It is! Thanks, Jeff!

Signed Up for the Dash!!!!

Hi Mendi, I had such fun listening to how excited you are about your cast of characters. Your story sounds lovely. Thank you for sharing the challenges you face with when and where to inject emotion and exposition throughout the story, as well as how to build a distinct character voice-issues I deal with, too. Jeff, your detailed explanation of positioning exposition between segments and reminding us of its purpose-how, in addition to giving readers a rest, we can use exposition to ground the reader in where they are, who is with them, and what is happening, while also providing an avenue for reflection through internal voice, all from the vehicle character's perspective-were great reminders for me. Thank you. It was also helpful that, when explaining exposition, you used examples from Mendi's story and shared your own style of integrating exposition into the narrative.

Laura, thank you, for the exemplary teaching session. I always learn so much by listening to your podcasts. Hi Jules, Danielle, and Lisa, I enjoyed listening to how you presented your questions to Laura, seeking guidance, suggestions, and feedback. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and challenges with us so that we could benefit and learn from your discussion.

A fun podcast! I’m excited to keep learning how to write and build cast scenes. Jeff, I enjoyed seeing and hearing how you developed characters in your Mencken and The Monsters book series. I especially liked how you discussed various ways to combine characters based on their personality traits and the roles they play in the story to provide readers with a variety of enriching experiences. It was fascinating to hear how a writer’s creativity can shine throughout a series by using combinations of anchors, engines, and hazards to build character growth and change. It reminds me of the art of dancing-understanding how all the steps synchronize within the unique type of dance one is performing. Jeff, your teaching was very helpful. Thank you. Hi Victoria, I’m thrilled for your success as a cozy mystery author and wish you the very best in writing your next cozy mystery series. Thank you for sharing your experiences and for asking questions that helped enrich the discussion.

Thanks for showing us how to mine for emotional gold. We can learn to spot this in out writing and flesh it out ro refine that gold in a dynamic scene.

😂😂

Jeff, I found this discussion very insightful and helpful as a discovery writer myself, like Liz. I loved the metaphor of Times Square and the Ferry to highlight the distinction between dialogue and exposition, along with teaching us how to identify places in our story to pull scenes from for writing. Thank you. Liz, I wish you the very best in writing your adventurous historical fiction novel. It sounds like you are crafting a deeply moving, heart-tugging story.

I'm writing a book and was recommended your blog by chatgpt, I will explore and give feedback.

Hi Laura, The Office Hour format was phenomenal. It felt like sitting through an entire course with four authors expressing themselves-and beautifully, I might add-as they posed questions for you to address. With six pages of notes, there are just too many aspects of this learning experience to cover effectively. If I had to choose one topic from the many your guests and you discussed that helped me think more clearly, it would be author and character voice. While I’ve heard instructors speak about an author’s voice before, your correlation to artists and their different works throughout their lives made something click for me in a way it hadn’t before. Thank you so much for offering this fantastic learning experience, and a huge thank you to the authors who contributed to the discussion.

Excellent review, Jeff! The wheels are turning as I prepare for the upcoming Dash Event. It was a great experience to be able to immediately apply the points you stressed to the story I'll be drafting. Thank you!

I really enjoyed the conversation you had with Claire! I listen to her podcast "What if for Writers" regularly! I use the enneagram to craft my characters, because I found all my cast sounding and acting like me. That's not good! Claire does great work, and I recommend her to all my writer friends.

Grest book but hard to find a copy now. Seems like the thiught police agree with you and speech patterns and sentiments in this book are perhaps too much for modern fragile sensibilities.

Hi Jeff, I enjoyed your discussion with Claire Taylor. The information on the Enneagram as a tool to help people ease their pain by becoming aware of and acknowledging their fears, thereby understanding what drives their motivations, was excellent. It was also insightful to learn how, as authors, we can use this awareness, gained through understanding the Enneagram, to craft and develop our characters, particularly to ensure that the endings our characters have in the story match who they’ve grown to become. Claire, I enjoyed your first book, Reclaim Your Author Career, and found it very helpful. I look forward to reading your second. Thank you both for sharing your time, knowledge, and expertise with us!"

Oh my gosh, JP, I don’t know where to begin because you’ve given us such fantastic thoughts on writing throughout your discussion with Author, AG Bowman. I especially appreciated your comments on expanding and contrasting our writing using internal thoughts, dialogue, and body language, as well as the questions you recommend we ask ourselves while writing and editing each scene. It was great. Thank you, JP! I’m excited to hear your thoughts on the story hypothesis for my draft opening pages for the upcoming mini-course, Edit Yourself Like The Dialogue Doctor, on September 4. AG Bowman, your book sounds fantastic and chilling! Thank you for sharing your work with us. Please keep us posted on when you publish!

