Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

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: Hear how Bryan has "green-lighted" himselfLearn how to capture ideas with Bryan's systemsDiscover the magic of building your body of work in a surprisingly small pocket of timeFind time for writing in your day like Bryan didDevelop a flow for reviewing your own ideas and the notes youTry his advice for breaking 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 websiteBecome a Writer Today, Bryan's podcastI Can't Believe I'm a Dad, Bryan's book (affiliate link to paperback)Bryan's interview with me: Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing with Ann KroekerZettelkasten SystemDay One appambient noise on noise-canceling headphones (to minimize distractions)brain.fm (for focus and flow)otter.ai, rev.com (for transcription/dictation)Medium Wattpad for fictionWriting Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg (affiliate link for 30th anniversary paperback ed.)Twitter for microbloggingStory 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. Ready to do the work and write the truth? [00:01:32.770] - Ann Kroeker Well, we have Bryan Collins on the show today.

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 symbols; 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 symbols" 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. She reveals what literary agents are really looking for when it comes to platform and clears up the concern about how much or how little to share of your book's ideas on social media. And if you're wondering what to really focus on when crafting your book proposal, Lucinda's got insider info to help you make decisions. After listening to (or reading) what she has to say, you're going to feel more confident than ever as you prepare to pitch. Lucinda says publishers are looking for books with "perennial potential": Publishers are trendcasters. They are futurists. They have to think about books from the perspective of what is going to sell when the book publishes in two years and then for five years after that, because they're interested in books that backlist....So writers should be really savvy to what are the sort of trends that are happening in the media or on podcasts or Netflix series. She urges writers to network. See if you can discover the connection you have to someone in the industry. She says, "I always say get that six-degree-of-separation connection to an agent." She continues, "There are so many blind submissions coming at [agents], better to have an 'in'—a step up—if you can." Writers in my platform membership often ask how much they can share about their book idea—how much they can write or teach the topics—without giving too much away, so I asked Lucinda her opinion. You might be surprised (and relieved) by her response: The rule of the day is the more free content, the better. And one of my authors, Paul Jarvis, had a really wonderful way of putting this: Teach everything you know...I believe in that so much. And editors believe in it, too. Because again, if they see that audience clamoring for your ideas...that's a huge draw...It almost doesn't matter that they've seen it before. It's better they've seen it before. When we discussed platform for nonfiction authors, I asked her for that magic number of how many subscribers or followers publishers (and agents) are looking for. She gave us the number, but not before offering an important disclaimer: It differs for category and for the particular author that you are. So someone who's a PhD or a doctor or finance professional or psychologist, there are a number of sort of more private industries where an editor is going to recognize your life has not been tweeting...Whereas if you're a journalist, it's going to be how many bylines have you accumulated and what sort of publications and what is your Twitter following? How many people actually know who you are? I just want you to know if you're a business person and you've run this successful company, maybe again, you're not so active on social media, but you have a YouTube channel that gets views and you also have a massive email list which publishers are more interested in than social media numbers. I'm just giving you a sense of the diversity in the nonfiction sphere alone that we're evaluating platform on. There is no one number. I begged a little for the number. Thankfully, she told us. You want to know the number she's looking for? Listen, watch, or read the transcript below. (That specific answer is around the 17:56 mark.) Lucinda Halpern is the President and Founder of Lucinda Literary, representing authors writing in the categories of business, health, lifestyle, popular science, narrative nonfiction, memoir, and upmarket fiction. She regularly shares publishing insights and motivation for writers here and hosts both live and online programs for aspiring authors here. Ready to get your book noticed? Get Lucinda's essential guide for writers: The 6 Things Every Book Pitch Needs — click here to receive your guide: www.lucindaliterary.

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). 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, and you want to find the right fit for 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 find themselves recommending social media managers and designers—they might suggest how to approach social media to increase engagement with readers. 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. If they're an author themselves, they may have personal experience with their own marketing and publicity to share and connect their client to someone on their team. While they may offer some of those services separately or toss out ideas, when the coach is 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.

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.” She explains in her newsletter "The Wonder Report"...

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 Roberts' websiteKari on InstagramFinding Freedom with Simple Systems PodcastGet your very own copy of Kari's Time-Blocking Schedule: HERESimple Systems Setup course 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, 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 track and 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. I viewed myself as a poet. The day of the box was different. After class, I walked straight to the bookstore, bought a pack of 3x5 cards and a maroon plastic box with a hinged lid, then 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. Tolkein, 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,

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 their challenges of being two married novelists at different points in the writing journey. 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 new program, The Nine Month Novel. I'm thrilled to share it with you and gladly promoting it—in fact, if I were a novelist, I’d already be signed up. You can learn more about The Nine Month Novel at my affiliate link: annkroeker.com/ninemonthnovel. 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...

[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

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. 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 In this proposal, you’re trying to prove that you are the ideal person to write this book.

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.

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.

[230] 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, and you get to decide the best way to structure your nonfiction book. Feel free apply these four approaches to structure to 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 you 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 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 what that 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,

[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 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 you 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 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 what that 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 household where we did not write...

You're a writer. So you write. But do you read? Of course you do, but 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 a 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. Read to Collect Content for Your Work But if you want to read like a writer, you will benefit from reading with an analytical eye. So the first way we're going to read as writers is to go ahead and read for inspiration and information, just like we 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 probably always done this our entire lives. If not consciously, then maybe subconsciously, we've been doing all this collecting. But 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 all now material that you can use in all of your work. Read Authors As Your Teachers There's another big way that we can read as writers and that's to start viewing these authors and these 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 that 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 and 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 looking at Shakespeare and Dickinson to be able 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 is an excellent example, and we can follow that to discover the tone and the topics that were covered and the length and the layout. And we can learn from that, as well. So find your experts, your teachers, your models, 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 household where we did not write in books. It was absolutely forbidden.

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: 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!

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: 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 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 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 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.

