“She wrote feverishly.” Tune in to see why we think that sentence sucks! Spoiler: we’re considering eliminating all pronouns and adverbs from our writing. We also share the results of a brief writing exercise, because we’ll do anything but work on our damn manuscripts.

We sit down with 2022 Black List screenwriter and 2023 victim at our murder mystery party, Erin Woods. She shares best practices for developing credible characters, getting projects across the line, and working with different creative (and financial) stakeholders. But don’t fall in love with her! She has a boyfriend.

In this episode, we’re joined by Kalee Maider — professional writer, avid reader, buxom brunette— and we’re drinking WINE. We compare notes on our respective writing processes and what makes us go ahwooga in a romance novel. Kalee takes advantage of her 5 minutes to roast the pod.

We hit our first major milestone: Claire finished reading (and we can finally stop talking about) The Bodyguard. We discuss heeding the vocational call of jury duty, which starts with opening your mail. And finally, we talk about finishing our outlines— but is an outline ever really, truly finished?

We have started outlines to satisfy our innate need for structure and accountability (and NOT because Joops has taken away our iPads until they’re done). This episode also deals in light themes such as seceding from the economy, the plight of the Irish, and miscommunication between lovers!

Do you know our protagonists? If so, could you introduce us? This week, we talk about the process of discovering and refining our leading ladies, and— you guessed it— it’s harder than we thought. We also preview some new themes in our personal lives: Claire’s home renovation (“the reno”) and Molly’s Fourth Wing-induced mental illness.

It’s time to pitch, bitch! We share our respective book concepts through a format favored by cover-judgers everywhere: the book jacket blurb. We also talk about tracking each other’s scents, Chris Evans (again), and the importance of engaging strangers on the subway.

Today, we discover that we are both stronger than babies and smarter than Noah Centineo. In this ep, we dig into the ingredients for a great romance novel — from our favorite tropes to our preferred spice level. And we mentally prepare to actually write something!