John Helps You Write Better

John Helps You Write Better is your all-in-one better-than-college help and advice in writing and publishing your books. It's all about giving you the career as a successful author you've always dreamed of.

Don't fear the tropes and cliches

In today's episode, I want to talk you about tropes and cliches. They're nothing to overthink or fear.

03-11
09:02

I've been sick. Have a podcast episode.

In today's episode, I've gotten out of bed to talk to you about pushing yourself to work and being kind to yourself about doing it

03-03
09:03

You need to start AND finish AND finish what you start.

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about that first draft you've been working on since the dawn of time and somehow still haven't finished it yet.

02-18
12:10

You're going to need to learn to take a punch.

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about how you're handling rejection and the less-than-ideal feedback you might be getting.

02-17
10:23

Why do you want to rush? What's the hurry?

In today's episode I want to ask you why you think "taking too long" matters and why you want to go faster.

01-28
12:56

And why exactly are you using AI?

In today's episode, I'd like to ask you about why you're using AI to "edit" your work.

01-27
09:59

Separate your character from your plot

In today's episode, I want to encourage you to make your character not just the being doing the plot, but a wholly formed person who happens to be doing a plot.

01-15
11:58

Local royalty vs global royalty AKA Who's the most specialest person?

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about the royalty problem in your story.

01-14
09:56

Global global versus local global - Worldbuilding and scale

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about how a character can operate in their world versus the world of the story.

01-13
10:21

Have you been complicating your world-building?

In today's episode, I've got the audio from a workshop I did this past weekend on world-building. I think it'll help you.

01-06
01:03:47

We never know what we're doing or where we're going, and that's fine.

As the year ends, I want to talk you about the not-knowing of making things and how it's okay to not know how things are going to be.

12-31
09:37

Answering 27 questions from webnovelists and new writers

In this nearly 90-minute Q&A session, I answer 27 questions from webnovelists and new writers. I think you'll find it really useful and enjoyable.

12-30
01:28:36

You and your voice and trying to be like other authors

In today's episode, I want to talk to you about trying to ape someone else's style.

12-24
10:58

How are you feeling about your progress?

In today's episode, I want to talk you about your goals and what you're doing to reach them.

12-23
09:42

Let's talk about beats and scenes

This is the audio from a workshop I gave on 12/21 to some webnovelists and self-publishing authors about scene and beat usage in their writing. I think you'll find this helpful

12-23
01:09:53

What the hell happened to Superman in the Superman movie?

In this episode, we need to talk about Superman.

12-19
10:21

And now, a word for co-authors

In today's episode, I'd like to talk to you about co-authorship.

12-18
08:11

How's that fantasy going?

In today's episode, I want to talk you about your fantasy of being a writer.

12-17
13:19

What do you think you're doing?

In today's slightly cantankerous episode, I want to ask you what you think you're doing.

12-16
10:23

How Do I Make A Plot? (Audio from A Plot Building Session)

In this bonus audio from this past weekend, here's me talking to a group of writers about what plot is and what plot isn't and how to build an effective plot.

12-15
01:18:43

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