[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.

[Ep 224] At the close of a brilliant blue-sky summer-warm April afternoon, a heavy thunderstorm swept across my state, pelting us with hail and hurtling branches across yards. We stared in awe at Zeus-explosive lightning strikes that flashed and boomed, backlighting trees that swayed like storm-tossed ship masts, nearly snapping. After a series of mighty cracks, the power went out and stayed out for eight hours. Cell service, too. During the strangest season of a lifetime, when staying informed and connected relies on a functioning Internet, we were completely cut off from the world for...we didn't know how long. The storm felt even more ominous in total darkness. Wind gusts smacked limbs against the roof in haunting thumps and scrapes, like zombies clawing the shingles. We lit candles and sat in our family room, hoping the sliding glass door wouldn't blow in and spew shards of glass across the room. We settled in but couldn't rest. On high alert, we remained poised to head to the basement if we heard tornado sirens go off. My husband grabbed a headlamp he uses when camping and handed it to my son, who needed to finish studying for a pre-calc test. I remembered some blizzards of my youth, when the power would go out on the farm for a few days—once for an entire week—and we'd use kerosene lamps for light and the wood stove for heat. I'd feel a sense of awe and fear and excitement that, for a stretch of time—and who knew for how long—life suspended in an awkward space of uncertainty where we were forced to rethink the days and invent solutions to complete basic tasks. Eventually the power would return to the farm. We'd flip on lights and the TV. Country roads would be cleared and the school bus would show up at my driveway. Back to normal. I thought of that blizzard while staring out our sliding glass door. After about an hour, the fiercest elements of the storm subsided, though rain continued to pour down, overflowing gutters clogged by debris. In the quiet, dark house, we felt our way along the walls to our bedrooms, listening for each other's voices. My husband set an alarm to wake up every few hours throughout the night to empty the brim-full sump pump, which wasn't able to do its job without electricity. Early the next morning, our power returned. We flipped on lights and reset our clocks and the WiFi router. The sump pump turned on and emptied the tanks. Back to normal. Except...it's not normal. This isn't a blizzard, and the bus didn't show up for students in our neighborhood. My son took his pre-calc test at the kitchen table and uploaded it to a website for his math instructor to grade. Back to our abnormal normal, I guess, or whatever we've created within this shelter-at-home pandemic reality, its own silent storm. I started six or seven different ideas for this post, but they all fell flat; they seemed inappropriate in one way or another. Hopeful, encouraging input seemed like it would make light of readers who are fearful or frustrated. So I held off, wanting to respect that not everyone is ready to map out a social media strategy or draft a short story. Fun ideas celebrating the creativity of quarantined humans across the planet seemed to make light of the intensity and suffering so many are facing. I had collected links to amusing and ambitious projects but stopped, unable to share. I knew friends who were sick or caring for the sick, and it seemed tone deaf to send that out. But the other extreme also seemed like a strange choice; highlighting suffering seemed too heavy and melancholy for readers who might be seeking an emotional escape. Sometimes I want to just laugh a little; sometimes I want to avoid the weight of the news. Suggestions for being productive? That felt, I don't know...exhausting...too hard to attempt or sustain. I watch all these people hopping on Instagram Live offering their recommendations to be a voice of leadership duri...

[Ep 224] At the close of a brilliant blue-sky summer-warm April afternoon, a heavy thunderstorm swept across my state, pelting us with hail and hurtling branches across yards. We stared in awe at Zeus-explosive lightning strikes that flashed and boomed, backlighting trees that swayed like storm-tossed ship masts, nearly snapping. After a series of mighty cracks, the power went out and stayed out for eight hours. Cell service, too. During the strangest season of a lifetime, when staying informed and connected relies on a functioning Internet, we were completely cut off from the world for...we didn’t know how long. The storm felt even more ominous in total darkness. Wind gusts smacked limbs against the roof in haunting thumps and scrapes, like zombies clawing the shingles. We lit candles and sat in our family room, hoping the sliding glass door wouldn’t blow in and spew shards of glass across the room. We settled in but couldn’t rest. On high alert, we remained poised to head to the basement if we heard tornado sirens go off. My husband grabbed a headlamp he uses when camping and handed it to my son, who needed to finish studying for a pre-calc test. I remembered some blizzards of my youth, when the power would go out on the farm for a few days—once for an entire week—and we’d use kerosene lamps for light and the wood stove for heat. I’d feel a sense of awe and fear and excitement that, for a stretch of time—and who knew for how long—life suspended in an awkward space of uncertainty where we were forced to rethink the days and invent solutions to complete basic tasks. Eventually the power would return to the farm. We’d flip on lights and the TV. Country roads would be cleared and the school bus would show up at my driveway. Back to normal. I thought of that blizzard while staring out our sliding glass door. After about an hour, the fiercest elements of the storm subsided, though rain continued to pour down, overflowing gutters clogged by debris. In the quiet, dark house, we felt our way along the walls to our bedrooms, listening for each other’s voices. My husband set an alarm to wake up every few hours throughout the night to empty the brim-full sump pump, which wasn’t able to do its job without electricity. Early the next morning, our power returned. We flipped on lights and reset our clocks and the WiFi router. The sump pump turned on and emptied the tanks. Back to normal. Except...it’s not normal. This isn’t a blizzard, and the bus didn’t show up for students in our neighborhood. My son took his pre-calc test at the kitchen table and uploaded it to a website for his math instructor to grade. Back to our abnormal normal, I guess, or whatever we’ve created within this shelter-at-home pandemic reality, its own silent storm. I started six or seven different ideas for this post, but they all fell flat; they seemed inappropriate in one way or another. Hopeful, encouraging input seemed like it would make light of readers who are fearful or frustrated. So I held off, wanting to respect that not everyone is ready to map out a social media strategy or draft a short story. Fun ideas celebrating the creativity of quarantined humans across the planet seemed to make light of the intensity and suffering so many are facing. I had collected links to amusing and ambitious projects but stopped, unable to share. I knew friends who were sick or caring for the sick, and it seemed tone deaf to send that out. But the other extreme also seemed like a strange choice; highlighting suffering seemed too heavy and melancholy for readers who might be seeking an emotional escape. Sometimes I want to just laugh a little; sometimes I want to avoid the weight of the news. Suggestions for being productive? That felt, I don’t know...exhausting...too hard to attempt or sustain. I watch all these people hopping on Instagram Live offering their recommendations to be a voice of leadership duri...

