Episode Nine: Building an Outline You’ve probably heard the term, pantser. These writers make it up as they go along, most notably, like Stephen King. But that doesn’t work for everyone, because the benefits of having a strong outline are what help you write better and faster. The guys discuss the benefits of pantsing and […]

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Episode Eight: Designing Your Setting A great setting can almost become a character in and of itself. It’s important to make a living, breathing setting, just as you would a character. What does it mean to have a ‘great setting?’ Johnny, Sean, and Dave discuss examples of settings they loved from fiction, film, and TV, […]

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Episode Seven: Casting Your Character Casting a characters is a sort of ‘short hand’ for understanding your character. It’s a starting point upon which you can build, and it’s especially helpful in collaborating with co-writers. Johnny, Sean, and Dave discuss how they first started using casting, and how it’s evolved. They really had to make […]

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Episode Six: Creating Memorable Characters It’s imperative that you create memorable characters so that your readers will for a connection with them, and be more invested in their success. It will also ensure that the stakes of the book are truly important. Johnny, Sean, and Dave talk about what THEY think makes a memorable character. […]

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Episode Five: Research Research is something everyone needs to do if they’re going to write a believable story. Different genres require different and varying amounts of research, and it’s as easy to get mired in it as it is to do it inadequately. Unicorn Western was one of those stories where research became less important, […]

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Episode Four: Figuring Out Your Plot There’s a big difference between character based and plot based stories, and that distinction doesn’t really matter for the guys’ work. The reason? All their work is very character based, regardless of the plot.  The guys talk about the different story structures you can use in planning your plot. […]

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Episode Three: Sorting Through Your Idea Writers have too many ideas. It’s hard to know which ones to use, and even how to sort through them and make that decision. There are several techniques the guys use to help them manage, sort, and select their own ideas. Johnny, Sean, and Dave each have their own […]

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Episode Two: The Passion to Write Passion for writing is important. It’s what keeps you working through the tough times, and what inspires you during the best times. The guys discuss their own passion, and share stories of their writing experiences. Much of the guys’ early work was ‘pantsed.’ They made it up as the […]

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Episode One: What StoryShop Is In this first episode of StoryShop Johnny, Sean, and Dave explain what Storyshop is. The guys have spent their lives building worlds, characters, and stories. They also love systems and constantly improving, so they can write better stories, faster. • Quality vs. speed, and how you can be constantly improving […]

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Sean Platt, Johnny B Truant, and David Write hold a series of insightful, on-topic discussions on how to write smarter, faster.

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