Explore every episode of the podcast Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

Is Substack the best platform for writers? Is it right for you? In this interview, publishing expert Jane Friedman explores Substack's social media-like features, blogging-like functionality, podcast-host possibilities...and its implications for writers. From using Substack "Notes" to community cross-promotion, it's an ecosystem worth understanding. Substack is more than just newsletters—it's a blog, social media, podcast host, and email marketing tool all-in-one platform. Perfect for beginners, but should we trust it with all of our content? Learn the pros and cons of Substack on our latest episode of the "Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach" podcast after skimming the show notes and summary below. But first... Meet Jane Friedman: Jane Friedman has 25 years of experience in book publishing, with expertise in business strategy for authors and publishers. She’s the co-founder and editor of The Hot Sheet, a paid newsletter about the book publishing industry with over 2,500 subscribers, and has previously worked for Writer’s Digest and the Virginia Quarterly Review. In 2023, Jane was awarded Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World. Jane's website, janefriedman.com, offers a wealth of resources for authors. She writes many of the articles herself and also features guest writers who are experts in various aspects of writing and publishing. You may have followed some of the many links I've shared in my own newsletter, as Jane's content and curation of expert input consistently provides top-notch education and encouragement for writers across genres. Jane’s most recent book is The Business of Being a Writer (sponsored post/affiliate link to Amazon) (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. And a new edition is to be released in Spring 2025. Jane is everywhere. She’s been in The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, Wired, BBC, The Guardian, CBC, The Washington Post, Fox News, USA Today, and NPR. And now she’s here on the "Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach" podcast, discussing Substack for writers. https://youtu.be/JP2EuDDDGRI Mentioned in the show (it's a lot!): Read Jane’s thorough and thoughtful analysis of Substack from March 2024:  https://janefriedman.com/substack-is-both-great-and-terrible-for-authors/ Sign up for Jane's free newsletter, Electric Speed, or see if The Hot Sheet, her paid newsletter for publishing professionals, is right for you. Leigh Stein (switched from offering a free MailChimp newsletter to offering a paid Substack): the website signup page: https://www.leighstein.com/newsletter | direct link to “Attention Economy” substack: https://leighstein.substack.com/  Ann mentions paying for George Saunders’ “Story Club” substack: https://georgesaunders.substack.com/  And paying for Jeannette Ouellette’s “Writing in the Dark” substack: https://writinginthedark.substack.com/  Article in The Verge about the Substack controversy about Nazis using the platform: https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/8/24030756/substack-nazi-newsletter-content-moderation Alternatives to Substack include Beehiiv https://www.beehiiv.com/ and Ghost. https://ghost.org/  All the Substack newsletters Jane subscribes to here: https://substack.com/@janefriedman/reads  Courtney Maum’s “Before and After the Book Deal” https://courtneymaum.substack.com/  Elle Griffin’s “Elysian Press” (Jane warned that her decision to unsubscribe from all substacks and only use the app means she’s encouraging others to do the same and will lose all of her own subscribers): https://www.elysian.press/  Dr. Jen Gunter’s “The Vajenda”:  https://vajenda.substack.com/  Peter Schoppert’s “AI and Copyright” substack: https://aicopyright.substack.com/  Benedict Evans’ tech analysis newsletter on his own solution (possibly MailChimp with Memberful, a WordPress plugin to manage the subscription version): https://www.ben-evans.com/newsletter 

“A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource," writer Jorge Luis Borges said in an interview, when asked about his blindness. "All things have been given to us for a purpose," he continued, "and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.”1 You may be familiar with Kate Bowler’s book Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved, and you might think it would push back against the wording of this sentiment. Everything That Happens Can Shape Your Writing But I take the quote’s overall message to mean we can work with whatever happens, good or bad. In fact, that’s kind of what Kate Bowler has done. Her misfortunes shaped her art. This summer brought our family celebrations, gatherings, challenges, and losses. And they came so fast, I couldn’t find time to document them all. For now, they’re jumbled in my mind and heart. Reflecting on Highs and Lows The Borges quote encourages me to revisit the summer’s ups and downs when life starts to slow...to take my time as I capture the details (and emotions) of the chaos that whizzed past. Will you join me? As you reflect on the past few months—the moments you couldn’t control, the raw material of your life—consider how you can work with all that transpired. Were there adventures? Celebrations? Humiliations? Misfortunes? Embarrassments? From these "resources," we, as writers, shape: stories that resonate ideas that stick opinions that stir discussions advice that steers decisions revelations that open others to new perspectives We, as word artists, can transform all that happens to us into art. Transform Experience into Creative Expression As you reflect on the past few months—the moments you couldn’t control, the raw material of your life—consider how you can work with it. Explore your journal notes, expand on fleeting thoughts, and, with your creative flair, discover the meaning and purpose within those experiences. Whether they become part of a poem, essay, book, or blog post, see their purpose. "Remember," writes Anne Lamott in Bird by Bird. "that you own what happened to you."2 Every event, episode, and experience contributes to your becoming who you are as a creative human. Every hardship, misfortune, humiliation, joy, success, and celebration is a resource waiting to be shaped into art. A Prompt to Capture Life’s “Raw Material” Use this prompt to tap into the raw material of your life: Something significant that happened to me is ______________________. This is what happened: ________________________. Use vivid language and specific details as you recall the facts. What did you see, hear, or notice? Here's how it shaped and changed me: _____________________. How did this experience shift your perspective, behavior, or beliefs? What did you learn about yourself or the world? This is how I connect it with how it made me feel, deep down: _________________. What emotions did it stir? Did those feelings evolve over time? Here's how I can use the experience in my creative life: __________________________. Could it inspire a story, poem, or essay? What universal themes does it touch on? Your Creative Prerogative The details may stay in your personal journal while the experience finds its way into your body of work in more subtle ways. Your experience and insights may simply inform your work, your style, your ideas without being your work. Or you may write it "slant," relying on metaphor to hint at its impact. It's your creative prerogative to shape it as you wish. Because the experience shapes you, but you shape it, as well. Resources What Lies Beneath the Surface of Your Life?

“The best advice I can give you to help you grow as a writer is to experience life.” We came to hear about queries and proposals. We wanted to learn how this speaker organized submissions and kept track of contact information. But at this breakout session at this writers’ conference, she insisted: “I know you think your writing career is all about composing articles and books, but you have to be able to say something. Both fiction and nonfiction writers need material, so get out there and live life—take risks!” The Power of Risks To illustrate, she shared her own story about trying to waterski for the first time as an adult. Despite feeling intimidated, she took the plunge. The experience provided her with vivid sensations and emotions to write about, enriching her work with concrete details. Her story prompted me to recall my own adventure. Earlier that same summer, I'd been invited to waterski, as well. Although I ended up with a spectacular wipeout, the memory of that risky experience stayed with me. I could see from my own life that she was right—I took the risk and lived to tell the tale, and it became material for my writing. Embrace New Experiences Creatives need to say yes to new experiences, even when they feel risky. Whether it’s traveling to a new locale, picking up a new hobby, or simply walking in the woods, these experiences fuel our creativity. Julia Cameron encourages creatives to step out of their usual environments to gather fresh inspiration from museums, yarn shops, antique emporiums, and international grocery stores. These “Artist Dates,” as she calls them, are foundational to living a creative life. Everyday Surprises To boost creativity, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi suggests we “try to be surprised by something every day” (347, Creativity). This can be as simple as noticing an unusual car (for example, I spotted a Tesla Cybertruck today) or trying a new dish (pupusas are delicious).  These small, everyday surprises add up, providing fresh material for our writing. Combine Input with Your Unique Voice Our writing deepens as we combine new experiences with our unique perspectives. The more we explore, the more we bring to our projects.  Each risk, each new experience, and each surprise enriches our voice and adds depth to our work. We produce original material, surprising the reader as well as ourselves. Let Life Inspire Your Writing By embracing the world around us, we not only enhance our writing but also grow as individuals. Step out, explore, take risks, and let life inspire your next great piece. Next time you sit down to write, your work will take on your fresh voice and new life—you’ll have new things to say and new ways to say them. ______________________________ Want to learn quick fixes to improve your writing style? Sign up for the FREE course, Make Your Sentences Sing: 7 Sentence Openers to Add Music to Your Prose. CLICK to sign up (free!) Resources Original version of waterski story Ep 211: Be More Creative to Enjoy Your Best Writing Life: Pillar Two Ep 210: Cultivate Curiosity for Your Best Writing Life, Pillar One Ep 180: Write to Discover - Start with Yourself

When I was a child just beginning to speak, my parents drove late into the evening to the rural property they bought. As they drove up the gravel driveway, the sky spread out above us with stars glittering like a million diamonds spread out on a jeweler’s vast black velvet display. Across the fields, a million lightning bugs hovered in the tall grass, their gleaming bodies flickering on and off. I pointed at the sky. “’Tars!” Then I pointed at the field. “Baby ’tars!” Perhaps I was destined to become a poet from early on, but my confidence in landing on that perfect metaphor virtually disappeared over the years. As a young adult, when I was writing books and blog posts, I rarely integrated metaphors into my writing, and it showed. My work was straightforward. Plainspoken.  While there’s nothing wrong with clear writing—in fact, that’s the foundation of nonfiction according to Ayn Rand (clarity first, then jazziness, she says1)—it lacked punch and pizzazz. My writing didn’t lift off the page and sink into the imagination or heart of the reader. It lacked that magical moment where an idea or image clicks and sticks with the reader.  Mastering Metaphors to Produce Great Writing And I knew mastering metaphors was essential to great writing. I did write poetry in college, admiring lines like Emily Dickinson’s: “Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul -2 Shakespeare’s:  All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players;3 And Wordsworth’s: “I wandered lonely as a cloud.”4 Robert Frost said, in an interview in The Atlantic, “If you remember only one thing I've said, remember that an idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor. If you have never made a good metaphor, then you don't know what it's all about.”5 Practicing Metaphor: Create Clunky Metaphors to Land on Magical Metaphors I resolved to make a good metaphor. I practiced. My early efforts were hardly as magical as the child connecting stars to lightning bugs. Instead, they were more like a child pointing to a horse and awkwardly pronouncing, "Dog!"  My metaphor practice felt clunkily childish instead of enchantingly childlike, but I had to make clunky comparisons to train my brain to find the oddly ideal ones that would surprise readers.  In a Paris Review interview, William Gass said: I love metaphor the way some people love junk food. I think metaphorically, feel metaphorically, see metaphorically. And if anything in writing comes easily, comes unbidded, often unwanted, it is metaphor. Like follows as as night the day. Now most of these metaphors are bad and have to be thrown away. Who saves used Kleenex?6 The process of making metaphors and practicing at it will result in some stinkers. The bad ones, like used Kleenex, need not find their way into your work. Toss ’em. That’s what I’ve done. Most of my comparisons fall flat, but I’ve found it's worth experimenting with mediocre metaphors in hopes of landing on ideal metaphors because when we nail it—when we find the language that connects—the reader remembers, relates, reads on, and possibly repeats what we say. I kept writing dumb metaphors until I found better, more creative, comparisons. Poets, like Gass said, “think metaphorically, feel metaphorically, see metaphorically.” We don’t have to be poets to play with metaphor, but we can follow their lead, studying their technique, admiring the rhythm of how they see and put it into words, like they’re fly fishing, casting their line, the rod in motion, repeating the flow until the rod bends, line taut.  Our first time casting, we may end up with our lines tangled in the weeds lining the stream, but we’re out there, learning the process, finding the flow. It’ll come, in time, with practice. Collecting Magical Metaphors A smarter idea than bumbling around on our own would be to collect samples of metaphors that stick.

I made a last-minute decision heading to the most recent writer's conference I attended. I’d planned to take my classy, professional, sleek gray backpack that I’d purchased to replace the original purple one I mentioned in an earlier episode.  As I loaded it, I realized that to stay fortified, I needed to carry snacks and lunch each day—maybe even dinner—and it wouldn’t all squeeze into the professional-looking slim gray bag. I needed a bigger backpack. I dug around in my closet and found an older, different, ridiculously large purple backpack that I use for long trips.  It wasn’t professional-looking at all, but my lunches would fit just right, so I showed up at this much anticipated writing festival with a purple backpack after all, and podcast listeners attending the conference would stop me.  They’d heard the episode about planning and packing for a writing event. They’d shout, “The purple backpack!” and I’d say, “You’re a listener!” and we’d have a great time talking about writing.  So that’s my first of 15 tips, some of which are super practical, like this one… Tip #1: Make sure your bag is big enough Test your bag to ensure it’s big enough to hold all the things you plan to carry with you each day plus whatever swag you collect along the way…even if you’re not going to look as professional as you’d like. And don’t worry if your bag is a bit odd. People really do recognize you in a crowd if you have a memorable bag, purple or otherwise. Tip #2: Tuck your business cards behind your name tag Someone shared this pro tip with me years ago: When you go up to the registration table, you’ll get a name tag attached to a lanyard. Pull out five or six business cards and tuck them behind your conference-designed name tag in the plastic holder clipped to the lanyard, facing out.  When the tag inevitably spins around, people can always see your name—one side is your name on the conference-designed name tag; the other, if it flips around, will show the front of your own business card.  Your cards will be convenient to slip out and hand to someone without fumbling around in a bag. You can tuck other people’s business cards behind yours when you swap to avoid losing them; at the end of each day, pull out other people’s cards, add their names to your contacts app, and replenish your own cards for the next day. Tip #3: Decide which sessions to attend If you haven’t already, plan which sessions you want to attend and mark those in your conference binder. I choose sessions featuring industry experts I want to learn from or people I admire. This could be authors or publishing house representatives like a marketing executive or an acquisitions editor. Circle the sessions you think are ideal for you.  But… Tip #4: Stay open to adapting the plan Making a plan but staying flexible can help you feel less rigid, more open to serendipity. Or as Laura Fabrycky suggested I share with you, “Stay open to interruptions and sheer surprises.” One morning at a recent conference, I planned to attend poet Christian Wiman’s session. In fact, I’d made tentative plans to meet up with a friend. I needed to allow a five- to ten-minute walk from the main gathering area. As I was making tea, I got to talking with authors Summer Joy Gross and Lori Melton. Summer’s book was about to be released and we had not seen each other in person for several years. Then Lori and I connected at a conference years ago and we were enjoying these moments to catch up. We were deep into the conversation when I looked at my watch and realized there was no way I would make it to see Chris Wiman—or I’d have to slip in late.  Summer asked, “Are you going to the Madeleine L’Engle session?”  “What do you mean the Madeleine L’Engle session?” “Her granddaughter’s speaking about an unpublished book. It’s in this building in the Board Room.” Well, that I could make on time. I had read the conference schedule,

Are you getting ready to attend a writers’ conference? Guess what? So am I! And I want to make the most of my time there, so let’s think through what will help with that. You’re likely going for at least two reasons: to learn and to connect. You might also be going to pitch your project. Let’s prep, plan, and pack to get the most out of this upcoming event, so you’re even better prepared to learn, connect, and pitch. And given that I work with a lot of published authors and speakers, it’s possible you’re one of the presenters. One day I might share detailed speaker recommendations, but for now I did weave in a few suggestions to make your faculty conference experience a little easier, too. Event Binder First, I should mention the Event Binder. This idea originated with Kathi Lipp on an episode of Writing at the Red House. Years ago I heard her describe what she includes in her “dossier,” as she calls it, and I’ve adopted and adapted the list to make it my own. I load it up with all travel information (printed out, obviously) like reservations, and confirmations; contact names and emails; an envelope for receipts; a mileage tracker where I can log each outing; a printout of the schedule; and more. If I’m speaking, I print out copies of my messages in case technology fails. That said, I do create redundancy by dropping the same information into a folder on my phone in an app like Google Drive or Notion. And I’ll save the key locations in my maps app so it’s a quick click and I’m on my way. If you’d like a list of what I have in my Event Binder whether I’m an attendee or speaker, head to ​annkroeker.com/conferenceprep​ to get a checklist. Research Speakers Hopefully you already read the session descriptions when choosing this conference and got a feel for the presenters and other faculty. Study the conference website Now, in the days before the event, study the website to learn about the organizers and faculty. You never know who you’ll be sitting next to at lunch or crossing in the hallway—knowing the team and speakers means you’ll be able to connect more personally during any random interaction. Follow and watch or listen to speakers online Find and follow key faculty on social media. Search YouTube and podcasts to find your favorite speakers. Listen to at least a few minutes of their interviews, presentations, or lectures.  [Edited to add an excellent suggestion from writer Li Mitchell, who replied to my newsletter and suggested “joining presenters' email newsletters (if they have them) and getting to know them through email before you attend their conference …because then when you met them in person, you would already have spoken through email.”] When you do this, each speaker will lift off the pages of the conference materials and seem even more “real” when you hear them tell a personal story about family or childhood in a podcast interview. You’ll get to hear their voice. You’ll see mannerisms if you see them on video. If you have time before the event, you could read one of their books. Write what you discover If you create an Event Binder, write questions to ask and details you learn next to their name and session description. If you need more space for key bits of information, grab a sticky note so you have more room to write. If the speaker says something that stands out—like a hobby, a school, or a trip you relate to in some way—write that down, too. These little notes are handy—if you brush up on what you’ve written before their session and meet them afterwards, you’ve got a conversation starter (“I heard you love Belgium—my husband’s from Belgium, and I love it, too!”). The more I learn in advance, the more excited I get about the conference. I hope you do, too. Find Friends who Plan to Attend Most events like attendees to use an event-specific hashtag on social media. In fact, they might tag you or share your posts when you ...