[Ep 223] As I write this, a pandemic is spreading across the planet. I surely hope you and those you love are spared any sickness during this worldwide crisis. I'm stating this in part to document my day in the midst of these extraordinary circumstances. This is something we can do as writers: Document the days. Keep a Journal If You Can Record your story as it's unfolding; capture and preserve—in real time, in your voice—what will become source material for future historians or for your own memoir. Dr. Shane Landrum wrote, in a series of tweets: Advice from a historian in the Boston area: Start keeping a journal today, ideally a hand written one if that's within your ability. Write about what you're seeing in the news, how yr friends are responding, what is closed in yr neighborhood or city or state or country. Save it...Sometimes you know you're living through an event that will be in the history books very large...personal stories don't make it into the history books unless people are writing them down in the first place. Keep a journal if you can.1 His Twitter thread prompted people to suggest typing up and printing out their observations and others to recommend indelible ink on archival paper. But you can find other, creative ways to document the days. Audio or Video Diaries If you're a writer who is also a first responder, health care worker, or supply chain contributor delivering food and goods to stores—or stocking and supplying the stores—you may not have time to write. On a break, record a one- to three-minute audio or video diary on your phone. Tell us about the fatigue, the tasks, the challenges, the people. Share it, or save it. But document the days. If you're not in some of those critical roles—and I'm sure I missed entire groups of people—you are likely at home tending to your work, perhaps educating your child or overseeing her work. You, too, can use a video or audio diary to document the days. Share Some Now, Save Some for Later Some of it, you'll save for later: for a future project, for family, for historians. Some of it, though, you can share right now, to offer hope and accurately report on your world. Publish on social media, or through your blog, or through a podcast like this. Publish and distribute your most urgent messages however and wherever you can most easily get the word out to the people who need it most. Use Dr. Landrum's hashtag, if you like, to communally chronicle your experiences with others across the globe: #pandemicjournal2 However you choose to document your days, I urge you to do this. Writers Document the Details We are in a unique position, as writers, to know how to weave sensory detail into our observations that will recreate it for readers later; we understand that the story keeps going and if we document it today, we'll grab texture and tension and we can scene-build, and if we don't, we will have forgotten when the world moves on from toilet paper hoarding to new challenges, as it already has. It's easy to forget the messaging and actions of early stages when the next one happens a mere hours later. Our role as writers in these uncertain times is to be among those who capture the stories. Tell Your Story You tell yours from your corner of the world, and I'll tell mine. One day, they'll fit together to help people understand how one thing led to another in the high-level reporting alongside the everyday events: the confusion, the indecision; the toilet paper hoarding and the jokes that ensued; the frantic trips to Walmart and Target and grocery stores, not knowing how to prepare for such a time as this. We've had questions: will we go on lockdown or will life go on as usual? We will be able to share how that changed day by day, moment by moment, question by question. Document the Questions The questions, so many questions… O Me! O Life! Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,

[Ep 223] As I write this, a pandemic is spreading across the planet. I surely hope you and those you love are spared any sickness during this worldwide crisis. I’m stating this in part to document my day in the midst of these extraordinary circumstances. This is something we can do as writers: Document the days. Keep a Journal If You Can Record your story as it’s unfolding; capture and preserve—in real time, in your voice—what will become source material for future historians or for your own memoir. Dr. Shane Landrum wrote, in a series of tweets: Advice from a historian in the Boston area: Start keeping a journal today, ideally a hand written one if that’s within your ability. Write about what you’re seeing in the news, how yr friends are responding, what is closed in yr neighborhood or city or state or country. Save it...Sometimes you know you’re living through an event that will be in the history books very large...personal stories don’t make it into the history books unless people are writing them down in the first place. Keep a journal if you can.1 His Twitter thread prompted people to suggest typing up and printing out their observations and others to recommend indelible ink on archival paper. But you can find other, creative ways to document the days. Audio or Video Diaries If you’re a writer who is also a first responder, health care worker, or supply chain contributor delivering food and goods to stores—or stocking and supplying the stores—you may not have time to write. On a break, record a one- to three-minute audio or video diary on your phone. Tell us about the fatigue, the tasks, the challenges, the people. Share it, or save it. But document the days. If you’re not in some of those critical roles—and I’m sure I missed entire groups of people—you are likely at home tending to your work, perhaps educating your child or overseeing her work. You, too, can use a video or audio diary to document the days. Share Some Now, Save Some for Later Some of it, you’ll save for later: for a future project, for family, for historians. Some of it, though, you can share right now, to offer hope and accurately report on your world. Publish on social media, or through your blog, or through a podcast like this. Publish and distribute your most urgent messages however and wherever you can most easily get the word out to the people who need it most. Use Dr. Landrum’s hashtag, if you like, to communally chronicle your experiences with others across the globe: #pandemicjournal2 However you choose to document your days, I urge you to do this. Writers Document the Details We are in a unique position, as writers, to know how to weave sensory detail into our observations that will recreate it for readers later; we understand that the story keeps going and if we document it today, we’ll grab texture and tension and we can scene-build, and if we don’t, we will have forgotten when the world moves on from toilet paper hoarding to new challenges, as it already has. It’s easy to forget the messaging and actions of early stages when the next one happens a mere hours later. Our role as writers in these uncertain times is to be among those who capture the stories. Tell Your Story You tell yours from your corner of the world, and I’ll tell mine. One day, they’ll fit together to help people understand how one thing led to another in the high-level reporting alongside the everyday events: the confusion, the indecision; the toilet paper hoarding and the jokes that ensued; the frantic trips to Walmart and Target and grocery stores, not knowing how to prepare for such a time as this. We’ve had questions: will we go on lockdown or will life go on as usual? We will be able to share how that changed day by day, moment by moment, question by question. Document the Questions The questions, so many questions… O Me! O Life! Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,

