Words to Write by
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© 2025 Words to Write by
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Welcome to Words to Write by - a podcast where we discuss, chapter by chapter, those wonderful writing craft books purchased with the best of intentions but now gathering dust on the bookshelf. No judgement! We’ve got our own bookshelves. Let’s tackle these books together and become the better writers we know we can be.
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We've been looking at how AI chatbots have been upending fiction writing, but how about in news media? Today we talk with former Wired writer and freelance science journalist Ramin Skibba about the issues that chatbots, as well as business models based on new technologies, are having on journalism - both the news that he writes and the news that we read. Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Wednesday. Check us out.
What if chatbots result in the next generation never learning to write? It's a doomsday scenario that we keep coming back to in our series on AI writing tools. If AI can craft essays and compose emails instantly, why would kids bother mastering grammar, sentence structure, or the art of putting thoughts into words? And here's the terrifying follow-up—if they never learn to write, will they lose the ability to truly read and think critically too? If you've been spiraling down that educational ...
In our quest to cover the mind-blowing benefits AND the nightmare scenarios that AI chatbots are unleashing on the writing world, we called in friend-of-the-podcast and editor Kristen Tate to find out if she's using AI in her work. The answer? It depends entirely on her clients' wishes—and a few hard lines she refuses to cross. But this isn't just about ethics (though we go there). Kristen gets into the nitty-gritty technical stuff: what chatbots absolutely nail, what they're garbage at...
We've been putting AI chatbots through creative writing challenges, but what are these systems actually doing when they write? In this episode, we bring in AI expert Bill Moore. Bill works with AI on the coding side, so we had him apply his technical know-how to literary prompts - including crafting the opening of a bestselling fantasy novel. Along the way, we dive into the thorny ethics of building and using AI systems. Perfect for non-tech folks who want to understand what's happening under...
Is nothing sacred? After exploring how AI might steal our writing jobs, we're now testing whether these digital usurpers can replicate our podcasting chemistry too. Google's NotebookLM claims to transform documents into conversations between virtual "hosts," setting up the perfect showdown with our human-led book discussion format. For this AI vs. human battle royale, we revisit our podcast roots with James Gardner's "The Art of Fiction," specifically tackling that mind-exploding (and n...
We've explored AI as brainstorming allies, critique partners, and research assistants. Now we're tackling the most contentious question: should writers use AI in the actual writing process? Not the "generate a novel in a week" approach (both ethically dubious and creatively hollow), but rather using AI as an editor whose word and phrasing suggestions you might incorporate into your novel. Is this approach effective? And even if it is, is it ethical? Join us as we navigate these thorny questio...
In the current publishing industry, authors are expected to handle their own social media. If we wanted to be out there interacting with people, we probably wouldn't have picked artforms that have us sitting alone for hours everyday. What writer hasn't wished for an assistant to handle their social media? How about assistants we don't have to pay? In this episode, Kim and Renee explore how AI can lighten authors' marketing burden. They demonstrate AI tools that create marketing checklis...
1Can AI truly enhance your creativity without taking over? Our previous episodes left us wondering, but in this episode of "Words to Write by," we interview educator Kate Scott of the "AI for Squishy Humans" newsletter who offers some refreshing answers. Kate reveals her practical framework for taming AI's "enthusiastic toddler" tendencies and transforming it into a genuine creative partner. Drawing from her own experience with her just-published indie fantasy novel, Kate demonstrates how she ...
Submitting work to your first workshop or critique group is nerve-wracking - these aren't your supportive friends or family, but strangers with opinions. Yet honest feedback is the lifeblood of growth for writers. The problem? Workshops are expensive, inflexible, and the quality of feedback varies wildly. What if you could get thoughtful critique on your terms, anytime day or night? That's the promise of AI writing assistants. In this episode, Renee is the guinea pig as she submits a ch...
