Ask Me Anything with Steve Beaulieu | SCC 263

Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files, Codex Alera, and the Cinder Spires, joins us live on Story Craft Cafe to talk about the hardest moment in any series. The "All Is Lost" beat. The point where everything your protagonist has built comes apart, right before the climax. We're asking Jim how he lands this beat across a long-running series (one that started over 20 years ago and is still going). How does "All Is Lost" work in book 4 vs. book 14? When do you hold back, and when do you scorch the earth? And how do you keep raising the stakes without breaking the story you've built? Grab coffee. Bring your craft questions. This is a live recording of the Story Craft Cafe podcast. WHAT WE'LL COVER -What the "All Is Lost" moment is, and why you can't skip it -How to build to it in a single novel vs. across a full series -Jim's approach to plotting the Dresden Files across 17+ books -How to raise series stakes without breaking the story you've built -Writing from deep inside a long-running world GUEST BIO Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in the mountains outside Denver, Colorado. Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990's when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist. All the same, he refuses to change his nickname. ABOUT STORY CRAFT CAFE Story Craft Cafe is Dabble's podcast for writers who take their craft seriously and their vibes casually. We bring in working authors, editors, and industry pros to get into the stuff that makes stories work. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. ABOUT DABBLE WRITER Dabble is novel-writing software built by writers, for writers. Outline, draft, revise, and track your whole story in one place. Perfect for series writers juggling multiple books, timelines, and character arcs. Try it free for 14 days: https://www.dabblewriter.com/ FOLLOW ALONG Subscribe to this channel for more author interviews and live craft conversations.

Come join Hank and Abby for this walk down DabbleU memory lane, as they talk about finding your people in this crazy, noisy online world! https://dabbleu.com  

Join Hank as he hosts Steve Beaulieu for an Ask Me Anything, all about writing and publishing. We talked about genre fiction, what is and is not working in publishing at the moment, long term mindset and much more. 

We hosted a free live training Thursday, April 9 at 10 am Eastern (watch the replay here) all about developmental editing, one of the most important (and most overlooked) parts of the editing process.  The training was with WSJ bestselling author and book coach, Joe Bunting, who will be talking about how to get the most out of the revision process, plus the dev editing tools that can make the process faster. In the training, Joe will cover: What developmental editing really is (and why it matters so much) When your manuscript is ready for developmental editing How to find the right developmental editor for your book The pros and cons of traditional developmental editing How Twig can help you get your book ready for publication And so much more

Keith Manley is a pastor, musician, and an avid author who found his writing and output skyrocket when he discovered a process for using AI tools to enhance his creative output. He is an advocate for using tools that keep you squarely in the driver's seat and at the helm of your creative endeavors.   The AI-Assisted Author: My Real Workflow for Writing, Designing, and Publishing with Claude, ChatGPT and Amazon KDP   https://www.keithmanley.com/index.html

Most of us get into writing because we love the way stories sound and how they make us feel. What happens when you finish pouring your heart into something you are passionate about just to read what you've written and realize that what you imagined just doesn't live up to where your talent currently lives? How can you brige that gap and become the writer you've always seen yourself as? Join us as we talk it out LIVE.

Did  you win our 60 day Novel Challenge? Need a tune up this summer? Join us for the epic wrap up show and relive the 60 day glory, or use this as motivation to write a new novel this summer.  

Elizabeth Arnott is an award-winning writer and journalist and has written critically acclaimed historical fiction as Lizzie Pook. Her work—covering everything from true crime to Arctic exploration—has featured in publications including The Sunday Times, National Geographic, The New York Times Book Review, and The Guardian. She lives with her husband and their young daughter in London, where she spends far too much time drinking iced coffee and watching serial killer shows.

When writing a series, or even a standalone books, doing some prework can not only make you job as a writer easier, it can even ensure that your readers will have a better experience with your books. How do you go about it, and how can this addition to your process make you a better story teller?

Trope has become a dirty word in some writing circles, but the truth is that tropes are the building blocks of genre fiction. So, how do you keep your writing consistent with reader expectations (using tropes), while also allowing you to tell a story that is fresh and exciting? This is what we'll explore next to the fire. Come join us!