Podcast appearances and mentions of Matt Bird

What makes a character so compelling that readers will forgive almost anything about the plot? How do you move beyond vague flaws and generic descriptions to create people who feel pulled from real life? In this solo episode, I share 15 actionable tips for writing deep characters, curated from past interviews on the podcast. In the intro, thoughts from London Book Fair [Instagram reel @jfpennauthor; Publishing Perspectives; Audible; Spotify]; Insights from a 7-figure author business [BookBub]. This show is supported by my Patrons. Join my Community and get articles, discounts, and extra audio and video tutorials on writing craft, author business, and AI tools, at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn This episode has been created from previous episodes of The Creative Penn Podcast, curated by Joanna Penn, as well as chapters from How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book. Links to the individual episodes are included in the transcript below. In this episode: Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' trifecta, how to hook readers on the very first page Define the Dramatic Question: Who is your character when the chips are down? Absolute specificity. Why “she's controlling” isn't good enough Understand the Heroine's Journey, strength through connection, not solo action Use ‘Metaphor Families' to anchor dialogue and give every character a distinctive voice Find the Diagnostic Detail, the moments that prove a character is real Writing pain onto the page without writing memoir Write diverse characters as real people, not stereotypes or plot devices Give your protagonist a morally neutral ‘hero' status. Compelling beats likeable. Build vibrant side characters for series longevity and spin-off potential Use voice as a rhythmic tool Link character and plot until they're inseparable Why discovery writers can write out of order and still build deep character Find the sensory details that make characters live and breathe More help with how to write fiction here, or in my book, How to Write a Novel. Writing Characters: 15 Tips for Writing Deep Character in Your Fiction In today's episode, I'm sharing fifteen tips for writing deep characters, synthesised from some of the most insightful interviews on The Creative Penn Podcast over the past few years, combined with what I've learned across more than forty books of my own. I'll be referencing episodes with Matt Bird, Will Storr, Gail Carriger, Barbara Nickless, and Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. I'll also draw on my own book, How to Write a Novel, which covers these fundamentals in detail. Whether you're writing your first novel or your fiftieth, whether you're a plotter or a discovery writer like me, these tips will help you create characters that readers believe in, care about, and invest in—and keep coming back for more. Let's get into it. 1. Master the ‘Believe, Care, Invest' Trifecta When I spoke with Matt Bird on episode 624, he laid out the three things you need to achieve on the very first page of your book or in the first ten minutes of a film. He calls it “Believe, Care, and Invest.” First, the reader must believe the character is a real person, somehow proving they are not a cardboard imitation of a human being, not just a generic type walking through a generic plot. Second, the reader must care about the character's circumstances. And third, the reader must invest in the character's ability to solve the story's central problem. Matt used The Hunger Games as his primary example, and it's brilliant. On the very first page, we believe Katniss's voice. Suzanne Collins writes in first person with a staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short declarative sentences—that immediately grounds us in a survivalist mentality. We care because Katniss is starving. She's protecting her little sister. And we invest because she is out there bow hunting, which Matt pointed out is one of the most badass things a character can do. She even kills a lynx two pages in and sells the pelt. We invest in her resourcefulness and grit before the plot has even begun. Matt was very clear that this has nothing to do with the character being “likable.” He said his subtitle, Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love, doesn't mean the character has to be a good person. He described “hero” as both gender-neutral and morally neutral. A hero can be totally evil or totally good. What matters is that we believe, care, and invest. He demonstrated this beautifully by breaking down the first ten minutes of WeCrashed, where the characters of Adam and Rebekah Neumann are absolutely not likable, but we are completely hooked. Adam steals his neighbour's Chinese food through a carefully orchestrated con involving an imaginary beer. It's not admirable behaviour, but the tradecraft involved, as Matt put it—using a term from spy movies—makes us invest in him. We see a character trying to solve the big problem of his life, which is that he's poor and wants to be rich, and we want to see if he can pull it off. Actionable step: Go to the first page of your current work in progress. Does it achieve all three? Does the reader believe this is a real person with a distinctive voice? Do they care about the character's circumstances? And do they invest in the character's ability to handle what's coming? If even one of those three is missing, that's your revision priority. 2. Define the Dramatic Question: Who Are They Really? Will Storr, author of The Science of Storytelling, came on episode 490 and gave one of the most powerful frameworks I've ever heard for character-driven fiction. He explained that the human brain evolved language primarily to swap social information—in other words, to gossip. We are wired to monitor other people, to ask the question: who is this person when the chips are down? That's what Will calls the Dramatic Question, and it's what he believes lies at the heart of all compelling storytelling. It's not a question about plot. It's a question about the character's soul. And every scene in your novel should force the character to answer it. His example of Lawrence of Arabia is unforgettable. The Dramatic Question for the entire film is: who are you, Lawrence? Are you ordinary or are you extraordinary? At the beginning, Lawrence is a cocky, rebellious young soldier who believes his rebelliousness makes him superior. Every iconic scene in that three-hour film tests that belief. Sometimes Lawrence acts as though he truly is extraordinary—leading the Arabs into battle, being hailed as a god—and sometimes the world strips him bare and he sees himself as ordinary. Because it's a tragedy, he never overcomes his flaw. He doubles down on his belief that he's extraordinary until he becomes monstrous, culminating in that iconic scene where he lifts a bloody dagger and sees his own reflection with horror. Will also used Jaws to demonstrate how this works in a pure action thriller. Brody's dramatic question is simple: are you going to be old Brody who is terrified of the water, or new Brody who can overcome that fear? Every scene where the shark appears is really asking that question. And the last moment of the film isn't the shark blowing up. It's Brody swimming back through the water, saying he used to be scared of the water and he can't imagine why. Actionable step: Write down the Dramatic Question for your protagonist in a single sentence. Is it “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you brave enough to love again?” or “Will you sacrifice your principles for survival?” If you can't answer this with specificity, your character might still be a sketch rather than a person. 3. Get rid of Vague Flaws, and use Absolute Specificity This was one of Will Storr's most important points. He said that vague thinking about characters is really the enemy. When he teaches workshops and asks writers to describe their character's flaw, most of them say something like “they're very controlling.” And Will's response is: that's not good enough. Everyone is controlling. How are they controlling? What's the specific mechanism? He gave the example of a profile he read of Theresa May during the UK's Brexit chaos. Someone who knew her said that Theresa May's problem was that she always thinks she's the only adult in every room she goes into. Will said that stopped him in his tracks because it's so precise. If you define a character with that level of specificity, you can take them and put them in any genre, any situation—a spaceship, a Victorian drawing room, a school playground—and you will know exactly how they're going to behave. The same applies to Arthur Miller's Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, as Will described it: a man who believes absolutely in capitalistic success and the idea that when you die, you're going to be weighed on a scale, just as God weighs you for sin, but now you're weighed for success. That's not a vague flaw. That's a worldview you can drop into any story and watch it combust. Will made another counterintuitive point that I found really valuable: writers often think that piling on multiple traits will create a complex character, but the opposite is true. Starting with one highly specific flaw and running it through the demands of a relentless plot is what generates complexity. You end up with a far more nuanced, original character than if you'd started with a laundry list of vague attributes. Actionable step: Take your protagonist's flaw and pressure-test it. Is it specific enough that you could place this character in any situation and predict their behaviour? If you're stuck at “she's stubborn” or “he's insecure,” keep pushing. What kind of stubborn? What kind of insecure? Find the diagnostic sentence—the Theresa May level of precision. 4. Understand the Heroine's Journey: Strength Through Connection Gail Carriger came on episode 550 to discuss her nonfiction book, The Heroine's Journey, and it completely reframed how I think about some of my own fiction. Gail explained that the core difference between the Hero's Journey and the Heroine's Journey comes down to how strength and victory are defined. The Hero's Journey is about strength through solo action. The hero must be continually isolated to get stronger. He goes out of civilisation, faces strife alone, and achieves victory through physical prowess and self-actualisation. The Heroine's Journey is the opposite. The heroine achieves her goals by activating a network. She's a delegator, a general. She identifies where she can't do something alone, finds the people who can help, and portions out the work for mutual gain. Gail put it simply: the heroine is very good at asking for help, which our culture tends to devalue but which is actually a powerful form of strength. Crucially, Gail stressed that gender is irrelevant to which journey you're writing. Her go-to examples are striking: the recent Wonder Woman film is practically a beat-for-beat hero's journey—Gilgamesh on screen, as Gail described it. Meanwhile, Harry Potter, both the first book and the series as a whole, is a classic heroine's journey. Harry's power comes from his network—Dumbledore's Army, the Order of the Phoenix, his friendships with Ron and Hermione. He doesn't defeat Voldemort alone. He defeats Voldemort because of love and connection. This distinction has real practical consequences for writers. If you're writing a hero's journey and you hit writer's block, Gail said, the solution is usually to isolate your hero further and pile on more strife. But if you're writing a heroine's journey, the solution is probably to throw a new character into the scene—someone who has advice to offer or a skill the heroine lacks. The actual solutions to writer's block are different depending on which narrative you're writing. As I reflected on my own work, I realised that my ARKANE thriller protagonist, Morgan Sierra, follows a hero's journey—she's a solo operative, a lone wolf like Jack Reacher or James Bond. But my Mapwalker fantasy series follows a heroine's journey, with Sienna and her group of friends working together. I hadn't consciously chosen those paths; the stories led me there. But understanding the framework helps me write more intentionally now. Actionable step: Identify which journey your protagonist is on. Does your character gain strength by being alone (hero) or by building connections (heroine)? This will inform every plot decision you make, from how they face obstacles to how your story ends. 5. Use ‘Metaphor Families' to Anchor Dialogue and Voice One of the most practical techniques Matt Bird shared on episode 624 is the idea of assigning each character a “metaphor family”—a specific well of language that they draw from. This gives each character a distinctive voice that goes beyond accent or dialect. Matt explained how in The Wire, one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, every character has a different metaphor family. What struck him was that Omar, this iconic character, never utters a single curse word in the entire series. His metaphor family is pirate. He talks about parlays, uses language that feels like it belongs in Pirates of the Caribbean, and it creates this incredible ironic counterpoint against his urban setting. It tells us immediately that this is a character who sees himself in a tradition of people that doesn't match his immediate surroundings. Matt also referenced the UK version of The Office, where Gareth works at a paper company but aspires to the military. So all of his language is drawn from a military metaphor family. He doesn't talk about filing and photocopying; he talks about tactics and discipline and being on the front line. This tells us that the character has a life and dreams beyond the immediate scene—and it's the gap between aspiration and reality that makes him both funny and believable. He pointed out that a metaphor family sometimes comes from a character's background, but it's often more interesting when it comes from their aspirations. What does your character want to be? What world do they fantasise about inhabiting? That's where their language should come from. In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a spiritual hermit, but his metaphor family is military. He uses the language of generals and commanders, and that ironic counterpoint is part of what makes him feel so rich. Actionable step: Assign each of your main characters a metaphor family. It could be based on their job, their background, or—more interestingly—their secret aspirations. Then go through your dialogue and make sure each character is consistently drawing from that well of language. If two characters sound the same when you strip away the dialogue tags, this is the fix. 6. Find the Diagnostic Detail: The Diagonal Toast Avoid clichéd character