Podcasts about writing down the bones

Chapter 1 What's Writing Down the Bones Book by Natalie Goldberg"Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within" is a book written by Natalie Goldberg, originally published in 1986. It is a guide for both aspiring and experienced writers that explores the practice of writing as a spiritual discipline.The book emphasizes the importance of regular and disciplined writing, encouraging writers to create a daily writing practice. It encourages writers to write without judgment, criticism, or concern for grammar and punctuation, aiming to tap into the spontaneous and authentic voice within.Goldberg provides various writing techniques and exercises for writers to explore and develop their creativity. She also shares personal anecdotes and stories from her own writing journey, offering insights and inspiration to writers facing common struggles or doubts."Writing Down the Bones" is considered a classic in the field of creative writing and has been highly influential to many aspiring writers. It has since been reprinted and revised, with additional chapters and exercises added to further guide and inspire writers.Chapter 2 Is Writing Down the Bones Book A Good BookYes, "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg is regarded as a highly influential and valuable book for aspiring writers. It offers insights and practical advice on how to develop a writing practice, overcome creative blocks, and find one's unique voice. Many readers have found it inspiring and transformative in their writing journey. However, opinions on any book can vary depending on individual preferences, so it's recommended to read reviews and excerpts to determine if the book aligns with your interests and writing goals.Chapter 3 Writing Down the Bones Book by Natalie Goldberg Summary"Writing Down the Bones" is a book written by Natalie Goldberg, first published in 1986. It is an influential guide for writers that explores the practice of writing as a means of self-discovery and self-expression. In the book, Goldberg shares her personal experiences and insights gained from years of writing practice and teaching.The central theme of "Writing Down the Bones" is the importance of writing regularly and fearlessly, without judgment or self-censorship. Goldberg encourages writers to embrace the concept of "writing practice," which involves setting a predetermined time and space for writing, regardless of the specific content or outcome. She emphasizes the value of free-writing, stating that the act of putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard is what matters most.Throughout the book, Goldberg provides practical advice and writing exercises to help writers overcome common obstacles and tap into their creativity. She encourages writers to observe the world around them, to be present in the moment, and to engage all of their senses in their writing. She emphasizes the importance of capturing thoughts and ideas as they come, without hesitation or self-doubt.Goldberg also explores the power of language and the importance of writing with honesty and authenticity. She encourages writers to trust their own voices and to write from a place of emotional truth. She advocates for writing as a means of self-discovery and self-expression, and argues that through writing, one can better understand oneself and the world.Throughout the book, Goldberg shares personal anecdotes and stories, illustrating her points and offering inspiration to aspiring writers. She also explores the role of discipline and perseverance in writing, noting that the act of writing itself is a valuable practice, regardless of the outcome. She encourages writers to embrace the process rather than being overly focused on the end result.Overall,...

Have you ever considered joining a creative writing workshop? The North Dakota Council of Teachers of English is hosting an online event that's open to the public. It will feature Natalie Goldberg, whose 1986 book "Writing Down the Bones" sold more than a million copies. We get a preview of the workshop as we visit with Goldberg and Mandan English teacher Candace Brannan. ~~~ The New York Kammermusiker is returning to North Dakota for the group's 16th annual Winds of Change Concert series. We visit with the group's founder and director, North Dakota native Ilonna Pederson.