Attending my first writers’ conference proved to be life-changing—or at least career-changing. In the years since, I’ve attended a wide range of writing events, and each one has in some way substantially contributed to my career. Some deepened my knowledge, others expanded my professional network—most did both. I can’t imagine where I’d be without them. Could a writers’ conference be a life-changing/knowledge-deepening/network-expanding opportunity in your future, even this year? If yes, how do you determine the right conference for you? This post is the first of a short series on how to get the most out of your next (or first!) writers’ conference, starting with how to choose your next (or first!) writers’ conference.  The Gifts of a Writers' Conference In the early days of my writing career, I explored freelance writing. Thanks to a mentor, I learned how to pitch myself as a writer for companies looking to outsource things like company newsletters and I gained a few core clients. That launched my professional writing business. But as a creative writing major attracted to poetry and essay writing, I wanted to explore other types of writing and submit to magazines, for example, so I picked up everything I could from library books. The books, while excellent, were not enough to answer all my questions or help focus my efforts. And the internet did not exist at that time. In time, I instinctively knew I needed to start connecting with writers and learn from them.  In fact, I started to crave it. Somehow I heard about an event in Chicago called Write to Publish. I registered and attended it as my very first writers’ conference. Nervous and unsure what to expect, I showed up and sat through sessions, as speaker after speaker delivered talks that energized my creativity, while the speakers themselves embodied a life I wanted to pursue: that of a working writer building a body of work to be proud of. Many first-time conference attendees feel so overwhelmed by the flood of information at events like these, they conclude they could never pull it off and give up, walking away from writing and publishing altogether. I felt overwhelmed, yes, but mostly excited and empowered. It was exactly what I wanted; it was exactly what I needed. By the end of the conference, I interacted with attendees who in time became colleagues. I met someone who became another writing mentor. Those conference connections formed the beginnings of my professional network. If you attend a writing conference… You could meet your next coach or mentor. You could meet like-minded writers and form a writers’ group. You could meet industry leaders who offer to look over your project. You could meet someone who introduces you to key people you only dreamed of meeting one day. You could meet a writing buddy who becomes an accountability partner. If you’re considering attending a conference or any kind of writing event for the first time, I hope you find it proves to be a pivotal step in your journey. You never know how a chance encounter in the hallway or a timid hello as you take your seat in the auditorium could be the start of a professional relationship or a literary friendship that changes your life. Writer’s Conference or Writers’ Conference? As we dive into what a writers’ conference is and how to choose the right one for you, we have to face two small but fascinating issues. One, believe it or not, is punctuation; the other is labels. Let's start with punctuation. You surely think this is overkill, but humor me for a minute. Sometimes you’ll see an event called a writers’ conference, other times a writer’s conference. Occasionally you might spot a writers conference with no apostrophe. And then a few call their events writing conferences, avoiding the need for an apostrophe altogether. In most industries, no one would care one bit about this level of detail.

I stared at a blank screen. Why did I ever think I could pull this off? Until that moment, I’d only written short projects. Articles, essays, poems.  As I sat staring at the screen, questioning myself in about every way possible, I was supposed to be writing my first book—a manuscript of over 50,000 words. Overwhelmed, I sat at the keyboard, frozen. Sound familiar? Have you felt inspired to write a book you believe will truly help people—even transform them—but you’re not sure you have what it takes?  Well, once upon a time, this writing coach was in the exact same place. I was staring at the screen, inspired to write a book, but doubting myself: Do I have what it takes to write a book? Could I Write Something as Big as a Book? How does an essayist-poet-freelancer embark on the massive task of completing a 55,000-word manuscript? That question felt unanswerable and I felt inadequate. This prose-freezing self-doubt was a huge problem, however, because I’d signed a contract. I was obligated to write a book I didn’t think I could write. First, a Proposal For a year or so my friends had been urging me to move forward with writing a book after I kept sharing concepts with them in conversations over coffee or during play dates at the park. One after another, they would say, “You should write a book about that!” I’d laugh it off. “Me? Write a book? Ha!”  “But you’re a writer!” they’d insist. “I’m a writer of short things. A book is too long, too huge.” They’d shrug and we’d go back to wiping yogurt off our kids’ faces. One day I was meeting with my mentor, a writer named Ruth (I had two writing mentors named Ruth—what are the odds!—and this was the Ruth who lived nearby). Nearby Ruth was the author of a book acquired by a publishing house based about three hours north of us.  She offered to introduce me to the editorial team, so I could pitch the idea to them over lunch. She said she’d drive me up there herself! All I had to do was hop in the car, share the project with them, and hand out copies of a book proposal.  It was all arranged. What a great mentor, right? I just needed to create the book proposal…which I didn’t have the faintest idea how to put together. "You can look at mine" “I need a book proposal? Can’t I just describe the book?” “They need the book proposal,” Ruth said. “That’s how they do it.” It’s the same now as it was then, by the way. For nonfiction projects, an author produces a book proposal before landing a book contract with an agent or editor. (Learn more about the process and purpose by watching this webinar.) Back then, I had no idea what a book proposal looked like. This was pre-Internet, so there were no samples to download or coaches to hire. “You can look at mine,” Ruth offered. “You can see how it’s laid out and how I described my book. Then you can plug in your book’s details in the same places.” Can you believe that? My mentor offered to let me see her own book proposal like it was no big deal. But it was pivotal. Life-changing. Career-forming. Crafting my First Book Proposal  Hers was the first book proposal I ever saw. I pored over it, following the flow to craft my own. Her subheadings showed me the purpose of each section. Her content gave me ideas for how to phrase the business-y stuff about mine. Weeks of work went into that document. I wrote the overview, typed up a bio, and listed famous people I could ask for an endorsement (I didn’t personally know famous people, but at that point in my life I knew people who knew people, so I added names with an explanation of each friend-of-a-friend connection). Then I got to the meat of the proposal:  The Table of Contents. The chapter summaries. This took time, because I was essentially writing the book without writing the book, and if you recall, I’d never written a book before so I had no idea what I was doing.

"Never go to bed until you have a story to tell," says Kevin Lynch, Creative Director at Oatly. I heard him interviewed on a podcast and stopped jogging to write down what he said about that daily story: It could be a deep thing that you learned, it could be a movie that you saw, it could be a way you took home, it could be a conversation that you had…it could be anything.”1 Indeed, we can live a “storied life” without a celebrity-level lifestyle full of famous people and fabulous soirees. We’re living “story-worthy” moments each day—we simply need to notice them…and capture them. Every day we have understated interactions and flashes of insight that create meaning. In fact, simpler, subtler, more relatable stories can captivate readers far better than wild escapades that don’t show any change. These daily stories serve as fodder for our work, weaving into what we write as anecdotes, illustrations. Sometimes they serve as the narrative spine of a full-length project. Thus, the more stories, the better—as Kevin Lynch observed in that interview, capturing a story each day gives us 365 stories every single year.  To start your story collection today, try these three ways to ensure you have a story to tell by the time your head hits the pillow tonight: Reflect to discern your "story-worthy” moment from the day Create a story worth telling before closing your eyes for the night Gather memories that come to mind and use those as story prompts 1. Reflect on the Day to Discern Your “Story-Worthy” Moment In his TEDx Talk, on his podcast, in his book Storyworthy, and at his blog, storyteller Matthew Dicks invites every person, not just writers, to document their “most story-like moment from the day” for what he calls Homework for Life™.  He takes five minutes at the end of each day and thinks back: What made this day different from all the rest?2 The idea is so simple. He writes a sentence or two—sometimes just a string of words—and later, when he has time to write it out in full, he’s got what he needs to bring back that memory from that day: the moment he chose to document.  With his Homework for Life™, we note the small discoveries, the daily surprises, those meaningful moments we don’t want to lose. In other words, these daily stories don’t need to be earth-shattering events. They can be quiet, understated internal shifts. He keeps his in a spreadsheet, making it easy to search keywords and find connections and themes from year to year.3 Begin this process, and you’ll be transformed by seeing how ephemeral interactions, observations, and moments are actually filled with meaning…that a day that seems like any other day is packed with specificity. We are living stories every single day. 2. Create a story worth telling The next way to avoid going to bed until you have a story to tell is to create a story. That’s what Kevin Lynch suggests: “If someone asks, ‘How was your day?’ and you don't have a story to tell them, go create one."4 He continues, "By doing so, it pushes you out of your comfort zone and kind of gets you used to doing a little more experimentation and being vulnerable and putting yourself in vulnerable places or situations."5 What story could you create before bed? Could you... read a surprising story? pull off a stunt? record a silly video with a family member? send an email to someone famous? Or maybe the story you plan to tell before going to bed isn’t something that happened on that day—maybe it’s a memory, and that's what you'll create? If so, this next approach will be worth incorporating into your daily storytelling habit. 3. Gather memories to use as story prompts During the holidays, as an example, you may string some lights, stir up mugs of cocoa, and next thing you know you’re flooded with memories. Some might be magical childhood Christmas mornings; others might be hard years of loss. 

When I was in college, practicing in public meant sitting under an oak tree on campus, flipping open my spiral-bound notebook, and scratching out a poem as students walked the path beside me.  Creative writing classes gave me another way to practice in public, when my poems were workshopped by my peers. As a young adult building a freelance writing career, I submitted my work to literary journals and magazines—that was about the only way I could practice in public. Those low-tech days limited how and where we could share our words.  Today, the world has exploded with numerous ways to practice in public—I can share my work with you using tools I couldn’t have dreamed of when I sat under that oak tree on campus. Some of my content goes out through my coaching newsletter, my Substack newsletter called Story Hatchery, social media, and my website.  Tools to Practice in Public At the click of a button, from the palms of our hands, we can instantly share our work with the world using: websites newsletter apps like Substack, Beehiiv, and Ghost social media platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads Each time we hit “publish” or “post,” we’re practicing in public. And each time we turn around and write another piece, we have more experience, more input, and more empowerment to become a better writer.  Benefits for Writers Who Practice in Public Jeff Goins and others urge us to “practice in public,” because “there is no better way to improve than to put your work out there, sharing it for the whole world to see.”1 Of course there are good reasons to practice in private, but when we look up from the pages of our journal and share ideas with others through tools like newsletters and social media, we find readers. We build our platform. We experiment.  Heavens, there are loads of benefits from practicing in public! Let’s dive in and see why it’s worth it to start… 1. Save Time and Write with Intent If you write in private more than in public, you’re likely not achieving your goals. Marion Roach Smith argues that writing privately in response to a prompt wastes valuable time—time that could be dedicated to a work in progress. Writing with purpose and sharing it with the public, though, allows you to focus on creating meaningful content. Save time; write with intent, boldly practicing in public. 2. Write Better and Faster: Experiment, Adjust, Improve When writers learn new literary techniques, it’s fun to experiment with them in a low-stakes setting like LinkedIn or Instagram. Practicing in public allows for rapid improvement. Similar to that oft-referenced experiment where pottery students rapidly refined their skills by making numerous pots (instead of laboring over a single pot), writers hone their techniques through continual practice and sharing—the more the better!  By sharing your work, you experiment and receive immediate feedback. This iterative process allows you to adjust and improve, refining your craft over time. Because you’re sharing more often, you find ways to express your ideas more efficiently, making you a faster writer, too. Try time-savers like this: create platform-specific templates or outlines to copy and use each time you begin—you’ll save time and get started sooner use dictation to speak drafts into existence (there are so many options for how we can do this on our phones!) set a timer and freewrite as fast as possible to get a solid draft out connect with a friend and share your idea with that person in a recorded Zoom session or put your voice recorder on the table if you’re in person—the transcript can be your draft 3. Learn to Write Tight. Strunk and White said it succinctly: “Omit needless words.”2 Character and word limits of newsletters and social media force us to omit needless words and “write tight.” By keeping our content concise and clear, we practice a core writing skill regularly in short form,

Dear Writer, It’s easy to freeze up when we’re writing for the faceless masses or the random reader who happens upon our words. What do we say to all those people? How can we speak with heart to a total stranger? Next thing you know, we second-guess our ideas, our prose, our very selves. We fade to beige without saying what we really think, without being specific, without our signature wit and whimsy.  What would that random person who doesn’t even know me think if I crack a joke? We lose our creativity, our passion, our joy. We freeze. We get stuck.  We’re afraid to stand out, so we play it safe. We write dull, ordinary prose that could be penned by anyone at all, even ChatGPT. Unlock Your Creative Voice: Write a Letter to Your Reader One way to unlock creativity is to write a letter—a letter to your reader. And not just any nameless, faceless reader but a specific person you actually know. Dear Anthony… Dear Paula… Dear Lissa… When you think of the kind of person you’re trying to reach with your words, does Lissa fit? Good.  Now, write her a letter about a question or struggle that she herself has voiced.  Weave in ideas that can help.  Encourage her with a vulnerable story. Add a little pizzazz that only you can include—after all, she knows you. She’ll grin at your joke and “get” your allusion. When you’re done, you can send her the note, if you want. Or you can cross out Lissa’s name and replace it with the type of person you write for: Dear Weary Homeschool Mom… Dear New Gardener… Dear Journaler… If that feels awkward to publish, cross off the salutation altogether.  Dear Anthony… Dear Paula… Dear Lissa… I’ll bet you can find a great hook in your opening lines, and the letter-writing trick disarmed you enough to write fresh and real and personable. Writing a Letter to Your Reader Frees Your Natural Voice From the writer’s perspective, writing a letter to your reader can remove that feeling of writing to the faceless masses and instead invite an easy tone and thoughts that convey empathy and intimacy. J. Willis Westlake, author of an 1800s book about letter-writing, says: In other [writing] productions there is the restraint induced by the feeling that a thousand eyes are peering over the writer’s shoulder and scrutinizing every word; while letters are written when the mind is as it were in dressing-gown and slippers — free, natural, active, perfectly at home, and with all the fountains of fancy, wit, and sentiment in full play.1 By tricking your mind into donning its dressing-gown and slippers, you can achieve that “free, natural, active, perfectly at home” tone, style, and voice. Your readers will love reading your “fancy, wit, and sentiment in full play.” Genuine Letters Contain Our Most Interesting Content And it’s not just our style, tone, and voice that letters unleash; it’s also the content itself. Westlake continues, “Though written, as all genuine letters are, for the private eye of one or two familiar friends, and without any thought of their publication, they nevertheless often form the most interesting and imperishable of an author’s productions.”2 In other words, these letters contain our “most interesting and imperishable” ideas. So why not write them as letters first? Discover Epistolary Writing This letter-writing format is labeled “epistolary” writing. And the epistolary approach is used more widely in published work than you might be thinking. For example, advice columns. Advice Columns Advice columns like the classic “Dear Abby” and more recent “Dear Sugar” dished out empathetic responses that addressed specific needs that were sent in from readers. The writer connected directly with the recipient who asked the initial question and with every reader who “listened in.” Epistolary Nonfiction Books Then there are nonfiction epistolary books,

Let’s look at the pros and cons of using writing prompts to decide if we’re fostering creativity or frittering away time. I remember the pleasure of writing about ladybugs for my high school freshman English class based on the prompt written on the board.1 And then there was the book I found a year or so at the library: Write to Discover Yourself. The author suggested we “portrait” the important people in our lives.2 I wrote pages and pages about my dad based on that prompt. Prompts continued to play a big role in my creative writing journey when college professors supplied our class with poetry prompts. Those prompts did exactly what they were designed for: they sparked creativity, teased out long-buried memories, and helped me spin creative storylines I would never have imagined on my own. Prompts have so effectively opened me up, I decided to gather a collection for others to use called 52 Creative Writing Prompts, to help get pens moving and ideas flowing.  Do Prompts Distract or Delight? But am I doing a disservice? Are prompts mere distractions, diverting writers from purposeful, goal-oriented writing? Some argue we need to stop using prompts and only write toward public-facing projects. Why waste time on writing prompts that fill notebooks and journal pages, when we’re struggling to find time for the writing we claim we want to do? Why write in response to a random prompt instead of composing the essay we want to submit, the book we want to draft, the article we want to pitch? Let’s peek at arguments for both sides, the pros and cons of prompts, to see if we need to embrace or abandon them in our creative writing life.  Pros of Creative Writing Prompts: On the plus side we have benefits of creative writing prompts, such as how they: 1. Spark Fresh Ideas Creative writing prompts inspire writers who struggle to generate any ideas at all by giving them an energizing starting point. Prompts also spark fresh ideas in writers who tend to return again and again to topics they’ve written about before. Prompts press writers to explore subject matter outside their comfort zone, breathing new life into their rotating collection of pet topics and pillar content.  2. Overcome Writer's Block Prompts offer a lifeline to writers grappling with writer's block—they invite a “stuck” writer to write freely for ten, 15, or 20 minutes without those words needing a destination or purpose other than to get the ink flowing. 3. Provide Low-Stakes Practice Writing prompts intended as practice serve as low-stakes exercises, encouraging writers to play and experiment without the pressure of immediate evaluation by editors or readers. Prompts allow writers to refine their craft and explore techniques in the safety of their writing notebooks and journals. In time they may develop a more captivating style. 4. Prepare for Assignments Freelancers who’ve been assigned a topic for a magazine or essayists who have entered themed writing contests benefit from writing from prompts. It’ll prepare them for assignments based on narrow parameters.  5. Offer a Writing Warm-up When writers tap out a few words in response to a prompt before diving into their long-form/high-stakes project, they can enjoy a brief warm-up that loosens them up. 6. Enhance Honesty and Depth With prompts, writers delve into deeper personal experiences, memories, emotions, and themes without fear of judgment, leading to more honest and profound writing. 7. Lead to Personal Growth and Healing When intentionally selecting prompts that invite reflection—maybe even under the direction of a therapist—writers can experience transformation through personal growth and healing. It’s no surprise that when we spend time in personal writing such as journaling, we grow and mature as people, which in turn makes us better writers. Cons of Creative Writing Prompts: To be fair,

