We’ll be talking about how to introduce characters effectively and with style! One reason why writing the first draft of a new manuscript can feel so daunting is because you have so many characters to introduce to your reader. How can you communicate to your reader who these characters are and what they care about without derailing the plot or boring them to tears? Our episode today can help!

Picks of the Week:

H: Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan

BJ: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Mentioned in the Episode:

Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron

The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

Welcome to a tool deep dive episode, where we highlight the features and the challenges of a tool we think you’ll find helpful as a writer. And the tool we’ll be talking about today is Grammarly. Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that helps with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and even some style suggestions. It’s like having a personal editor at your fingertips! But there are some downsides to using Grammarly, too. We’ll discuss both the pros and cons of this tool for writers on today’s episode.

Picks of the Week:

H: The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

BJ: Jumper by Steven Gould

Mentioned in the Episode:

Grammarly

Show Notes

Today, we’ll be talking to writer Dr. Alexandra Middleton. She’s an Assistant Professor of medical anthropology at the University of Copenhagen, creative nonfiction writer and essayist, runner, swimmer, and more! Tune in to hear about her career as well as her advice for aspiring writers.

Mentioned in the Episode:

Alexandra’s Work

• https://www.liminalliety.com/ (Alexandra's Website)

• https://therumpus.net/2023/04/11/terra-incognita/

Other Works Mentioned

• https://1000wordsofsummer.substack.com/about

• https://www.oprah.com/spirit/writing-every-day-writers-rules-aimee-bender/all

• https://www.accountabilityworkshops.com/

• https://pod.link/1623390096

• https://lidiayuknavitch.net/

• https://www.melissafebos.com/

• http://www.jordankisner.com/thresholds

• http://link.chtbl.com/tcahp

Craft Books

• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

• Steering the Craft by Ursula K. LeGuin

• How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

Essays and Books on Motherhood (from The Liminal Substack)

• “The Birth of My Daughter, The Death of My Marriage” by Leslie Jamison

• My Work by Olga Ravn

• “I Shock Myself” from The Ann Friedman Weekly newsletter