tags—the random scar, the eye patch, the mysterious limp—unless they serve a deep narrative purpose. Matt Bird on episode 624 was very funny about this: he pointed out that Nick Fury, Odin, and eventually Thor all have eye patches in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eye patches are done, he said. You cannot do eye patches anymore. Instead, look for what I'm calling the “diagonal toast” detail, after a scene Matt described from Captain Marvel. In the film, Captain Marvel is trying to determine whether Nick Fury is who he says he is. She asks him to prove he isn't a shapeshifting alien. Fury shares biographical details—his history, his mother—but then she pushes further and says, name one more thing you couldn't possibly have made up about yourself. And Fury says: if toast is cut diagonally, I can't eat it. Matt said that detail is gold for a writer because it feels pulled from a real life. You can pull it from your own life and gift it to your characters, and the reader can tell it's not manufactured. He gave another example from The Sopranos: Tony Soprano's mother won't answer the phone after dark. The show's creator, David Chase, confirmed on the DVD commentary that this came from his own mother, who genuinely would not answer the phone after dark and couldn't explain why. Matt's practical advice was to keep a journal. Write down the strange, specific things that people do or say. Mine your own life for those hyper-specific details. You just need one per book. In my own writing, I've used this approach. In my ARKANE thrillers, my character Morgan Sierra has always been Angelina Jolie in my mind—specifically Jolie in Lara Croft or Mr and Mrs Smith. And Blake Daniel in my crime thriller series was based on Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy. I paste pictures of actors into my Scrivener projects. It helps with visuals, but also with the sense of the character, their energy and physicality. But visual details only take you so far. It's the behavioural quirks—the diagonal toast moments—that make a character feel genuinely alive. That said, physical character tags can work brilliantly when they serve the story. As I discuss in How to Write a Novel, Robert Galbraith's Cormoran Strike is an amputee, and his pain and the physical challenges of his prosthesis are a key part of every story—it's not a cosmetic detail, it's woven into the action and the character's psychology. My character Blake Daniel always wears gloves to cover the scars on his hands, which provides an angle into his wounded past as well as a visual cue for the reader. And of course, Harry Potter's lightning-shaped scar isn't just a mark—it's a direct connection to his nemesis and the mythology of the entire series. The rule of thumb is: if the tag tells us something about the character's interior life or connects to the plot, it's earning its place. If it's just there to make the character visually distinctive, it's probably a crutch. Game of Thrones takes character tags further with the family houses, each with their own mottos and sigils. The Starks say “Winter is coming” and their sigil is a dire wolf. Those aren't just labels—they're worldview made visible. Actionable step: Start a “diagonal toast” notebook. Every time you notice something strange and specific about someone's behaviour—something that feels too real to be made up—write it down. Then gift it to a character who needs more texture. 7. Displace Your Own Trauma into the Work Barbara Nickless shared something deeply personal on episode 732 that fundamentally changed how I think about putting pain onto the page. While starting At First Light, the first book in her Dr. Evan Wilding series, she lost her son to epilepsy—something called SUDEP, Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. One day he was there, and the next day he was gone. Barbara said that writing helped her cope with the trauma, that doing a deep dive into Old English literature and the Viking Age for the book's research became a lifeline. But here's what's important: she didn't give Dr. Evan Wilding her exact trauma. Evan Wilding is four feet five inches, and Barbara described how he has to walk through a world that won't adjust to him. That's its own form of learning to cope when circumstances are beyond your control. She displaced her genuine grief into the character's different but parallel struggle. When I asked her about the difference between writing for therapy and writing for an audience, she drew on her experience teaching creative writing to veterans through a collaboration between the US Department of Defense and the National Endowment for the Arts. She said she's found that she can pour her heartache into her characters and process it through them, even when writing professionally, and that the genuine emotion is what touches readers. We've all been through our own losses and griefs, so seeing how a character copes can be deeply meaningful. I've always found that putting my own pain onto the page is the most direct way to connect with a reader's soul. My character Morgan Sierra's musings on religion and the supernatural are often my own. Her restlessness, her fascination with the darker edges of faith—those come from me. But her Krav Maga fighting skills and her ability to kill the bad guys are definitely her own. That gap between what's mine and what's hers is where the fiction lives. Barbara also said something on that episode that I wrote down and stuck on my wall. She said the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul. I've been thinking about that ever since. On my own wall, I have “Measure your life by what you create.” Different words, same truth. Actionable step: If you're carrying something heavy—grief, anger, fear, regret—consider how you might displace it into a character's different but emotionally parallel struggle. Don't copy your exact situation; transform it. The emotion will be genuine, and the reader will feel it. 8. Write Diverse Characters as Real People When I spoke with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673—Sarah is Choctaw and a historical fiction author honoured by the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian—she offered a perspective that every fiction writer needs to hear. The key message was to move away from stereotypes. Don't write your American Indian character as the “Wise Guide” who exists solely to dispense mystic wisdom to the white protagonist. Don't limit diverse characters to historical settings, as though they only exist in the past. Place them in normal, contemporary roles. Your spaceship captain, your forensic scientist, your small-town baker—any of them can be American Indian, or Nigerian, or Japanese, and their heritage should be a lived-in part of their identity, not the sole reason they exist in the story. I write international thrillers and dark fantasy, and my fiction is populated with characters from all over the world. I have a multi-cultural family and I've lived in many places and travelled widely, so I've met, worked with, and had relationships with people from different cultures. I find story ideas through travel, and if I set my books in a certain place, then the story is naturally populated with the people who live there. As I discuss in my book, How to Write a Novel, the world is a diverse place, so your fiction needs to be populated with all kinds of people. If I only populated my fiction with characters like me, they would be boring novels. There are many dimensions of difference—race, nationality, sex, age, body type, ability, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, class, culture, education level—and even then, don't assume that similar types of people think the same way. Some authors worry they will make mistakes. We live in a time of outrage, and some authors have been criticised for writing outside their own experience. So is it too dangerous to try? Of course not. The media amplifies outliers, and most authors include diverse characters in every book without causing offence because they work hard to get it right. It's about awareness, research, and intent. Actionable step: Audit the cast of your current work in progress. Have you written a mono-cultural perspective for all of them? If so, consider who could bring a different background, perspective, or set of cultural specifics to the story. Not as a token addition, but as a real person with a real life. 9. Respect Tribal and Cultural Specificity Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer on episode 673 was emphatic about one thing: never treat diverse groups as monolithic. If you're writing a Native American character, you must research the specific nation. Choctaw is not Navajo, just as British is not French. Sarah described the distinct cultural markers of the Choctaw people—the diamond pattern you'll see on traditional shirts and dresses, which represents the diamondback rattlesnake. They have distinct dances and songs. She said that if she saw someone in traditional dress at a distance, she would know whether they were Choctaw based on what they were wearing. She encouraged writers who want to write specifically about a nation to get to know those people. Go to events, go to a powwow, learn about the individual culture. She noted that a big misconception is that American Indians exist only in the past—she stressed that they are still here, still living their cultures, and fiction should reflect that present reality. I took a similar approach when writing Destroyer of Worlds, which is set mostly in India. I read books about Hindu myth, watched documentaries about the sadhus, and had one of my Indian readers from Mumbai check my cultural references. For Risen Gods, set in New Zealand with a young Maori protagonist, I studied books about Maori mythology and fiction by Maori authors, and had a male Maori reader check for cultural issues. Research is simply an act of empathy. The practical takeaway is this: if you're going to include a character from a specific cultural background, do the work. Use specific cultural details rather than generic signifiers. Sarah talked about how even she fell into stereotypes when she was first writing, until her mother pointed them out. If someone from within a culture can fall into those traps, the rest of us certainly can. Do the research, try your best, ask for help, and apologise if you need to. Actionable step: If you're writing a character from a specific culture, identify three to five sensory or behavioural details that are particular to that culture—not the generic version, but the real, researched, lived-in version. Consider hiring a sensitivity reader from that community to check your work. 10. Give Your Protagonist a Morally Neutral ‘Hero' Status Matt Bird was clear about this on episode 624: the word “hero” simply means the protagonist, the person we follow through the story. It's a functional role, not a moral label. We don't have to like them. We don't even have to root for their goals in a moral sense. We just have to find them compelling enough to invest our attention in their problem-solving. Think of Succession, where every member of the Roy family is varying degrees of awful, and yet the show was utterly compelling. Or WeCrashed, where Adam Neumann is a narcissistic con artist, but we can't look away because he's trying to solve the enormous problem of building an empire from nothing, and the tradecraft he employs is fascinating. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, readers must want to spend time with your characters. They don't have to be lovable or even likable—that will depend on your genre and story choices—but they have to be captivating enough that we want to spend time with them. A character who is trying to solve a massive problem will naturally draw investment from the audience, even if we wouldn't want to have tea with them. Will Storr extended this idea by pointing out that the audience will actually root for a character to solve their problem even if the audience doesn't actually want the character's goal to be achieved in the real world. We don't really want more billionaires, but we invested in Adam Neumann's rise because that was the problem the story posed, and our brains are wired to invest in problem-solving. This connects to something deeper: what does your character want, and why? As I explore in How to Write a Novel, desire operates on multiple levels. Take a character like Phil, who joins the military during wartime. On the surface, she wants to serve her country. But she also wants to escape her dead-end town and learn new skills. Deeper still, her father and grandfather served, and by joining up, she hopes to finally earn their respect. And perhaps deepest of all, her father died on a mission under mysterious circumstances, and she wants to find out what happened from the inside. That layering of motivation is what turns a flat character into a three-dimensional one. The audience doesn't need to be told all of this explicitly. It can emerge through action, dialogue, and the choices the character makes under pressure. But you, the writer, need to know it. You need to know what your character really wants deep down, because that desire—more than any external plot device—is what drives the story forward. And your antagonist needs the same depth. They also want something, often diametrically opposed to your protagonist, and they need a reason that makes sense to them. In my ARKANE thriller Tree of Life, my antagonist is the heiress of a Brazilian mining empire who wants to restore the Earth to its original state to atone for the destruction caused by her father's company. She's part of a radical ecological group who believe the only way to restore Nature is to end all human life. It's extreme, but in an era of climate change, it's a motivation readers can understand—even if they disagree with the solution. Actionable step: If you're struggling to make a morally grey character work, make sure their problem is big enough and their methods are specific and interesting enough that we invest in the how, even if we're ambivalent about the what. 11. Build Vibrant Side Characters Gail Carriger made a point on episode 550 that was equal parts craft advice and business strategy. In a Heroine's Journey model, side characters aren't just fodder to be killed off to motivate the hero. They form a network. And because you don't have to kill them—unlike in a hero's journey, where allies are often betrayed or removed so the hero can be further isolated—you can pick up those side characters and give them their own books. Gail said this creates a really voracious reader base. You write one series with vivid side characters, and then readers fall in love with those side characters and want their stories. So you write spin-offs. The romance genre does this brilliantly—think of the Bridgerton