[Ep 222] My most effective year teaching high school composition was the one I began with poetry. From day one, I introduced literary devices through poems, inviting students to spot metaphor and simile, hyperbole and imagery, rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. With a focus on a single poem, we could zero in on just a few observations and they could use those as inspiration, even models, for their assignments. Later, armed with a range of literary tools and techniques, the students confidently integrated those into their prose. Their essays—even their research papers—showed they better understood how to lasso language to express their ideas. What's more, they also readily spotted themes and ideas in the longer works we studied. They had more to say about the pieces we read. It's as if poetry opened their minds to new ways of seeing the world, and in some cases, poets opened their minds to new ways of seeing themselves: students seemed to borrow words and phrases to express feelings and frustrations, disappointments and dreams. Poetry's Profound Truths I believe poetry opened them up to become more thoughtful, creative writers—perhaps even more thoughtful, creative human beings. And I believe it can open us up to become more thoughtful, creative writers and human beings. When The New York Times news desk gathers for their morning meeting, they start by reading a poem. Marc Lacey explains that this new ritual is “aimed at inspiring us and boosting our creativity before we embark on another long day of editing the news.”1 He says this new practice is leaving members more thoughtful, more contemplative. “I can tell by the faraway look in my colleagues' eyes as we hear profound truths communicated sparsely and majestically.”2 His story sent me to a shelf in my living room in search of an anthology I might use to reboot this practice in my own creative life. Yes, despite the fruitful results from that high school composition class—and despite being steeped in poetry back when I served on the editorial team at Tweetspeak Poetry—I have fallen out of the habit of reading a poem each day. Wordsworth's "The Rainbow' I plucked The Oxford Book of English Verse from the shelf, a collection I'd picked up at a used library sale. It flopped open to a Wordsworth poem: The Rainbow My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die ! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.3 A few of Wordsworth's choices are easily spotted in this short poem: the deliberate repetition of “So” in a series of three. Unintentional repetition can distract a reader, but writers who use repetition with intent can assist the reader's understanding. Here, Wordsworth uses it to indicate the beginning, middle, and end of his life: “So was it...So is it...So be it.” Of course, we see rhyming throughout: behold/old, began/man, be/piety. While rhyming is the norm in poetry, it reminds me to listen for and play with its potential in prose; where might I test subtle sounds to add music to my words, even blog posts and podcasts? A poet of the Romantic era, Wordsworth responded to nature as teacher, as guide, as inspiration. He expresses a desire to never lose his childlike sense of wonder. Creativity, Curiosity, Wonder His poem—and his mindset—has potential to awaken our creativity alongside curiosity and wonder. He leaves me hopeful that we need not feel trapped and deadened by disheartening news. Our hearts can still leap. As a wordsmith, editor Marc Lacey knows poetry's potential to inspire our minds to use language in imaginative and inventive ways. But he also seems to grasp the need for us to see the world differently and, perhaps, to believe our hearts can still leap. The Magic of Poetry Morrigan McCarthy, a photo editor and former poetry major,

[Ep 222] My most effective year teaching high school composition was the one I began with poetry. From day one, I introduced literary devices through poems, inviting students to spot metaphor and simile, hyperbole and imagery, rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. With a focus on a single poem, we could zero in on just a few observations and they could use those as inspiration, even models, for their assignments. Later, armed with a range of literary tools and techniques, the students confidently integrated those into their prose. Their essays—even their research papers—showed they better understood how to lasso language to express their ideas. What’s more, they also readily spotted themes and ideas in the longer works we studied. They had more to say about the pieces we read. It’s as if poetry opened their minds to new ways of seeing the world, and in some cases, poets opened their minds to new ways of seeing themselves: students seemed to borrow words and phrases to express feelings and frustrations, disappointments and dreams. Poetry's Profound Truths I believe poetry opened them up to become more thoughtful, creative writers—perhaps even more thoughtful, creative human beings. And I believe it can open us up to become more thoughtful, creative writers and human beings. When The New York Times news desk gathers for their morning meeting, they start by reading a poem. Marc Lacey explains that this new ritual is “aimed at inspiring us and boosting our creativity before we embark on another long day of editing the news.”1 He says this new practice is leaving members more thoughtful, more contemplative. “I can tell by the faraway look in my colleagues’ eyes as we hear profound truths communicated sparsely and majestically.”2 His story sent me to a shelf in my living room in search of an anthology I might use to reboot this practice in my own creative life. Yes, despite the fruitful results from that high school composition class—and despite being steeped in poetry back when I served on the editorial team at Tweetspeak Poetry—I have fallen out of the habit of reading a poem each day. Wordsworth's "The Rainbow' I plucked The Oxford Book of English Verse from the shelf, a collection I’d picked up at a used library sale. It flopped open to a Wordsworth poem: The Rainbow My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die ! The Child is father of the Man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.3 A few of Wordsworth’s choices are easily spotted in this short poem: the deliberate repetition of “So” in a series of three. Unintentional repetition can distract a reader, but writers who use repetition with intent can assist the reader’s understanding. Here, Wordsworth uses it to indicate the beginning, middle, and end of his life: “So was it...So is it...So be it.” Of course, we see rhyming throughout: behold/old, began/man, be/piety. While rhyming is the norm in poetry, it reminds me to listen for and play with its potential in prose; where might I test subtle sounds to add music to my words, even blog posts and podcasts? A poet of the Romantic era, Wordsworth responded to nature as teacher, as guide, as inspiration. He expresses a desire to never lose his childlike sense of wonder. Creativity, Curiosity, Wonder His poem—and his mindset—has potential to awaken our creativity alongside curiosity and wonder. He leaves me hopeful that we need not feel trapped and deadened by disheartening news. Our hearts can still leap. As a wordsmith, editor Marc Lacey knows poetry’s potential to inspire our minds to use language in imaginative and inventive ways. But he also seems to grasp the need for us to see the world differently and, perhaps, to believe our hearts can still leap. The Magic of Poetry Morrigan McCarthy, a photo editor and former poetry major,

