The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

By: Bianca Marais Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra
  • Summary

  • This is a podcast for emerging writers who want to improve the quality of their work and learn more about the publishing industry. Your one host, Bianca Marais (the bestselling author of 'The Witches of Moonshyne Manor') interviews authors, agents, editors and just about anyone and everyone who's involved in bringing a book to market. She's joined by her cohosts, literary agents Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra from P.S. Literary Agency, who read and critique query letters as well as opening pages in their Books with Hooks segment. Expect good advice, honest insights, and a few laughs along the way.
    © 2022 The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
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Episodes
  • Leveraging Your Characters’ Emotional Complexity
    Oct 31 2024

    Today Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a coming-of-age submission set in the 80s, as well as a speculative literary fiction query.

    They chat about the importance of details in a query, as opposed to big-picture themes; an example of a prologue that induces curiosity; layering emotion to create more realistic interactions with characters; including emotion and interiority during narration/exposition to elevate your work; how the emotional complexity of your characters can heighten your readers’ connection to them; figuring out ways to show what characters want, rather than explicitly telling readers what that is; the risk of writing experimental fiction; and avoiding using narration in your first line.

    Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

    Find us on our socials:

    Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/

    https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/

    https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW

    Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com

    Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting

    To register for CeCe’s upcoming Hacking Writing on A Line Level course, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xDo7-fz8Q-GrnyE6Nw41qA#/registration

    For more information about the Deep Dive Virtual Retreat, go to https://www.theshitaboutwriting.com/deep-dive-series-2025.html



    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/TSNOTYAW


    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
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    33 mins
  • October Comp Title Bonus Episode
    Oct 28 2024

    Join Bianca in our October bonus episode as your favourite book person, Emilie Sommer from East City Book Shop, answers all your comp requests!

    If you’re looking for our usual Q&A segment, that now gets published as part of our end of the month Substack newsletter. Subscribe to get access to that, and so much more: https://theshitaboutwriting.substack.com/

    Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

    Find us on our socials

    Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/

    https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/

    https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW

    Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and ww.cecilialyra.com

    Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting

    To ask us a question, go to: https://sayhi.chat/TSNOTYAW

    To register for CeCe’s upcoming Hacking Writing on A Line Level course, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xDo7-fz8Q-GrnyE6Nw41qA#/registration

    To sign up for the Beta Reader Match Up, go to https://www.biancamarais.com/beta-reader-match-up.html



    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/TSNOTYAW


    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
    Show more Show less
    26 mins
  • Dramatizing a Scene so That It Comes to Life on the Page
    Oct 24 2024

    Today Bianca interviews NYT bestselling nature writer, Leigh Ann Henion. They discuss Leigh Ann's latest work, Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark; the inspiration behind the book; the process of getting a book like this written and published; being able to illustrate how your non-fiction work fills a gap in the market; scene-setting in non-fiction; including relevant and interesting information without overwhelming the narrative; and always paying attention to what a character knows at that particular point in the story.

    Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

    Find us on our socials:

    Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/

    https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/

    https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW

    Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com

    Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting

    You can find out more information about Leigh Ann on her website at https://leighannhenion.com/

    She's also on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/leighannhenion

    and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LeighAnnHenion.Author/

    To register for CeCe’s upcoming Hacking Writing on A Line Level course, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xDo7-fz8Q-GrnyE6Nw41qA#/registration

    Carly's course for writers, The Author's Publishing Playbook, is available at carlywatters.com/course. If you haven't grabbed it yet, podcast listeners can use discount code POD15



    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/TSNOTYAW
    * Check out Notion: https://notion.com/tsnotyaw


    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
    Show more Show less
    30 mins

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Five Stars

Fast paced and no nonsense advice on the craft, the business, and the writing life.

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Finally!

All about writing and publishing from the professionals who know in one fascinating, educational podcast.

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love this format! ❤️

I literally live for this podcast. Especially this format. I cannot wait to be in a place to submit my own work. congrats on 2 million downloads!

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Great learning resource for writers

My favorite podcast. Any books with books episodes are especially helpful for those learning to write query letters.

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