5:12 / Defeat Writer's Block / How One Pro Won the Battle

The Write Focus

• 66,000 words per week
• 140 titles published ~ novels and short stories.
  • Of that number, 100 of them sold over one million copies EACH.
• Translated into dozens of languages
• Used pen names because he was so prolific he had to disguise his output from editors

Who is this great Defeater of Writer’s Block? Let’s try one more clue.

• 271 TV episodes produced with his trademark character Perry Mason.

Have you guessed the writer? Erle Stanley Gardner.

To write 66,000 words each week and to publish 140 titles, Gardner had to have methods and techniques to Defeat Writer’s Block.

In his early days, before he became best-selling, Gardner had to learn story-telling techniques, all the craft skills of character, plot, conflict, and resolution (endings). He discovered practical methods and adapted them, and those served him well over his long career as a professional writer.

Let’s analyze the ones we can adapt to super-charge our own Write Focus.

TIMINGS

• 00:00 Welcome
• 00:40 Introduction
• 03:08 Writing Life Work Habits
• 04:38 Gardner’s 1st Technique
• 07:48 His 2nd Technique
• 09:05 His 3rd Technique (& the most important)
• 10:30 Two Touchstones for Stories
• 13:40 These Touchstones Defeat Writer’s Block
• 15:03 Five Guides for any Story
• 20:05 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time :: 22:48

LINKS

Secrets of the World’s Best-Selling Writer: the Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner. Francis L. and Roberta B. Fugate. Graymalki Media, 1975.

Lester Dent’s Plot Formula (1st episode) Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/322-short-narratives-part-1-mixed-miscellany-summer-series/?token=787f587776d16329864e1540c7138c9e

Video on YouTube https://youtu.be/jA6xHr44XMw

Lester Dent’s Plot Formula / printable pdf / https://mgherron.com/2015/01/lester-dents-pulp-paper-master-fiction-plot-formula/

Plot 7 (1st episode) Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/504-plot-7-part-a-discovering-plot/

Archetypal Story Pattern / Greatest Plot Structure in the World (1st episode) Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/stages-1-2-greatest-plot-structure-discplot-447/?token=1f886de066cbc760395ba4fc6edb7519

Link to Blog https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2024/03/defeat-writers-block-how-one-pro-won.html

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Defeat Writer’s Block, from host M.A. Lee’s guidebook Think like a Pro: a New Advent for Writers.

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

• You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters
• Available Now: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

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