[Ep 221] If you're trying to land an agent and eventually a contract with a publisher, you can't get around it: you need to craft a compelling proposal to pitch your nonfiction book. This may be the first time you've heard about this and you're reeling from the thought that you can't just send your manuscript directly to a publisher or agent. I'll fill you in. Let's look at what a book proposal is and why you need one to pursue traditional publishing. A Book Proposal Is a Business Document Simply put: a book proposal is a business document used industry-wide to persuade publishers to partner with you to publish your book. It's a business document, yes. It's a document that industry gatekeepers like agents, editors, and publishers use to discuss your concept, consider your author brand and platform, study your sample chapters, and make their final decision whether or not to partner with you on this project. As you can see, there's a lot riding on this one document. And business documents can feel foreign to creative writers who are unaccustomed to the business world and business documents. That's why it's nice to have some input and guidance. Some people think they can pitch their idea to an agent without a proposal, and they think the agent will love the idea and proceed to sign this writer and work with the writer to craft the proposal. But that's not quite how it works. Because even an agent will expect you to produce for them a proposal that they'll use to decide whether or not to sign you. Let's say you queried an agent or you met an agent, they ask for your proposal, you send it, and they like what they see. They chat with you and decide to offer to represent you. They use the proposal to make their decision whether or not to move forward. At that point, they'll help you refine—and in some cases revise—your original proposal. At the very least, they'll supply you with their agency's template and have you drop your proposal content into their format with the brand at the top. And they'll use that version of the proposal to shop it around. But the process starts with a query or conversation with an agent in hopes that they request your proposal. So you need to craft the best proposal possible for your project even to land an agent and certainly to land a publishing contract. The Proposal Forces Clarity But don't view the book proposal as a burden. And don't be overwhelmed at the thought of writing one. Instead, see it as a chance to gain clarity and build confidence as you craft this document, because the process of developing a book proposal forces you to think through all aspects of your book and yourself as its author. You'll identify your target audience, determine the purpose and scope of this project, and generate a plan for how to help market the book. The book proposal will serve you well. What's in the Proposal Itself The document itself is super basic in the way it looks. I advise clients to keep the design simple, with minimal flourishes and no fancy fonts—in fact, I recommend using universally recognized fonts so the agent or acquisitions editor who opens the file can view it without needing to access a custom font. Inside the document, the proposal covers a variety of elements that provide information about you and the book, like: an overview of the project a marketing plan comps (competitive or comparative titles) a Table of Contents (or TOC) platform stats an annotated Table of Contents (chapter summaries) sample chapters The template I use with clients includes these elements and others that are generally expected no matter who you're querying. I've built it based on my own experience as an author crafting my own proposals, but I've added changes to reflect industry shifts over the years. I adapted and modified my template to help a writer think through all aspects of the book,

[Ep 221] If you’re trying to land an agent and eventually a contract with a publisher, you can’t get around it: you need to craft a compelling proposal to pitch your nonfiction book. This may be the first time you’ve heard about this and you’re reeling from the thought that you can’t just send your manuscript directly to a publisher or agent. I’ll fill you in. Let’s look at what a book proposal is and why you need one to pursue traditional publishing. A Book Proposal Is a Business Document Simply put: a book proposal is a business document used industry-wide to persuade publishers to partner with you to publish your book. It’s a business document, yes. It’s a document that industry gatekeepers like agents, editors, and publishers use to discuss your concept, consider your author brand and platform, study your sample chapters, and make their final decision whether or not to partner with you on this project. As you can see, there’s a lot riding on this one document. And business documents can feel foreign to creative writers who are unaccustomed to the business world and business documents. That’s why it’s nice to have some input and guidance. Some people think they can pitch their idea to an agent without a proposal, and they think the agent will love the idea and proceed to sign this writer and work with the writer to craft the proposal. But that’s not quite how it works. Because even an agent will expect you to produce for them a proposal that they’ll use to decide whether or not to sign you. Let’s say you queried an agent or you met an agent, they ask for your proposal, you send it, and they like what they see. They chat with you and decide to offer to represent you. They use the proposal to make their decision whether or not to move forward. At that point, they’ll help you refine—and in some cases revise—your original proposal. At the very least, they’ll supply you with their agency’s template and have you drop your proposal content into their format with the brand at the top. And they’ll use that version of the proposal to shop it around. But the process starts with a query or conversation with an agent in hopes that they request your proposal. So you need to craft the best proposal possible for your project even to land an agent and certainly to land a publishing contract. The Proposal Forces Clarity But don’t view the book proposal as a burden. And don’t be overwhelmed at the thought of writing one. Instead, see it as a chance to gain clarity and build confidence as you craft this document, because the process of developing a book proposal forces you to think through all aspects of your book and yourself as its author. You’ll identify your target audience, determine the purpose and scope of this project, and generate a plan for how to help market the book. The book proposal will serve you well. What's in the Proposal Itself The document itself is super basic in the way it looks. I advise clients to keep the design simple, with minimal flourishes and no fancy fonts—in fact, I recommend using universally recognized fonts so the agent or acquisitions editor who opens the file can view it without needing to access a custom font. Inside the document, the proposal covers a variety of elements that provide information about you and the book, like: an overview of the project a marketing plan comps (competitive or comparative titles) a Table of Contents (or TOC) platform stats an annotated Table of Contents (chapter summaries) sample chapters The template I use with clients includes these elements and others that are generally expected no matter who you’re querying. I’ve built it based on my own experience as an author crafting my own proposals, but I’ve added changes to reflect industry shifts over the years. I adapted and modified my template to help a writer think through all aspects of the book,

