HeyJaredWords on Writing
After 30 years as an advertising copywriter: documenting the bedlam of writing and publishing my thriller series, The Misjudgements of Andy MacKay, about a man who shouldn’t be trusted with a lighter, let alone saving the world.fiction writing advice, fiction writing process,…
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 12
- Latest publication
- Sep 19, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 8, 2026
Latest episodes
Readers Build Careers. Writers Don’t. (opens the original)
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Writers write the book. But a career is something that formsaround the response. Readers help build it. Readers who come back. Readers who tell somebody else. Readers who gradually turn an unknown writer into a writer somebody has heard of.
Why Your Favourite Idea Probably Isn’t Your Best (opens the original)
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An old piece of writing advice suggests killing your darlings. But I think there’s something subtler going on when we struggle to let go of an idea. The longer we live with something, the more important it can begin to feel. But we can we learn to question each idea on its own merit.
Your Writing Problem Isn’t the Problem (opens the original)
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Sometimes we discover that the more obvious a writing problem is, the less likely it is to be the actual problem. Un this episode we explore the phenomenon of writing problems that appear where something further upstream finally became impossible to hide.
Publishing Success Is A Moving Target (opens the original)
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Publishing my first didn't change my confidence nearly as much as it changed my expectations. As a published author, you don't stop worrying. You simply become qualified to worry about more ambitious things.
When Your Taste Outgrows Your Writing (opens the original)
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Becoming a better write it isn't simply putting better sentences on the page. Sure you learn about character, structure, dialogue and point of view. But increasingly, I think what you're really developing is judgement. Let's talk about what better judgement means.
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