The Author Alchemist

Secrets of Alpha Readers! (018)

Do you even know what an alpha reader is? Those of you who are involved in fandom might have heard of it, or at least know about "beta readers", but I promise, this has NOTHING to do with Omega'verse plots! 😂
Alpha readers have always been here, writers just usually referred to them as "a good friend looked over my ideas and gave me some great feedback" or "my friend loves my first draft and really encouraged me to keep writing!" An alpha reader is all of these things and more! They are, above all other things, an unshakeable supporter of your work. Criticism is valuable, of course, and necessary, but only at the right stage. Alpha readers help you get to there.
In this episode I break down what an alpha reader is, why they are so valuable, and what to look for (and ask for!) when vetting friends for the position.

Character Growth! (017)

Welcome to the seventeenth episode of the Author Alchemist! In today's Alchemical Lesson, I explore the transformative power of allowing your characters to change. I hope I get you to trust your characters and show you how important it is to allow your imagination to roam free, for their sake as well as yours!
This discussion was sparked by a Tumblr post I wrote (under my Cooper West penname) that delves into the choices authors face when shaping their characters. Using the character Peter Hale from "Teen Wolf" as an example, I contemplate the dilemma of confining characters to static roles versus letting them evolve.
The 'easy way out' keeps characters one-dimensional in order to conform to genre expectations, while embracing character development can lead to richer, more engaging narratives. Characters like Peter Hale and Loki from Marvel have shown that even within familiar zones (good, bad, indifferent), growth is possible, often elevating them to fan-favorite status.
As a pantser, I admit it's not always easy to navigate these character shifts, as they can unexpectedly reshape plotlines. However, the key takeaway here is to embrace the challenge, trust your characters, and let their development guide your storytelling. So, fellow writers, lean into those character arcs, whether during outlining or writing – you might be surprised where they take you!

Welcome to 2020! here have a podcast :)

[Wow hindsight's a bitch. From the edge of 2022, this podcast just sounds so innocent and naïve ~ KCY, 11/6/2021]
Ayyyyye, this is an ad-hoc podcast I recorded on the fly to welcome everyone to 2020! It's short and sweet and missing all the bells and whistles, but please listen in to hear about the good news of my dog's recovery, my plans for my writing, and my goals for creating the future I want for myself AND FOR YOU! Thanks for listening!

The Writer’s Heroic Journey (016)

Everyone loves the "Hero's Journey" as a writing tool to map out epic stories. It is also used as a self-help guide for analyzing the story of our personal lives, allowing us to place our experiences into a map that lets us analyze what has happened to us, how it has all affected us, where we are now, and where we are going.
In this episode, I bridge the gap between storytelling and your personal life story. Here, I take the classic outline of the Heroic Journey and apply it to your journey as a writer. It is the kind of metaphor that works at both the macro and micro levels, so you can use it to map out your experiences in your writing career AND to look at your experiences writing a specific story.
I teach you how to embrace that journey at every level as a writer, and the strength it can bring to your voice as a storyteller. It's a long episode but I hope you find it enlightening!

My year of not writing (015)

Shit happens. It happens to the best of us. This episode is about what happened when my own personal shit hit the fan.
I spent a year not writing. That's right: not eking out even a word of fiction. Not original fiction, not fanfiction, not blogs, NADA. I did nothing. Why? I talk about that in depth but in short, it was a combination of anxiety, personal demons, and working through those personal demons. Don't discount how much headspace things like therapy and meds take up! It might seem scary when you are going through something like this, which is why I recorded this episode, to let you know that you aren't alone and that your creativity is always with you too! Even when it's not active at the moment! I promise!

