- 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 1st Technique
- 07:45 His 2nd Technique
- 09:00 His 3rd 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
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
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.
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