books, where each sibling gets their own novel. The side character in one book becomes the protagonist in the next. Barbara Nickless experienced this firsthand with her Dr. Evan Wilding series. She has River Wilding, Evan's adventurous brother, and Diana, the axe-throwing research assistant, and her editor has already expressed interest in a spin-off series with those characters. Barbara described creating characters she wants to spend time with, or characters who give her nightmares but also intrigue her. That's the dual test: are they interesting enough for you to write, and interesting enough for readers to demand more? As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, characters that span series can deepen the reader's relationship with them as you expand their backstory into new plots. Readers will remember the character more than the plot or the book title, and look forward to the next instalment because they want more time with those people. British crime author Angela Marsons described it as readers feeling like returning to her characters is like putting on a pair of old slippers. Actionable step: Look at your supporting cast. Is there a side character who is vivid enough to carry their own story? If not, what could you add—a specific hobby, a distinct voice, a compelling backstory—that would make readers want more of them? 12. Use Voice as a Rhythmic Tool Voice is one of the most important elements of novel writing, and Matt Bird helped me think about it in a technical, mechanical way that I found really useful. He pointed out that the ratio of periods to commas defines a character's internal reality. A staccato rhythm—lots of periods, short sentences—suggests a character who is certain, grounded, or perhaps survivalist and traumatised. Katniss in The Hunger Games has a period-heavy voice. She's in survival mode. She doesn't have time for complexity or qualification. A flowing, comma-heavy style suggests someone more academic, more nuanced, or possibly more scattered and manipulative. The character who qualifies everything, who adds sub-clauses and digressions, is a different kind of person from the character who speaks in declarations. This is something you can actually measure. Pull up a passage of your character's dialogue or internal monologue and count the periods versus the commas. If the rhythm doesn't match who the character is supposed to be, you've found a mismatch you can fix. Sentence length is the heartbeat of your character's persona. And voice extends beyond rhythm to the words themselves. As I discussed in the metaphor families tip, each character should draw from a distinctive well of language. But voice also encompasses their relationship to silence. Some characters talk around the thing they mean; others say it straight. Some are self-deprecating; others are blunt to the point of rudeness. All of these choices are character choices, not just style choices. I find it useful to read my dialogue aloud—and not just to check for naturalness, but to hear whether each character sounds distinct. If you could swap dialogue lines between two characters and nobody would notice, you have a voice problem. One practical test: cover the dialogue tags and see if you can tell who's speaking from the words alone. Actionable step: Choose a key passage from your protagonist's point of view and read it aloud. Does the rhythm match the character? A soldier under fire should not sound like a philosophy professor at a wine tasting. Adjust the ratio of periods to commas until the voice feels right. 13. Link Character and Plot Until They're Inseparable Will Storr made the case on episode 490 that the number one problem he sees in the writing he encounters—in workshops, in submissions, even in published books—is that the characters and the plots are unconnected. There's a story happening, and there are people in it, but the story isn't a product of who those people are. He said a story should be like life. In our lives, the plots are intimately connected to who we are as characters. The goals we pursue, the obstacles we face, the same problems that keep recurring—these are products of our personalities, our flaws, our specific ways of being in the world. His framework is that your plot should be designed specifically to plot against your character. You've got a character with a particular flaw; the plot exists to test that flaw over and over until the character either transforms or doubles down and explodes. Jaws is the perfect example. Brody is afraid of water. A shark shows up in the coastal town he's responsible for protecting. The entire plot is engineered to force him to confront the one thing he cannot face. Will pointed out that the whole plot of Jaws is structured around Brody's flaw. It begins with the shark arriving, the midpoint is when Brody finally gets the courage to go into the water, and the very final scene isn't the shark blowing up—it's Brody swimming back through the water. Even a film that's ninety-eight percent action is, at its core, structured around a character with a character flaw. This is the standard I aspire to in my own work, even in my action-heavy thrillers. The external plot should be a mirror of the internal struggle. When those two are aligned, the story becomes irresistible. Will also made an important point about series fiction, which is where most commercial authors live. I asked him how this works when your character can't be transformed at the end of every book because there has to be a next book. His answer was elegant: you don't cure them. Episodic TV characters like Fleabag or David Brent or Basil Fawlty never truly change—and the fact that they don't change is actually the source of the comedy. But every episode throws a new story event at them that tests and exposes their flaw. You just keep throwing story events at them again and again. That's a soap opera, a sitcom, and a book series. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, character flaws are aspects of personality that affect the person so much that facing and overcoming them becomes central to the plot. In Jaws, the protagonist Brody is afraid of the water, but he has to overcome that flaw to destroy the killer shark and save the town. But remember, your characters should feel like real people, so never define them purely by their flaws. The character addicted to painkillers might also be a brilliant and successful female lawyer who gets up at four in the morning to work out at the gym, likes eighties music, and volunteers at the local dog shelter at weekends. Character wounds are different from flaws. They're formed from life experience and are part of your character's backstory—traumatic events that happened before the events of your novel but shape the character's reactions in the present. In my ARKANE thrillers, Morgan Sierra's husband Elian died in her arms during a military operation. This happened before the series begins, but her memories of it recur when she faces a firefight, and she struggles to find happiness again for fear of losing someone she loves once more. And then there's the perennial advice: show, don't tell. Most writers have heard this so many times that it's easy to nod and then promptly write scenes that tell rather than show. Basically, you need to reveal your character through action and dialogue, rather than explanation. In my thriller Day of the Vikings, Morgan Sierra fights a Neo-Viking in the halls of the British Museum and brings him down with Krav Maga. That fight scene isn't just about showing action. It opens up questions about her backstory, demonstrates character, and moves the plot forward. Telling would be something like: “Morgan was an expert in Krav Maga.” Showing is the reader discovering it through the scene itself. Actionable step: Look at the main plot events of your novel. For each major turning point, ask: does this scene specifically test my protagonist's flaw? If not, can you redesign the scene so that it does? The tighter the connection between character and plot, the more powerful the story. 14. The ‘Maestra' Approach: Write Out of Order If you're a discovery writer like me, you may feel like the deep character work I've been describing sounds more suited to plotters. But Barbara Nickless gave me a beautiful metaphor on episode 732 that reframes it entirely. Barbara described her evolving writing process as being like a maestra standing in front of an orchestra. Sometimes you bring in the horns—a certain theme—and sometimes you bring in the strings—a certain character—and sometimes you turn to the soloist. It's a more organic and jumping-around process than linear writing, and Barbara said she's only recently given herself permission to work this way. When I told her that I use Scrivener to write in scenes out of order and then drag and drop them into a structure later, she was genuinely intrigued. And this is how I've always worked. I'll see the story in my mind like a movie trailer—flashes of the big emotional scenes, the pivotal confrontations, the moments of revelation—and I write those first. I don't know how they hang together until quite late in the process. Then I'll move scenes around, print the whole thing out, and figure out the connective tissue. The point is that discovery writers can absolutely build deep characters. Sometimes writing the big emotional scenes first is how you discover who the character is before you fill in the rest. You don't need a twenty-page character worksheet or a 200-page outline like Jeffery Deaver. You need to be willing to follow the character into the unknown and trust that the structure will emerge. As Barbara said, she writes to know what she's thinking. That's the discovery writer's credo. And I would add: I write to know who my characters are. Actionable step: If you're stuck on your current chapter, skip it. Write the scene that's burning in your imagination, even if it's from the middle or the end. That scene might be the key to unlocking who your character really is. 15. Use Research to Help with Empathy Research shouldn't just be about factual accuracy—it's a tool for finding the sensory details that create empathy. Barbara Nickless described research as almost an excuse to explore things that fascinate her, and I feel exactly the same way. I would go so far as to say that writing is an excuse for me to explore the things that interest me. Barbara and I both travel for our stories. For her Dr. Evan Wilding books, she did deep research into Old English literature and the Viking Age. For my thriller End of Days, I transcribed hours of video from Appalachian snake-handling churches on YouTube to understand the worldview of the worshippers, because my antagonist was brought up in that tradition. I couldn't just make that up. I had to hear their language, feel their conviction, understand why they would hold venomous serpents as an act of faith. Barbara also mentioned getting to Israel and the West Bank for research, and I've been to both places too. Finding that one specific sensory detail—the smell of a particular location, the specific way an expert handles a tool, the sound of a particular kind of music—makes the character's life feel lived-in. It's the difference between a character who is described as living in a place and a character who inhabits it. As I wrote in How to Write a Novel, don't write what you know. Write what you want to learn about. I love research. It's part of why I'm an author in the first place. I take any excuse to dive into a world different from my own. Research using books, films, podcasts, and travel, and focus particularly on sources produced by people from the worldview you want to understand. Actionable step: For your next piece of character research, go beyond reading. Watch a documentary, visit a location, talk to someone who lives the experience. Find one sensory detail—a smell, a sound, a texture—that you couldn't have invented. That detail will make your character feel real. Bonus: Measure Your Life by What You Create In an age of AI and a tsunami of content, your ultimate brand protection is the quality of your human creation. Barbara Nickless said that the act of producing itself is a balm to the soul, and I believe that with every fibre of my being. Don't be afraid to take that step back, like I did with my deadlifting. Take the time to master these deeper craft skills. It might feel like you're slowing down or going backwards by not chasing the latest marketing trend, but it's the only way to step forward into a sustainable, high-quality career. Your characters are your signature. No AI can replicate the specificity of your lived experience, the emotional truth of your displaced trauma, or the sensory details you've gathered from a life of curiosity and travel. Those are yours. Pour them into your characters, and they will resonate for years to come. Actionable Takeaway: Identify the Dramatic Question for your current protagonist. Can you state it in a single sentence with the kind of specificity Will Storr described? Is it as clear as “Are you ordinary or extraordinary?” or “Are you the only adult in the room?” If you can't answer it with that kind of precision, your character might still be a sketch. Give them a diagonal toast moment today. Find the one hyper-specific detail that proves they are not an imitation of life. And then ask yourself: does your plot test your character's flaw in every major scene? If you can align those two things—a precisely defined character and a plot that exists to test them—you will have a story that readers cannot put down. References and Deep Dives The episodes I've referenced today are all available with full transcripts at TheCreativePenn.com: Episode 732 — Facing Fears, and Writing Unique Characters with Barbara Nickless Episode 673 — Writing Choctaw Characters and Diversity in Fiction with Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer Episode 624 — Writing Characters with Matt Bird Episode 550 — The Heroine's Journey with Gail Carriger Episode 490 — How Character Flaws Shape Story with Will Storr Books mentioned: The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr The Heroine's Journey by Gail Carriger How to Write a Novel: From Idea to Book by Joanna Penn You can find all my books for authors at CreativePennBooks.com and my fiction and memoir at JFPennBooks.com Happy writing! How was this episode created? This episode was initiated created by NotebookLM based on YouTube videos of the episodes linked above from YouTube/TheCreativePenn, plus my text chapters on character from How to Write a Novel. NotebookLM created a blog post from the material and then I expanded it and fact checked it with Claude.ai 4.6 Opus, and then I used my voice clone at ElevenLabs to narrate it. The post Writing Characters: 15 Actionable Tips For Writing Deep Character first appeared on The Creative Penn.

