The Write Focus

Writer's Block ~ Defeat It! / Gardner's Techniques, part B / 7:44

Here we are with More Techniques from Erle Stanley Gardner. We’re tackling Gardner’s solutions for Writer’s Block.

Look to the Show Notes for information about the nonfiction book that is the source for this information.

TIMINGS

· 00:42 Introduction
· 01:07 The Unmentioned Unmentionable
· 01:51 Notes & Rules on Work
· 07:30 Plotting Machines
· 12:15 Gardner, THE Plotting Machine
· 15:05 Flying Buttresses against Writer’s Block
· 17:15 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time = 18:59

LINKS

Video https://youtu.be/Y_CBTTmTwoc

Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/writers-block-defeat-it-gardners-techniques-part-b-744/?token=6eade818905540cf6a077b01525a006d

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

Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle.

The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It!, originally airing as “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book.

Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH
Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow
AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed

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 series.

· Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

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

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Listen on your favorite podcast site: from Apple to YouTube, Spotify and Podbean (my favs), Google Play, Amazon Music and Audible, Samsung and Player FM, Deezer and Podcaster, the rivals iHeart and Tune-in, and too many to list.

Here are the easiest. Make us a favorite, and follow along easy-peasy, once a week, while you fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/

YouTube direct link to the Current Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7IZWMlW9kLwMNEkuLMySGnq

Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d

Amazon/Audible https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/062ecc60-d61c-432a-ad99-8234c1044ef1

ListenNotes https://lnns.co/y_Jg5rpaMNo

Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VkZW41Njk1L2ZlZWQueG1s

Tune-In https://tunein.com/podcasts/p1608565/

IHeart Radio https://iheart.com/podcast/90647163

Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

Writer's Block ~ Defeat It! / Gardner's Techniques part A / 7:43

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

00:40 Introduction
03:05 Writing Life Work Habits
04:21 Gardner’s 1^st Technique
07:45 His 2^nd Technique
09:00 His 3^rd Technique (& the most important)
10:30 Two Touchstones for Stories
13:35 These Touchstones Defeat Writer’s Block
15:10 Five Guides for any Story
20:40 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time = 22:24

LINKS

Video https://youtu.be/7VFzpyP2hd4

Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/writers-block-defeat-it-erle-stanley-gardners-secrets-743/?token=1f22836044df452b9132647553f4f43c

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

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

Defeating Writer’s Block is easy to say, not so easy to do. We writers have to discover the problem we’re having

Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle.

The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It! originally airing as “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book.

Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH

Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow

AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed

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 series.

· Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

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

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Here are the easiest. Make us a favorite, and follow along easy-peasy, once a week, while you fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/

YouTube direct link to the Current Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7IZWMlW9kLwMNEkuLMySGnq

Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d

Amazon/Audible https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/062ecc60-d61c-432a-ad99-8234c1044ef1

ListenNotes https://lnns.co/y_Jg5rpaMNo

Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VkZW41Njk1L2ZlZWQueG1s

Tune-In https://tunein.com/podcasts/p1608565/

IHeart Radio https://iheart.com/podcast/90647163

Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

Writer's Block ~ Defeat It! / Pro Writers' Advice, part B / 7:42

We’re back with more advice from Pro Writers on Defeating Writer’s Block.

Let’s launch straight into business.

TIMINGS

00:38 Introduction
00:48 Barbara Kingsolver
03:00 William Stafford (poet)
03:50 Scott McCormick
09:15 Philip Pullman
12:07 Charlaine Harris
14:43 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time = 16:27

LINKS

Quotations came from a variety of internet sites

Video https://youtu.be/CtbRepmsSJI

Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/writers-block-defeat-it-pro-writers-advice-part-b-742/?token=d6190cb8a20d7e0f2c535c79b48e6c90

Defeating Writer’s Block is easy to say, not so easy to do. We writers have to discover the problem we’re having

Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle.

The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It!.It’s a Blast from the Past, originally airing at “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book.

Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH

Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow

AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed

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 series.

· Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

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

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Here are the easiest. Make us a favorite, and follow along easy-peasy, once a week, while you fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/

YouTube direct link to the Current Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7IZWMlW9kLwMNEkuLMySGnq

Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d

Amazon/Audible https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/062ecc60-d61c-432a-ad99-8234c1044ef1

ListenNotes https://lnns.co/y_Jg5rpaMNo

Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VkZW41Njk1L2ZlZWQueG1s

Tune-In https://tunein.com/podcasts/p1608565/

IHeart Radio https://iheart.com/podcast/90647163

Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

Writer's Block ~ Defeat It / Pro Writers' Advice, part A / 7:41

In the first four episodes of this series, The Write Focus shared how to defeat the three-headed monster called Writer’s Block.