Happy National Poetry Month! We kick off this episode with Emily reading Lucille Clifton's poem, “Climbing,” and end with an in-depth conversation with poet Shuly Cawood about her poem, “Starter Marriage.” [The full text of Shuly's poem is at the end of this description if you'd like to read it before or while listening to the episode.] Both of us have Writing and Creativity on our minds. Emily started Julia Cameron's THE ARTIST'S WAY, and Chris is listening to WRITING FOR IMPACT by Bill Birchard. And we have some reading/writing synchronicity going on with Natalie Goldberg. Emily is reading & listening to her classic, WRITING DOWN THE BONES, and when visiting McNally Jackson at Rockefeller Center in NYC Chris picked up WRITING DOWN THE BONES DECK. More recently read books include WHY AM I SO ANXIOUS by Tracey Marks, MY DEAREST DARLING by Lisa Franco, BOOKSELLING IN AMERICA AND THE WORLD, ed. by Charles B. Anderson. And thanks to listener Colleen's birthday book club tradition, we revisited a childhood favorite, Judy Blume's ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET. There's another #buddyread on our horizon: TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY IN SEARCH OF AMERICA. We're reading this for the Vintage Book Club which is sponsored by Book Club on the Go and will meet on Thursday, April 20, 1 pm at the Wood Memorial Library and Museum in South Windsor, CT. All are welcome. We had a fantastic biblioadventure together in Boston. After spending the day working in Simmons University's Beatley Library, we visited the amazing independent bookstore, Brookline Booksmith. Emily is going to be moderating two author sessions at the Newburyport Literary Festival, April 28-30: — The Other Family Doctor: A Veterinarian Explores What Animals Can Teach Us about Love, Life, and Mortality by Karen Fine, DVM —Three Roads Back: How Emerson, Thoreau, and William James Responded to the Greatest Losses of Their Lives by Robert D. Richardson with a foreword by Megan Marshall (Emily's conversation will be with Megan). Chris is bummed that she won't be able to attend the Newburyport Literary Festival or either of the two Willa Cather conferences this June. She is, however, planning to attend a series of four virtual events with author Benjamin Taylor that the National Willa Cather Center is offering beginning on April 27th. Taylor's new book, CHASING BRIGHT MEDUSAS: A LIFE OF WILLA CATHER, is to be published in November. Visit the episode show notes for more details and links to the books, places, and events listed above.https://www.bookcougars.com/blog-1/2023/episode179 Happy Reading! Chris & Emily ______ Starter Marriage by Shuly Cawood after Erin Adair-Hodges* First there was the word and the word was trying. Trying the apartment with white walls, popcorn ceilings, footsteps heavy above, thudding over our days. Trying the job I took filing papers into squeaking cabinets, the one you took answering phones for dentists. Trying the brown bag lunches with limp sandwiches and sliced cheese, the softening apple, the room-temperature soda. Consuming it all on church steps, hunched below the overhang as it rained. Trying the cold pool after work with dead insects needing to be netted. Unraveling towels, TJ Maxx suits, the walk back on the no-car driveway. All heat evaporated. Empty stomachs. No one wanted what the other craved. Trying the red Chevrolet with the bad battery, no parking without pay, the bus rides to and from work, your stop, my stop, the sun hitting hard, us squinting at the sky. Your last day, the blue electric toothbrush they gave you as goodbye. Buzzing in your mouth with all those trapped words. Trying the new queen mattress we could not afford but bought anyway. Trying the laundry we toted to the next building, plastic hampers in our arms full of every day's dirt. Coffee but no creamer, bread but no toaster, sugar hardened in the bag. Day-old everything bagels, buy-one, get-one veggie burritos, dollar theater on Sundays. New job but less pay, new boss but no promotion. Saving for tickets for never vacations. Trying the places we gave up for each other: city salted by an ocean, all those fish and ferry rides; town with three stoplights, two policemen, a forest to get lost in. Your dreams, my dreams, weeds by the parking lot. Trying your face a broken banister, my hands an unused map. *The first nine words are borrowed from “Portrait of Mother: 1985” by Erin Adair-Hodges ______