This week, Marshall, Jenna, Sameem, LP, and Wil continue discussing The Secrets of Character, by Matt Bird. In this episode, the crew dives even deeper into chapter two! Grab a copy of the book today and join the conversation in the Discord! Links mentioned during the show: The Secrets of Character - Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird Jenna Hanchey Sameem Siddiqui –Twitter –Website Support the Show: Patreon Kofi Indie Bound Contact us! JustKeepWriting.org Discord Facebook Instagram YouTube   Marshall: Website: www.marshallcarr.com Email: marshall@marshallcarr.com  Twitter: @darthpops  Nick:  Website: www.brightinks.org Email: nicholasbright@brightinks.org  Twitter: @BrightInks Wil:  Email: wil@justkeepwriting.org  Instagram: @wilsartrules Brent:  Twitter: @BrentCLambert www.brentclambert.com  LP:  Email: lpkindred@wandering.shop Twitter: @LPKindred Linktr.ee/lpkindred  Now, just keep writing!

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/september-throwback-sweep-story-of-girl.html  TRANSCRIPT: https://open.substack.com/pub/bookoflifepodcast/p/september-throwback-sweep-the-story?r=16b2w9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true  To continue with the themes of golems and fighting for justice that we explored in our most recent episode about Kyle Lukoff's A World Worth Saving, AND in honor of my 20th year of podcasting on The Book of Life, I'm bringing you an episode from the archives. It's an interview about the middle grade historical fantasy Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier which originally aired in May, 2019, and it's also about golems, and fighting for justice. Since 2019, Author Jonathan Auxier has become a podcaster too. He and Matt Bird cohost A Good Story Well Told, a show about the craft of storytelling.  LEARN MORE: Jonathan Auxier's website Borrow or Buy Sweep A Good Story Well Told - Jonathan's podcast Original show notes with links to books and games mentioned in the interview Follow-up episode with Jonathan: Superfight! Bonus Content in Substack Newsletter CREDITS: Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens Facebook Page: Facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Instagram: @bookoflifepodcast Support the Podcast: Shop or Donate Your feedback is welcome! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at 561-206-2473.  