Can writers harness AI ethically without surrendering the soul of their craft? In our provocative new mini-series, we're not just theorizing about AI's role in creative writing—we're putting it to the test. Picture this: You're staring at a blank page. Your protagonist is trapped, your love interests are stubbornly avoiding each other, or your climactic scene lacks the perfect setup. We've all been there. Could AI be the brainstorming partner that breaks through these creative walls? To find ...
In this episode, we're finally putting the Hero's Journey to rest and bidding farewell to Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey." And by "putting to rest," we mean cramming the entire second half of this doorstop of a book into one episode. Renee takes one for the team by distilling each chapter down to its least painful bits. Then we'll zoom out to discuss what we actually found valuable in this tome and offer our candid recommendations on how to approach reading it. For the second half...
Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey insists all stories follow the Hero's Journey template—but does this actually work for romance novels? I mean, we know they have climaxes... just not necessarily the kind Vogler was talking about. In this workshop, we corner romance author Lia Riley - creator of the time travel regency hockey romance Puck & Prejudice - who’s happy to geek out about the structure behind those steamy page-turners. Lia discusses the essential structure, beloved trope...
Just when you thought you had the Hero's Journey all figured out, we're back with a surprising twist! In our previous episode, we confidently declared that the "Road Back Home" stage was the climax of the journey. But according to Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey," we may have jumped the gun. It turns out that the true climax lies in the "Resurrection" stage. Confused? Intrigued? You're not alone! Join us as we try to untangle the differences between the two stages. We'll explore wh...
Think you know where your hero's journey is headed? Think again. We're diving into the Ordeal - that gut-punch moment some people still confuse with the Climax (spoiler alert: they're not the same thing, folks). This episode had us playing cartographer through the wonderfully labyrinthine (read: headache-inducing) chapters of Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey. Because apparently, writing about story structure needed its own plot twists. After untangling Vogler's literary maze, we tack...
Remember family road trips? When you're finally past the halfway point and it's nothing but "Are we there yet?" from the backseat? That's where we are in Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey" - six more stages to go on his Hero's Journey roadmap, and in this episode we're hitting two big ones. First up is "Rewards," where our hero catches their breath after surviving Act 2's major crisis. But don't get too comfortable, because "The Road Home" is anything but a peaceful cruise. Think les...
How do you craft a journey worthy of an apocalyptic showdown? Epic Fantasy author Summer H. Hanford reveals the art of preparing characters for those fate-of-the-world battles that define the genre. Through insights from her Summer God Adventure series, Hanford uncovers the delicate balance of building tension, raising stakes, and keeping readers riveted as heroes ready themselves for their ultimate challenge. Plus, discover why choosing teenage protagonists isn't just a trope – it's a strate...
Looking for help with your novel's middle section? While countless craft books offer guidance on crafting gripping openings and satisfying endings, the challenging second act often gets overlooked. In this workshop episode, we dive deep with freelance editor Kristen Tate, author of the new craft book Novel Study, who reveals why middles become "saggy" and explains why so many writers struggle with this section. Whether you're a meticulous outliner or a spontaneous discovery writer, Kristen sh...
What really happens between "accepting the call" and facing the big bad? Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey skims through this crucial story phase with vague talk of Tests, Allies, and Enemies. But Kim and Renee aren't settling for that. Armed with John Scalzi's Kaiju Preservation Society (and ditching those tired old Hollywood examples), they'll show you exactly how to craft a story's meaty middle. Whether that alone is enough to keep your readers hooked is up for debate. Remember, we...
After the hero finally accepts the call, it's onto the next stage, crossing the threshold, provided they have some helpful mentor guidance. Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Wednesday. Check us out.
In today's episode we take a break from discussing and analyzing creative fiction to examining possibly one of the most important, and certainly most stressful, nonfiction projects in a young person's life: writing their college application essay. Our guest, journalist Martha Mendoza, has been helping high school seniors with these essays for over a decade and is one of the organizers in her local school district's annual essay mentoring program. In our discussion she talks about what ...
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