Inspired by last weekend's Silent Retreat with Natalie Goldberg (author of Writing Down the Bones), host NIcole Rivera invites writers to consider the benefits of creating their own silent writing retreat and discusses how this may be accomplished. SUBSCRIBE to Stop Writing Alone  https://stopwritingalone.substack.com/  Join the Stop Writing Alone Network https://stop-writing-alone-network.mn.co Mentioned in this episode: Writing Down the Bones Deck https://bookshop.org/a/10928/9781611809008 Writing Down the Bones book https://bookshop.org/a/10928/9781611803082  StopWritingAlone.Substack.com https://stopwritingalone.substack.com/  STORY HOARDER Substack (The new home for Nicole's writing): https://storyhoarder.substack.com Stop Writing Alone FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone Bookshop https://bookshop.org/shop/Stopwritingalone NV Rivera YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpPlp1EVzQhDFPdGp5w2KoQ?view_as=subscriber Buy Nicole a coffee (AKA support the podcast!) https://ko-fi.com/stopwritingalone   Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself: Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/ Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/ Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/ff8df93e57dc/penpals  Stop Writing Alone Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/stopwritingalone/  Nicole's Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera  The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607    When you find a group of people who lift you up on a daily basis, it is important to share their awesome. Here are links to the women in Nicole's Mastermind group (currently going by the name The Voxer Vixens!). Please support these women who do so much to support Nicole on a daily basis! Kim A. Flodin https://www.kelekilove.com/ Claire Oldham West https://www.claireoldhamwest.com/  Johanna Jaquez-Peralta https://www.instagram.com/latina_livin_keto/ Emma Isaacs https://www.instagram.com/emmaisaacsdesign/ 

Natalie Goldberg is the author of fifteen books, including Writing Down the Bones (Shambhala, 1986), which has sold over one million copies, has been translated into fourteen languages, and started a revolution in the way we practice writing in this country. Topics Discussed In This Episode: Natalie's first book, “Chicken and In Love” (1979) Being afraid of both success and failure before her book, “Writing Down The Bones,” came out in 1986 Having thin values “I shop therefore I am.” - Barbara Kruger Consuming vs. finding meaning Natalie writing two books while undergoing treatment for cancer Accepting suffering Thinking about one's legacy Zen Buddhism “Writing closes the gap between who you think you are and who you are.” - Natalie Goldberg What writing has revealed to Natalie “Make this moment an occasion to live deeply, happily in peace.” - Thich Nhat Hanh Managing discursive thoughts The pros and cons of the advent of the interview The art of haiku writing People Mentioned: Margaret Atwood (Writer) Amy Tan (Writer) Katagiri Roshi (Sōtō Zen Priest and Teacher) Lidia Yuknavitch (Writer) Barbara Kruger (Artist) Joan Didion (Writer) Viktor Frankl (Neurologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher, Writer) Carson McCullers (Writer) Thich Nhat Hanh (Monk) Masaoka Shiki (Poet) Books Mentioned That Natalie Goldberg Wrote: Chicken and In Love Writing Down The Bones Let The Whole Thundering World Come Home The Great Spring The True Secret of Writing Three Simple Lines Books Mentioned: The Year of Magical Thinking (Joan Didion) Man's Search For Meaning (Viktor Frankl) The Ballad of the Sad Café (Carson McCullers) 2030 (Mauro F. Guillén) aristdecoded.com nataliegoldberg.com

In this episode, Jake talks about the process of how you can write a best-selling book in a hour a day. He shares the 2 most important pieces of knowledge that you need before getting started; your INTENTION for writing the book and the motivation for WHY NOW. Once you have the answers to these 2 questions then you are ready to begin the process. Jake Kelfer is a lifestyle entrepreneur, life elevator, and coach to ambitious entrepreneurs and freedom seekers helping people write and launch bestselling books. He is a 3x bestselling author, a high-energy motivational speaker, investor, and the founder of the Professional Basketball Combine which has helped 70+ NBA draft prospects turn their dreams of playing pro basketball into their reality. He and his work have been featured on Forbes, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and many other major media outlets.Follow Jake on InstagramJakes WebsiteFollow Candace on Instagram