130 Marvel Reread Club March 1968 (part 1) by Steve and Matt Bird

This week, Marshall, Nick, Jenna, Sameem, Shingai, and Wil continue discussing The Secrets of Character, by Matt Bird. In this episode, the crew dives even deeper into chapter two! Grab a copy of the book today and join the conversation in the Discord! Links mentioned during the show: The Secrets of Character - Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird Yoko Ono's CUT PIECE: A Masterclass in Performance Art and Courage Jenna Hanchey Sameem Siddiqui –Twitter –Website Shingai Njeri Kagunda –Twitter –Instagram –Voodoonauts Support the Show: Patreon Kofi Indie Bound Contact us! JustKeepWriting.org Discord Facebook Instagram YouTube Marshall: Website: www.marshallcarr.com Email: marshall@marshallcarr.com  Twitter: @darthpops  Nick:  Website: www.brightinks.org Email: nicholasbright@brightinks.org  Twitter: @BrightInks Wil:  Email: wil@justkeepwriting.org  Instagram: @wilsartrules Brent:  Twitter: @BrentCLambert www.brentclambert.com  LP:  Email: lpkindred@wandering.shop Twitter: @LPKindred Linktr.ee/lpkindred  Now, just keep writing!

Produced by Karl Hughes (https://twitter.com/karlhughes))))Special featureInterview by Daniel Willcocks (https://www.danielwillcocks.com/))))With James Kennedy (https://jameskennedy.com/)James Kennedy is the author of the horror thriller Bride of the Tornado, which the Guardian named one of the “Best Recent Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Novels” in September 2023. James‘s previous books include the sci-fi novel Dare to Know, which was named by the Times Saturday Review as a Best Sci-Fi Book of 2021, and the young adult fantasy The Order of Odd-Fish. In addition, James is the founder of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival, an annual video contest in which kid filmmakers create short movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books in about 90 seconds. He also hosts the Secrets of Story podcast with Matt Bird. James lives in Chicago. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textIn this episode, we're joined by Matt Bird, Tax Partner at Sayers Butterworth, to unpack the latest changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) in 2025.We cover: 

Send us a text

This week, Marshall, Nick, Sameem, Shingai, and Wil continue discussing The Secrets of Character, by Matt Bird. In this episode, the crew dives deeper into chapter two! Grab a copy of the book today and join the conversation in the Discord! Links mentioned during the show: The Secrets of Character - Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird Sameem Siddiqui –Twitter –Website Shingai Njeri Kagunda –Twitter –Instagram –Voodoonauts –Episode 60 - JKW While Black: What If...? feat. Shingai Njeri Kagunda Support the Show: Patreon Kofi Indie Bound Contact us! JustKeepWriting.org Discord Facebook Instagram YouTube Marshall: Website: www.marshallcarr.com Email: marshall@marshallcarr.com  Twitter: @darthpops  Nick:  Website: www.brightinks.org Email: nicholasbright@brightinks.org  Twitter: @BrightInks Wil:  Email: wil@justkeepwriting.org  Instagram: @wilsartrules Brent:  Twitter: @BrentCLambert www.brentclambert.com  LP:  Email: lpkindred@wandering.shop Twitter: @LPKindred Linktr.ee/lpkindred  Now, just keep writing!

This week, Marshall, Brent, LP, and Wil continue discussing The Secrets of Character, by Matt Bird. In this episode, the crew dives into chapter two! Grab a copy of the book today and join the conversation in the Discord! Links mentioned during the show: The Secrets of Character - Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird Support the Show: Patreon Kofi Indie Bound Contact us! JustKeepWriting.org Discord Facebook Instagram YouTube Marshall: Website: www.marshallcarr.com Email: marshall@marshallcarr.com  Twitter: @darthpops  Nick:  Website: www.brightinks.org Email: nicholasbright@brightinks.org  Twitter: @BrightInks Wil:  Email: wil@justkeepwriting.org  Instagram: @wilsartrules Brent:  Twitter: @BrentCLambert www.brentclambert.com  LP:  Email: lpkindred@wandering.shop Twitter: @LPKindred Linktr.ee/lpkindred  Now, just keep writing!

Matt Bird swoops in to join us this week, Matt is a rare beast, a manager to some elite climbers like Shauna Coxsey and Will Bosi, but why does a climber need a manager? What does it mean to be a professional climber and how can said climbers play capitalism and get companies to give up some cash to go climb rocks all day? Matt has a totally different perspective from our usual guests, and it was interesting to get a little look behind the curtain!If you're enjoying the podcast and would like to support us: https://www.patreon.com/c/user?u=70353823Support the show

This week, Marshall, Nick, Shingai, Sameem, LP, and Wil start a new craft book series covering The Secrets of Character, by Matt Bird. Grab a copy of the book today and join the conversation in the Discord! Links mentioned during the show: The Secrets of Character - Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love by Matt Bird Airbody by Sameem Siddiqui Sameem Siddiqui –Twitter –Website Shingai Njeri Kagunda –Twitter –Instagram –Voodoonauts Support the Show: Patreon Kofi Indie Bound Contact us! JustKeepWriting.org Discord Facebook Instagram YouTube Marshall: Website: www.marshallcarr.com Email: marshall@marshallcarr.com  Twitter: @darthpops  Nick:  Website: www.brightinks.org Email: nicholasbright@brightinks.org  Twitter: @BrightInks Wil:  Email: wil@justkeepwriting.org  Instagram: @wilsartrules Brent:  Twitter: @BrentCLambert www.brentclambert.com  LP:  Email: lpkindred@wandering.shop Twitter: @LPKindred Linktr.ee/lpkindred  Now, just keep writing!

Will chats with author Douglas Burton about his newest book, The Heroine's Labyrinth: Archetypal Designs in Heroine-Led Fiction. It boldly presents a paradigm shift for story structure that is exciting for writers and audiences alike.Sourced entirely from heroine-centric stories. the heroine's labyrinth model offers a completely original and groundbreaking alternative to the hero's journey. The book has been endorsed by Hollywood and storytelling gurus such as Christopher Vogler and Matt Bird.0:00 - Introduction5:40 - Interview Start43:50 - 80s Movies Examples1:03:20 - Wrap-UpBecome a patron at www.patreon.com/1980snowEmail us at will@1980snow.com or kat@1980snow.com.Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1980snow.Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@1980snowLearn more about author Douglas A. Burton.Get your copy of The Heroine's Labyrinth.

Matt Bird finishes our journey through Advent. Sunday 29th December, 2024.