Children gaze at a vast blank wall and see opportunity—inspired, they grab a permanent marker and scrawl across the surface in loopy circles and jaggedy lines without hesitation.  Why, then, do we adults stare at the blank page—not unlike a blank wall—and freeze up? Instead of scribbling out ideas that fill the white screen, we writers often come up empty, the blank page producing a blank mind. We get too far ahead of ourselves, thinking about readers before we’ve written a single word, afraid of what they’ll think. Or we second-guess our ideas or skills. We worry about that and more, and next thing you know…we stop writing and stare at that blinding white abyss, paralyzed. The blank page need not intimidate or cripple us. Why? Because with the ideas below, you can fill that great expanse with words so that it’s never really blank when you open it. Try one of them the next time you open a document and feel fear trickling down to your fingertips. I hope they’ll free you up long before you freeze and you’ll replace fear with joy by effortlessly filling the page with words. 1. Templates Create templates for your content, whether it's a newsletter, blog post, or podcast. By inserting the structural elements you tend to use each time, you approach the page with a sense of familiarity. Templates serve as a framework to jumpstart your writing process, making the page feel less daunting. 2. Outlines Embrace the power of outlines. The classic 5-paragraph essay structure you learned long ago—with an introduction, three main points, and conclusion—is a reliable starting point for informative articles. For more creative pieces, try narrative outlines with a three-act structure (even if it’s short) or a beginning, middle, end approach. Outlines help you organize your thoughts and create a roadmap for your writing, banishing the fear of the blank page. See the links below for ready-made outlines you can use to add structure to your document. 3. Record Yourself & Transcribe Take a walk and record your thoughts about the topic you want to write about. Then, get a transcription made of that recording and paste it in—you’ve eliminated the blank page altogether. It's as if you're simply editing and expanding on (and refining) your existing thoughts, which is far less intimidating than starting from scratch with nothing but a blank page and blinking cursor. 4. Record a Conversation & Transcribe Meet with a friend on a virtual platform like Zoom, click the record button, and explain your idea. As your friend engages with questions, you’ll be able to clarify and delve deeper. This approach captures your natural voice as you share what you’ve been researching and thinking about. Thank your friend, download the audio, and then use a program like Happy Scribe or Rev.com’s AI transcription service to transcribe the conversation. You’ll end up with a working draft for your writing project. TIP: more and more free AI transcription services are cropping up, so be sure to search for the latest options and you might not even have to pay.  5. Pull from Your Journal If you've been jotting down ideas, thoughts, or snippets of writing in a journal or a similar document, don't let them go to waste. Pull something from there and paste it into your current document to kickstart your writing. Things like Morning Pages, Dream Journals, and freewriting can be sources of inspiration. 6. List Bullet Points Before you even have a minute to think about the blank page, start writing your ideas in the form of bullet points—they don’t have to be complete thoughts or sentences. No more blank page! And you’ll have prompts you can use to draft your content. You can expand on each bullet point to develop your ideas further, gradually filling the blank page with meaningful content. Move them around until you find the ideal flow and structure. Problem solved. 7. AI Writing Apps

When I was visiting my grandmother one summer afternoon, she pulled out a letter I sent her. "This is good," she said. "Really?" She pointed at the paragraphs and said the ideas were well organized, my writing flowed well, and I included lots of details. "It was interesting to read," she said. Then she looked up at me and smiled. "Maybe we have another writer in the family?” Did I gasp? Her words certainly sent a jolt through me. Did she know how badly I wanted to write? Could she have known how much I yearned to be a writer? Surely the thought of me as a writer seemed far-fetched to her. After all, my mother was a seasoned editor and columnist, endowed with innate writing talents—Grandma saw her earn accolades in college and as a career journalist. My father was an editor at a prominent metropolitan newspaper, shaping stories, crafting headlines, and curating front-page content. Even my brother, a skilled wordsmith, showed promise as a creative writer, eventually becoming an award-winning copywriter for ad campaigns. And then there was me—Grandma knew her granddaughter was a sprinter on the track team, a clarinetist in the band, and a dedicated student earning good grades. Yet, no one, myself included, saw me as a writer...well, I helped put the school newspaper together, but I was hardly an ace reporter. Yet here she was, encouraging me to write, cheering me on. During that brief exchange when pointing out the strengths of my letter, Grandma kindled a spark of hope within me. External Validation Bolsters Us While external validation shouldn't dictate our writing journey, it bolsters us when we face the inevitable resistance that hits us from within and without. Her words reverberated in my head (and my heart) for years, counteracting doubts that crept in, giving me courage to push past obstacles and move toward a future with words. Around that time, my best friend in high school praised the short story I wrote: "The Medallion of Kilimanjaro." Her sincere reaction made me believe I could tell a captivating story. A few years later, my college boyfriend nudged me to enroll in creative writing at our university—his vote of confidence aligned with Grandma's earlier endorsement, solidifying my self-perception as a writer. In one of those creative writing classes, a poetry professor urged me to submit my work to the undergraduate journal. Armed with her belief in my potential, I sent in three. The outcome exceeded my expectations—each of the three submissions was accepted for publication, and one poem secured a prize. I could continue to list even more people who added to that chorus of encouragement, bolstering my confidence. Editors, friends, team leaders, mentors. With their voices cheering me on, I took risks. With their affirmations in my head and heart, I pursued a writing career—I built a writing life. Who Cheered You on as a Writer? Who cheered you on throughout your writing journey? Who pointed out your potential and steered you toward a life of words?Whose voices gave you confidence? Was it a mentor, teacher, peer, editor, friend, or coach? If they never voiced their thoughts, would you have given up? Make a list of the people who offered you encouragement to pursue this path. If possible, track some of them down and thank them. Perhaps you could mail them a letter? After that...cheer on another writer. Encourage them as they face obstacles on the path to achieving their writing goals. When you do, you'll be one of the powerful voices adding to the chorus of those who give them confidence to stick with it—to pursue writing and build a writing life. Resources: My Writing Life Beginnings, Pt 1 My Writing Life Beginnings, Pt 2 Writers: Never, Never, Never Give Up 5 Writing Strengths

Just as musicians credit their musical influences, writers, too, have literary inspirations who help them discover and shape their unique voice. At a White House event for poets in 2011, Billy Collins said to students about finding your voice: You’re searching for the poets who make you jealous...you're looking to get influenced by people who make you furiously jealous…And then copy them.1 Billy himself was influenced by the work of Wallace Stevens—I suppose he would say he was furiously jealous of him. Anne Lamott's Seemingly Effortless Prose Author Shauna Niequist openly mentions the influence of Anne Lamott on her work. The first time I read Anne Lamott, I thought, “Is this allowed? People can write like this and it gets published?” I laughed at her sometimes-crass and often sarcastic style. She opened the door to a whole new way of writing, with honesty and sass. While hers was not exactly my style, I admired the conversational tone—the seemingly stream-of-consciousness flow of ideas—that, upon close examination, were carefully crafted. That skill to make her work seem like it effortlessly spilled onto the page but was actually carefully constructed? That made me furiously jealous. Annie Dillard's Literary Craftsmanship My friend and co-author Charity Singleton Craig has mentioned Annie Dillard's impact on her. She frequently quotes her and I sense hints of that literary genius in my friend, as well as in Dillard. I read Annie Dillard in my early 20s and wondered, “What is this?” I liked it, but I didn’t “get it.” I didn’t understand what she was doing. But I saw that she stitched her work together with precision using the tools of a literary craftsman. And that, I admired. That made me furiously jealous. Madeleine L'Engle's Bridges of Trust, Love, and Hope As a child, I read Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Whether I voiced it or not, I know I wondered, “How did she do that?” At that time I didn’t want to write in that style or genre, but she led us to trust, love, and hope through the delight of quirky characters. I was thrilled how intimately she connected with her reader—with me. I was grateful at the time. Now, as an adult who writes, I’m furiously jealous. I want to create bridges of trust, love, and hope, as well. Scott Russell Sanders' Unpretentious Midwestern Truth Charity and I attended a lecture by Scott Russell Sanders. In my notebook, I scribbled notes. Then I leaned back and listened. Finally, I wrote, “I want to write like that” on the page of my notebook. I tilted the page toward Charity to show it to her. She nodded. She could see I was furiously jealous. He writes about the Midwest, where I’m from, so I’m always impressed with how he brings it to life. His work connects with me in the familiar references of trees and rivers and birds. He names them and I know them. He makes creative choices seem less mysterious than Dillard and more accessible. He’s conversational in some ways but not curmudgeonly like Anne Lamott. When I read him, I think, “Hey, I could try that.” He’ll tell stories, create scenes, and introduce a theme, a phrase, a word. He presses in, gently, a little more—labyrinthine at times and progressively, sequentially, other times. I want to write like that. He’s unpretentious. I can tell that the ideas and stories he shares on the page are true. When I met him at that event with Charity, it was clear: he is who he seems to be on the page. That’s who I am and want to be, too, in my writing. In life. Unpretentious. I want to be like that. What Writers Make You Furiously Jealous? When you say about a writer or author “I want to write like that,” that’s a creative influence. When a writer’s work makes you furiously jealous, that’s a creative influence. When you think, “Hey, I could try that!” that’s a creative influence. Make a list of all the people whose work makes you furiousl...

On a sunny spring day, I sat with seven homeschoolers on a stretch of grass for a creative writing session. The older kids started to fidget before we even started. "What are we doing out here?" "We’re going to see what’s around us." A fifth grader pointed with his pen. "I see sky, clouds, cars, building. Done." The others laughed. "We’re going to be quiet and listen, too," I added. "I hear birds. Done." More chuckles. "Before we write," I began, "Let’s look at the sky. What color is it?" Someone said blue. "What kind of blue? There are so many blues. Is it dark blue like these navy pants? Or is it blue like turquoise? Or is it the kind of blue you want to swim in? Or the color of your mom’s eyes?" They looked up. "Write down phrases that describe this particular blue at this particular moment of this particular day. Compare it to other things that are blue." They studied the sky, and one by one, each started writing. "What else do you see—you mentioned clouds. What kind of clouds? Puffy white cumulus clouds or light and filmy cirrus clouds?" Group Your Senses We continued exploring multi-sensory details. They grouped their ideas by sense, so each stanza of the poem they were going to write began: I see… I hear… I smell… I touch... I taste... This simple "senses" poem isn't just for kids. You could try sensory writing, too. Sensory Writing Practice Slow down and tune into the space around you, ideally outdoors. Look, listen, inhale deeply. What do you notice at this particular moment of this particular day? Write down keywords and adjectives. Capture images and sounds. What smells do you breathe in? Compare those details to something else. You'll be crafting metaphors with nouns and more seemingly unrelated nouns that end up enhancing meaning. Touch different textures. Taste something—well, taste what's appropriate (don't eat anything poisonous)! As you capture the particulars, you'll realize that this moment is one-of-a-kind, and you're writing about it using all your senses, as those kids did. Pull Your Senses Together When you realize the poem is coming together, group the sensory details you've described to form those stanzas: I see… I hear… I smell… I touch... I taste... Rearrange as needed, of course. Write an opening line if you like. Maybe two. Write a closing line if you like. Maybe two. Maybe three. Read it aloud. Sensory Writing for Life You've preserved in multi-sensory detail a moment of your wild and precious life. And you've practiced a skill you can use in all your writing to bring your stories and scenes to life for your reader with this multi-sensory detail. Years ago I attended a writing workshop and the leader referenced Flannery O’Connor, paraphrasing a section of “The Nature and Aim of Fiction” from ​Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose​: A lady who writes, and whom I admire very much, wrote me that she had learned from Flaubert that it takes at least three activated sensuous strokes to make an object real; and she believes that this is connected with our having five senses. If you’re deprived of any of them, you’re in a bad way, but if you’re deprived of more than two at once, you almost aren’t present. (Emphasis mine, 69) The workshop leader held up an imaginary artist's brush and said, "One, two, three...and you're done!" Include in your poetry and prose—fiction or nonfiction—at least three sensory details and your reader will be in the scene with you. Read It Aloud and Applaud Right there in the grass on that day with the homeschooled kids, they arranged their poems, scribbling into spiral notebooks balanced on bony knees. When we brought them back inside, each child read their poem aloud for the other mom, who had stayed inside while we wrote. We applauded after each poem. One of them read a simple series of images and metaph...

Jennifer Dukes Lee ​invites you to transform into a better writer​ through “beautifully ruthless self-discovery.” It starts in the pages of your journal. In a recent interview, she delves into the therapeutic benefits of daily gratitude journaling and its potential to rewire our brains. By writing down things we’re grateful for, our minds seek out the positive. Jennifer recommends guided journals when we're stymied by writer's block. The blank page of a traditional journal can overwhelm us. What should we say? Where should we start? Guided journals aren't blank pages—they provide prompts and structure when you’re stuck or unsure of what to write. She stresses that journaling serves as a valuable tool for self-discovery and creative expression. When you use journaling to explore your experiences, memories, and struggles, you can weave your discoveries into your writing. This deep dive into the human condition adds depth and authenticity to all our writing: poetry, creative nonfiction, online writing, and fiction. Jennifer introduces questions from her guided journal: some profound, some silly. Either way, they open you up and lead to deeper self-knowledge. Some of your journal entries will be personal and remain private, just as her recent book title suggests: Stuff I’d Only Tell God. Other entries you could share with a family member or friend, creating deeper connections through your vulnerability. You’ll see how journaling unleashes your creative potential and invites you to be more open, leaving a lasting impact on yourself, your closest relationships, and your readers. Listen in on our discussion—and start journaling—to become a more authentic and impactful writer. Meet Jennifer Dukes Lee Jennifer Dukes Lee is a bestselling author, thinker, and question-asker from Iowa. Her friends say they're scared to sit alone in a room with her because they end up telling her things they never intended to say. She is both proud of this fact and also a little annoyed at how nosy she can be. She put a bunch of her favorite questions into a journal called Stuff I’d Only Tell God. It’s like your own little confession booth. She’s also the author of Growing Slow and It’s All Under Control. Subscribe to her newsletter Top Ten with Jen to get the inside scoop on stuff that is blowing her mind, encouraging her heart, and refreshing her soul (subscribe and you'll also get immediate access to free resources): https://jenniferdukeslee.com/subscribe/ Connect with Jennifer: Learn more at jenniferdukeslee.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferDukesLee Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferdukeslee/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jenniferdukeslee Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dukeslee/ Subscribe to Top Ten with Jen: https://jenniferdukeslee.com/subscribe/ https://youtu.be/cHOo61S9W4s Time Stamps The whole interview is packed with inspiration and ideas, but perhaps these time stamps help you navigate to places in our discussion that may seem more interesting. 5:29 Courageous honesty leads to self-discovery.7:21 Journaling and memory keeping.8:53 Journaling is essential for writing.11:23 Gratitude journaling and its impact.14:48 Journaling can inspire and inform.15:01 Inspiration from journaling.16:27 Outline and plan your writing.19:06 The short form writing process.22:03 Journaling preserves memories and emotions.24:09 Capturing memories through journaling.26:33 Journaling sparks creative self-discovery.29:08 Writing about interesting moments.29:35 Birds and dreaming.31:38 Trust the spark, capture it.35:56 Treating journals with different purposes.37:48 Social media and storytelling.41:33 Battle with depression and anxiety. Transcript (Transcripts are reviewed and lightly edited.) Ann Kroeker I'm Ann Kroeker, writing coach. If you're tuning in for the first time, welcome! If you're a regular, welcome back.