Last week Nicole took part in a 24 hour story contest and found that the Writing Practice she has been learning from Natalie Goldberg and Writing Down the Bones helped her reach the deadline. In this episode Nicole shares her writing practice and flash fiction story to show the connection between the two in just one example. Join the Stop Writing Alone Network https://stop-writing-alone-network.mn.co/share/GDoPIh6ZaTGVSTdw?utm_source=manual Mentioned in this episode:   Get Your Copy of WRITING DOWN THE BONES https://bookshop.org/a/10928/9781611803082 Get Your WRITING DOWN THE BONES DECK https://bookshop.org/a/10928/9781611809008  NYC Midnight https://www.nycmidnight.com/ 24 Hour Short Story Contest https://writersweekly.com/writersweekly-coms-24-hour-short-story-contest  STOP WRITING ALONE EMAIL LIST: https://mailchi.mp/9b59bdd0b53a/email-sign-up STORY HOARDER Substack (The new home for Nicole's writing): https://storyhoarder.substack.com Stop Writing Alone FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone Bookshop https://bookshop.org/shop/Stopwritingalone  NV Rivera YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpPlp1EVzQhDFPdGp5w2KoQ?view_as=subscriber  Buy Nicole a coffee (AKA support the podcast!) https://ko-fi.com/stopwritingalone   Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself: Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/ Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/ Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/ff8df93e57dc/penpals  Stop Writing Alone Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/stopwritingalone/  Nicole's Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera  The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607    When you find a group of people who lift you up on a daily basis, it is important to share their awesome. Here are links to the women in Nicole's Mastermind group (currently going by the name The Voxer Vixens!). Please support these women who do so much to support Nicole on a daily basis! Kim A. Flodin https://www.kelekilove.com/  Lisa Murray https://ihavedreamsdammit.com/ Claire Oldham West https://slimmingstories.podbean.com/ Johanna Jaquez-Peralta https://www.instagram.com/latina_livin_keto/ Emma Isaacs https://www.instagram.com/emmaisaacsdesign/ 

During the month of April Nicole Rivera of Stop Writing Alone is enrolled in Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones online course. This week she shares Natalie Goldberg's Writing Practice as she has experienced it so far in week one of the instruction. Join the Stop Writing Alone Network https://stop-writing-alone-network.mn.co/share/GDoPIh6ZaTGVSTdw?utm_source=manual Mentioned in this episode:   Get Your Copy of WRITING DOWN THE BONES https://bookshop.org/a/10928/9781611803082 Get Your WRITING DOWN THE BONES DECK https://bookshop.org/a/10928/9781611809008  STOP WRITING ALONE EMAIL LIST: https://mailchi.mp/9b59bdd0b53a/email-sign-up STORY HOARDER Substack (The new home for Nicole's writing): https://storyhoarder.substack.com Stop Writing Alone FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone Bookshop https://bookshop.org/shop/Stopwritingalone  NV Rivera YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpPlp1EVzQhDFPdGp5w2KoQ?view_as=subscriber  Buy Nicole a coffee (AKA support the podcast!) https://ko-fi.com/stopwritingalone   Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself: Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/ Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/ Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/ff8df93e57dc/penpals  Stop Writing Alone Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/stopwritingalone/  Nicole's Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera  The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607    When you find a group of people who lift you up on a daily basis, it is important to share their awesome. Here are links to the women in Nicole's Mastermind group (currently going by the name The Voxer Vixens!). Please support these women who do so much to support Nicole on a daily basis! Kim A. Flodin https://www.kelekilove.com/  Lisa Murray https://ihavedreamsdammit.com/ Claire Oldham West https://slimmingstories.podbean.com/ Johanna Jaquez-Peralta https://www.instagram.com/latina_livin_keto/ Emma Isaacs https://www.instagram.com/emmaisaacsdesign/ 

