired February 19, 2024.

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Thriller, mystery, and horror are all genres with their own strengths, but they do share a lot in common when it comes to marketing. They're all about exploring the dark, the mysterious, and the terrifying in the world. In this episode, we talk about how to use that knowledge to find the right audience.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Writing Roots have?

Writing Roots currently has 603 episodes available.

What topics does Writing Roots cover?

The podcast is about Podcasts, Books, Education and Arts.

What is the most popular episode on Writing Roots?

The episode title 'S24E6 – Fairy Tales and Bedtime Stories' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Writing Roots?

The average episode length on Writing Roots is 14 minutes.

How often are episodes of Writing Roots released?

Episodes of Writing Roots are typically released every 3 days.

When was the first episode of Writing Roots?

The first episode of Writing Roots was released on Jun 24, 2019.

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