After a little summer hiatus (camping, in-laws, a spiral-bound manuscript from FedEx…), Kayla and Rachel are back in the podcast saddle and diving deep into the storytelling structure that screenwriters love and novelists love to hate: Save the Cat.

Rachel reveals she finished a whole-ass book (?!), and together they break down Blake Snyder’s iconic 15-beat “beat sheet” and genre system—using Dinner for Eight and The Woman Tree (working title) to show how the structure can help shape a novel without crushing your muse.

Along the way, we tackle:

• Whether all the women or all the men should die in a dystopian future (whoops, we go there),
• That weird masculine energy in the culture right now 👀,
• The ex that might actually be the monster in your house (literally or emotionally),
• And our shared rage at the YouTuber who said “Why Female Authors Don’t Matter” (no, we won’t link it).

There's also some spicy talk about ghosts, sperm vials, and Judd Apatow movies. Plus: why your protagonist's breakdown in the shower might just be their “Dark Night of the Soul.”

This one’s juicy. And crinkly. (Sorry, Rachel’s mic did a thing.)

🕯️✨ Writers, readers, and story nerds — if you’ve ever wondered whether Save the Cat is helpful or heinous, this one’s for you.

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New episodes every Wednesday.

E-mail us your short story at contact@writeyourheartoutpod.com

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This week, we attend a virtual "lunch and learn" hosted by the Women’s National Book Association and featuring legendary San Francisco literary agent Andy Ross—and yes, we actually lunched. While the rest of the Zoom played it cool, we munched focaccia and dished about querying, rejection, and whether you can ever send your manuscript to another agent at the same agency (spoiler: the answer was… confusing).

We share the best and weirdest advice from the talk (a query letter in Q&A format?!), plus our own rollercoaster querying journeys, writing struggles, and revelations about the mysterious link between ovulation and sex scenes. Also: Rachel’s murder mystery needs envelope edits, Kayla’s muse is on a juice cleanse, and we’re officially accepting listener submissions for our upcoming Story Time episodes! (2,000 words max, spice welcome but no human centipede horror, please and thank you.)

Books mentioned:

• Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder
• Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway
• A Court of Thorns and Roses (yes, again)

We’re swirling our sediment, managing expectations, and figuring it all out as we go. Join us!

Please subscribe, rate and review!

New episodes every Wednesday.

E-mail us your short story at contact@writeyourheartoutpod.com

Follow us on instagram @writeyourheartoutpod

Leave us a message at 650-260-4885

Kayla and Rachel share juicy updates on their newest writing projects—Rachel’s twisty, spicy dinner party murder mystery (with a murder mystery game inside!) and Kayla’s speculative dystopian novel idea, recently submitted to The Novelry’s “Next Big Story” contest. They discuss the thrill and terror of writing fast, sending before revising, and navigating feedback while staying creatively uninhibited.

You’ll also hear:

• A breakdown of Brandon Sanderson’s best story structure tips (and how Kayla used them to analyze Rachel’s character motivations)
• A tangent about writing sex scenes while your kids are awake (oops)
• A deep dive into “thisness” (aka haecceity) with examples from Margaret Atwood and Annie Dillard
• Whether your writing should sparkle enough for an agent to remember you—and what Kayla plans to do about that one agent
• Manifestation, muses, and Rachel’s evolving shrine cupboard
• And an honest conversation about feedback, friendship, and not wasting each other’s time

This is an episode about being in the thick of it—writing messy, dreaming big, and figuring it all out as you go.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Novelry’s “Next Big Story” Contest
• Brandon Sanderson’s NaNoWriMo video tips
• The Oxford Writer on YouTube
• Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace
• Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
• Rachel’s novel-in-progress (aka the dinner party murder mystery with spice)
• Kayla’s male-only island dystopia
• The Write Your Heart Out Instagram – where you might see Kayla's shrine (eventually) and Rachel's vision board (maybe) @writeyourheartoutpod

Please subscribe, rate and review!

New episodes every Wednesday.

E-mail us your short story at contact@writeyourheartoutpod.com

Follow us on instagram @writeyourheartoutpod

Leave us a message at 650-260-4885