In honor of Tamara Woods hosting an AUTHOR PLATFORM WRITER WORKSHOP on her YouTube channel this Saturday, August 14, 2021 at 1PM EST, this week Nicole is flashing back to her interview with the indie author and community leader. Here is the show description:    Tamara Woods is a poet, fiction writer, leader of the #WriteStuff Twitter Chat and Facebook community for writers. She also has a vlog on YouTube devoted to all things writing. Nicole Rivera, host of Stop Writing Alone, talks to Tamara about her writing craft as well as all the ways she's found community, created community and continues to connect with writers both near her home in Hawaii, and around the world.  Sign up to receive Friday Night Writes emails, including the link to the monthly Writing Prompt Party! https://mailchi.mp/cc1507dc3fbd/friday-night-writes   Mentioned in this episode:   Buy Nicole a coffee (AKA support the podcast!) https://ko-fi.com/stopwritingalone  Tamara Woods website (*don't forget! This is where you can sign up for Tamara'a newsletter to get a free copy of her new cozy mystery WIPED OUT!) https://tamarawoodsauthor.com/ Tamara's Twitter handle https://twitter.com/penpaperpad?lang=en Link to the #writestuff conversation on Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23writestuff&src=typd&lang=en #writestuff FB Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/writestuffchat/  Tamara's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCUt-YGmeMSHZfXQQe4XF0g/%20sub_confirmation=1 Nicole's Wattpad page https://www.wattpad.com/user/NicoleRivera319  CampNaNoWriMo https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in  Amazon link for NEWSLETTER NINJA by Tammi Labrecque (the first book covered in Tamara's Writing Workshop on YouTube) https://amzn.to/2TD8IrG Amazon Link for WRITE TO MARKET by Chris Fox (book that will be discussed on the last Saturday of March 2019 in Tamara's Writing Workshop) https://amzn.to/2XJavuS Amazon Link for Tamara's book BLOOD ROSES & HONEYSUCKLES https://amzn.to/2SNgdI4  Amazon Link for Tamara's poetry book THE SHAPING OF AN “ANGRY” BLACK WOMAN  https://amzn.to/2NNw9t5  Amazon Link for ON WRITING by Stephen King https://amzn.to/2EzCzYw Amazon Link for WRITING DOWN THE BONES by Natalie Goldberg https://amzn.to/2XIB2Z9  Amazon Link for BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott https://amzn.to/2VJrifn  Scribbler FB Page https://www.facebook.com/goScribbler/ Scribblers FB Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/ScribblersChat/  Meetup.com (search for Shut & Up Write!) https://www.meetup.com/  NaNoWriMo Monthly Meetup Groups https://www.meetup.com/topics/nanomonthly/  The Numberblocks on YouTube (the brilliant British show Nicole's son is in love with) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlwvN0w4qFSP1FllALB92w  Music for coffee break from freesound by lemoncreme https://freesound.org/people/Lemoncreme/sounds/186942/  https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone Bookshop https://bookshop.org/shop/Stopwritingalone  NV Rivera YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpPlp1EVzQhDFPdGp5w2KoQ?view_as=subscriber  Stay connected to learn about all Stop Writing Alone stuff -- get on Nicole's email list: https://mailchi.mp/ff8df93e57dc/penpals  Buy Nicole a coffee (AKA support the podcast!) https://ko-fi.com/stopwritingalone   Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself: Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/ Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/ Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/ff8df93e57dc/penpals  Stop Writing Alone Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/stopwritingalone/  Nicole's Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera  The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607    When you find a group of people who lift you up on a daily basis, it is important to share their awesome. Here are links to the women in Nicole's Mastermind group (currently going by the name The Voxer Vixens!). Please support these women who do so much to support Nicole on a daily basis! Kim A. Flodin https://www.kelekilove.com/  Lisa Murray https://ihavedreamsdammit.com/ Claire Oldham West https://slimmingstories.podbean.com/ Johanna Jaquez-Peralta https://www.instagram.com/latina_livin_keto/ Emma Isaacs https://www.instagram.com/emmaisaacsdesign/ 