Hi JP Thank you for inviting Ann Garvin to discuss the necessity of fully integrating (merging) character needs and plot throughout the story, a process Ann so beautifully described: “beginning with the sentence, flowing down into the paragraph, then onto the page, the chapter, and continuing throughout the entire book.” JP, as Ann shared her teaching and author experiences about the need for character and plot to merge, I was reminded of your teachings on the importance of choreography within a scene as both character and plot development occur. Ann, congratulations on all that you and the 36 members of the Tall Poppy Writers Organization-which you created-have accomplished to help authors. I agree with you that the way members have supported each other within the group for the past twelve years has helped many authors, both directly and through the ripple effects created, reaching far beyond its members. Ann, it was a distinct pleasure listening to you express your passion for the craft and art of storytelling. JP, your discussion questions were very helpful. Also, thank you for mentioning Ann’s workbook-I’m going to take a look.

Hi, Laura. Your teaching and discussion of this scene were incredibly helpful to me on many levels. I am currently in the midst of one process you discussed. When re-reading a short story (The Scent of Sandalwood Cologne) I wrote over a year ago, I initially decided to scrap it and rewrite it from another character's perspective, as it wasn't working. However, I hated the result. This led me to re-read the original piece while reflecting on what you, Jeff, and JP taught in a mini-conference. I realized that the issue was with the build-up-it wasn’t connecting as it needed to with the trigger and payoff. This is one reason I’m so excited about attending your upcoming conference in September, where I hope to learn how to edit more like a Dialogue Doctor! Dixie, your story sounds fantastic! Thank you for sharing this scene with us. I look forward to hearing more about your story.

Hi, Jeff and Tom. Listening to you discuss books, TV shows, and writing craft topics is always great. Jeff, I'm glad you and Tom discussed that the expectation writers set up for readers in the opening of a story needs to carry through the entire piece, giving the reader a payoff experience that correlates directly back to the opening chapter. I will also keep your recommendation in mind about going back to the beginning of my story to make things worse for a character whenever I encounter an impasse in writing content about that character. Thank you both for sharing your knowledge and experiences with us.

JP and Jeff, everything you discussed-empowerment through valuing people as they are and recognizing and respecting the power differences created by certain knowledge, skills, and resources-I believe the three Dialogue Doctors practice. This is what makes the Dialogue Doctor Community very special and why I'm happy, excited, and honored to participate! I was able to get the book from my library and am looking forward to reading it

Hi Laura, The discussion between you and Mara gave me much insight into writing mystery stories. Thanks for sharing your views on the differences between plot twists and surprise reveals, as well as the two approaches writers can take to create and work through their storylines. I will re-watch National Treasure and The Mummy with your insights in mind. Mara, it was very nice to learn about the story you’re telling. Your enthusiasm for the work you are doing really stood out. Nice! As a fellow former officer (Army) who is also beginning her writing journey, I wish you the best and look forward to hearing more about your story.

Jeff, your questions were great, and the discussion was fantastic! I learned so much. I hope someday to have the opportunity to attend a writing day conference-once I complete a polished novel. Thank you, Chuck, for sharing your experience and wisdom with us!

Hi Laura, I enjoyed hearing how, by moving portions of what we write to other areas of the story, we can enhance the reader's experience without jeopardizing our style of writing and our poetic (literary) voice. Your comment about the word "just" adding more weight (burden) to an already troubling situation was very helpful and something I will strive to keep in mind. Thank you. Erica, thank you for sharing your work. Your story sounds fascinating (intriguing). The topic of your story is very important, and I'm sure many people will be interested in reading it. I look forward to hearing more about it.

This is satire, right?

I was hoping this was satire. A wealth of bad ideas here.

Heya! Glad to be the first one to comment haha. No I'm not 12- referring to this statement being more something a GenZ would say- but is that being ageist? I love my Millenial and GenZ Girls but statements ĺike that create a divide. I don't like workshops either or in person book clubs. People are so friggin annoying 😅 Love your podcast. It's been extraordinarily helpful with my writing which is why I know I'll learn loads today.

Jeff, your discussion with Leslye Penelope was delightful! Thank you. Leslye, congratulations on your successful career and thank you for sharing your process of creating with us. I look forward to reading your work.

Jeff and Joan, I enjoyed listening to the discussion. Jeff, I'm glad you spent a lot of time talking about the effectiveness of pairing a character's physical response with inner monologue. It was also very helpful to hear how you integrated the timing of utterances and internal thoughts of both characters participating in the build-up dance to romance. The discussion has inspired me to re-listen to your The Language of Love Masterclass. Joan, thank you for sharing your work!

Hi Laura and Jeff. Great questions, great discussion, and responses. Thank you! I learned a lot-as usual! I now understand how to determine characters' baseline voice; the importance of describing characters where I start them off in the story instead of how I want them to be at the end; that the way to write an otherwise bland, run-of-the-mill story steeped in reality is to emotionally sharpen what’s happening using dialogue; and that including transition lines for readers as a character moves from one location to another or between lapses of time may not be needed, if letting the reader know is not relevant to the story. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge, experience, and time. Oh, and Jeff, I like the dodgeball angle of your upcoming story. And Laura, I can tell you are excited to edit it! A fun podcast! 😊

Hi JP and Lisa. The discussion was very helpful! In particular, your mentions of reframing how we can think of anchors, the many possibilities for questioning and conflict in our scenes when the developing need is Identity, elaborating on the differences between the mid-point and the dark night of the soul moments and how the mid-point sets up what transpires in the dark night scene, were very insightful. JP, using Lisa’s writing as examples to identify the type of scenes we are writing was very helpful! Thank you. Lisa, thank you for sharing your work. I am in awe of the amount of work you are doing. Your story sounds great! I look forward to hearing more!