During the early years of parenthood, I wasted a lot of time feeling sorry for myself. Why can't I have my own dedicated writing space? Why can't I have blocks of uninterrupted time? The overwhelming demands of being a stay-at-home mom almost shut down my creativity. In time, thank heavens, I stopped griping and started looking for solutions. My idea? Instead of waiting for the perfect conditions, I snatched time. No Time to Write? Snatch Every Opportunity I wrote when the kids were napping. I wrote late at night. I wrote when they were engrossed in a movie. I squeezed writing into the tiny openings in my days. Sometimes I only had five minutes, but I wrote. By making the most of a few free moments here and there, I kept my writing identity alive. Contain the Creativity This spontaneous approach made for a messy writing life, however. I left a trail of pens throughout the house. I scratched fleeting phrases onto the backs of envelopes. I scribbled a line of poetry onto a Wendy's receipt and shoved it into our minivan's cup holders. If I could go back, I would organize my writing ideas in one central container. I needed a master notebook for all those scraps, or a notes app on my phone to tap out those ideas. That would have been smart. I have no idea where that Wendy's receipt ended up, so that lyrical line is lost forever. Please learn from my mistake and find an official container for your work. Creative Container Ideas How you corral and contain your ideas is totally up to you—there’s no single approach for every writer. I recommend you decide on something you can carry with you all the time. For example, a simple manila envelope you stuff into an oversized bag that goes with you everywhere could contain all your scraps of paper if you scribble on whatever’s nearby. An accordion file or a 3-ring binder with folders and dividers snapped into it are more organized versions of that. If you’re more suited to digital options, you can use any number of apps for iOs or Android. For example, in this interview, Bryan Collins of Become a Writer Today talks about how he uses Day One, a journaling app, for all of his writing notes, as well.  Seize Tiny Moments Despite the mess, I realized a way forward in the midst of motherhood with no time to write: I seized tiny moments. I learned that a single sentence or well-crafted phrase composed in five minutes could lay the foundation for a future manuscript. As a result, I made solid progress on project after project. I built a respectable portfolio that led to a respectable freelance writing career. Time and opportunities opened up as my kids grew more independent. I wrote books, joined writing communities, worked as an editor, and, as you know, established a coaching business. All of that was possible because I made the most of five minutes here and five minutes there. That approach helped my “writing self” survive those early childrearing years and, in 2014, four years of extreme eldercare chaos. Thankfully, expectations have eased up, and my current life stage permits me blocks of time to write, but you know what? I still try to seize every opportunity. To this day, I write during those tiny moments that free up—it keeps me on track toward achieving my writing goals. If you don't already, I hope you try it yourself next time you feel you have no time to write: Write whenever and wherever you can...for as long as you can. Enough Stolen Sentences and a Book Is Born ​In her book The Right to Write, Julia Cameron says: The ‘if-I-had-time’ lie is a convenient way to ignore the fact that novels require being written and that writing happens a sentence at a time. Sentences can happen in a moment. Enough stolen moments, enough stolen sentences, and a novel is born–without the luxury of time…Yes, it is daunting to think of finding time to write an entire novel,

Nearly everyone who writes personal stories in any form has agonized over how much to share. Will writing about an issue from childhood break Mom's heart? Should I change the name of a high school teacher? The next-door neighbor? The dog? The children? Are the hyacinths blooming by the mailbox worth mentioning? We write. We worry. Is this naval gazing or vulnerability? Will people feel I'm airing the dirty laundry or sharing my own struggles so others might find healing? https://youtu.be/bzd7a8J4UXc Stories Bring YOU into Your Writing But...stories! Goodness, stories set your projects apart from all other essays, articles, and books, because only you had that encounter, that experience, that struggle, that transformation. When you make a claim and support it with your own life story, no one else could have written that piece. Stories create connection between reader and writer. Stories convey universal truths through specific situations. You don't have to share your darkest eras or most embarrassing moments to offer transformative stories to readers. You don't have to bare all to be a generous and effective storyteller. You get to choose what to share with the public on a blog or in an article...and you get to choose what will live only in a journal, shoved under your mattress. Our Three Lives A few years ago, I found a quote from author Gabriel García Márquez, suggesting we have three lives: A Public life A Private life A Secret life A Newsweek article writes: About [Márquez's] own romantic passions, though, the author remained tight-lipped. He told his biographer Gerald Martin "with the expression on his face of an undertaker determinedly closing a coffin lid back down, that 'everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life and a secret life'." When Martin asked if Márquez might give him access into the latter, he replied: "No, never."1 ​Kenneth Samples at Reasons to Believe describes these three lives: A Public Life: This is the side of themselves that people present at work, church, civic arenas, and other public contexts. This is how people are generally seen in their daily life outside the home. A Private Life: This is the side of life that people share with family and close friends. Only a person’s inner circle...gets to see this “version.” A Secret Life: This is the side of life known only to an individual. In can include one’s private thoughts and secret actions. People may be aware of their secret life, but that is not always the case. The reality of the secret life may be unknown even to the individual person himself for all of us have blind spots that stand in the way of true self-realization2 As writers, we are in control. Like Márquez, we get to choose the stories that will be part of the essay, the memoir, the interview—the public self. And we get to choose the stories that will never be told—that will remain part of our secret life. Isn't that freeing? You get to write, and you get to choose. My Stories — Our Stories My primary newsletter is my coaching newsletter. It's how I show up in your inbox to support your writing goals and encourage you on your writing journey. I share as much as possible to help you make progress. You may have noticed I share very few personal stories. I guess I default to keeping a lot of my life out of the public eye. To explore that, I decided to launch a side project on Substack that I'm calling Story Hatchery. The premise? We can outwit AI and learn more about ourselves by capturing and crafting our stories. We need a safe place to do that, a haven for storytelling. That's Story Hatchery. I'll be writing my own stories, using prompts I'll share with you. You'll get a peek at my writing process, including drafts leading up to a final version. I'll pass along storytelling wisdom from people who inspire me.

As writers, we spend countless hours crafting and refining our work to perfection. We labor over word choices, sentence structure, and the perfect flow. Despite our best efforts—even after a pass through Grammarly—typos slip through. We tend to spot them in other people's projects, even if we miss them in our own. How do you react when you spot a typo in someone else's writing? Do you assume they're unprofessional and lose faith in them? Or do you extend grace and understand that mistakes happen? Automatic Unsubscribe One time I spoke with a professional in the creative space who said if she sees a typo, it’s an automatic unsubscribe. "Seriously?” I exclaimed. “You don't even give them three strikes?" "No, that's it. I unsubscribe on the spot." I strive toward excellence and aim for perfect prose, but if I'm in a hurry or make a last-minute change, I miss details. I'm sure you've noticed them in blog posts and emails. "Well,” I told her, “I suppose you aren't on my list, because I send out notes with errors sometimes." She shrugged. That's her rule and she stands by it. Part of me respected the high standard she set. The other part of me craved grace for my shortcomings. Typos Are Human As I said, even the most meticulous writers miss typos from time to time. In my rush to click "publish," I'll skip a step in the writing and editing process. For example, I try to allow time to run my emails and blog posts through Grammarly. Then I look at the clock and realize I'm out of time, and I trust my eye to catch any issues. Sure enough: those are the days a typo slips through. As a writer striving to produce polished writing, I need to establish a process that slows me down long enough to follow through. As a reader spotting typos in other people's work, I hope to offer the same grace I long for from others who spot my mistakes. One of my online friends is a proofreader, and her discerning eye caught errors on my Everything page. Instead of instantly unsubscribing and unfollowing me, she reached out with a gentle tone and kindly listed each one—it was a gift! She understood that typos are human. Better yet, she offered her expertise to make my work stronger. Consider the Context When it comes to typos, context matters. Typos in a casual email or social media post aren't as concerning as typos in a published article or book. And please don't judge my writing ability when we're texting. Between autocorrect and fat fingers, my messages are a mess! One Last Look Writing to family and friends is one thing; writing for the public is another. We can take steps to catch embarrassing blips before they're released to the world wide web. Proofreading is crucial to the writing process and ensures polished work. The first place to notice issues is when you're writing. Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and Google Docs all track grammar and spelling issues with squiggly lines. After revisiting what they've marked and making any changes, you can run your final draft through a program like: Grammarly ProWritingAid Hemingwayapp.com Then read it aloud. Vocalizing each word will catch problems that our mind skips over when reading silently. For high-stakes projects—queries, pitches, book proposals, manuscripts—consider hiring a human editor and proofreader. Practice Gracious Typo Spotting Not every project warrants that much attention. But relying on self-editing means some of our work will miss a letter, word, or phrase. We'll use "it's" where we should have used "its" or "your" instead of "you're." Unless you're asked to edit or proofread someone's work, overlook their misspellings or misplaced modifiers. Feel pleased you recognized the error—after all, it means you're developing an editor's eye and ear. But when we approach typos with grace, we connect with other writers as human beings. Maybe—maybe—if we know the person well,

Years ago, one of my clients updated me on her publishing journey. She turned in her manuscript on deadline, so that was a huge relief. Then her editor asked for one last piece she'd put off. "Ann, it took me two full weeks to track down everything for my endnotes. Two weeks!" This first-time author knew the editor would ask for endnotes, but she had not kept track of them as she wrote. Putting Off the Inevitable When words were flowing—forming chapters, shaping ideas—she didn't want to lose momentum fiddling around with citations. So she decided to focus solely on the writing, trusting those endnotes would be easy to put together later. After all, most of the books she mentioned in her text were stacked next to her, ready to access after submitting her manuscript. She could find the direct quotes online again in a few clicks, right? "Please, Ann," she said, "I'm begging you to tell all your clients to document their sources along the way. Waiting until the end was a nightmare." Save Time & Headaches I've tried to convince the authors I coach to do just that: document all sources along the way. More specifically, I recommend they create a citation at the moment they mention it in their draft. Or at the latest, create it before stepping away from that writing session. You think you'll come back to it the next morning, but it's easy to push it off until later...and later...and later. Then your editor calls and you have to pull them together to submit a few days later. Citations Are a Pain It's a pain to track these bits of information. Author Joanna Russ writes, "I once asked a young dissertation writer whether her suddenly grayed hair was due to ill-health or personal tragedy; she answered It was the footnotes" (Russ, 137). It's tempting for authors to think of citations as a necessary evil, aging us, plaguing us. Citations Are a Gift But in reality they're a gift to our readers. They can dig deeper into the topic we introduce by visiting the websites, books, and podcasts we mention. Citations are also a gift to us. Heaven knows we want to avoid accusations of plagiarism, adhere to copyright laws, and make good faith efforts to track down the origin of a quote or statistic. I'm not a lawyer and can't give legal advice, but giving credit where credit is due is a step in the right direction. A good start is to include attribution for: direct quotes paraphrased quotes summarized ideas & info that aren't common knowledge paraphrased ideas & info that aren't common knowledge any idea, statistic, framework, or content you didn't develop yourself Create citations for any source: physical books, Kindle books, websites, interviews, podcasts, seminars, conferences, and more. In doing so, you demonstrate you're joining—even contributing to—the broader conversation on this topic. Is Blog Post and Social Media Citation Overkill? You may associate footnotes and endnotes with books and scholarly writing, but I hope you'll join me in citing sources in your digital writing, as well: in blog posts, articles—even social media posts. In years past, bloggers have generally taken a simpler approach, relying on linked text to credit sources. This minimized reader disruption and saved time. Parenthetical citation or cumbersome in-text mentions with signal text slow the flow. You can see an example where I wrote "Author Joanna Russ writes..." That phrasing signaled a source. Did it slow you down? Did it bother you? Bloggers have generally viewed that style as clunky. Footnoting blog posts seemed over the top. Vowing to Start Footnoting I myself used to think it was over the top. In the early days of blogging no one else was adding footnotes, so I didn't bother. Until 2012, when I taught high school students a session about plagiarism. The more I prepared for the session, the more I realized I wasn't following citation best practic...

Consider a lowly stick, memorialized by my friend: Little Y StickFragile, knobby crossroads in my fingersBring me eyes to see how God is in my midst.1 ​Jennifer Dukes Lee penned that poem after we chatted about a prompt found in poemcrazy, by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge. Poemcrazy's Prompt In Chapter 31, Susan instructs us to find something in nature that attracts our attention. Maybe the object has a quality that we're attracted to, or maybe it's just speaking to us in some way.2 Jennifer pondered the little Y stick and used Susan's prompt to craft that small poem. I decided to try Susan's prompt myself. Following Susan's instructions, I found objects in the yard that attracted my attention. One was a pinecone. 1. Name it First, we name it. Name it by its actual name, like a pine cone, or make up a name, like "tree cigar." Susan says you could call a mushroom "white sticky," for example, or "plump cloud." Or you could use its actual name, "mushroom."3 2. Describe it Next, describe some of its qualities using descriptive language or by comparing it with something else. 3. "Bring me your..." Finally, you have a line that starts, "Bring me your…" and finish with a quality that this item has.4 As with any creative venture or poem, you get to make it your own. You can leave off the "bring me" part or expand on its name or its description. Here's an example in Susan's book from a seventh grader: Dead rose,crinkly as paper,bring me love.5 This exercise taps attentiveness and imagination to make connections and explore our yearnings. Sample Poems Let's look at Susan's example using a mushroom: Honey mushroomfloating in grass like a plump cloud,bring me your love of dark places.6 After spending time with the object, the final template is: Name (real or made up) "You look like…" (feel free to drop "you look like" and creatively describe it) "Bring me…" or "Bring me your…" Now that you know the template, look at Jennifer's again: Little Y StickFragile, knobby crossroads in my fingersBring me eyes to see how God is in my midst. Let's Try the Prompt In my yard, we have to deal with the seeds of two Sweetgum trees—long-stemmed spiky orbs. Approximately five million of these "Sweetgum balls," as we call them, coat our front yard year round. You could spend hours filling three giant trash bins only to look up and see a thousand more dangling from the branches above, poised to drop during the next thunderstorm that blows through. Despite the trouble they cause me, I spent time with one of them, staying open to what it might offer me: Spiky orb, one of hundreds, maybe thousands,fragile, persistent, overwhelming:bring me your abundance. We also deal with an outrageous number of pinecones that fall from two fir trees. I found a pinecone that was still closed, which happens when it's cold outside. As the temperature heats up, the pinecone opens to release its seeds. Smooth pine cone, waiting to warm, waiting to share yourself—hatches shut tight against the cold,protecting yourself, soon to unlatch—bring me your care and caution,knowing the time to stay guarded and safe,and knowing the time to open oneself,to be fully seen. Try this prompt yourself and share your poem with me. I can't wait to read what you come up with. __________________ Get the direction you need to improve as a writer with The Art & Craft of Writing. In this eight-week intensive, I'll help you elevate your writing skills and create a compelling piece you'll be proud to show an editor or agent. By the end of our time together, you'll have completed a 3,000-word piece, along with multiple short submissions that invite you to experiment and play with new techniques. Learn more! Footnotes: Dukes Lee, Jennifer. Prayer labyrinth story with a Y stick image and poem. Instagram, 17 Mar. 2023. https://www.instagram.

Gain inspiration from the journey of a first-time author who transformed her dream of writing into a reality by taking bold action. Merideth Hite Estevez's success story involved launching a captivating podcast and partnering with a coach (yep, that's me!) to develop a winning strategy. Her talent and tenacity helped her build a robust platform, create a winning book proposal, secure an agent, and land a publishing deal in just a few years. Although she felt like it took an eternity, that's fast. Follow her story and be inspired to pursue your own writing dreams with confidence! Resources Here's the program Merideth mentions in the video (we worked together to complete her proposal and set her up for success): https://annkroeker.com/yourcompellingbookproposal/ Merideth's website: artistsforjoy.org Merideth on Instagram: @artistsforjoy Merideth's free resource, 3 Ways to Love Your Inner Artist Merideth's Creative Clusters using The Artist's Way https://youtu.be/-pe0ds60Ecc Transcript (Transcripts are reviewed and lightly edited.) Ann Kroeker I'm Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach. If you're tuning in for the first time, welcome. If you're a regular, welcome back. I'm sharing my best skills and strategies to help writers improve craft, pursue publishing, and achieve their writing goals. On today's show, you're going to get a glimpse of a first time author's journey from idea to a signed contract with a publisher. Even better, she's a creative coach herself, so it's like you're getting two coaches for one. You're going to love meeting Dr. Merideth Hite Estevez. Merideth Hite Estevez Dr. Merideth Hite Estevez is a spiritual space-maker for artists as an oboist, writer, coach, and educator. Her podcast Artists for Joy was an Award of Excellence Winner in the 2022 Communicator Awards and is in the top 2% of podcasts worldwide. She has served thousands of artists in communal creative recovery with her popular support groups around Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and serves artists of all disciplines through her writings, workshops, and one-to-one coaching services. She holds degrees in oboe from The Juilliard School and Yale University and is a Certified Start with Heart Facilitator through Graydin. As a trained coach, she runs a thriving business helping creatives of all disciplines looking for a more joyful life. Merideth has performed with top orchestras in the US and abroad, including the MET Opera and PhillyPops and is currently the English hornist/Second Oboe of the Chamber Orchestra of NY. She has served on faculties of numerous universities and schools of music, most recently as Associate Professor of Oboe at University of Delaware. When she’s not creating or teaching, you’ll find her attempting to speak foreign languages with a southern accent while traveling with her husband Rev. Edwin Estevez, daughter Eva, and son Eli. Her first book, an inspirational guide to the creative life, is forthcoming in 2024. Merideth, welcome. We're so glad you're here. [00:02:03] - Merideth Hite Estevez Hi, Ann. Thanks for having me. [00:02:04] - Ann Kroeker Now, that's an impressive bio. I'm amazed at all of the things you juggle, and in the middle of it all, you managed to land a contract to write a book. And I would love it if you could give people a simple summary of this crazy journey you've been on. Can you just summarize it? And then we can go into detail of what that looked like. [00:02:26.780] - Merideth Hite Estevez Absolutely. Yeah. It feels like a really, really long journey. Like many of the people listening to this, I have been writing all my life. My mother was my elementary school librarian. And so writing was something that always was around. I took a lot of creative writing classes in college. But as you heard from my bio, I always had a beeline on being a professional oboist. All my concentration and focus was on music.