Traci Skuce's taste of publication was while in grade 11. Her teacher chose Traci's well crafted sonnet as an example of great work, and seeing her work up there on the board felt wonderful, and was perhaps the first time Traci enjoyed finding just the right work to express what she was feeling.It was whilst at college she decided she was going to be a writer, but didn't do much about it until she became a mother, and a friend gave her the book Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg.That was Traci Skuce's starting point. She worked her way through the exercise in the book and discovered she had an ‘appetite for the craft' and needed to know more. She signed up to complete an MFA.We discuss how Traci came to short stories, and what it is she loves about them. Ultimately, for her, they contain ‘intense energy and power' in a way that longer novels don't have.Traci's own book of short stories, Hunger Moon, was published in 2020 and she explains how she decided what to include in the collection and what to leave out. She also talks us through how long it can take for her to write one short story, and the many iterations it may have to go through. As an essayist, Traci works with a number of memoir students and we talk about the different ways writers can write about their life's experiences, but without upsetting the people in their lives.She urges you to write from a place of honesty and integrity, and from digging into your own perceptions of life. It's not a place to exact revenge on someone who hurt you.Find the humanity in that person because even those who have committed despicable acts have a past and their own experiences. This is part of the healing process.We go on to talk about an event Traci Skuce is hosting in August 2021 called, Write From The Heart. She shares where the title idea came from and what will be happening over the course of the two-day event. Finally, she tells us about what she's currently writing.Connect with Traci:(20+) Write Your Story Society | FacebookWelcome to the Writing Journey - Traci Skuce - The Writing Journeyhttps://www.traciskuce.com/write-from-the-heart/Judy GardnerAlice MunroJohn GouldThe Bluest Eye – Toni MorrisonWriting Down The Bones – Natalie GoldbergBook Editing Blueprint A Step-By-Step Plan To Making Your Novels Publishable Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/emmadhesi)

In season three, episode eleven of Gotham Writers' Inside Writing, host Josh Sippie conducts a panel discussion with writers Bruce Cherry and Kristin Rockaway. They discuss how to prepare yourself to be a full-time writer (and if you even should), how to find success as a writer with a full-time job, and what obstacles to expect one way or the other. Links from the panelists: Writing Down The Bones, by Natalie Goldberg: https://bookshop.org/books/writing-down-the-bones-freeing-the-writer-within/9781611803082 Kristin Rockaway's website: http://kristinrockaway.com/ Connect on social media! Kristin's Twitter: https://twitter.com/KristinRockaway Gotham's Twitter: https://twitter.com/gothamwriters Josh's Twitter: https://twitter.com/sippenator101

Through writing, we can tell our stories, share our feelings, organize our thoughts, heal our wounds, perceive the present, and appreciate the meaning of life...... Considering the significance of writing, how can ordinary people learn to write? As a best-selling classic guide book to writing for over thirty years, Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, combines writing with Zen practice and shares practical approaches in writing. Since its publication, this book has had a profound impact and has been included in the suggested reading lists at American high schools.

I'm in an 8 week online writing retreat with Natalie Goldberg and it's awesome.⁣ ⁣ I'd love to share what I'm learning with you.⁣ ⁣ Have you read WRITING DOWN THE BONES by Natalie Goldberg? She inspired the connection between my writing practice and sitting meditation.⁣ ⁣ What make a writer? They write, and write, and write, and read literature, and listen to others read their words.⁣ ⁣ Be the verb, not the pronoun! Writer's write.⁣ ⁣ Today's episode will inspire your writing practice.⁣ ⁣ Natalie’s book, ‘Writing Down the Bones,’ was gifted to me in my late twenties. My Aunt wrote a few words in the cover: “Find your passion: enter the flow.”⁣ ⁣ Years later, with a different virus as my intimate teacher (HIV-positive since March 17, 2003)— I know my passion and consistently put myself in the flow one-day-at-a-time.⁣ ⁣ I obsess less over what I’m creating these days, with words, paints, notes, and podcast episodes; and focus on the space that opens within me through the process of creating.⁣ ⁣ Natalie’s words and essence have inspired my path for decades.⁣ ⁣ I’ve read all but two of her 15 books. She connects writing practice to sitting meditation in a brilliant manner.⁣ ⁣ I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to sit and write, and learn and listen, and observe the nature and quality of MIND with my beloved Natalie.

