71. Byron Lane: Crafting Fiction from Your Life

The force was with Byron Lane, former personal assistant to Carrie Fisher, when he wrote and published his debut novel, A Star is Bored, about a personal assistant to an eccentric movie star. While he drew on personal experience, the novel is fully fictionalized and hilarious. Byron openly shares his struggles and wins as he traveled down the road to becoming a novelist.In this episode, we discussed:Why Byron chose to Write A Star is Bored as a novel rather than a memoirWhat he’s done to learn to write fiction and novelsWorking with freelance editors on early drafts to learn to tighten up the story and focus on what’s importantThe plot structure Byron relies on to get going and out of “stuckness”The importance of a characters internal journey for a successful storyHow to get feedback from readers rather without reading reviewsMeet Byron LaneByron Lane is an author, playwright, and screenwriter. His debut novel is called A STAR IS BORED, hailed by the New York Times as “wildly funny,” about an uptight celebrity assistant struggling to manage his eccentric movie star boss, inspired in part by Lane’s time as assistant to beloved actress Carrie Fisher. He is a two-time regional Emmy Award winner from his time as a television journalist. Lane also wrote the acclaimed play TILDA SWINTON ANSWERS AN AD ON CRAIGSLIST, the award winning web series LAST WILL & TESTICLE, and the feature film HERPES BOY starring Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer.Connect with ByronByron on InstagramByron’s WebsiteLike the Podcast?Are you a subscriber? If not, I invite you to subscribe, so you’ll get notified every time a new episode goes up.Click here to subscribe on iTunes.Click here to subscribe on Stitcher.And, if you’re enjoying what you’re hearing, I’d be super grateful if you left me a review. Those help other creative souls find this show, and they’re fun to read. To leave a review, open up the podcast in your podcast player, and scroll down to the bottom where it gives you the option to review the show.Stay Connected with AmyJoin the bi-monthly cowriting/creating sessions, you can subscribe to the newsletter to get ideas, tips, and inspiration to get started creating and acting on those creative callings.Connect on Facebook.Connect on Instagram.

Om Podcasten

Have you got a dream to write a book? Have you begun or did you get started only to write yourself directly into a deep dark plot hole with no way out? Uh oh - that’s no fun. This show helps you get your book written and become a better writer in the process. In each episode, author & book coach Amy Isaman shares practical tips and encouragement on both the overall writing process and the craft of writing to help you keep going and finally write “the end.” You’ll also find occasional interviews with writers and authors who share their writerly wisdom. The Dear Creativity, Let’s Write Podcast is for both brand new writers who are just beginning to get their story out of their heads and onto the page and seasoned authors looking for some inspiration and ideas to improve their own writing and creative process.