Willy believes humans have recovered intelligent, non human entities. Are any of these three classic videos real? We watch the videos with Drib and talk it over.  What do you think?  You can find Drib performing in the Fort Collins / Northern Colorado area. We stream live video every sunday at 4 pm pacific only at www.SchrabHomeVideo.com visit RealLifeSciFi.show  Support us and get more content at Patreon.com/reallifescifi we exist because of you. hit us up at WadeandWilly@gmail.com Thank you for listening  Thank you for having friends with different beliefs than you. recorded 12/10/24

Over a TRILLION dollars per year is spent on SAAS and so much of that is wasted! Customers know they are overpaying for subscriptions, don't have good visibility on them, and are aware they could save so much Money if they could bring them all into a single place easily and unlock savings from the software providers This is exactly what Matt Bird, Co-Founder and CEO of Lemon is on a mission to do! To help Businesses save Money so that they can focus on growing their business - and the impact is huge!Not only we go deep on understanding Lemon's customers and solutions, but we go behind the scenes with Matt and understand his thinking process behind driving innovative products. We explore how to build an empowering company culture, customer driven products and feedback loops, pricing, the secret to building great product, the underdog mentality and much more!If you enjoy this Purpose Driven FinTech pod, please subscribe in YouTube, follow in Spotify, and leave a 5 star rating apple podcast. Remember to connect in LinkedIn to keep the conversation going.Let's get into it!

Episode 2: We're still covering the OG Six Figure Author Experiment: the launch of Russell's fantasy series, the Godsverse Chronicles. In this episode Russell updates us on his experience uploading four of his novels to book retailers. He and Lee discuss mindset and the fear that bubbles up on your author journey–fear of both failure and success. Fear is the mind killer but there are antidotes that don't involve riding a giant worm. Content warnings: discussion of depression, mental illness and suicidal ideation. * The busywork that's part of an indie author's life * “The Busy Mom” publishing option for authors who have no time* Boo to Ingram Spark, yay to PublishDrive and Draft to Digital  * Character-driven writing * How dysfunction in the mind is NORMAL * How to expand your comfort zone * How Russell caused the apocalypse* A useful approach to success or failure* “Every decision you make in writing is also a marketing decision” * The ideal number of books for a successful series * The advice Lee gave to a millionaire author * Russell's dog's happily ever after  * The #1 thing you can do to realize instant success Your Homework:* Make a list of things you're grateful for, especially regarding your books and your writing career so far. * Choose a book from your catalog and make a list of things that are holding that book back–the cover, the plot, the writing style, the audience and market you're targetingWe want to hear from you! Let us know how the homework goes and what was your favorite part of this episode. Resources: * Free Book Launch Checklist* The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers by Matt Bird: https://amzn.to/4cuqC5P* Jim Butcher's Livejournal: https://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/969.html* An excellent resource for shifting your mindset and relieving anxiety: The Rapid Resolution Technique by Jon Connelly: https://www.rapidresolutiontherapy.com/* Author ecosystems: https://authorecosystem.com/overview/Gratitude StudiesWong Y J, et al. Does Gratitude Writing Improve the Mental Health of Psychotherapy Clients? Bartlett M, Condon P, et al. Gratitude: prompting behaviors that build relationships Yu H. Gao X, et al. Decomposing Gratitude: Representation and Integration of Cognitive Antecedents of Gratitude in the Brain Lúzie Fofonka Cunha, et al. Positive Psychology and Gratitude Interventions: A Randomized Clinical Trial Philip Watkins: Thieves of Thankfulness: Traits that inhibit gratitudePhilip Watkins: Grateful recounting enhances subjective well-being: The importance of grateful processingP. Kini, et al. The effects of gratitude expression on neural activityFor more, check out the excellent video “An Antidote to Dissatisfaction” by Kurzgesagt This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.sixfigureauthorexperiment.com

What's that? You've never heard of this particular Dr. Seuss book? Well, you're definitely not alone. If one were to rank Seuss titles from best known to least, there is no doubt in my mind that Solla Sollew would be right there at the bottom. But is there any chance that this 1965 publication might have something to say about the baby boomer generation, Vietnam, escapism, and even stories like Pippin and Candide? This week our special guest is none other than Betsy's very own husband Matt Bird. You may be familiar with his podcast with author James Kennedy the Secrets of Story podcast OR his podcast with his brother Steve Bird the Marvel Reread Club OR from his books The Secrets of Story and The Secrets of Character. He's unafraid to make a whole slew of claims about this book, so buckle up for a mighty strange ride. For the full Show Notes: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/04/15/fuse-8-n-kate-i-had-trouble-getting-to-solla-sollew/

Matt Bird continues our series in Luke 10. Sunday November 19th, 2023.

I am Aylin Webb; Anxiety Mastery Coach, Author, Accredited CBT Therapist, EMDR Therapist & Public Speaker. My book "Perfectly Imperfect: Cultivating Your Self-worth In A Demanding World" is out now on Amazon. Order your copy here: https://amzn.to/46sLwys.My guest in this episode is Matt Bird, author of 20 books and a mentor to over 100 aspiring authors annually. In this enlightening episode titled "Launch and Learn: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Taking Flight," Matt shares his philosophy on entrepreneurship that emphasises seizing opportunities rather than obsessing over perfection. Discover how launching your ideas and refining them on the go can lead to success in both business and writing. Join us for a journey into the world of "launch and learn" with an industry expert who's all about taking flight!Don't forget to "Like and Subscribe" to my podcast, so we can reach more people to help.My 5 star rated book "Transformation Through the Power of Quotes: Daily Mindset Quotes, 5 Minute Planning and Gratitude Journals to Transform Challenges into Triumphs" is available on Amazon Paperback or Kindle. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BH8387V1Visit www.mindandmood.co.uk, email info@mindandmood.co.uk or call us on (+44) 1277 424 911 to find out more.#perfectionism #peoplepleasing #overwhelm #acceptance #selfhelp #anxiety #fear #confidence  #mindandmood #aylinwebb #entrepreneurship

In the evolving digital landscape of the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, reality capture technology is making waves. The promises it offers are tremendous – from enhanced efficiency and collaboration to a new dimension of project planning. Yet, with advancements come challenges, especially in terms of acceptance and understanding. In this episode, Marco Herbst from Evercam, a pioneer in the reality capture domain, and seasoned land surveyor Matthew Byrd shed light on how this technology is revolutionizing the AEC industry and the steps needed to fully embrace its potential. In our conversation, we delve into: 1. The Transformation with Reality Capture: Understanding how reality capture is not just a fad but a paradigm shift in the industry, making tools more affordable, user-friendly, and equipped with real-time data capabilities. 2. Data Utilization Over Acquisition: The historical significance of data acquisition in the AEC sector and how companies like Evercam are ensuring that this enormous amount of data is not just acquired but effectively utilized. 3. Knowledge Sharing as Empowerment: Addressing the skilled labor shortage in the industry and the commendable efforts by companies to democratize the understanding of reality capture, enhancing productivity and innovation. 4. Weathering the Storm with Real-time Decision Making: A look at how reality capture is mitigating long-standing challenges like weather-related disruptions, enhancing planning software, and ensuring reliable project execution. 5. The ROI of Reality Capture: As firms grapple with understanding the tangible returns on reality capture, we discuss the undeniable benefits in averting design issues and cost overruns. 6. Methods Redefining AEC Practices:     - Construction Cameras: Moving beyond mere recording to project oversight.     - Laser Scanning: Its indispensable role in reality capture.     - Drones: Offering unique data collection capabilities that traditional methods can't match.     - Lidar's Role: Beyond topographic surveys to an expansive AEC application.    - 360-degree Photography and AI: How combining these is revolutionizing visual data analysis.     - Enhanced Surveying with Total Stations: The perfect blend of traditional techniques and modern tech.    - Diving Deep with Side Scan Sonar: Illuminating the underwater world in ways previously unimaginable. 7. The Catalyst - Reality Capture Network (RCN): How platforms like RCN are accelerating education, collaboration, and community-building in the realm of reality capture, with a special spotlight on Matt Bird's contributions. 8. The Road Ahead for AEC: As reality capture becomes an integral part of AEC, what does the future hold? A comprehensive look at the exciting journey towards a data-driven, intricately efficient built environment. This episode of the BIM Heroes Podcast offers a deep dive into how the AEC industry is getting intertwined with reality capture, ensuring a future that's efficient, innovative, and seamlessly integrated.