Let's hear it for an 'explosion of the rainbow'! lol

OOH, I love the words, cadence, pacing, body language chart--that's a great aid!

When to time your edit, and how to color code your emotions in scenes--great idea, but yet another thing to track makes me anxious about the order of editing passes... great food for thought!

Thank you, JP, for inviting Daniel David Wallace to speak to us on the Dialogue Doctor Podcast. I've had the opportunity to participate in Daniel David's Summits and the "Read a Book with Me Program." Both experiences have been fantastic! It was very helpful for me to listen to his views on the Show Don't Tell and Mirror Moment concepts. You asked great questions, JP!

A great presentation and discussion. Thank you, Jeff and Catherine. Each recommendation of adding conversation throughout the story to enhance readers' ability to bond and prolong their agony before, during, and after the tragic event was extremely helpful! Jeff, I will remember the phrase you used to define a solid short story: "Punch me, punch, punch, punch me, and punch again with escalating swings throughout the story." Very nice! Catherine, I look forward to reading your book. Please keep us posted!

Jeff, thank you for discussing how to write flashbacks and where to place reflective prose. I also appreciated the reminder that the vehicle character (POV) needs to make an active choice whenever a turning point occurs in the scene. Conflict, choice, and consequence-the three essentials of story creation-once again leaped foremost in my mind. Lisa, thanks for sharing your story. It sounds lovely. I look forward to hearing more. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Hi Laura. Thank you for offering an incredible teaching session, as usual! I have decided to color-code my notes on the topics you discuss, from which I continue to learn so much by listening to you. Pink for the usage of vocalization to deter 'telling,' purple for steps to take to ensure that our readers experience the emotional connections between our characters as real, and green for distinct tells or markers indicative of different ages in children. I also appreciate you reminding us that if the reader is thinking about what is happening, they are not feeling what is happening. Again, a great presentation. Thank you, Laura. MZ, I loved hearing about your story. Please keep us posted on its development. Thank you for sharing it with us. Your characters sound delightful!

fantastic tutorial! Well done Laura and Mark!

Thank you for discussing Under the Whispering Door, I just finished it this morning! Loved!

Thank you so much, Jeff and Aaron. Aaron, I learned a lot from the questions you and Jeff discussed about how much to write in our action scenes, and how the answer is directly tied to the internal growth and change of the characters, which is then expressed outwardly. Hearing about the rule of three in writing action scenes as characters fail and succeed was also interesting. Specific to your story, the topics of foreshadowing, anchors that pull/push, engines that pull/push and how they can switch if characters go through dual changes, and the use of reflective moments as a way to give readers a break without pulling them away from the story, were extremely helpful. And Aaron, your spreadsheet is incredible! I'm looking forward to hearing more about your story."

Amazing episode. The system just makes so much sense. Thank you.

Hi JP. Thanks for the great informative session on structuring a story to give readers optimal enjoyment. I especially liked your phrase "expanding sentences" rather than writers focusing on the word, show. It was nice hearing about your story, Fiona. I wish you success and fun throughout your writing journey.

I took lots of notes, as usual. Thank you both for sharing your insights with us! Tom, congratulations on your new endeavor, and Jeff, the description of your prompt book that you wrote as a companion to The Dialogue Doctor Will See You Now! How to Write Dialogue and Characters Readers Will Love--sounds super helpful!

Laura, I found your instruction, on how to integrate writing logic and emotion into story writing very helpful! Madeline, I enjoyed hearing about the story you are writing. It sounds like a fun-exciting read and I look forward to hearing more about it!

Thanks, JP and Jeff. I enjoyed the discussion of the book Scene and Structure. I picked it up a while back but put it down quickly; having difficulty getting into it. I'm happy to say that I'm learning about scene and story structure from the teaching the Dialogue Doctors provide through podcasts, educational seminars and workshops, and the 60-day Dash writing events you offer. Thanks for mentioning Satoshi Kon's films. I will check them out.

I have a friend who is dyslexic and she said it's very difficult for her to read italics in novels and she is an avid reader and poet. Because she told me this now I'm aware sometimes it is more difficult to read italics especially if there's lots of it in a book.

Enjoyed being on this Jeff! I hope it's a help.

A fascinating session. It offered me lots to think about as I build a series. Thank you.

Great Coaching, Jeff and great discussion of your work, Matt. I'm very excited for you as you write your scenes! I will refer back to this podcast often!

Bravo! Congratulations!

Great questions JP and very informative! Thank you. I learned the importance of an author choosing a narrator who will best fit and exemplify the characters in the story the author wishes to offer to their readers. I also applaud the program Kirt Graves created that provides authors the opportunity to have their work produced and marketed.