[Ep 220] A writer reached out to me with news that she's writing a nonfiction book and wants to be published. “What's the process?” she asked. I'm happy to explain. I'll cover the main steps to becoming a traditionally published author without going into minute detail. This will give you—and her—a broad overview. Pre-Process Stage: Educate Yourself Before taking the first step toward publishing, start learning everything possible about the industry. Educate yourself. Learn industry terminology, roles, documents, processes, and proposals. Learn about self-publishing, as well, in case that ends up being an even better approach for you and your book. To begin understanding how the publishing world works: Watch conference videos on YouTube Attend writing conferences Read books and articles Listen to relevant podcasts Subscribe to website feeds to study trends and announcements Follow gatekeepers and decision-makers on social media The more you know about the book publishing process, people, jargon, and expectations, the more confident you'll be heading into each conversation at each stage of the journey. As you gain knowledge, you'll discover opportunities, challenges and frustrations, and hopefully you'll make informed decisions about the best publishers, agents, and marketing approaches for you and your project. The Long Road to Publishing Let me warn you, though: publishing is not for the faint of heart. They say from the moment of signing a book contract to the day of the book's release is on average two years. That doesn't include all the steps leading up to the signing of that contract, so it can stretch out even longer. You need patience, vision, grit, perseverance. The act of defining a book concept takes time. To sign with an agent and land a contract can take an even longer time. To then develop the book proposal and eventually write every word of a manuscript will require a tremendous output of time, effort, creativity, and courage. A writer may want to give up at several points. So take it in stages, because getting a book published is a marathon, not a sprint. How to Get a Nonfiction Book Published Now, what are the main steps to traditional publishing? Here's a high-level look at how it works. Step 1: Build a Platform Learn what a platform is (see “Educate Yourself” above) and why it's important. Then learn all the ways you can build one. Begin to step into spaces where you can connect with target readers, bringing them content related to the general topic of your book concept. During this step, readers meet you and connect you to that topic. Along the way, you solidify your author brand and build a platform you can use to encourage, inform, and entertain people. And one day you'll be able to tell them about the book that's in the works. Building a platform takes time—the sooner you begin, the better, because publishers will not consider authors who don't have a platform. Continue to build it as you move into Step 2, so your platform continues to deepen and expand. Bringing a substantial platform to the conversation with a book publisher makes you a more desirable author for them to sign. Step 2: Create a Book Proposal You'll need a book proposal. Publishers use these business documents to decide if they want to partner with the author to publish the proposed book. A typical proposal includes many elements such as your platform stats, the book's table of contents, chapter summaries, and three polished sample chapters. Because the proposal includes platform information, you'll want to tackle Step 1 as soon as possible and continue with those platform-building efforts throughout the process. Publishers want to see that you connect with readers and can get the word out to them. You may want to have the sample chapters edited (or at least proofread) to be sure they go out in the best shape possible when an agent or editor ask...

[Ep 220] A writer reached out to me with news that she's writing a nonfiction book and wants to be published. “What’s the process?” she asked. I'm happy to explain. I'll cover the main steps to becoming a traditionally published author without going into minute detail. This will give you—and her—a broad overview. Pre-Process Stage: Educate Yourself Before taking the first step toward publishing, start learning everything possible about the industry. Educate yourself. Learn industry terminology, roles, documents, processes, and proposals. Learn about self-publishing, as well, in case that ends up being an even better approach for you and your book. To begin understanding how the publishing world works: Watch conference videos on YouTube Attend writing conferences Read books and articles Listen to relevant podcasts Subscribe to website feeds to study trends and announcements Follow gatekeepers and decision-makers on social media The more you know about the book publishing process, people, jargon, and expectations, the more confident you’ll be heading into each conversation at each stage of the journey. As you gain knowledge, you’ll discover opportunities, challenges and frustrations, and hopefully you'll make informed decisions about the best publishers, agents, and marketing approaches for you and your project. The Long Road to Publishing Let me warn you, though: publishing is not for the faint of heart. They say from the moment of signing a book contract to the day of the book’s release is on average two years. That doesn’t include all the steps leading up to the signing of that contract, so it can stretch out even longer. You need patience, vision, grit, perseverance. The act of defining a book concept takes time. To sign with an agent and land a contract can take an even longer time. To then develop the book proposal and eventually write every word of a manuscript will require a tremendous output of time, effort, creativity, and courage. A writer may want to give up at several points. So take it in stages, because getting a book published is a marathon, not a sprint. How to Get a Nonfiction Book Published Now, what are the main steps to traditional publishing? Here’s a high-level look at how it works. Step 1: Build a Platform Learn what a platform is (see “Educate Yourself” above) and why it’s important. Then learn all the ways you can build one. Begin to step into spaces where you can connect with target readers, bringing them content related to the general topic of your book concept. During this step, readers meet you and connect you to that topic. Along the way, you solidify your author brand and build a platform you can use to encourage, inform, and entertain people. And one day you'll be able to tell them about the book that’s in the works. Building a platform takes time—the sooner you begin, the better, because publishers will not consider authors who don't have a platform. Continue to build it as you move into Step 2, so your platform continues to deepen and expand. Bringing a substantial platform to the conversation with a book publisher makes you a more desirable author for them to sign. Step 2: Create a Book Proposal You'll need a book proposal. Publishers use these business documents to decide if they want to partner with the author to publish the proposed book. A typical proposal includes many elements such as your platform stats, the book’s table of contents, chapter summaries, and three polished sample chapters. Because the proposal includes platform information, you’ll want to tackle Step 1 as soon as possible and continue with those platform-building efforts throughout the process. Publishers want to see that you connect with readers and can get the word out to them. You may want to have the sample chapters edited (or at least proofread) to be sure they go out in the best shape possible when an agent or editor ask...

