Season 2
Episodes
SPECIAL EPISODE: Zena Unpacks Critical Changes in the Marketplace that Impact the Types of Stories Being Sold as a Guest on Writer's Chat
S2_E38 This special episode replays Zena's recent presentation as a guest on Writer's Chat, where she was invited to speak on how writers can make their story ideas commercial. The answer, Zena says, is not as simple...
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The Best Tip Ever on How to Reveal the Evolution of Important Character Relationships in Story
S2 E38. Today in our series of Aha Moments, Zena dives into TIP #6. In essence, the audience needs to see three encounters between characters before they will believe that the relationship has changed or evolved for...
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Unlocking the Secret of How to Write Great Setups and Payoffs
S2_E37. Unlocking the Secret of How to Write Great Setups and PayoffsOne of the best things I ever learned in terms of setups and payoffs is how to make a setup ne barely noticeable. A truly good setup is something...
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Two Easy Tips to Immediately Maximize the Dramatic Potential of Each Scene
S2_E36 See the main points for this episode below. Or DOWNLOAD FULL TRANSCRIPTS FOR FREE on the podcast page of our website. EPISODE DESCRIPTION - Today, I'm sharing tips number 3 and 4 of some of the aha moments I've...
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How to Handle Coincidence and Avoid Red Herrings in Story
S2_E35 See the main points for this episode below. Or DOWNLOAD FULL TRANSCRIPTS FOR FREE on the podcast page of our website. EPISODE DESCRIPTION - Today, I'm switching gears to share some of the aha moments that I...
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Writing Funny: Why Comedy Feels Dangerous and How to Avoid Crossing the Line
S2_E34 – Why Comedy Feels Dangerous and How to Avoid Crossing the LineIn the conclusion of this series on Writing Funny, Zena addresses two final types of tools or comedic devices (puns/dad jokes and the reversal),...
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Writing Funny: My Three Favorite Tools to Create Comedic Moments in Story
S2_E33 – Three Favorite Tools to Create Comedy in StoryIn this current series on Writing Funny, Zena shares three techniques that can specifically be used when working with cliches to create comedic moments in...
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Writing Funny: The Cardinal Rule of Comedy is Surprise
S2_E32 – The Cardinal Rule of Comedy is Surprise. In this current series on Writing Funny, Zena has been breaking down Melvin Helitzer’s acronym THREES from his book, Comedy Writing Secrets, which identifies the six...
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Writing Funny: 2 Rules and 3 Tools to Build Suspense and Create Anticipation in Comedy
In this continuation of of the Writing Funny series, Zena unpacks the last two letters in Melvin Helitzer's acronym, THREES, which make up the 6 primary ingredients of comedy writing. Emotion refers to creating...
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Writing Funny: Good Humor is a Combination of Realism and Exaggeration
In this week's episode, Zena continues to unpack Melvin Helitzer's acronym THREES, which encompasses the six primary ingredients of all comedy. We've already covered the first two, target and hostility. Today, we...
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Writing Funny: The Presence and Purpose of Hostility in Comedy
S2_E29 – The Presence and Purpose of Hostility in ComedyThis week in our series on writing funny, we're talking about the second letter in Melvin Helitzer's acronym THREES, which makes up the six primary ingredients...
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Writing Funny: How to Target the Subject of Your Joke Without Destroying it
S2_E28. How to TARGET the subject of your joke without utterly destroying it.What are the principles and tools for comedy writing? This week we look at the "T" in Melvin Helitzer's acronym, T.H.R.E.E.S., which is...
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