Author Alchemist Origin Story! (014)

This episode is a little bit of history, specifically my history as a writer, alpha reader, and creativity coach. If you have been wondering why I started this podcast, then this is the episode you’ve been waiting for! Or not, but here we are.
I jump back and forth a little in my own timeline, and hopefully don’t bore you too much talking about 14 year old me writing fanfiction with my friends back in 1983 (yes, really!). The heart of this whole thing is that one of my joys as a writer is encouraging other writers. It’s really baked into my soul as something that is intrinsic to my identity as an author. I might be an introvert and a bit of a recluse (maybe more than “a bit”!) but even so, it’s my connections to other writers and the joy I get from seeing them create stories that helps keep me motivated!
Also, being an “alpha reader” has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do the A/B/O trope okay? Just...just listen to the podcast, ‘kay?

Know Your Writing Cycle (013)

Are you beholden to other people’s ideas about how fast/often you should write? Do you keep aiming for marks set by everyone but you and then miss them? Then this episode is for you. I look at the way writing ebbs and flows, how the advice “write every day” isn’t the last work in progressing your skills and output, and why looking at your overall health (mental AND physical) is just as important your writing goals.

Ways of Writing (012)

Pantser? Plotter? How DO you write, anyway? In this episode I meander around the different approaches to how a writer can write, and talk some about why it’s important AND why it’s not important. After a long introduction talking about how I was sick with a cold and full up with chicken soup, I get to the meat of it: explaining the difference between pantsing and plotting/outlining and how knowing your preferences is more important than hewing to any instructions on how you “should” do it. We all hate that word “should”, don’t we? Good.
I have to apologize a little for this podcast, since it’s pretty clear to me now that I was doped up on cold meds when I recorded it, and so it is a bit rambly. I also introduce it as episode eleven, not twelve. Listen, y’all, that was a rough week for me!

(don’t) kill your darlings (010)

You need to love what you write, or you will never get through the hard work of finishing and then editing your stories. But how do you love something when all the experts are telling you to “kill it!”? 
In this episode, I look at the history of one of the popular lessons new/young writers are told: “kill your darlings.” It’s well intended, but what does that mean in the context of “write what you love to read”? 
The history of this advice is not as clear cut as you think, and I look at the ways that it can both help and hinder a writer. As with most pithy aphorisms, it contains a kernel of truth, and I explore the value of questioning your “darlings” in the context of story elements such as plot, character development, and world building. Then I take it further and question what it means to have “darlings” as a writer, and why that is actually important.
LINKS:
Jeannette Ng’s fantastic twitter thread on self-censoring and self-limiting beliefs
“Who really said ‘Kill Your Darlings’?” article at Slate:
Joss Whedon quote referenced in the podcast:
“If something isn't working, if you have a story that you've built and it's blocked and you can't figure it out, take your favorite scene, or your very best idea or set-piece, and cut it. It's brutal, but sometimes inevitable.” 

The right writing guide for you? (009)

Back in the old days, walking into a bookstore and looking at the “writing” section with shelves filled to the brim with self-help books about how to write, and what to write, and where to market, and...it was overwhelming. 
At least these days you can just jump online and go to your fave distributor like Amazon and find exactly what you need with no distractions or clutter confusing you!
AHAHAHAHAHA! NOT! 
There are exponentially more books and guides on writing available nowadays than there were on those measly two to five shelves that lived in the bookstore. So many. So VERY many. 
How do you choose? 
I think a key part of that decision is figuring out what you don’t know. In this podcast episode, I help you do that by winnowing down the types of writing guides that are out there. Books, online courses, and even podcasts (like mine) fall somewhere in these categories: 
Inspirational guidance
Creative mentorship
General guidance 
Specific guidance 
You generally only need one of these types at a time. For instance, my podcasts and website fall under “inspirational guidance.” I do creativity coaching too, and that’s more “creative mentorship,” but in general my goal is to get you to the starting line, and then the finish line! What you write and how, specifically, you write it doesn’t matter to me!
I go over other examples in more detail in the podcast so you can figure out what might be the best choice for you, and I remind you that what works for everyone else may not work for you, and that’s okay!
If you’re intimidated by all the advice out there for writers, I think this episode of the Author Alchemist Podcast might be the help you need in choosing what help you really need!