[Ep 219] Whether you're interested in increasing blog readership or building a freelance writing business—and especially if you're pursuing traditional publishing—you'll want to connect with readers. You'll want to reach people who are interested in your stories and ideas and appreciate how you present those ideas as a writer, in your unique style, tone, and personality. That's the basic idea of platform. In fact, I define it like this: platform is all the ways you, as your author brand, reach and retain ideal readers. Platform Size Affects Opportunities Jane Friedman says in her book The Business of Being a Writer: [T]he size of your platform will affect how easy it is for you to earn money or bring opportunities to your door. Editors, businesses, organizations, and other potential benefactors will be more likely to consider you if they've heard of you, seen evidence of your work in the market, or otherwise become familiar with you through online or offline interactions. 1 On a proposal, you list the number of Twitter and Instagram followers you have and the size of the audience at your last speaking engagement. You want those numbers to be substantial, even impressive. The bigger the platform, the better, in terms of being able to bring opportunities to your door. But it's more than numbers; in fact, numbers mean nothing if your readers aren't feeling a sense of kinship with you as a writer or a sense of connection with your prose. So, as you build a platform, remember each number you present to a publisher represents a human being. The metrics you present are people—people interested in what you have to say and how you say it. Building a Far-Reaching Platform Through Social Media Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, your social media presence is not in and of itself your platform. You have a range of options available to reach and retain readers. And yet… And yet social media offers powerful publishing and distribution tools in the palms of our hands—available for free! It levels the playing field, allowing a homeschooling farmer's wife who lives in the middle of nowhere to engage with readers in the same spaces as major book publishers and magazines. With the click of a button, our words can reach the ends of the earth! Isn't that amazing? We can leverage these apps to connect with readers and raise visibility as a writer worldwide, building a meaningful, substantial, far-reaching platform over time. The Best Platform-Building Efforts Call for Real Human Interaction Connecting with readers doesn't require marketing savvy or publicity know-how (though that can help). Many of the most effective platform-building efforts simply call for honest, real human interaction: a pleasant email; an earnest comment responding to someone's article; a card mailed to someone we meet at a conference; a retweet with an encouraging note. Find simple ways to engage with readers, then expand and experiment over time, because, as Jane says: If you're committed to pursuing a career primarily focused on book publication, then you'll be faced with the challenge of staying competitive, current, and discoverable in a shifting digital landscape; of having the right tools to be effective and in touch with your readers; and of developing strong partnerships to help you market and promote your work.2 Community Support There's another opportunity to increase our reach as we build our platform, and that's through online communities. Because so many of these groups and organizations are online, connecting with these readers overlaps with social media efforts. These online communities can look different. Some are paid membership sites and others, loose collections of friends around a theme or activity. Whatever shape or format they take, the healthy outlets serve as an excellent way to connect with writers and readers. These communities offer mutual support and celebration for every new succes...

[Ep 219] Whether you’re interested in increasing blog readership or building a freelance writing business—and especially if you’re pursuing traditional publishing—you’ll want to connect with readers. You’ll want to reach people who are interested in your stories and ideas and appreciate how you present those ideas as a writer, in your unique style, tone, and personality. That’s the basic idea of platform. In fact, I define it like this: platform is all the ways you, as your author brand, reach and retain ideal readers. Platform Size Affects Opportunities Jane Friedman says in her book The Business of Being a Writer: [T]he size of your platform will affect how easy it is for you to earn money or bring opportunities to your door. Editors, businesses, organizations, and other potential benefactors will be more likely to consider you if they've heard of you, seen evidence of your work in the market, or otherwise become familiar with you through online or offline interactions. 1 On a proposal, you list the number of Twitter and Instagram followers you have and the size of the audience at your last speaking engagement. You want those numbers to be substantial, even impressive. The bigger the platform, the better, in terms of being able to bring opportunities to your door. But it’s more than numbers; in fact, numbers mean nothing if your readers aren’t feeling a sense of kinship with you as a writer or a sense of connection with your prose. So, as you build a platform, remember each number you present to a publisher represents a human being. The metrics you present are people—people interested in what you have to say and how you say it. Building a Far-Reaching Platform Through Social Media Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, your social media presence is not in and of itself your platform. You have a range of options available to reach and retain readers. And yet… And yet social media offers powerful publishing and distribution tools in the palms of our hands—available for free! It levels the playing field, allowing a homeschooling farmer’s wife who lives in the middle of nowhere to engage with readers in the same spaces as major book publishers and magazines. With the click of a button, our words can reach the ends of the earth! Isn’t that amazing? We can leverage these apps to connect with readers and raise visibility as a writer worldwide, building a meaningful, substantial, far-reaching platform over time. The Best Platform-Building Efforts Call for Real Human Interaction Connecting with readers doesn’t require marketing savvy or publicity know-how (though that can help). Many of the most effective platform-building efforts simply call for honest, real human interaction: a pleasant email; an earnest comment responding to someone’s article; a card mailed to someone we meet at a conference; a retweet with an encouraging note. Find simple ways to engage with readers, then expand and experiment over time, because, as Jane says: If you’re committed to pursuing a career primarily focused on book publication, then you’ll be faced with the challenge of staying competitive, current, and discoverable in a shifting digital landscape; of having the right tools to be effective and in touch with your readers; and of developing strong partnerships to help you market and promote your work.2 Community Support There’s another opportunity to increase our reach as we build our platform, and that’s through online communities. Because so many of these groups and organizations are online, connecting with these readers overlaps with social media efforts. These online communities can look different. Some are paid membership sites and others, loose collections of friends around a theme or activity. Whatever shape or format they take, the healthy outlets serve as an excellent way to connect with writers and readers. These communities offer mutual support and celebration for every new succes...