Suit Up! With Matt Bird on today's episode of the show! He's the author of The Secrets of Story and The Secrets of Character, two of the best books on writing I've read. In the interview, he'll be sharing about the secrets to building strong characters, the use of irony in narrative, and why we believe, care and invest in James Bond. Follow Matt http://www.secretsofstory.com/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/secrets-of-story-podcast/id1172464317 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marvel-reread-club/id1571171807 https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Story-Innovative-Perfecting-Captivating/dp/1440348235 https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Character-Writing-Hero-Anyone/dp/0593331222 https://www.youtube.com/@secretsofstory6921 Follow The Show! https://terrancelayhew.com/suitup/ https://www.instagram.com/suitup.podcast/ Buy a Mug https://my-store-dd0440.creator-spring.com/listing/suit-up-swag?product=1565  

If you've been working on amping up your characters and writing a more compelling novel, this is the episode for you. We talk to Matt Bird - the Amazon bestselling author of The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers and The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love - about characters and other secrets involved in writing an awesome story your readers will love. Matt talks to us about what readers expect from characters and how to ensure they connect and fall in love with your characters early in your novel. He also gives practical examples of techniques that will engage your readers by helping you create flawed, vulnerable and compelling characters. We loved having Matt in the SPA and we know you'll enjoy this episode too!

If you've been working on amping up your characters and writing a more compelling novel, this is the episode for you. We talk to Matt Bird - the Amazon bestselling author of The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers and The Secrets of Character: Writing a Hero Anyone Will Love - about characters and other secrets involved in writing an awesome story your readers will love. Matt talks to us about what readers expect from characters and how to ensure they connect and fall in love with your characters early in your novel. He also gives practical examples of techniques that will engage your readers by helping you create flawed, vulnerable and compelling characters. We loved having Matt in the SPA and we know you'll enjoy this episode too!

In todays episode I have Matt Bird from PublishU. He was diagnosed with dyslexia late in life and had his big aha moments. Like many of us he is an entrepreneur and found a passion for writing books and helping others do the same. In this interview we hear a bit about his story, what school life was like with undiagnosed dyslexia and talk about entrepreneurship & book writing. If you have ever wanted to write a book this is the podcast for you. Get his Free 'My Book Idea' Workbook here Check Out Matt's Courses & Website Here

Sermon from Vintage Church Pasadena on Sunday 23rd April, 2023. Speaker: Matt Bird

Welcome to Dyslexia Explored, the podcast that delves into the fascinating world of dyslexia and the inspiring stories of those who've overcome their struggles. In this episode, we sit down with Matt Bird, a dyslexic entrepreneur who went from feeling "stupid" at school to achieving incredible success in his adult life. Matt has written 19 books, built multiple businesses, and runs a global foundation called Neighbor, which helps churches love their neighbors in communities. Join us as we explore Matt's dyslexia journey, from his early struggles in school to his self-diagnosis in his twenties, and how he harnessed his unique abilities to create a thriving career. Listen in as Matt shares insights into his businesses, including a publishing company called Publish U and a property business in Italy. Find out how he turned his challenges into opportunities and became a shining example of dyslexic achievement. Don't miss this inspiring conversation that will leave you motivated and empowered.This podcast is sponsored by: http://dyslexiaproductivitycoaching.com/  Links you might want to check:  Matt Bird Website: www.CoffeeWithMatt.com Social media: @MattBirdGlobal Dyslexia Quiz: https://bulletmapacademy.com/dyslexia-quiz/ Dyslexia at Work: www.dyslexiawork.com Bulletmap Academy Page: https://bulletmapacademy.com Show notes: https://bulletmapacademy.com/blog/132/ Interested in being a guest? Email us at info@bulletmapacademy.com

You've just boarded a plane. You've loaded your phone with your favorite podcasts, but before you can pop in your earbuds, disaster strikes: The guy in the next seat starts telling you all about something crazy that happened to him–in great detail. This is the unwelcome storyteller, trying to convince a reluctant audience to care about his story.We all hate that guy, right? But when you tell a story (any kind of story: a novel, a memoir, a screenplay, a stage play, a comic, or even a cover letter), you become the unwelcome storyteller.So how can you write a story that audiences will embrace?The answer is simple: Remember what it feels like to be that jaded audience. Tell the story that would win you over, even if you didn't want to hear it.Today's guest Matt Bird can help you. He is a screenwriter and the author of the best-selling book The Secrets of Story: Innovative Tools for Perfecting Your Fiction and Captivating Readers.The Secrets of Story provides comprehensive, audience-focused strategies for becoming a master storyteller. Armed with the Ultimate Story Checklist, you can improve every aspect of your fiction writing with incisive questions like these:• Concept: Is the one-sentence description of your story uniquely appealing?• Character: Can your audience identify with your hero?• Structure and Plot: Is your story ruled by human nature?• Scene Work: Does each scene advance the plot and reveal character through emotional reactions?• Dialogue: Is your characters' dialogue infused with distinct personality traits and speech patterns based on their lives and backgrounds?• Tone: Are you subtly setting, resetting, and upsetting expectations?• Theme: Are you using multiple ironies throughout the story to create meaning?To succeed in the world of fiction and film, you have to work on every aspect of your craft and satisfy your audience. Do both–and so much more–with The Secrets of Story.I dig into Matt's story system and breakdown the secrets of story.Enjoy my conversation with Matt Bird.

If you like our Podcast and what we do at iCan Community Church, please click the link to support us: http://bit.ly/iccdonation. For more on Bishop Malcolm: https://linktr.ee/Businessbishop In this message, Minister Bird Speaks about God being the ultimate entrepreneur though creation, claiming that God has also blessed us with the ability to create so we can be entrepreneurs too. Minister Bird also went in to say, entrepreneurship is doing Gods' work and the only real way to solve poverty.

If you like our Podcast and what we do at iCan Community Church, please click the link to support us: http://bit.ly/iccdonation. For more on Bishop Malcolm: https://linktr.ee/Businessbishop In this message, Minister Bird encourages us to be strong and courageous and consider others as we go through our daily lives.

If you like our Podcast and what we do at iCan Community Church, please click the link to support us: http://bit.ly/iccdonation. In this new series, 'Finding the Courage to Continue', discover the power within to press on and continue the fight to be great.

This podcast we quickly (so quickly) talk about writing evil people's dialogue. And a great link that we reference is right here. There are a ton of resources as Matt Bird's site that you can check out. Thanks for listening to Write Better Now. The music you hear is made available through the creative commons and it's a bit of a shortened track from the fantastic Mr.ruiz and the track is Arctic Air and the album is Winter Haze Summer Daze. For exclusive paid content, check out my substack, LIVING HAPPY and WRITE BETTER NOW. It's basically like a blog, but better. There's a free option too without the bonus content but all the fun. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/carriejonesbooks/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/carriejonesbooks/support

041 Marvel Reread Club September 1964 (part 1) by Steve and Matt Bird

In keeping with this season's theme of DEMOCRACY, The Leftscape revisits special guest Matt Bird from "Down the Rabbit Hole (Episode 98)." Matt talks about his creative background, current projects as a musician and DJ in Melbourne, and gives an overview of politics in Australia and his thoughts on what it takes to be a good world citizen. Originally posted on March 21, 2021, this interview is also a time capsule view of how someone on the other side of the planet experienced "the former guy" as US president. Before the featured interview rewind, Robin Renée and Wendy Sheridan head to The Blanket Fort to talk about how they continue to care for themselves and others around them as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to enter an endemic phase. Bob Dylan's high school yearbook, the University of Akron, and how "red states" and "blue states" came to be are the focus of the 3 Random Facts of the day. "Forever chemicals," the changing status of the COVID health crisis, the latest from the war in Ukraine, Ron DeSantis's harmful stunt with migrants, and hopeful signs for the climate from the private sector are in the News. In You Got Questions? We Got Answers!, Wendy and Robin guess at what young people think of how older generations have stewarded the world. Things to do: Follow Matt Bird on Mixcloud. Listen to his online station, Radio P.V.S. Learn more about Australian democracy. Celebrate bisexual+ visibility all month long and look for fun events on and around Bi Visibility Day at bivisibilityday.com.   Sound engineering by Wendy Sheridan Show notes by Robin Renée Fake sponsor messages by Ariel Sheridan Web hosting by InMotion Remote recording by SquadCast

Matt Bird has plenty to say on the royal family, so we'll skip the jokes and go right to the...