Today we're exploring a topic that every writer is going to want to tune in and learn about: a trauma-informed approach to writing. To speak to that, I've invited Michelle Stiffler on the show to help us see how trauma-informed writing can transform both us and our words. This is one of the longest interviews I've published, but I believe it's one of the most important. Let's get right to it. Michelle Stiffler Michelle Stiffler is a certified trauma specialist, trauma-informed trainer, and co-host of Arizona’s Trauma-Informed Faith Community podcast. Eight years of nonprofit work shaped her trauma understanding, and during this time she created the trauma-informed culture and processes for Arizona's first trauma-informed faith-based organization. Michelle is a married mother of four, plus two sons in law and a proud Mimi. She's on the board of the Redbud Writers Guild, and her work has been published with Fathom, (in)courage, Guideposts and others, as well as the Women's Devotional Bible in The Message. Michelle writes at OneMoreTruth.com Enjoy the interview in video format, audio, or read a lightly edited transcript below: https://youtu.be/xC1qZEMMbdw Transcript [00:01:17.520] - Ann Kroeker On this topic of trauma-informed writing, and being a trauma-informed writer, should we be offering a trigger warning for anybody who's tuning in? A Safe Conversation [00:01:28.000] - Michelle Stiffler I always like to offer a trigger warning simply because the word trauma itself, even if it's paired with the word informed, sometimes just the word trauma can do something inside our bodies where we kind of tighten. We start to think about what trauma might be. So I would just give that warning so that people can kind of come into this podcast episode comfortably. We're not going to dive into anything deep or heavy. We don't want to burden anybody today, but it just kind of gives you a sense, like, check in with yourself. If you're tight, if you're thinking about things that are uncomfortable, just be free. It's going to be a safe conversation. [00:02:07.050] - Ann Kroeker I love that invitation, your sensitivity and your empathy. Thank you for helping them feel comfortable. I understand that there's this increasing awareness of trauma-informed anything and everything, and at the same time, I'm not that personally informed myself. So I'm probably going to ask you some really basic questions, Michelle. And I'm thinking about my audience, too. There may be people who are deeply involved in this whole movement or idea, but if a writer is hearing about this for the first time, can you define what is trauma-informed writing and what is a trauma-informed writer? Define what is trauma-informed writing and what is a trauma-informed writer [00:02:46.890] - Michelle Stiffler For our purposes today, trauma-informed writing is defining an approach for writing. When I come to my computer or when I come to the page and I intend on making my writing public, I'm coming with the lens that reminds me that trauma is very prevalent and that people broadly have experienced all kinds of adversity. It could be little "t" trauma. It could be big "T" trauma. And I want to come to the keyboard thinking about how I can best serve people if they're going through something hard or if they haven't yet resolved something hard. I don't want to burden anybody with too many details, and I want to be able to provide even just one step further in healing or in some sense of wholeness. That's what trauma-informed writing would be. A trauma-informed writer is basically saying that they live by the principles that the trauma-informed movement has in place. There are six of them. Those principles are: Safety Trustworthiness & transparency Peer support Collaboration & mutuality Empowerment, voice, & choice Cultural, historical & gender issues As a person,

I hosted a virtual Christmas party in my membership program, Your Platform Matters (YPM). At the party I encouraged a writing exercise: Christmas Reflections. I asked these writers to close their eyes and go back in time to a warm and wonderful Christmas memory from their childhood. Rather than trying to capture a big, sprawling scene, I asked them to zero in on a detail. Using the one-inch frame Anne Lamont talks about in Bird by Bird, they narrowed their focus to a detail that they could see, smell, taste, touch, or hear. We captured those multi-sensory, concrete, specific details in words and phrases, dropping them in the Zoom chat. What a quiet, creative gift it was to share those memories with each other, to go back in time, to reflect...to write. After the party sendoff, I assembled the snapshot memories (with their permission) to create a free verse poem: Christmas Reflections Popcorn captured on strings strung on the tree,Mom, sis, and I around kitchen table, molding memories out of salt dough ornaments.Snowed in with guests,ice skating on the road,fluffy snowflakes falling on faces,magic in the night sky. Carols around the old upright piano—the twinkle in his eye bounced off his rosy cheeks as hisfamily sang the familiar tune.Pinecandlelightblack hairsparkling crystal necklacegreen silkreaching and hitting the high notes. Candles glimmered in hands lighting evening darkness.The lonely ceramic clown tucked in the Nativity scene—family humor nestled amidst the holy.I bend pipe cleaner arms around tree branch—the hand-crafted felt mouse smiles back at me.In the midst of the darknesswe sat in the puddle of light from the tree. Wrapping paper rustling in the night.Excited anticipation waiting at the top of the stairs,kitchen breakfast smells wafting up to us:bacon, sausage, cinnamon buns.We tiptoed down the stairs,our slippers silencing our steps.Cookies set out for Santa—only crumbs in the morning.Fireplace crackling—Santa’s in the kitchen!Afraid of men with beards, I was assured thatSanta Claus was gone. Shiny blue bicycle.Silver blue-tinted ball ornament.The young girl looking back at methrough the ornament's reflectionwas full of joyful smiles.Surrounded by the rapidly torn wrapping paper—utter delight.My fingers swiftly undid the twist tiesso I could stroke the loop braidsof my doll come to life from my favorite books. Are we there yet? rang from the backseat.Grandma's house full of warm laughter.Wrapped in blankets on the floorplaying the Authors card gameand Monopoly—the world was clear and bright. Try it! Take a moment to try this yourself. Close your eyes and capture that one-inch square of a warm and wonderful Christmas memory from your childhood. Share it in the comments below. I want to go back in time with you to see, smell, and hear your Christmas reflection. We so enjoyed the magic of creating this in community. I hope you find your writing community, as well. You're always welcome to be part of Your Platform Matters! Merry Christmas from the writers of YPM—and from me! ________________________________

AI writing apps, programs, and tools are all over the news. People are reacting. They’re writing articles and opinion pieces, they're recording podcasts, they're discussing it in Twitter threads. Some say don't worry, AI writing tools can't write like humans. Others claim this is an inkling of what's ahead—they're going to surpass our skills. You'll find articles suggesting we sign up and use the tech as a free writing assistant to help with researching, drafting, and writer's block. Of course there are those imagining worst case scenarios, but it's not all gloom and doom. In fact, for a glimpse of what's possible now, check out my "interview" with an AI writing app that's making the headlines: ChatGPT. The first thing I asked: Why should writers bother with learning the craft of writing when we can now use AI writing apps like ChatGPT? Here's what ChatGPT wrote in response: While AI writing tools like ChatGPT can be helpful for generating ideas or suggesting potential phrasings, they should not be seen as a replacement for learning the craft of writing. AI writing tools are limited by their programming, and they are not able to fully understand or replicate the creativity and nuance of human writing. What do you think? It's pretty good, isn't it? Let's continue. My questions are bold. What should writers do to learn the craft of writing? ChatGPT: There are many ways that writers can learn the craft of writing, including: Reading widely and critically to develop an understanding of different styles and techniques Studying the works of successful and influential writers to learn from their approaches Taking writing classes or workshops to learn from experienced instructors and receive feedback on your work Practicing writing regularly to improve your skills and develop your voice Seeking out and implementing feedback from others, such as beta readers or writing group members Being open to learning new things and trying out new techniques to find what works best for you. Is it better to write conversationally or to infuse our writing with literary techniques? ChatGPT: It ultimately depends on the context and purpose of the writing. Writing conversationally can be effective for making the text more relatable and engaging for the reader, while incorporating literary techniques can add depth and complexity to the writing. In general, it is important for writers to consider their audience and their goals when deciding how to approach their writing. What kind of audience would prefer a conversational writing style? ChatGPT: A conversational writing style is often preferred by readers who are looking for a more relatable and accessible text. This style can make the writing feel more personal and engaging, and can help to establish a connection with the reader. It is often used in informal writing, such as in blog posts or social media posts, where the goal is to engage the reader and invite them to participate in a conversation. What kind of audience or reader would prefer a literary style of writing? ChatGPT: A literary style of writing is often preferred by readers who are looking for a more complex and sophisticated text. This style typically incorporates literary techniques such as figurative language, symbolism, and other devices to add depth and complexity to the writing. It is often used in formal or academic writing, where the goal is to convey complex ideas or to engage the reader on a deeper level. Name three things a writer can add to her writing that will make it stand out compared to AI-generated text. ChatGPT: Some things that a writer can add to their writing to make it stand out compared to AI-generated text include: A unique and personal voice that reflects the writer's own experiences and perspective Creative and original ideas that go beyond what an AI tool would produce

People wonder about Stephen King’s pencil. Writers (including me) want to know what writing instrument he uses. Why? Maybe we all harbor a secret hope that if we get the same pencil as Stephen King, we'll end up as prolific and successful as Stephen King. Or if we discover what Annie Dillard writes with, we'll produce the same type of literary prose as Annie Dillard. Or if we use the same writing program as, well...fill in whatever writer you admire. If you use the same pencil, pen, writing program, or paper as your favorite writer, do you imagine you're becoming a little bit more like them? Stephen King's Pencil I poked around, and it sounds like King's favorite pencil is the classic Blackwing 602, favored by such luminaries as John Steinbeck, Vladimir Nabokov, and Truman Capote.1 But while researching Stephen King's pencil, I realized I wanted to hear from you—real writers at work. What do real writers use? Through social media, my newsletter, and a coaching call in my writing community, I asked: What's your favorite writing instrument? And you told me. I found out: There's no one perfect pen for all writers. There's no one perfect program for all writers. There's no consensus on the best tool or writing instrument out there for every single writer to use. Everyone's simply using what they love. Your favorite writing instruments People seem evenly split between pens and pencils, and some weren't picky at all. Any old ballpoint pen was fine with them, even the kind they swipe from one of the businesses they frequent. Others were more precise on brand, color, and tip, preferring fine, medium, or thick. Curious to hear what these real writers use to do the work? Your favorite pens Let's dive into the pens. Ballpoint pens are at the top with BIC. Yes, that common brand is a favorite option. They're easily found, they're really cheap, and they come in fun colors. And a lot of people prefer one particular color, like blue, or one particular tip, like fine point. Coming up right after BIC is the PILOT brand. The PILOT Precise V5 seems to be the favorite. Good gel pens are adored by a lot of people (and hated by a few). TUL pens are also coming in hot with a lot of writers who are addicted to them. I also heard from writers who love Paper Mate InkJoy, Sharpies, and Flair pens, as well as a couple of fountain pen users. If you're curious, when I grab a pen, I like the Pentel RSVP pen in black, fine point. They're easily found and affordable, kind of like the classic BIC ballpoint. Your favorite pencils As for pencils, well, again, BIC comes in strong with their mechanical pencils that a lot of people mentioned. Others love mechanical pencils in general and aren't particular about brands. The Blackwing 602 is used by a few people who tracked it down and love it. And a lot of people said they don't have a preference—they'll snatch any pencil within reach and start writing. More specifically, I did hear about Paper Mate's Mirado Black Warrior. A writer heard it recommended by author Daniel Silva and had trouble finding it, but once she did, reported that it's excellent. Someone mentioned they love writing with graphing pencils. What are people writing on? Whether they're using a pen or a pencil, people are writing in all kinds of notebooks, and a few people love the freedom of writing on scrap paper with no lines. Your favorite writing programs Now let's switch to writing programs. Microsoft Word and Scrivener are neck and neck. A lot of writers are using one or the other and sometimes both. After you export a Scrivener document as a Word document—and send it off to your editor—it's much easier to track changes in Word. Google Docs shows up as the next most popular option. A few people use Open Source LibreOffice, and one person mentioned using Final Draft for screenplays.

Bryan Collins relies on a simple system that captures notes and ideas that flow directly into his projects when he sits down to write. His writing routine doesn't take all day yet achieves significant results. Find out how he works and test it out. When you combine that with his simple system for collecting inspiration for all of your writing projects, you'll be on your way to completing a full manuscript. Ready to do the work and write the truth? Learn from Bryan: how to “green-light” yourself how to capture ideas with easy, daily systems the magic of building your body of work in a surprisingly small pocket of time how to find time for writing—even during hectic seasons of life how to regularly review your notes from other sources alongside your own ideas how to break out of writer’s block Meet Bryan Collins Bryan Collins is a USA Today best-selling author whose books include The Power of Creativity, This Is Working, I Can’t Believe I’m A Dad! and a best-selling series of books for writers. He was a journalist and copywriter for years and has contributed to publications like Forbes, Lifehacker and Fast Company. Today he runs his website Become a Writer Today, with the help of a team of writers, attracting several million visitors each year. And he hosts a popular writing podcast by the same name, where he deconstructs the writing processes of New York Times best-selling authors like James Clear and Daniel Pink. Resources: Become a Writer Today, Bryan's website Become a Writer Today, Bryan's podcast I Can't Believe I'm a Dad, Bryan's book (paperback version, Amazon Affiliate link) Bryan's interview with me: Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing with Ann Kroeker Zettelkasten System Day One app ambient noise on noise-canceling headphones (to minimize distractions) brain.fm (for focus and flow) otter.ai, rev.com (for transcription/dictation) Medium Wattpad for fiction Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg (affiliate link for 30th anniversary paperback ed.) Twitter for microblogging Story by Robert McKee (affiliate link to Kindle ebook) Choose Yourself, by James Altucher (affiliate link for Kindle ebook, on sale at the time of publishing this interview; about green-lighting yourself) Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (affiliate link to paperback ed.) Inspiration: singer Nick Cave (here's his interesting website) and author Stephen King Listen to the interview, or read the transcript below. Bryan Collins Interview This is a lightly edited transcript. [00:00:00.190] - Ann Kroeker How would you like to develop a simple writing routine that doesn't take all day to achieve significant results? And what if you could combine that with a simple system for collecting inspiration for all of your writing projects? Today I have Bryan Collins of Become A Writer Today on the show, and he is sharing his one-two punch of a system-routine combo that turns out an impressive body of work. I'm Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach. If you're tuning in for the first time, welcome. If you're a regular, welcome back. I'm sharing my best tips and training skills and strategies to coach writers to improve their craft, pursue publishing, and achieve their writing goals. Bryan Collins is a USA Today best selling author whose books include The Power of Creativity this is Working, I Can't Believe I'm a dad, and a best selling series of books for writers. He was a journalist and copywriter for years and has contributed to publications like Forbes, LifeHacker and Fast Company. Today he runs his website, Become A Writer Today with the help of a team of writers, attracting several million visitors each year by the same name, where he deconstructs the writing processes of New York Times bestselling authors like James Clear and Daniel Pink. Let's hear his practical advice for writers.

With inspiration from Mark McGuinness, you'll integrate poetry into your writing life as a pleasurable practice that elevates your prose. In this interview, Mark describes the vision for his podcast and his own poetic beginnings, and he urges writers (and readers) to simply enjoy poetry. You'll see ways poetry intersects with and impacts prose—you can even play a literary game he describes at the end. Learn from Mark: How a mouthful of air is a perfect image for poetry and podcastsHow can we translate metaphor into our other forms of writing (without being weird)The metaphor that comes to his mind when describing himself and his writingHow poems "mug" Mark and he drops everything to chase them like leprechaunsThe importance of getting input on your work and finding a writing mentorPlus, play his writing game (bring your prose)! Listen to episode 245 and check out excerpts in the transcript below. You’ll be inspired by his warm, encouraging advice. If his subtle persuasion succeeds, you may embrace poetry as the next step in your literary journey. Meet Mark McGuinness Mark McGuinness is a poet based in Bristol, UK. On his poetry podcast A Mouthful of Air he interviews contemporary poets about their writing practice and draws out insights that can help any writer become more creative, expressive and memorable. Mark also takes classic poems apart to show us how they work and what we as writers can learn from the examples of poets including Yeats, Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Chaucer and Edward Lear. Links: Visit amouthfulofair.fmListen to A Mouthful of Air on Apple PodcastsTwitter: @amouthfulofairInstagram: @airpoets https://youtu.be/bu0LwCeNlQw Mark McGuinness Interview This is a lightly edited transcript. [00] - Ann Kroeker With inspiration from my guest Mark McGuinness, you may find yourself integrating poetry into your writing life as both a pleasure and a practice. I'm Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach. If you're tuning in for the first time, welcome. If you're a regular, welcome back. I'm sharing my best tips and training skills and strategies to help writers improve their craft, pursue publishing and achieve their writing goals. Today I have Mark McGuinness on the show, a poet from Bristol, UK. On his poetry podcast, A Mouthful of Air, Mark interviews contemporary poets to discover their writing practice and draws out insights that can help any writer become more creative, expressive and memorable. Mark also takes classic poems apart to show us how they work and what we as writers can learn from the examples of poets like Yates, Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Chaucer and Edward Lear. Listen in on our conversation. [00:54] - Ann Kroeker I am so excited to have Mark McGuinness on the call today on our show and we are going to talk about a lot of different things related to the creative life, the writing life, even the poetry life. Mark, thanks for being on the call. [01:09] - Mark McGuinness Thank you. It's lovely to be here, Ann. [01:12] - Ann Kroeker I am looking forward to learning more about how you approach your own creative life and how you use and enable poetry to be part of what feeds your creative life, how you inspire others with poetry, because that seems to be a big part of your life. Can you tell the listeners and viewers, can you tell us a little bit more about who you are and what you do? [01:37] - Mark McGuinness Sure. I am a poet living in Bristol, in the southwest of England, in the UK. I've been writing poetry quite a while and in my typical group of friends, I'm usually the one who reads poetry. I've always been quite aware that most people don't read poetry most of the time. There are a lot of people who are very literate, very well read, very avid readers, but who will generally read anything but poetry. And to my point of view, it's not that hard. I think a lot of people get put off at school,

Writers working on projects that are destined to be published—to be read—can struggle with nerves. We edit our words before they have a chance to breathe on the page. We hold back our true feelings and opinions. We forget to play with language. Serious Writers Need to Play I tend to encourage my clients to move toward practical goals, to create work that is going to be published. But at the same time, I also encourage writers to play, to get past the gates we put in front of ourselves and try to tap into those first thoughts without fear of being misunderstood. If you're a writer taking yourself a little too seriously, I have just the thing for you today—a writing exercise you can play with in your writing journal, where nobody will see it. The Creative Writing Exercise: A Three-Line Poem This one comes from Imaginative Writing by Janet Burroway. When you're done, you'll end up with a three-line poem (24). Each of the lines has a template you can follow. ➤ Line 1: abstraction + verb + place ➤ Line 2: describe attire ➤ Line 3: summarize an action Here's one of her examples. Hunger yells in the hallway, draped in cymbals; he stomps and shouts, "Hear me now!" Notice how she plays with the template. Line 1: "Hunger" is the abstraction"Yells" is the verb"In the hallway" is the place Line 2: "Draped in cymbals" is her way of describing some attire. Line 3: "He stomps and shouts, 'Hear me now!'" describes action. It's okay if your poems come out a little weird or kooky. That's part of the fun of it. Your Turn: Try It! You're putting together ideas and images and creating something fresh—have fun with it! Don't overthink the noun, the verb, or the action. Simply play. Join Others in The Art & Craft of Writing This offers a taste of some of the exercises we are going to play with in The Art and Craft of Writing. If you're reading this before August 29, 2022, you have a chance to sign up for a fall intensive I'm running: an eight-week program designed to help you get input on your writing while you learn literary techniques and put them into practice. You'll get eyes on your work from peers in the cohort and from me, as well! If you're coming across this information after the fact, go to annkroeker.com/acw, which will take you to the page where you can sign up if it's live or get on the waitlist if it's not. You don't have to wait for that or even be in the program to play with writing. You can start today, with this three-line poem. While you're playing with your own words in your writing notebook, you don't have to share anything with anybody. It's just a chance to warm up—to get the creative juices flowing. Creative Writing with Your Coach That said, maybe it helps to know that this writing coach loves to play with words. Would you like to see what I came up with, just for fun? Here's one: Ideas skid across my path; jaunty in their tilted caps and leprechaun-green suits, they dance a jig, daring me to catch them. Here's another: Time slithers under the bedroom door,its wrinkled skin sloughing offas it scrapes the wood and leaves me behind, guilty of pressing snooze once more. Experiment, Play, and (if you want) Share Your Poem If you end up writing your own three-line poem and like the way it turned out—and you wouldn't mind sharing it publicly—drop it into the comments below. Or you could share it with me privately via email. I'd love to see what you come up with. As writers, we do the work of writing, but by experimenting with a creative writing exercise now and then, we can also play. Footnote: Burroway, Janet. Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft. Pearson, 2015. Page 24.

