Pete Aldin and Bryan Chaffin explore whether writing competitions are worth entering, from the benefits of awards and feedback to the realities of judging and rejection. They also discuss what writers can learn by becoming judges themselves—and why a strong opening matters when your book is competing for attention.

Chapters

00:00 Introductions
00:22 Are Writing Competitions Worth It?
05:33 The Benefits of Entering Competitions
09:20 Winning, Placing, and the Value of Recognition
15:43 How Novel Competitions Are Judged
19:14 Why Your Opening Has to Be Strong
24:05 Subjectivity, Rejection, and Managing Expectations
29:29 Why Writers Should Become Judges
36:30 Outro

Links from This Episode:

2026 Readers' Favorite International Book Award Contest
https://readersfavorite.com/2026-award-contest-winners.htm#accidental-intelligence

Self-Published Science Fiction Competition
https://spsfc.space/

SPSFC Judging Application
https://spsfc.space/application-forms/

Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off
https://www.marklawrence.buzz/2018/06/the-official-self-published-fantasy.html

Austalasian Shadows Awards
https://australasianhorror.com/australian-shadows-awards/

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Pete Aldin and Bryan Chaffin explore how to make your characters more interesting, from finding unexpected flaws and contradictions to challenging your assumptions about who they are. They discuss techniques for pushing beyond obvious character choices, making protagonists as compelling as their supporting cast, avoiding stereotypes, and using real-world observations to create characters who feel distinctive and alive.

00:00 Introductions
00:20 Are Great Characters Discovered or Designed?
01:20 Basing Characters on Real People
08:04 Designing vs. Discovering Characters
11:15 Exercises for Creating Better Characters
25:58 What Line Won’t Your Character Cross?
27:58 Playing Against the Mood of a Scene
32:25 When Side Characters Outshine Your Protagonist
41:12 Avoiding Stereotypes
51:20 Outro

AJ Saxsma‘s Trauma as Engine Workbook (The Name that Bryan Couldn’t Think of—mentioned at 25:58)

Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook

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Pete Aldin and Bryan Chaffin discuss why every writer needs good critique partners—and how to find them. They explore what makes a critique relationship work, why different partners bring different strengths, how to give and receive useful feedback, and why critiquing someone else’s work can make you a better writer. Plus, they look at how many outside readers a manuscript needs and the value of seeking perspectives beyond your usual circle.

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• Facebook Author’s Page