When we research the topic, we find articles that claim 5 types or 10 types of Writer’s Block. Shudder. I don’t want even to contemplate 10 types. Yet I read the article—so you don’t have to.

Guess what? Those 10 types are actually just an expansion of the 3 types we covered in our series—as were the 5 types. And the solutions were exactly what we listed: breaks and escapes, switching projects, overcoming fears and learning new writing skills, pursuing a healthy lifestyle, regaining curiosity, and practicing creativity.

We can do this. We can DEFEAT WRITER’S BLOCK. (Shout it!)

In this segment, we’ll explore advice from other writers, pro writers who have to meet deadlines and are too professional to churn out boring words. Let’s explore what they say.

TIMINGS

00:38 Introduction
01:52 Ernest Hemingway
05:05 Hilary Mantel
06:22 Norman Mailer
07:24 Mark Twain
09:30 Last Words
11:25 Closing

Total Run Time = 12:26

LINKS

Quotations came from a variety of internet sites.

Video https://youtu.be/h2P27MXEIjw

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/09/writers-block-defeat-it-pro-writers.html

Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/writers-block-defeat-it-pro-writers-advice-part-a-741/?token=5357849a5461356cd37166456444f0ab

Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle.

The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting). Still images are in the public domain or author-generated.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It! originally airing as “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back.

Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book.

Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH
Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow
AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed

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 series.

· Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

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

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Here are the easiest. Make us a favorite, and follow along easy-peasy, once a week, while you fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/

YouTube direct link to the Current Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7IZWMlW9kLwMNEkuLMySGnq

Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d

Amazon/Audible https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/062ecc60-d61c-432a-ad99-8234c1044ef1

ListenNotes https://lnns.co/y_Jg5rpaMNo

Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VkZW41Njk1L2ZlZWQueG1s

Tune-In https://tunein.com/podcasts/p1608565/

IHeart Radio https://iheart.com/podcast/90647163

Writer's Block ~ Defeat It / Overcoming Type 3 / 7:40

Writer’s Block looms like a sharp-clawed monster over every writer. A daily discipline—No Day without Lines—is extremely helpful, no matter how many you schedule for a particular day.

Nulla Dies Sine Linea is our mantra, right?

We can overcome a simple refusal to write by maintaining discipline and side projects and our escapes when we’re overwhelmed.

We can defeat Procrastination by overcoming the Twin Fears of Failure and of Judgment. If our worries are failure and judgment, those problems are not with our writing but are inside ourselves. Root them out. Our writing is for us. Improve whatever weaknesses we see. When people point out weaknesses, consider these learning opportunities and keep improving.

We’ve reached the slimy cave of that real Horrible, Terrible Monster than can destroy everything, not just our writing but our hopes and joys.

Type 3 Writer’s Block is Inertia, and Writer’s Inertia kills words and contentment, plans and dreams, grace and well-being.

Yet we can and must defeat Inertia. Here’s how.

TIMINGS

· 00:00 Welcome
· 00:38 Introduction
· 01:43 Writer’s Inertia
· 02:45 Healthy Habits Defeat Inertia
· 09:05 Avoid Stagnating Slime
· 13:15 Wrap-Up
· 14:23 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time = 16:08

LINKS

Video https://youtu.be/CO5WnQLcpa8

Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/09/writers-block-defeat-it-overcoming-type_01363288349.html

Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/writers-block-defeat-it-overcoming-type-3-740/?token=f40b6941004a89cf8de7d20d523c2a27

Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle.

The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book.

Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH

Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow

AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed

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 series.

· Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

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

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Here are the easiest. Make us a favorite, and follow along easy-peasy, once a week, while you fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/

YouTube direct link to the Current Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7IZWMlW9kLwMNEkuLMySGnq

Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d

Amazon/Audible https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/062ecc60-d61c-432a-ad99-8234c1044ef1

ListenNotes https://lnns.co/y_Jg5rpaMNo

Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VkZW41Njk1L2ZlZWQueG1s

Tune-In https://tunein.com/podcasts/p1608565/

IHeart Radio https://iheart.com/podcast/90647163