Literary agent Lucinda Halpern prepares us to navigate the industry and prepare for publishing. With her insights, we'll position our project—and ourselves as authors—to pitch agents and get noticed. After listening to (or reading) what she has to say, you're going to feel more confident than ever as you prepare to pitch.

Have you ever wondered what a writing coach is? As you can imagine, I get asked this a lot. I mean, it is baked into my branding, and I love sharing insights I've gained over my years of coaching. Let's start with the simplest, broadest definition of what a writing coach is and does: A writing coach provides you with input and support designed to close the gap between where you are as a writer and where you want to be. I coauthored the book On Being a Writer with Charity Singleton Craig (2014), and our editor used similar language on the back cover copy of the book and in marketing materials: Let this book act as your personal coach, to explore the writing life you already have and the writing life you wish for, and close the gap between the two.1 That phrasing captures the foundational purpose and core intent of this coaching role in a writer's life, so I adapted it here. And as a writing coach myself for over a decade, I can confirm that this is indeed a high-level description of writing coaching. Differences in Writing Coaches Every coach approaches the work differently based on their experience, background, training, and philosophy. As a result, not every coach will feel like the right fit for you. In fact, you may need one kind of coach at one stage in your writing journey and another kind of coach later. Bottom line: you want to find someone ready to address your current goals and challenges. Writing Coaches Are Not... To begin to understand what a writing coach is and does, let's look at what a writing coach isn't. ➤ Writing coaches are not editors A coach may have been and may still be an editor. They may offer both services and, thus, be both a coach and an editor. They may also offer editorial input within their coaching style. But these are two different services, so writing coaches are not editors while they are coaching. ➤ Writing coaches are not agents A coach may have been and may still be an agent. But these two services must be distinct and separate, since authors never pay for representation. If you find an agent who offers coaching, be sure the service you're paying for is coaching. ➤ Writing coaches are not ghostwriters A coach may have been a ghostwriter and may still offer ghostwriting as a separate service, but a coach's role is not to collaborate or do any of the writing for you. You're the writer! ➤ Writing coaches are not social media managers or designers A coach may have personal experience and success in social media, and offer ideas to increase engagement with followers. They may recommend social media managers and designers. But writers don't hire coaches to set up marketing campaigns or design Instagram images. ➤ Writing coaches are not marketing and promotion specialists, publicists, or launch team organizers A coach may offer marketing, publicity, or launch team services in addition to coaching. Authors who become coaches may pass along insights from their own marketing and publicity experience. But when coaching a client, they are not marketing or publicizing their client’s work or organizing a launch team. ➤ Writing coaches are not mentors My writing mentors—I've had at least five—invested time in me, guiding and steering me through phases in my career, and from those relationships, I know that a coach's advice might feel like the advice you've gotten from a mentor. A coach might even have a mentor. You yourself might have both a mentor and a coach. Despite the similarities, however, a writing coach is not the same as a mentor. ➤ Writing coaches are not teachers A coach may have been—or still be—an English teacher or a professor, and a coach may also, separately, teach through courses, conferences, and workshops. I suppose a coach may informally teach through a one-on-one session. But coaches are different from teachers. Writing Coaches Complement Other Roles

For author Clarissa Moll, hiring a writing coach was like finding her book midwife, and she urges writers to seek that kind of intimate, knowledgeable support and input for their own writing and publishing journey. In this interview, Clarissa shares her approach to writing, platform, and publishing, like: make a list of 10 things whenever you're stuck or developing an ideasay “Yes” before you’re readypitch publications as a core platform-building activityauthentically engage with readers—she's committed to building connections and offering support Listen to episode 242 and check out excerpts below. You'll be inspired by her clear, sensible, inspiring personality and advice. Clarissa Moll is an author and podcaster and the young widow of author Rob Moll. Clarissa's writing has appeared in Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, RELEVANT, Modern Loss, Grief Digest, and more. Her debut book, Beyond the Darkness: A Gentle Guide for Living with Grief and Thriving After Loss is forthcoming from Tyndale (2022). Clarissa co-hosts Christianity Today's "Surprised by Grief" podcast and hosts the weekly hope*writers podcast, The Writerly Life. She lives a joyful life with her four children and rescue pup and proudly calls both New England the Pacific Northwest home. Interview Highlights Enjoy these highlights from Clarissa's interview. Find Your Book Midwife As folks in my life kept saying to me, "You should write a book!" I thought, I don't even know where to start. I mean, I can write a five-paragraph essay. I can write a thesis. But to write 55,000 words? It seemed like an elephant that was too big to swallow. I knew that to do it well, in a way that was sustainable in my own life, I needed to make sure that I was having a meaningful life outside of my writing. And I knew if I wanted to do this again—if I didn't want to end at the finish line so exhausted that I said, "No more. This is it."—I knew I needed some guidance. And so I reached out to you. I gave birth to my four babies with a midwife, and when you're in that delivery room, that baby feels like the only one that's ever been born. And isn't it wonderful to have a midwife stand beside you, who's seen hundreds of delivered, to say, "This is normal. You're doing great!" To be able to offer that encouragement and guidance along the way. And so I found in you my book midwife. You're the person who helped me to make that journey from just a nebulous kind of idea to something that's really concrete. Make a List of 10 Things One of the exercises that I have gone back to time and time again is one that we did together. You encouraged me to write a list of 10 things. And if I struggled with making my list of 10, I had to write another 10. When you're out of ideas, just force yourself to put pen to paper. That's where clarity is born. It's not born in the writer's retreat over a long weekend or at a cabin by the lake. It's born out of those very ordinary, disciplined kind of practices that you taught me. Say "Yes" Before You're Ready Back in my acting days, I had an audition and the acting professor said, "Could you do an Irish accent for this audition?" I said, "Oh, I don't know how to do that. I'm sorry." And nothing ever came of it. A couple of weeks later, he came to me and said, "You know, I wanted to give you that role, but you said you couldn't do it. Next time, say 'I'll learn how.'" That kind of perspective has been really helpful for me, as I have said yes to things that are beyond whatever I have done before. Had I podcasted before? No. But when someone invited me to do the Christianity Today podcast, I said, "I'll learn how. I'll get the equipment. I'll learn how to do the technology. I will do it." Check Your Heart I've been trying to think about what other things I could do that relate to my writing. Should I build in speaking more?

Louis L'Amour is attributed as saying, “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”1 Sounds easy enough, but a lot of times we can’t even find the faucet. Or we find the faucet but fail to turn it on. Either way, we want to write, but no words flow. Is that you? Are you ready to begin writing but you don’t know where to start—you don’t know how to get the words to flow? I’ve got 10 options for you—ten faucets, if you will. I’ll bet one stands out more than the rest. Pick one. Try it. See if it gets those words flowing. 1. Start with a memory Think back to an event that seems small yet feels packed with emotion. You don’t have to fully understand it. Just remember it. Something changed due to that event. The change may have been subtle or seismic, but you emerged from it a different person.  The simple prompt “I remember” can get you started. Use it as a journal entry and see where it takes you, or go ahead and start writing something more substantial. When you remember and recreate these scenes from your past, you’ll learn from them. I experienced this when I wrote a short scene in this style, called One Lone Duck Egg. 2. Start with a photo Photos can whisk us back to another place and time, whether as recently as last week or as long ago as childhood. Pull a photo from your collection of family photos, physical or digital.  Write in response to the scene. Recreate it. Let the memories unfold.  You could be in the photo, or not.  You could write the story behind the moment, or elaborate on a particular person in the scene.  What do you think was happening?  Why were you—or weren’t you—there?  What does this say to you today? Another approach is to combine words with images to create a photo essay.  Back in 2011, I walked around the farm where I grew up and snapped photos. Each time, a fragment of thought came to mind, a flash of a memory.  When I got home, I pieced it together to come up with Dancing in the Loft. 3. Start with art Art ignites imagination. Whether you invent a story behind the piece of art you choose, or you document your response to it, you’ll end up with an interesting project.  One of my creative writing professors in college gave us a similar assignment to write poetry from art. It’s possible she was trying to introduce us to ekphrastic poetry,2 which, according to the Lantern Review Blog,3 is “written in conversation with a work(s) of visual art.”  But she took a less formal approach, asking us to find some art, study it carefully, and write a poem. I used a small, framed print of an Andrew Wyeth painting as inspiration. I studied the boy sitting in the grass and imagined a possible scenario leading up to the moment Wyeth captured. As I was finishing the poem and typing it up, I realized I needed to include information about Wyeth’s work. I turned the frame around and fortunately I found the date and name of the painting. Wyeth named it “Faraway,”4 and I coincidentally called my poem "Runaway.”5 Spend time with the art and see where it leads. 4. Start with an object I once wrote about an old, worn knob that topped the post at the bottom of our stairs.  I loved the worn knob for being worn. All the stain was rubbed off one side of it from the years before we owned the house. Like the previous owners, we swooshed around that newel post, running our palms around the knob every single time we ran up or down the stairs.  When we decided to replace the railing, I begged our carpenter—who is also a friend of ours—to save the knob. He did. And I wrote about it. Another time I wrote about a precious soapstone vase I played with as a child. The consequences of that day of play lasted a long, long time. My friend and coauthor Charity Singleton Craig uses objects (and places) to launch a “chain of remembrance.

I was an English major with a creative writing emphasis. When I looked to my future, I saw myself writing. Over the years I managed to build a writing career, but as an English major, I wasn’t prepared for the business aspects of writing. Invoices, receipts, taxes? That was all foreign to me. Sharing my writing through speaking and social media? That’s not what I imagined when I launched my writing life. I thought I’d be...writing. But I had to understand and embrace the four key roles that lead to a flourishing writing career.  https://youtu.be/A2_iAAQm1Kk This is how I think of them: ✅ Decider ✅ Delegator ✅ Doer ✅ Declarer These four roles in a corporate setting might be something like: ➤ CEO The Decider is like the CEO, the Chief Executive Officer. That’s the top dog, the visionary, the decision-maker. ➤ COO The Delegator could be the COO, the Chief Operations Officer, the person who figures out how to run the business at a practical level. ➤ CWO The Doer could be the CWO, the Chief Writing Officer. This role, the CWO, doesn't exist in the business world, but we're inventing and elevating it for this discussion because it’s the reason our business exists. Like me, you launched this whole thing so you could write. ➤ CMO The Declarer is like the CMO, the Chief Marketing Officer: the person who ensures the message gets out. At any given moment, a flourishing writer may be completing a task that falls under any one of these areas. Some of the tasks and roles don’t seem like the work of a writer, but they all support that core function. When all four areas are addressed, a writer will start to build a profession, a career, and a sustainable writing life. And it starts with the Decider. THE DECIDER, THE CEO The DECIDER—the boss, the CEO—is the person making high-level decisions about your writing career.  You fill this role.  You decide your author brand, your audience, your career path. As the Decider, you determine a trajectory that aligns with your goals and values. You decide if you’re in learning mode and need to gain more skills or more knowledge of the profession.You decide if you’ll focus the next quarter on submitting to literary magazines or developing a book proposal.You decide if you’ll pursue fiction or nonfiction, short-form or long-form.You decide if you’re ready to increase visibility online. When those decisions are grappled with and made, you get to step into a second, practical role—that Delegator, the COO. THE DELEGATOR, THE COO The DELEGATOR-you, this COO, is the administrator, the project manager—the person who figures out who will be responsible for a task or activity.  When you’re the Delegator, you take those decisions and figure out the best way to pull them off.  If you decide, as the CEO, you need to learn, then the COO or this Delegator-you will research books, courses, and conferences and figure out which ones are best. The Delegator looks into social media solutions and determines whether to hire someone to map out a marketing campaign or a designer to create images. Or the Delegator might delegate all this work to herself and take a DIY approach. In this instance, you might set up Canva to create images for all your social media feeds and Stories. As Delegator, you set up calendars with deadlines. You determine practical matters, like apps to use, editors to hire, and ideal systems to set up, so the work gets done effectively and efficiently.  You’re in this role when you’re researching laptops and asking other writers if they use Scrivener. If you set up a project management system in Trello, ClickUp, or Notion, you’re in this operational mode. And as Delegator, you tackle every English major’s nightmare: how to create invoices, save receipts, and report taxes.  This operations role that pulls off the decisions, usually delegating activities, is a practical,

If you're like me, you struggle to carve out time to write...you wish you could uncomplicate life and get more done. Good news! I have business coach and online business manager Kari Roberts on the show to help us think through simple systems that can unlock our writing productivity and creativity. "It's like you're on a treadmill," she says. "You're running in place, but you're not going anywhere. So you're not really getting anything done." Sound familiar? Kari knows our struggles and offers solutions. She says, "You might need to strategize or systematize other things so that you can make the space that you need to do the writing." Kari Roberts is a business coach and online business manager for creative small business owners. She helps them figure out time management and systems that allow them to grow their business while still having enough time and energy for work, business, and home life. Her business advice has been featured on VoyageATL Magazine, The Rising Tide Society, The Speak to Scale Podcast, Creative at Heart Conference and more. Kari is the host of Finding Freedom with Simple Systems Podcast and the creator and host of Overwhelmed to Organized the Summit. When she isn’t being a “serial helper” through one of her businesses she enjoys watching sports with her husband, walking in the park with her 2 dogs, listening to podcasts, sampling tasty bourbons, and catching up on reality TV. Her approach to creating systems? "I like to go in and try to find: What's the simplest way. If we're trying to get X done, what's the simplest way to get to X. It may not be the fancy thing. It may not be with the shiny object. But if we can condense it and make it simple, then that can free up your time and free up your mental space so that you can get other things done." Listen to the interview and you'll learn principles that may transform your approach to writing...and life. Resources: Kari on Instagram Podcast: https://kariandcompany.com/podcast Get your very own copy of Kari's Time-Blocking Schedule: HERE https://youtu.be/xgNp7vmbXpk ANN KROEKER, WRITING COACH Episode 239 Transcript How Simple Systems Can Unlock Your Writing Productivity: Interview with Kari Roberts Ann Kroeker (00:03): It's so hard to find time for writing, isn't it? It's hard to do all the things a writer needs to do these days. If only if only we had a simple system that we could set up to make the rest of our creative life flourish…I have business coach and online business manager Kari Roberts here today to help us think through simple systems we can set up to increase our writing productivity. I'm Ann Kroeker, writing coach. If you're new here, welcome. If you're a regular, welcome back. I'm sharing my best tips and training–skills and strategies—to help you improve your craft, pursue publishing, and achieve your writing goals. Be sure to subscribe for more content. Ann Kroeker (00:44): From time to time I invite guests on. So you can learn from their wisdom, like today's guest, Kari Roberts. Kari is a business coach and an online business manager for creative, small business owners. She helps them figure out time management and systems so that they're freed up to have enough time for work business and home life. Kari is the host of her own podcast, Finding Freedom with Simple Systems. And today she's going to talk about that as it applies to writing productivity. Kari, thank you for being with us today. Kari Roberts (01:13): Thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here. Ann Kroeker (01:16): I am so intrigued by this whole idea that writers who are always pressed for time and always longing for productivity, how simple systems might be the way that they can unlock and unleash that. So first, I read your bio and it tells us quite a bit about you, but I would love you to explain maybe just in simple terms, what you do, how you serve people. Kari Roberts (01:40): Okay.

What if the stories we've been told about success are wrong? What if you could unlock secrets that shave years off your writing journey? In this interview, Ron Friedman demystifies the writing process and introduces a surprising path—a fast track, if you will. He says "it is the path by which so many writers and artists and inventors and entrepreneurs have succeeded." What's the path? Reverse engineering. https://youtu.be/agCtQaSQfXw To reverse engineer, we start with extraordinary projects and work backward to figure out how those writers pulled it off. "By comparing the ordinary against the extraordinary," Ron says, "we can't help but identify the elements that make extraordinary work succeed, and thereby improve our skills." With this book Decoding Greatness (June 2021), Ron hopes to offer "tools to not just execute at a higher level, but to embrace some of those dreams they've abandoned from their youth." Listen to our conversation for practical insights you can apply right away. When you hear and implement his ideas, your approach to writing will never be the same. You will, after all, learn the secret—the fast track—to writing success! Resources Decoding Greatness website Ron Friedman, PhD's websiteDecoding Greatness on Amazon (affiliate link)Decoding Greatness on BookShop (affiliate link)Learn from the Best: Copywork for GrownupsLearn from the Best: Imitate but Don't PlagiarizeGrow as a Writer: Surround Yourself with ExcellenceWhen You're Not the Writer Your Want to Be ______________________________ Ready to write a book, but you can’t quite articulate your idea? Join the FREE 3-day challenge: Craft Your Book’s Big Idea, and you’ll finally put words to the idea you long to write. In just three days, you’ll nail your book’s big idea (and generate a working title)! Sign up and finally move forward with the message that’s in you…just waiting to come out! Sign up today!