When it comes to decisions brand leaders have to make, choosing the typeface that will live across your website and on all of your products is a pretty big one. Customers are going to see and interact with your copy throughout the life of your brand — and making a change to your design style will cause a ripple effect with lasting impacts.  Monotype is the largest company that is dedicated to typefaces. According to Jonathan Zsittnik, the Vice President of Commerce Channels at Monotype, the company has the world's largest library of typefaces, and thousands of type families, many of which are the backbone of key brands.  On this episode of Up Next in Commerce, Jonathan explains the intricacies that go into running and selling that massive inventory of fonts. Plus, he dives into the importance of choosing and properly licensing a font style and how it can impact a brand. Main Takeaways:   Would You Like To Update? — A brand is a living, breathing thing, and needs to change with the times. But updating a brand’s typeface may require more careful thought and planning than some may anticipate. How do you pick or create a typeface that works for both mobile and desktop, speaks to your brand’s identity, works in multiple languages, and meets different users' needs? Tune in to find out! It All Adds Up —  The Ecommerce experience does not begin and end with a customer putting an item in a cart and then completing a transaction. That experience needs to carry on after the purchase has occurred, because in order to turn a one-time purchase into a repeat customer, brands need to stay top of mind for their customers. Every part of your brand — including the typeface you choose — makes up the Ecommerce experience and should be taken into consideration. For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length. --- Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce --- Transcript: Stephanie: Welcome back to Up Next In Commerce. I'm your host, Stephanie Postles, co-founder of mission.org. Today on the show, we have Jonathan Zitnik the Vice President of commerce channels at Monotype. How's it going, Jonathan? Jonathan: Very good. Thanks so much for having me, Stephanie. Stephanie: Yeah, thanks for coming on. We were just mentioning that today's a special day. It's your 19th anniversary. And how lucky are we to have you on the show? Jonathan: Oh, man. It's crazy to have been here so long, but I've enjoyed the ride. And what better way to kind of celebrate that anniversary by talking about Monotype and all the things that I've done and see coming, than being here with you today. So thanks for having me. Stephanie: Yeah, it's going to be really fun. I think you're the first person we've had on the show that's been somewhere this long. So I think it'll be a really good conversation where you've actually been able to see a company evolve, and grow, and change. So I'm excited to dive into it. Jonathan: Awesome. Stephanie: I was hoping we can first start at Monotype. So I was reading a bit about it. But then I saw that you employ, I think it was somewhere around like 700 people and had really high revenue numbers. And I was wondering, what do you guys actually do? What is Monotype? And how do I think about the company? Jonathan: Sure. So I think probably your audience is largely not familiar with Monotype, but would recognize many of our flagship products. So if you've ever worked with the fonts Helvetica, Arial or Times New Roman, then you've worked with some of our key offerings. Monotype is the largest company that's dedicated to type. And we have the world's largest library of typefaces, where you'll find thousands of type families, many of which are the backbone of key brands. So the list of typefaces goes on quite a bit that that brands rely on every day. Stephanie: That's awesome. So are you guys purely a typeface design company or do you do other things as well? Jonathan: So type is really at the core of what we do, but we do have some other supporting businesses that all relate to helping brands express themselves and make sure that their digital expression is on point and translates across their various mediums that they communicate over. Stephanie: Very cool. So when I'm thinking about fonts, I guess maybe I'm a newbie when it's coming, or when I'm thinking about fonts, but oftentimes, I'll maybe go and look for free fonts or trying to see like what's out there. So how does Monotype make money and monetize these fonts? Jonathan: Sure. So the majority of our revenue comes from creative professionals that are working with type and those creative professionals could be internal, so working on behalf of the brands, at the brands, at those enterprises, or working at agencies, or even individual creative professionals that are in freeline design spaces. So we're really supporting the creative space and these are the people that know about type, care about type and know how to leverage it within their design projects. And understand that it can really be the backbone of a brand. So these are the people that are willing to spend the value in a typeface. Stephanie: Awesome. And I saw I think you guys developed some fonts I know like Times New Roman, huh, that's a favorite. Is that you guys who created that one? Jonathan: It is, that was a custom typeface at the turn of the century for the London Times. And so it's gone through many, many iterations over the years to catch up with digital times to make the progression that the type has gone from over the years from metal type through phototype and now it's a digital type. Stephanie: That's cool. So how do we think about types transforming over time? Like, what are the levers that make you guys want to change a font, or typeface, or edit it, or make a new one? Like, how are you staying on top of these trends and actually deciding like, "Ah, this would be a new way to maybe shift the fonts or create something new or even transition an old font into something more relevant." Jonathan: Yeah, that's a great question. A lot of our successful typeface releases come from either new opportunities based on the way that type needs to be used or updates to existing typefaces to make sure that they're catching up with the digital needs of today, right? So take Helvetica as an example. Last year we released Helvetica