This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the 268th episode of the Helping Writers Become Authors Podcast. You asked for it and here it is.

My webinar outlining your novel, create a roadmap to storytelling success via Writers

Digest is back. The 90 minute presentation will be live online on November

18th at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard time, although you can listen or

re-listen anytime you want for up to a year. I'll be talking outlines,

answering live questions, and critiquing every participant's outline.

You can sign up on my site at helping writers become authors.com.

Hope to see you there. The latest post in the video series on my blog is

Seen Breaks, why your story may not have enough of them. It discusses two of the little

considered abilities of scene breaks and how you can put them to work in

your story. To find the post, visit my site. And now I hope you

enjoyed this week's podcast entitled How Much Realism Does Your Novel Really Need?

Ever had a critique partner or editor tell you this isn't realistic?

It's a valid complaint.

Novels are facsimiles of real life.

They must mimic that life with enough realism to allow readers to suspend their disbelief and

invest themselves in characters and plot scenarios that far exceed their own personal experiences.

In order to connect with readers, we strive to create those realistic characters and settings.

But here's a question every writer should be asking. Are readers really as interested in realism as

we think they are? Or might they be more interested in verisimilitude.

We've all read stories in which the characters acted more like automatons or hyper-semi-nurotics

than the sober-balanced relatable people they were supposed to be.

...