I watched the professor of my advanced poetry class open the lid of a metal box crammed with 3x5 cards. He wiggled out one of the worn cards covered with notes and held it up.  On this card was the title of one of his poems along with the date of the latest version. Below that he had written names of literary magazines where he’d submitted that poem, followed by their response. “One poem per card,” he said. He showed us how he tucked the card behind the month when he was supposed to hear back—a simple system to follow up with every submission.  He passed one of the cards around the room. I held it in my hand and studied the notes he’d scrawled on the front and back.  The Box There was no magic to his system. It was not fancy or expensive. Yet, he was a respected, prolific poet on campus for a semester, showing us how it’s done. When the last student finished looking at the sample card and handed it back to him, he slid it back in its spot.  I stared at that box. I was in an advanced poetry class because I’d already had The Moment; that is, I’d already begun to think of myself as a writer. The day of the box was different. After class, I walked straight to the bookstore and bought a pack of 3x5 cards and a maroon plastic box with a hinged lid. Then I headed to my room where I started logging each of my poems on those cards: one card per poem.  The Shift While I’d had The Moment, this was different. I walked into that bookstore because I'd experienced "The Shift." What's "The Shift"? It's when I shifted from viewing the work as an assignment or hobby to something deeper, more serious.  It's when I committed. Like that poet with his metal box packed with poems, I too was committing to the craft and to a lifetime of word-work.  It would still be several years before I made any money as a writer, but I saw myself differently. I was a working poet. And because of this shift and the resulting commitment, I organized myself—however simply and humbly—with the intention of writing and submitting my work to publications. Looking back, that plastic box seems like so much more than a storage container. It held my intentions, my resolution.  I don’t know what it’s like for other writers, but for me, the day I bought that little box was the day my life tilted in a new direction. The Practice The professor gave us vision. We got a glimpse of who or what we could become. He nudged us to take a step forward. And it worked. I was ready to send my work. I was ready to ship. One card per poem.  One piece at a time.  I had to write the poem, record it, track it, and ship it. Seth Godin recently released The Practice: Shipping Creative Work. On the first pages, he explains why he chose those three words in the subtitle. The first word, “shipping,” he says, is “because it doesn’t count if you don’t share it.”1 He included “creative”: “because you're not a cog in the system...you’re a creator.”2 And he added work “because it’s not a hobby. You might not get paid for it, not today, but you approach it as a professional...and the work is why you are here.”3 The Shift led to The Practice. The Shift was my realization that the work was why I was here, a writer.  The Practice was how I would fill that box. Compelled to action, I stepped out and followed through to get in the game and take the hits.  I began the practice of writing, recording, tracking, and shipping the work. The Pro Over time, I saw new possibilities. Next thing you know, I was, in the words of Steven Pressfield, “turning pro.”4 Because The Practice makes The Pro. Jason Pinter, interviewed for the podcast How Writers Write, says: "If you're really going to be serious about writing and you want to either make a career out of it, make a living out of it, or even just make a little bit of money out of it in any sort of way,

About seven years ago, I partnered with Charity Singleton Craig to co-author On Being a Writer. While working on the draft, we often pulled up one of our shared Google Docs to review our drafts and notes in real time. In this way, we wove together our stories and experiences with relative ease. If we had a grade school report card at the end of the project, the teacher would have checked off “Plays nice with others.” Writing is most often a solitary act. But sometimes we get an opportunity to write with others. These occasions may involve brief connections or extended collaboration. Quite often, they're just plain fun. The Energy of the Inklings Have you heard of the Inklings? They met weekly for beer and conversation, according to Diane Glyer in an article at the official C. S. Lewis website. While they didn't officially collaborate, like Charity and I did on our book, their discussions affected the shape and direction of countless projects. Glyer writes in "C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Inklings" that the men would gather, make tea, and begin pulling out drafts of their work. As one person read, "the others would settle down to listen, to encourage, to critique, to correct, to interrupt and argue and advise. They’d continue this way, reading aloud, energetically critiquing, until two or three in the morning.1 Years ago I craved that kind of creative community. I even considered moving to a college town, thinking I'd be more likely to find a gathering like the Inklings there. Find Your Creative Community The good news is that it's easier than ever to find like-minded writers without moving to live near a university. These days, I know writers who meet at cafes (or they did before 2020, and they'll start up again soon, I’m sure) to discuss technique or simply to write on separate projects in the same space. Some chai, a chat, then back to the works in progress. Writers who contribute to anthologies feel part of a project-driven community. Writing retreats are a fun way to power through personal goals with a posse of fellow writers. Churn out a few thousand words, then relax with others who appreciate your creative challenges. Then there are in-person and online communities that write together, like: silent or guided writing sessions via Zoom (in guided sessions, a moderator might offer writing prompts)silent or guided writing rooms on Clubhouse (these exist!)social media writing challenges that use a shared prompt or hashtag Look for existing writing groups where you can jump into a writing challenge and meet new people, broadening your network as you make new friends. Form Your Own Community But don't forget you can create your own little gathering. Do you know another writer? Someone with similar goals? Ask if they'd be a writing buddy. The two of you can text each other each day when you complete your daily word count goal. Treat it like a short-term experiment at first, to test the waters. You never know? Perhaps you'll find another word nerd who sends you grammar memes and Hemingway quotes. Generate Our Own Creative Energy Diane Glyer said the Inklings "generated enormous creative energy."2 I love the sound of that, don't you? We may not find a group as vibrant, educated, or British as the Inklings, but we can form our own gathering. We can generate our own creative energy.  Or we can join an existing community that exudes its own personality and flavor. We may forge lifelong friendships like those men who authored great literary works; but more likely, we'll enjoy something simpler. We'll laugh. We'll have fun. We'll play nice with others. And that's a good place to start, isn't it? Links & Resources See if something below is exactly what you need for your creative journey: Join the hope*writers 7-day Instagram writing challenge (they run this periodically; the next one starts Monday, May 10,

I listened to Allison Fallon's The Power of Writing It Down while jogging through my neighborhood. Those weren't my best runs, because I kept pulling out my phone to thumb-type a great quote before picking up the pace again. And yet they were fantastic runs, because Allison's words inspired me to re-establish a daily journaling practice. On that first outing—with her voice in my ears—I listened through the first chapters and returned refreshed and motivated. Allison's invitation to "unlock your brain and reimagine your life" spurred me to set a timer and launch the first 20-minute personal writing session I'd attempted in a long time. I continued the practice the following days and discovered I was indeed "getting limbic," as Allison calls it—I was slipping past the nagging to-do list items and scheduled tasks to explore feelings, memories, and struggles. Nothing dramatic transpired (yet), but I've found myself diving deeper and opening up on the page, in private, before the day presses in. I'm not new to this practice, but I'd fallen out of the habit. I'm so grateful for Allison's convincing call to return to it and reap the benefits. In this interview, Allison mentions Julia Cameron's Morning Pages, which reminded me of Writing Down the Bones and Natalie Goldberg's explanation of freewriting as a way to get to our "first thoughts." Allison makes a strong case for why and how a private writing practice like that feeds directly into our professional writing, whether through ideas or memories we unearth that can be woven into our work in progress, or through shifts in perspective that add depth and insight to our piece. Will you join me in revisiting this simple but fruitful activity that can enliven and inform your writing pursuits and projects? I predict you'll begin to see how a daily writing practice will truly unlock your creativity. And please enjoy my discussion with Allison Fallon. Allison is an award-winning author, sought-after public speaker, and nationally recognized writing coach. She has worked with thousands of people to realize their writing potential and become published authors. She's host of the podcast Find Your Voice, an excellent resource for writers, and author of The Power of Writing It Down: A Simple Habit to Unlock Your Brain and Reimagine Your Life. https://youtu.be/A_qGKJDhUAk Interview Excerpts On Allison's writing practice: My daily writing practice happens for 30 minutes every morning, and it's me just sitting down and dumping out my first thoughts of the day. The great thing about this is it's a beautiful practice for absolutely anyone whether or not you want to be a published author. It can bring so much value and goodness into your life, regardless of what other kind of writing you do. On mimicry as a way to learn writing: There's something about being able to copy an author that we really admire, appreciate, and adore that helps us get into the groove of finding our own way to say it. On the right to tell your own truth in your own voice: Don't I have the right to share my own unique experience of what it was like to live in that household? Don't I have that right as much as he has that right? That's what it means to find your voice. It’s to be able to stand on both feet, to say, “This is how it was for me.” And even if it was different for you, that doesn't change the fact that this is what was true for me. On how our brain's "catalog" stories and we reinforce those stories through repetition: If you have a detail in your life that seems to repeat itself, it's a hint for you that there's a story there that you've told yourself and it's been cataloged. And that limbic part of your brain is driving the ship in ways. It's not that it's your fault. It's just you're helping co-create that reality over and over again. On falling in love with writing instead of pursuing platform: If I could only give one piece of advice,

[Ep 234] On this episode of the podcast, I hosted two novelists: Shawn Smucker and his wife, Maile Silva, for a literary discussion. Imagine you're at a writing conference and we're on stage to discuss the challenges they face as two writers at different points in the writing journey, living and working and raising a family together. How do they offer support and input? How do they find time to write? What are they proudest of? Shawn and Maile touch on topics like creative legacy, writing rejections, self-publishing versus traditional publishing, and being faithful to the work. Maile Silva and Shawn Smucker (used with permission) Shawn is an award-winning novelist by night and a collaborator and co-writer by day. He has an honors degree in English, and has been making a living as a writer for eleven years. Maile has an honors degree in English, has written three novels, and is currently in the querying process, so if that's where you're at, she knows your pain. She has raised six children in the last 17 years and is beginning to have more time to dedicate to her first love…no, not Shawn. Writing. She has taught writing in different settings, including as a table leader for the Black Barn Online. You might know them from their podcast, The Stories Between Us. At the end of our chat, they’ll be filling you in on their program The Nine Month Novel. It's currently closed to enrollment. In the meantime, learn from all the wonderful things they shared. Here's a sample: Interview Excerpts Shawn, on the writing journey: One thing that I'm always trying to get across to other writers is that it doesn't matter where you're at in the process, there's always something else that you want. If you don't have an agent, you want an agent, and then when you have an agent, you want to get a book deal. Or if you're self publishing, you want to sell more books than you're currently selling. And then once you have books published, you wish you could sell more copies, or what's the next series going to be about, or what's the next book. I think it's good to have goals and it's good to have things that you're shooting for, definitely, but I think one of the most important parts of the writing life is to somehow also enjoy where you're at and to enjoy the writing that you're doing—and for that to be the thing that gets you by. Because if the thing that gets you by is getting to the next level, there are going to be certain levels that you don't hit or certain levels that are really challenging to get to or take a really long time. And those can burn you out if that's your only motivation. So even though Maile and I are at different places in the journey, we're always encouraging each other: Stay focused on the writing. Enjoy the writing. The writing is never going to let you down. There are so many parts of the writing journey that will be disappointing, but the writing is always there for you. It's always there for you to work on. It's always there for you to dig into. Maile, on what she's proudest of: I think what I would be most proud of is the creative legacy that we're leaving for our kids. And by prioritizing creativity in my own life, I see our kids starting to do that. And that just fills me with so much joy to know that they see the value of doing these things not because they're making money, not because they're getting notoriety from it, but because it's a good thing to do—because it's part of who we are. I love that a creative inheritance is being passed down and they're chasing after their creative dreams...And I love that more beauty and art is entering into the world just through our little clan of kids. And I think it's because they see us pursuing it. Maile, on criticism: Because I don't have any published work yet, I don't necessarily get the one stars on Amazon that I have to work through, but you get your fair amount with the responses from agents an...

When you seek traditional publishing for your nonfiction book, you don’t just write the book and send it off. Instead, you craft what’s called a book proposal—an essential business document expected by publishing professionals like agents and editors. With this document, you’re hoping to attract the attention and interest of industry gatekeepers so they’ll partner with you to publish your book. https://youtu.be/OqJNmiicPEQ (Watch, read, or listen—whatever works best!) Before the Book, the Book Proposal If you’re seeking traditional publishing for your nonfiction book, you do eventually have to write an entire manuscript. But before that, you have to land a book deal. To land a book deal, you need to attract agents and publishers to your project with a pitch that convinces them to request your proposal for review. A convincing pitch followed by a polished, professional book proposal will do the work of “selling” your book to these decision-makers. Its job is to convince these agents and publishers you have what they’re looking for. That’s why you craft a compelling proposal. In it, you’ll describe your project, of course. But as you do, your proposal has to pull off three big things. What a Winning Proposal Needs to Convey Let's cover the three things your proposal must convey to attract the attention of industry gatekeepers like agents and Acquisitions Editors (AEs). 1. A Concept That Pops When someone's reviewing a stack of proposals—whether that's a literal stack on their desk or a list of virtual files on a computer—you want yours to stand out. The way to do that is to have a book concept that pops out from all the others. These agents and acquisitions editors are flipping through maybe 20 or more proposals a day. They’ve seen the same types of projects over and over; writers pitch similar topics time after time. But these industry professionals keep reading and reviewing proposals because they're hoping to discover promising new books. They’re on the lookout for an author who brings a fresh angle. Develop a concept that proves you know your audience’s problems, struggles, and issues. In the proposal, show them you have a book that offers a promise—and delivers on that promise.  Demonstrate you’ll contribute something valuable to the broader conversation on this topic. Do all that, and the agent will stop and say, “Wow, this is different—and it looks like it could sell. I’d better dive in and take a closer look.” When you nail your concept and convey it clearly in the proposal, you’re on your way to attracting an agent or editor. But when you land on a concept that pops, it’s not enough. 2. Writing That Sings The second thing this project needs in order to attract decision-makers is captivating, quality writing—writing that sings. The agent or editor reviewing your proposal will hear hints of your writing voice in the various elements of the proposal—but where you'll shine is in the sample chapters. They can tell if you’ve landed on an appropriate voice for the project and its intended readers. They want to see if you know what your reader responds to. After all, the tone and style of writing you’d use for a leadership book for CEOs will differ from the tone and style meant to engage a stay-at-home mom of preschoolers.  You don’t have to write like Annie Dillard to land a book deal, but editors appreciate solid, clear writing appropriate for that project. And be sure your proposal is error-free so decision-makers feel confident you’re a professional writer who handles words well. With a concept that pops and writing that sings, you have two out of three things in place for your proposal. Decision-makers who see that ingenious concept and sense your compelling prose will flip through your proposal, excited to find out something else. They’re hoping you have in place one more major element. 3. Personal Brand & Platform

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to write a book in the year ahead, you’re going to have to do several things. One of those things you’ll have to do is...some math. But don’t worry—I’ve got a calculator! We’ll do the math together to determine the number of words you need to write each day to complete your book in the year ahead. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out that this number is within reach. You can pull this off. You can watch the video, listen with the podcast player above, or read the article. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLvH9fJ7QUo Average Word Count for Trade Nonfiction Books The length of a typical trade nonfiction book can really vary: a memoir or biography can be quite long; a gift book, quite short. If you’re writing a typical trade nonfiction book, it might on average range between 45,000 and 55,000 words. This is arguable. You’ll find plenty of exceptions on either side of that range, and trends shift so that the average changes, but for the sake of this discussion, let’s  split the difference and say we’re talking about a 50,000-word book. Yours might be longer or shorter. Publishers like to think in terms of word counts. After all, there’s a lot of variability in the number of chapters that you might break your content into compared with another author writing on a similar subject: a 20-chapter book and a 12-chapter book could have the exact same word count divided up differently. So let’s just talk about word count. Map Out the Number of Chapters And yet when we think through the number of words we’ll be writing each day, we do need to think about the number of chapters you’re planning. Eventually—obviously—you do have to write the full 50,000 words. But did you know that if you’re seeking traditional publishing of your non-fiction book—that is, you’re going to seek an agent who then will take it to a publisher, or a friend offered to introduce you to her editor...either way— you’re going to have to provide what’s called a book proposal.  In this book proposal you’ll map out your entire book. You have to explain the book’s concept and content, describing what’s going into it. You’ll provide a table of contents that you’ll have to annotate, providing chapter summaries. When you submit the proposal to the agent or provide it by request to an acquisitions editor at a publishing house, you’ll include a few sample chapters as part of the complete proposal. For new writers, I recommend you supply three sample chapters, though an agent may only request one or two. If you write three, you can show these decision-makers and gatekeepers that you can build on your ideas and move this project forward. That’s all you need to write until you get a contract. So at a bare minimum, you’ll write at least three chapters of your book to be able to submit it with the proposal. Pull Out the Calculator Now let’s do the math. Option 1: Write the 50,000-word Draft in 90 Days Let’s say you’re going to self publish this 50,000-word book, and you’d like to have a draft done in 90 days.  50,000 words divided by the 90 days, you’ll end up with 555.555556, so we’re just going to round that up to 556. That means if you write every single day with no breaks at all, you need to write 556 words a day to produce 50,000 words at the end of the 90 days. Option 2: Write the Proposal and Sample Chapters But as I mentioned, if you’re going to go to the traditional publishing route and submit this nonfiction book to agents and acquisitions editors, you’ll need that proposal and the three chapters. To calculate your daily word count, you need to know how many chapters are going to be in your book. Use some of the techniques I explained in “How to Structure Your Nonfiction Book” to develop your project and arrive at the number of chapters that you think will be necessary to convey your book’s idea.

