The First Draft Club

S07 E08 The Lean-In Method for Assessing Feedback

How do you get feedback without letting it derail you? The risk is real. Mary shares the single criterion she uses in deciding whether or not to take a piece of feedback.

S07 E07 The Real Secret to Writing Your Best Possible Book

In this short and sweet episode, Mary shares the secret to writing a book that's smarter than you (with some helpful words from George Saunders and Rufi Thorpe).

S07 E06 Rufi Thorpe (with Mary) on How to Control Your Reader's Mind

In this sneak peek into the private podcast inside The Book Incubator, Mary and Rufi discuss what they label "Newtonian Narratology" (you think we're kidding!), a.k.a. why it's better for your characters to try not to cry than to cry, and why you might not need to learn how to write that one emotion you struggle to write, after all.

S07 E05 Interview with Psychologist & Author Joe Sanok on How to Get Your Book Written

Author of Thursday is the New Friday, Joe Sanok speaks with Mary about the neuroscience findings that can help aspiring authors finally finish their drafts.

S07 E04 3 Publishing Myths that Are Making Me Mad

There are people online selling solutions you don't need to problems that don't exist. As a writer aspiring to be published, it pays to be savvy. Mary unpacks 3 of these myths so you can avoid traps.

S07 E03 Here it is...the Novel-Writing Tool I Invented in 2023!

In this episode, Mary shares the origin story of her newest tool "A Novel in 52 Prompts" and shares the first 3 prompts so you can knock out your first 5,000 words.

S07 E02 The 2 Ways Playwright Tom Stoppard Changed My Creative Life

Mary shares two stories about what Tom Stoppard the playwright taught her about life and creativity.

S07 E01 My Current Daily Routine as a Novelist (While Running a Business & Parenting)

We're back for Season 7! In this first episode of the season, Mary walks us through her current daily writing routine as she balances a new novel, work, and parenting.

Live with Debut Novelist & Book Incubator grad Gayle Brown on her pub day!

We interrupt this post-season break to bring you a chat between Mary and Gayle Brown, an alum of The Book Incubator whose debut novel that she wrote in the program is out this week. Learn about her writing journey, what pub day feels like, and what advice she has for getting a literary agent.

You can buy A Deadly Game at Amazon (https://shorturl.at/gsvE3) or Barnes and Noble (https://shorturl.at/nyF18), or leave a review on Goodreads (https://shorturl.at/eopsG).

S06 E09 3 New Tips for Writing Better Dialogue

In this episode, Mary builds on the 5 tips for writing stronger dialogue she shared back in the first episode of Season 5. These 3 strategies will help improve your dialogue further.

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Season 5, Episode 1: https://thefirstdraftclub.podbean.com/e/how-to-write-compelling-diagloue/