[Ep 218] Do we really need to do all the things to be a writer these days? Are all those extra activities and tasks required for a successful career? Do we really need to vlog and launch social media campaigns on five different platforms? Are we required to blog and guest post? And is it true we have to be prepared to step on a stage and speak? Emily Dickinson's Focused Writing Life Why can't we model our writing life after Emily Dickinson, who wrote poetry, including one that begins, "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" She felt free to write in isolation without worrying about all the things. Emily Dickinson never bothered with an Instagram account. Emily Dickinson never vlogged. If Emily Dickinson had pursued all those non-writing tasks, she might not have had enough time to craft her masterpieces. Emily Dickinson focused solely on writing. Why can't we? Of course we can, my friend. Of course we can stay secluded, never leave the house, and focus on writing without messing with other activities. I'll admit, as an introvert, it sounds kind of nice. And to be honest, many days I myself am secluded and never leave the house! But even Emily Dickinson maintained correspondence with friends, family, and publishing professionals. Even in her isolation—even as she penned hundreds of poems—one could say she “networked,” as she connected with people who read and, in some cases, published her work. Some of All the Things If we want to pursue traditional publishing today, if we want to be discovered and read by people, if we want to avoid obscurity and move toward a more professional writing life, well, we'll want to consider pursuing at least some of all the things. Some activities like speaking will take us out of the house, but what's fascinating about the 2020s is we live in a day and age where we can do a lot of the things without even leaving the house: social media updates videos guest posts blogging admin work correspondence We can do a lot of that right where we're sitting. So, yes, we lose writing time to pursue those tasks and activities, but at least they can be done from home. High-Value, Reader-Connecting, Platform-Building Activities We can reach a wide audience if we're willing to experiment, learn new skills, and connect with people using tools and technology that Emily Dickinson could not have fathomed. These efforts position you for a more successful career as people who would never have met you otherwise now recognize you and read your work. Over time, these efforts can lead to decision-makers recognizing you and offering to publish your work. Some of these ideas could be considered platform-building efforts, but they're also simply great ways to connect with readers—which is kind of the same thing, and a healthier way of framing it. High-value, reader-connecting, platform-building activities include: 1. Get a Website Up and Running Every writer needs a home base—a website under your control where you send people. I recommend a self-hosted blog if at all possible, so you have more control and so you can even sell things someday. But self-hosted blogs require you to pay for hosting, so this may not be financially feasible at first. Keep It Simple Whether it's a free or self-hosted website, the look can be super-basic at first—or forever. For inspiration, check out James Clear's website. As of the time of this writing, this New York Times bestselling author has a simple, clean site without any bells or whistles. He doesn't have a logo or even a special font for his name. At jamesclear.com, It's all about the content. Control Information About You Having a website means you have a hub for all your other content and communication. There, you can control at least some of the information about you that exists on the web. So write an “about” page that aligns with your writing and author brand, and you're on your way to being known for whatever it is yo...

[Ep 218] Do we really need to do all the things to be a writer these days? Are all those extra activities and tasks required for a successful career? Do we really need to vlog and launch social media campaigns on five different platforms? Are we required to blog and guest post? And is it true we have to be prepared to step on a stage and speak? Emily Dickinson's Focused Writing Life Why can’t we model our writing life after Emily Dickinson, who wrote poetry, including one that begins, "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" She felt free to write in isolation without worrying about all the things. Emily Dickinson never bothered with an Instagram account. Emily Dickinson never vlogged. If Emily Dickinson had pursued all those non-writing tasks, she might not have had enough time to craft her masterpieces. Emily Dickinson focused solely on writing. Why can’t we? Of course we can, my friend. Of course we can stay secluded, never leave the house, and focus on writing without messing with other activities. I’ll admit, as an introvert, it sounds kind of nice. And to be honest, many days I myself am secluded and never leave the house! But even Emily Dickinson maintained correspondence with friends, family, and publishing professionals. Even in her isolation—even as she penned hundreds of poems—one could say she “networked,” as she connected with people who read and, in some cases, published her work. Some of All the Things If we want to pursue traditional publishing today, if we want to be discovered and read by people, if we want to avoid obscurity and move toward a more professional writing life, well, we'll want to consider pursuing at least some of all the things. Some activities like speaking will take us out of the house, but what’s fascinating about the 2020s is we live in a day and age where we can do a lot of the things without even leaving the house: social media updates videos guest posts blogging admin work correspondence We can do a lot of that right where we’re sitting. So, yes, we lose writing time to pursue those tasks and activities, but at least they can be done from home. High-Value, Reader-Connecting, Platform-Building Activities We can reach a wide audience if we’re willing to experiment, learn new skills, and connect with people using tools and technology that Emily Dickinson could not have fathomed. These efforts position you for a more successful career as people who would never have met you otherwise now recognize you and read your work. Over time, these efforts can lead to decision-makers recognizing you and offering to publish your work. Some of these ideas could be considered platform-building efforts, but they’re also simply great ways to connect with readers—which is kind of the same thing, and a healthier way of framing it. High-value, reader-connecting, platform-building activities include: 1. Get a Website Up and Running Every writer needs a home base—a website under your control where you send people. I recommend a self-hosted blog if at all possible, so you have more control and so you can even sell things someday. But self-hosted blogs require you to pay for hosting, so this may not be financially feasible at first. Keep It Simple Whether it’s a free or self-hosted website, the look can be super-basic at first—or forever. For inspiration, check out James Clear’s website. As of the time of this writing, this New York Times bestselling author has a simple, clean site without any bells or whistles. He doesn’t have a logo or even a special font for his name. At jamesclear.com, It’s all about the content. Control Information About You Having a website means you have a hub for all your other content and communication. There, you can control at least some of the information about you that exists on the web. So write an “about” page that aligns with your writing and author brand, and you’re on your way to being known for whatever it is yo...