[231] You're tackling a non-fiction book and you're making progress. You're doing research, you're writing, and now you're staring at all those ideas. Your book needs form. It needs organization. It needs...structure. But how do you land on the best structure? How do you create it, craft it, build it? While there's no one standard way to organize your material—there's no one way to structure your nonfiction book—I offer four approaches you can take to determine what will work best for your work in progress. To learn ways to structure your nonfiction book, you can read, watch, or listen. https://youtu.be/5ToyfQds11o Think about how different kinds of bridges are needed for different situations. To land on the best method of bridging a ravine or body of water, an engineer will study the surrounding landscape and obstacles to decide whether a drawbridge, suspension bridge, or arch bridge will work best. Just as an engineer needs to study the situation to address any given crossing and can refer to several core types of bridges, you get to do the same with your book. As you study your material, you get to decide the best way to structure your nonfiction book. Feel free to apply these four approaches to structure your short-form writing, but I'm going to be talking about it as it pertains to a non-fiction book, because a book is more unwieldy and can feel a little overwhelming to organize. Once you get a handle on how to structure your WIP, you can feel more confident moving forward with your draft. If you're feeling overwhelmed by structure, you're in good company. In a Writer's Digest interview, Michael Lewis said this: I agonize over structure. I'm never completely sure I got it right. Whether you sell the reader on turning the page is often driven by the structure. Every time I finish a book, I have this feeling that, Oh, I've done this before. So it's going to be easier next time. And every time it's not easier. Each time is like the first time in some odd way, because it is so different.1 The book you're working on now is different from any other book you've worked on. It's different from Michael Lewis. It's different from mine. You need to discover the best structure for this book. Method 1: Discovery The first way is by discovery. Through the discovery approach, you're going to write your way into it. On her podcast QWERTY, Marion Roach Smith recently interviewed Elizabeth Rosner about her book Survivor Café. Elizabeth Rosner chose different terms and concepts and horrors related to the Holocaust and presented them early on in the book using the alphabet. The alphabet was a way of structuring that content. Rosner said the alphabet was a way to explain, "Here are all the things I'm going to talk about that I don't really know how to talk about. Here are all the words I don't know how to explain." Marion asked how she arrived at this alphabet structure, and here's what Rosner said: I love getting to talk about structure and decisions. And when we talk about them after they’ve been made, it all seems so thoughtful and careful and deliberate and...everything in reality is so messy and chaotic for me, that it’s always amazing to me how neat and coherent it seems afterwards.2 You can see that Rosner sort of stumbled on this approach. It serves as an alternative table of contents for the book, she said, and of course a table of contents reflects the structure of a book. And she came upon by discovery. Discovery Methods: Sticky Notes, Scrivener, Index Cards, Freewriting Authors might use Post-its to organize their notes. Susan Orlean has described an index card method (she uses 5x7 cards) in an interview.3 Others like using Scrivener to organize their research and notes. It doesn't really matter the method; you just need to gradually move toward clarity. When you stay open to possibilities,

You're a writer, so you write. But do you read? Silly question, I know, because of course you read. A better question is how do you read? Do you read like a writer? There are ways writers can read that can be both inspiring and instructive, and that's what we're going to cover today, so you can see how reading, as Stephen King says, can serve as your  "creative center." As we learn to read like a writer, you might be a little afraid I'm going to ruin reading for you—that you'll no longer be able to read for pleasure, but don't worry. You'll still be able to read for fun and distraction. You can listen, read, or watch to learn more. https://youtu.be/cHaeAOVodaQ Read to Collect Ideas for Your Work If you want to read like a writer, you'll benefit from reading with an analytical eye, but before we get into that, the first way to read as a writer is to go ahead and read for inspiration and information, just like you always do.​ You need to understand a topic better, so you research and read about it. You want to expand your knowledge, so you read and take notes. You want to improve yourself, so you grab a book that's going to help you gain a skill or solve a problem. We writers are always collecting ideas and content. All that you read can feed into your writing. In fact, we've done this our entire lives. If not consciously then subconsciously, we've been doing all this collecting. Now I want you to be more intentional about it. Even as you're casually reading the back of a cereal box, a tweet, or a magazine article, start to take notes about where this content came from, who wrote it, and how it impacted you, because this is material that you can use in all of your work. Authors Are Your Teachers Another big way we can read as writers is to start viewing other authors and writers as teachers. They can instruct us. Francine Prose in her book Reading Like a Writer said this: I've heard the way a writer reads described as "reading carnivorously." What I've always assumed that this means is not, as the expression might seem to imply, reading for what can be ingested, stolen or borrowed, but rather for what can be admired, absorbed, and learned. It involves reading for sheer pleasure, but also with an eye and a memory for which author happens to do which thing particularly well. So we read and pay attention to the choices an author makes that results in such engaging work. In literature, especially in poetry courses, we talk about a "close reading," where every idea, every sentence—even every word—is examined. A close reading reveals all: from the highest level of themes, ideas, organization, and structure all the way down to the details of sentences and word choices. We see what works and why it works. And while we do want to look to the best to be able to level up our work, we don't have to always be reading Shakespeare and Dickinson to improve as writers. Our teachers, our model texts, can be from the kinds of writing we want to pursue. We might find a blog post that serves as an excellent example and study the tone and topics that were covered as well as the length and the layout. And we can learn from that. So find your experts, your teachers, your models, your mentors...wherever they may be. Read Close by Annotating Another way we can read like a writer is to annotate. Mortimer Adler in his book How to Read a Book, written with Charles van Doren, wrote this: Full ownership of a book only comes when you have made it a part of yourself and the best way to make yourself a part of it, which comes to the same thing, is by writing in it. He claims that full ownership of a book happens not when you purchase it. It happens when you interact with it on the page. You annotate, you underline, you write in the margins, and in that way you make it your own. And the book becomes a part of you. But let me tell you something: I grew up in a househ...

You want to start out strong as a writer and succeed at your work. A lot of different strengths are at play to keep us at the keyboard or page, and the good news is—you may already have some of these strengths. If not, you can develop them over time. And some of them may surprise you. Let's look at five strengths you need to succeed as a writer: https://www.youtube.com/embed/1MyUBOrzjwY Today I'm trying something new, sharing this both in audio and video format. Let's hear from you: After you watch or listen, let me know in the comments what you see as your greatest writing strength—and if I've left off a critical writing strength, add to this list! Look, you can subscribe for free coaching!

[Ep 228] You have an idea for your next writing project. That's great! Before you get too far—before you write too much—you need to be sure this idea is going to fly with your audience. You need to validate it so you move forward with a concept that, depending on your purpose, will truly resonate, connect, teach, persuade, inform, or entertain. Let's look at three ways to validate project ideas: Validate “in house”: run it through personal filtersValidate through research: check what exists alreadyValidate through audience: ask, survey, and test the idea Validate “In House” The first method to validate is to run it through personal filters. Ask yourself if it fits with your brand, if it will serve your audience, and if it’s a fresh angle on your primary topics. This may take only a minute or two, but sometimes we rush past it in our excitement over an idea that captivates us. If we skip this step, we may create content that draws an audience uninterested in anything else we write. If I as a writing coach started producing content about style because I'm interested in a trend, I might click publish on an article about fall colors that draws a new audience of women who like to discuss shirts, skirts, and shoes. But if I pause and validate “in house,” asking myself if this is a good fit for my primary purpose and audience, I’ll probably focus my energy elsewhere. After all, I’m creating a place online for men and women looking for support with their writing, so devoting a long post to discussing red pumps and French braids won't reach or retain a wide range of writers. But let’s say it passes this initial “in house” test. You believe your idea will serve your audience well and you haven't explored this topic at length in the past. The next step is to do some research—see what else is out there on this topic.  Validate Through Research The main way to research is, of course, to type keywords, key phrases, key ideas, and key concepts related to your project’s idea into a search engine and see what it pulls up. I suggest you quickly jot down everything you know about this idea before the search. Then you can compare all the articles, videos, podcasts, and memes with your existing knowledge and slant. Don’t be discouraged if you find a ton of material—don’t assume it’s all been said before. In fact, that’s a good sign that people are searching for this kind of content. You'll see how to contribute to the greater conversation. And that’s the key. As you explore what other authors, bloggers, and speakers in your niche have created, you realize how your project will be similar, but different, and broaden or deepen readers' understanding. If need be, return to 6 methods to right-size your next writing project to find a different slant. You can continue to work through those until you land on that distinct spin you can bring to this project. Pro tip: As you’re cruising the internet and clicking through to interesting content, be sure to grab all citation information while you’re there. Because if you decide to quote an expert in the field or to include an excerpt from one of the articles, you want that citation information at your fingertips. Quoting people builds credibility—and so does proper citation. We told our high school debaters it's always good to bring an expert to the podium with you to raise your credibility. I think it’s the same with writers—when we cite other sources, we bring a level of integrity and credibility to our work. Search engines give you a broad look at what’s existing on this topic, but you can conduct a more academic search, as well. Libraries will give you access to journals and publications to find peer-reviewed studies. Also, you’ll be able to search countless newspapers and magazines. Just go online to your library’s portal and find out what’s available to you. I’d like to highlight a few specific websites where you can focus...

[Ep 227] Have you ever written a blog post and found it's growing too big and unwieldy? Or you set out to develop a book only to realize you don't have enough material to fill a 45K- or 50K-word manuscript?  If so, you're struggling with Goldilocks Syndrome: your idea is too big or too small for the project’s purpose and the way it’ll be published or shared with the world. You’re trying to cram everything you know about, say, computers into 800 to 1,000 words. You’ve got the makings of a book when you set out to write a blog post. How do you narrow it to a reasonable length? Or you’re trying to stretch the idea of cooking with crackers into a book-length project, but it’s not enough material. How do you broaden the concept to produce a compelling cookbook? What does it take to land on that just right length for your next writing project?  The 6 Right-Sizing Methods Test these six methods for narrowing—or broadening—your next writing idea and you’ll land on the perfect length, approach, and slant to suit this project’s audience, purpose, and medium. In the process, you’ll gain clarity and solidify your ideas.   The six different methods to right-size your projects are: TimeLocationCategoriesAudienceIssueStructure Let me describe each one, starting with time. When does it mean to right-size your project using time? 1. Time You can use time to focus on decades, a stage of life, or an era. For example, depending on your topic, you might limit your idea to focus only on the 1950s, only early childhood, or only on the Middle Ages.  If you’re writing a memoir, you’ll limit the scope of your book to a specific time in your life in which you experienced struggle and transformation. If you’re writing about plants, you could focus on the planting stage.  If you need to broaden your idea because it’s too narrow, you can simply expand from the 1950s to the first half of the 20th century or from early childhood to Kindergarten through sixth grade. 2. Location Location is another way to land on the right size for your project. You could focus on geography, meaning anything from a continent or country all the way down to a city landmark, neighborhood, or business.  But you could think of location on an object or a space. The gardener may want to write about an area of the garden or the location on a specific plant, such as the roots or petals. If you’re writing about flight, you could focus on small airports in a given state or areas within a specific airport. 3. Categories We can also use categories to think through an idea we find to be too big and broad or too small and narrow. Find some commonalities and group those things that are similar. If you’re the garden blogger, you could focus on one category—vegetables—instead of flowers, trees, or groundcover. Dial down even more by categorizing nightshades or spring vegetables or weeds. The blogger who writes about planes can narrow to categories such as biplanes, jets, or airliners. By focusing on a small category, you easily narrow your idea. And then you can broaden by including multiple categories. 4. Audience First-time authors often want to write a book for everyone in the whole world. That’s not realistic. The first step in right-sizing will be to narrow your audience. For a specific project, you could narrow even further, selecting a sub-group within your target audience. Maybe you write for parents, so to narrow the topic you outline an idea for parents of preschoolers or parents of teens.  So you can use a subgroup of your broader group to narrow. Including more types of people in your audience will broaden the idea and inform how you write it. 5. Issue Many topics have issues baked into them: gun control, parenting philosophies, technology use. Writers may take one side or another on these topics to automatically right-size their idea. Addressing only one issue related to their ide...

[Ep 226] With my Back to Basics series, I'm providing tools you can apply to your next project in hopes it will make the writing process easier and the final product stronger than ever—so you can make an impact. Last time, we started by identifying a project's high-level elements—its Topic, Audience, Purpose, and Medium. After that, you can focus on the message of your project; that is, given your topic, what is this project’s IDEA. What do you write about​? Is it running, longevity, RV travel, cooking on a budget, stamp collecting, or social justice? Maybe you’re known for this topic and it’s your brand identity, or maybe you’ve been assigned this by an editor. Regardless, you start with a topic, but you don’t stop there. You have to hone in on an idea: a narrowed idea suitable for this particular project and this particular audience. Your finalized idea will reflect the slant or angle you’re taking that will provide focus and set your project apart from others tackling the same topic. It’s tempting to latch onto the first idea that pops into our heads—and sometimes those are indeed fresh and full of potential. Most of the time, though, if we want to write something that stands out, we’re better off taking time to send the idea through five phases: GenerateNarrowValidateRevise (adapt, adjust)Confirm or Finalize 1. Generate First, you’ll generate ideas. You’re about to hear lots of tips for generating ideas in this episode, and I’ll include links to a few other articles and resources. You can test them out and find what works best for you.  2. Narrow When you land on some ideas with potential, you’ll narrow them to suit your audience, purpose, and medium. You’ll also find your unique slant. 3. Validate When it seems your idea has potential, you’ll validate the idea, especially if you’re launching a big project like a book. But even when you’re planning an article or blog post, it’s smart to take a few steps to vet the idea, and I’ll explain that in another episode. 4. Revise After that process, you’ll adapt it based on the input you receive during the validation phase, revising and adjusting the idea as needed. 5. Confirm or Finalize The last phase will be to confirm your idea and finalize it so you can dig in and—finally!—write. A five-phase process just to lock in an idea may sound like overkill and it may seem like it’ll take ages, but you’ll breeze through it—especially for short projects. And it’s definitely worth it for longer projects because they’ll come together more efficiently when you walk through these phases. Let’s start with what it takes to generate ideas. Generate Ideas to Find What You Have to Say When we begin our search for writing ideas, we start with ourselves. What are you drawing from to produce your projects? What’s in you? What do you have to say? Generate Ideas by Remembering Our writing usually flows out of the person we are. The ideas we share are ideas inside us, so writing about our past and drawing from memories, we can pull up ideas that formed us, challenged us, confused us. Using those memories as the centerpiece of a project, we can dive in to explore the meaning, the truth, the lies, and the message locked in our past. These ideas flow from the richness of remembering. Generate Ideas by Living We continue to add to our memories by increasing experiences. So another way to generate ideas is by living. The stories we tell, if nonfiction, are experiences we’ve had or observed in others—or heard from others.  And, actually, if we write fiction, the scenes and ideas still flow from what we’ve seen, heard, tasted, smelled...from what we’ve experienced. Even mundane assignments start with our exposure to and understanding of the subject matter. To generate ideas, we have to live. To live well, we can make choices that take us places, switch things up, change our perspective, widen our lens.

[Ep 225] You’re inspired. An idea seizes you and before the energy fizzles, you whip out a laptop, open a new document, and slam out words. Get it down fast—start writing and discover along the way what you want to say. I support this approach! Capture the core idea while your creativity sizzles—before your vision fades! At some point, however, you need to take a minute to be sure you know four key elements of this project or else your final product may miss the mark. For everything we write, we really do need to know: topic audience purpose medium Imagine if today’s article had been titled “Follow These 3 Rules to Organize and Optimize Your RV Kitchen.” You’d wonder if you clicked on the wrong link or cued up the wrong podcast. I do like RV travel and could probably write about it, but because this website provides writing input to readers, an RV article might suit the medium of a podcast that focused on RV owners, but it would not fit the topic, audience, or purpose of a writing coach podcast or website. Understand these fundamental elements of your project, and you’ll save time in the editing stage and ultimately impress publishers and serve readers. You'll build an audience that can tell you are knowledgeable and you understand them. Build This Step into Your Writing Process Experienced writers who publish regularly often work through this instinctively because they’ve written for years about a particular subject matter for an outlet that follows a specific format. These professionals may be able to sit down and tap out an impressive draft that follows style and formatting guidelines, and falls close to the ideal word count. But if you’re… new to writing returning to it after a long break craving a refresher on the basics concerned your work isn’t connecting with readers stepping out to write new subject matter, reach a new audience, or publish in a new media style or outlet …I recommend you build this step into your writing process more intentionally. Consciously, deliberately pause in the early stages of development to think through—even write out—brief descriptions of your project’s topic, audience, purpose, and medium. Know what you’re setting out to accomplish and why. Determine what you’re writing about and who it’s for. Consider where it’ll be published and distributed, because that affects its depth and design, tone and topic, length and layout. Lock this in before you brainstorm, research, outline, or free write and you’ll find the writing, revising, and editing process more efficient and the finished project’s impact more effective. Topic Let’s start with that initial inspiration. That creative spark. That idea. THE TOPIC QUESTION: What’s this project about? Sometimes you’re assigned a topic; other times the idea blooms from within. Either way, you’ll need to confirm the high-level topic and then articulate how this project will narrow and focus on a particular aspect of it. For example, your high-level topic may be vegetable gardening. Are you writing an article for a local garden shop’s newsletter about growing potatoes or how to plant a Three Sisters garden? That’s how you would narrow the high-level topic to be more focused. If you function as your own publisher, your “brand” may cover three or four categories that lead to obvious topic choices that always fit the audience, purpose, and medium. The food blogger writes about the high-level topic of food, but narrows it to a few categories like main dishes, side dishes, slow-cooker instructions. Then, she publishes specific articles and recipes under each of those. So any given project—in this case, it’s probably a blog post—will have a specific topic. And that’s what her project is about: it’s an eggplant recipe or instructions for cooking steel cut oats. You may find it helpful to express the big idea of this project in one-sentence, as you would a thesis. Or maybe writing the headline will help you answer the topic q...