How do we decide on the hero for our story? How can we write distinctive — but still believable — characters? Matt Bird talks about aspects of writing character. In the intro, a guide to UBLs, Universal Book Links [Draft2Digital]; Your author brand [Ask ALLi with me and Orna Ross]; The Creator Economy in Bath. […] The post Writing Characters With Matt Bird first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Matt from the SP10 Podcast talks to Matt from the PAD podcast about Mika's debut album "Life in Cartoon Motion." Where they cover everything from colourful artwork to catchy constant basslines. Host: Matt LathamGuest: Matt Bird (SP10 Podcast)Explore all things SP10 Related here!https://linktr.ee/SP10PodFollow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram: @PickADisc.Email us at pickadisc@gmail.com.Pick A Disc(Ord): https://discord.com/invite/JnZjEYuK3uWe Made This:@wemadethispodhttps://wemadethispod.com/Join the We Made This Podcast Network Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/555675501618787/We Made This Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wemadethis/postsThe Spotify Hall of Fame: https://open.spotify.com/user/xandmatt/playlist/3ePG8RgGhxLhI7SXN4JFPZ?si=I-NUSFKJSbOXYCCtCot-SQ

Matt from the SP10 Podcast talks to Matt from the PAD podcast about Mika's debut album "Life in Cartoon Motion." Where they cover everything from colourful artwork to catchy constant basslines. Host: Matt Latham Guest: Matt Bird (SP10 Podcast) Explore all things SP10 Related here! https://linktr.ee/SP10Pod Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram: @PickADisc. Email us at pickadisc@gmail.com. Pick A Disc(Ord): https://discord.com/invite/JnZjEYuK3u We Made This: @wemadethispod https://wemadethispod.com/ Join the We Made This Podcast Network Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/555675501618787/ We Made This Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wemadethis/posts The Spotify Hall of Fame: https://open.spotify.com/user/xandmatt/playlist/3ePG8RgGhxLhI7SXN4JFPZ?si=I-NUSFKJSbOXYCCtCot-SQ

Matt Bird and the Traders Network Show check out Ikea's sustainable pop-up store in Davos.

Welcome back to this mini series on imperfect sustainability!! My aim for this series is to inspire you to view sustainability in a more positive light and to help you to genuinely make a difference in your own life. Let's tackle this with a non-judgemental, solutions-driven attitude and lift each other up rather than tearing each other down. Episode 4: climate change journalism with Matthew Bird "Too often climate coverage leads with data and ends with despair." In this episode Lucy chats to Matt Bird about his role as Science Editor of Impact Magazine, the best ways to write about climate change to engage the reader and the growing challenges surrounding disinformation in the media. Creating engaging content about sustainability with a solutions-driven focus is in our opinions, far better than the pessimistic, depressing stories we're so accustomed to hearing about that just turn people away from the issue. Matt also shares some insights into his PhD and offers advice for anyone wanting to start writing! Huge thanks to Matt for coming on the podcast. --- Things mentioned in this episode: Matt's Article on Covering Climate Now (here) Covering Climate Now (website) Climate Beat newsletter (here) --- Space to Learn on Apple Podcasts - leave a rating and a review here!! Thank you! Follow the podcast on instagram @spacetolearnpodcast (click here to go follow!) Share the episode with a friend if you enjoyed!! lots of love x

Dan Thomas and Matt Bird at World Economic Forum on the #TradersNetworkShow from the UN SDG Media Zone at #Davos2020.In this captivating segment Matt and Dan break down the basic productivity mechanics of the UN Global Compact and rise of the UN SDGs: - Why Public-private Partnership are important for ESG and sustainability efforts- UN Global Compact mission- The growth of SDG Media Zone- The Role SDGs are playing in solving problems - And moreDescription: Matt Bird interviews Dan Thomas Chief Communications Officer of the UN Global Compact (United Nations) at the World Economic Forum #WEF20 on key topicsLocations: UN SDG Media Zone Davos, SwitzerlandEvent: #WorldEconomicForumGuest: Dan ThomasHost: Matt BirdShow: Traders Network ShowNetwork: SyndicatedAffiliations: ABC, NBC, FOX & CBSTo inquire about being a guest on this show:Nicole Liddy#CommPro WorldwideC: +1 (8480 702-4173E: nicole.liddy@commpro.com W: https://commpro.com#DanThomas #MattBird #UN #GlobalCompact #SDG #business #finance #investment #blockchain

Steve Case, CEO of Revolution, and former Founder/CEO of AOL, was interviewed LIVE on the Traders Network Show, hosted by Matt Bird, at the 2019 Greenwich Economic Forum in Greenwich, CT.To inquire about being a guest on this show or others: Matt Bird CommPro Worldwide C: +1 (646) 401-4499 E: matt@commpro.com W: www.commpro.com

Stephen Meskers, State Representative Greenwich, CT was interviewed LIVE on the Traders Network Show, hosted by Matt Bird, at the 2019 Greenwich Economic Forum in Greenwich, CT.To inquire about being a guest on this show or others: Matthew Bird CommPro Worldwide C: +1 (646) 401-4499 E: matt@commpro.com W: www.commpro.com

Traders Network Show Daily Update with David Nelson was interviewed LIVE on the Traders Network Show, hosted by Matt Bird, at the 2019 Greenwich Economic Forum in Greenwich, CT.To inquire about being a guest on this show or others: Matt Bird CommPro Worldwide C: +1 (646) 401-4499 E: matt@commpro.com W: www.commpro.com

Dirk Ahlborn and Matt Bird at the #WorldEconomicForum​ on the #TradersNetworkShow​​​ from the UN SDG Media Zone at #Davos2020​​​.In this segment Matt and Dirk break down key topics including:- An update on Hyperloop- Progressive movement for Hyperloop- Next steps for the company- What people can do to advocate Hyperloop to come to their area- And more!To inquire about being a guest on this show:Nicole Liddy#CommPro​​​ WorldwideC: +1 (848) 702-4173E: nicole.liddy@commpro.com W: https://commpro.com​​​

How to Build a Subscription-Based Fashion Business from Scratch We don't want to brag, but this is one of our best episodes yet on The Ecom Show! This week our new friend Matt Bird from the UK dishes out some helpful secrets while telling us his story and how it helped him develop his formula for success in the fashion industry!From moderately successful ecommerce menswear brand to a massively successful subscription-based fashion company, you can listen in and learn about Matt Bird and the success of his company The Shirt Society while he sits down with Budai media founder Daniel to discuss: ✔️ Building a fashion brand from scratch ✔️ The beauty of subscription-based businesses ✔️ Learning from your customers ✔️ Finding loyal customers for life ✔️ When to look for outside investors What it Takes to Make it in Fashion Although Matt has seven years of experience in the men's fashion space, he says anyone can develop an idea and run with it. Sure it helps to have the experience, but in the world of ecommerce, anything is possible. Matt never had aspirations to own a physical retail shop for men's clothing. Ecommerce and online shopping have enabled him to become a business owner with almost nothing to start with (aside from an idea, a basic Shopify store, a logo, and a well-written organic post on Linkedin). Subscription Models are the Future Daniel and Matt both agree that subscriptions give you the peace of mind and stability you won't find with regular ecommerce shops. Matt first dreamed up The Shirt Society when he realized that people were only buying shirts one or two times a year, so sales were not consistent enough. He thinks it's better to have 3000 customers paying 20 pounds a month for a new shirt than having 10,000 customers purchasing a shirt one time and never returning. It helps to plan for the future and scale up accordingly. Customers are the Key It might come as a surprise that The Shirt Society was the brainchild of Matt and his first businesses' customers. After reaching out to people who purchased shirts from him, he realized people's pain points in the industry. Men don't want to shop for shirts, they don't like figuring out where to shop, and they were the ones to suggest a subscription model!If Matt hadn't listened to his customers, he would have never known how to improve his services and retain his customers longer! You should never be too stubborn to listen to the people supporting your business because you would have nothing without them. Customer Lifetime Value vs. Revenue Everyone has their favorite metrics to serve as a barometer for their business, but Matt is a keen advocate for Customer Lifetime Value. You can have months with big revenue, but the next month you might disappear. Some brands look tremendous and fall apart in the blink of an eye because they aren't inconsistent.Matt's business isn't just about selling shirts. They seek to make their customer experience better, listen to what they have to say, and keep them engaged, so they stick around. That's the real product! Finding Investors that are a Good Fit Once you have proof of concept and you organically grow your business, you might attract investors. Matt says that after a twenty-minute meeting, he secured an agreement to inject capital into his business and help with connections and expertise. Having passion, enthusiasm, and a multi-year vision for where you want to go is essential if you dream of bringing in investors.It is also important to note that you shouldn't do this lightly and sell too much equity right off the bat to raise funds. You are better growing slowly and taking your time! Follow Daniel Budai: Daniel's LinkedIn Daniel's Facebook Follow Matt: Matt's LinkedIn

Jesus LIKES me? Why care about that? That's just a slice of our discussion with Matt Bird from the UK, who was back with us to talk more about relationships, cycles and great snippets of Bird-isms to change your perspective! www.iWork4Him.com