Now, and it was an update for Helvetica, which cleaned up some of the idiosyncrasies that had caught up with the typeface over the years and make sure that it has all the necessary characters that are used today, some adjustments so that the type looks great on screens versus some of the way the characters were drawn originally, and which didn't translate as well. Jonathan: So those types of updates are really common. And as I said, previously, when you're thinking about a new typeface, you want to think about the challenges that designers are having today and make sure that you're designing it for those needs. Stephanie: So what are some of those challenges, if a brand is thinking right now about I mean, what first comes to mind is maybe creating a logo or something like that? And I think for us, we're pretty, like easy standard. I think we just use like Futura or something like that. But for people who are looking to actually develop their own typeface, what are some challenges they might encounter down the road when it comes to maybe designers trying to use that? Jonathan: Yeah. So if you want to think about all the places where the brand needs to be represented, right? So if you are going to be using your type in an application, like a mobile application, you're going to make sure that the type performs its small sizes, that it looks great on screen and that the readability remains strong when it's presented that way. And you also want to think about your audience, right? Jonathan: So if you're selecting a typeface, and you know that you're going to be communicating with an audience that's global, you have to make sure that you have the necessary characters to ensure that you can communicate in all the languages your audience uses. So those are just a couple of the considerations, but those are big ones. Stephanie: No, that's some good things to keep in mind. So when I'm like... what are some of the maybe top typefaces right now that you see a lot of brands going with? Like, is there anything new that's happening or shifts happening in the world of fonts that maybe hasn't happened up until now? Jonathan: So I mentioned the remaking of typefaces and updating them and that's a big trend. A lot of the big name typeface families like Helvetica and you mentioned Futura are used by these major brands because they know them, they're familiar with them. They know they perform well. They're versatile typefaces, and they're just beautiful designs. And so these updates that are happening, it's a trend that you're seeing more and more of, and what the audience is getting is a broader range of typeface suites which can be exciting so you can extend the family to include more decorative designs so that you can extend the family designs to be more creative with your work. Jonathan: You're getting broader character ranges, which is excellent for taking your brand to different places and geographies. And also some visual adjustments to make sure the performance is there, regardless of what the typeface is. So that's a big one. Stephanie: All right, cool. So I wanted to get into your role a bit. Being at the company for 19 years. I want to hear how it's evolved and what your day to day looks like right now. Jonathan: Sure. So when I started back in the day, it was still really at the dawn of Ecommerce. It was kind of an exciting place to begin, certainly for Ecommerce marketing. Pay per click advertising was just emerging. So I don't think even Google had introduced AdSense at that point. So it was kind of an exciting time and we used all of those things really to establish our Ecommerce business, which when I started, had really just launched. Jonathan: And so at that point, we developed myfonts.com and through my time we've gone through numerous acquisitions. So we have a host of commerce properties, myfonts.com the largest of those today. And so it really went from an Ecommerce marketing roll up into managing operations for an Ecommerce business and took a brief turn in that to focus on a subscription offering and then helped build out a customer success and support organization to help the greater Monotype business grow and ensure that our customers including our enterprise, customers, really have the support that they needed. Jonathan: And more recently kind of turned my focus back over to the Ecommerce world. So now the role is managing the global digital commerce business, which includes our font sites, some of which I just mentioned, a little bit of our indirect business and a relatively new business that's fun and growing, which is called flip font. And it's an application that runs on a mobile phone unless you've changed the UI typeface to one that you purchase from a store. Stephanie: Oh, very cool. Jonathan: Yeah. Stephanie: So what does that look like overseeing the different Ecommerce channels? Like are there different maybe learnings that you're getting from having different websites to be able to like see trends on or see like which ones are doing things successfully, and which ones maybe need to have a little help. What kind of things are you seeing by having that oversight of multiple websites? Jonathan: Yeah, well, that's certainly one of the challenges right? Because it's a lot of businesses rolled up into one business. But there's advantages of that too, right? Because you can test out different techniques on one website. And then if it works out, you can roll it out to others. And one of the challenges is that they all have slightly different audiences, the customers coming from different places, like if you look at the different customer segments, they're not identical. They have different preferences and so you have to act and think in the interest of these different audience segments. Stephanie: Got it. So where are these customers coming from right now? Like, what kind of acquisition channels are you guys using to find new customers and then how are you treating them differently depending on the source of where they came? Jonathan: Yeah. So most of our customers, one of the advantages that we have is that a lot of our typefaces have been in use for many years. And so when a typeface gets, it's purchased and sees used within a project, and that project will spurn additional use, right? Especially if it's in the hands of an agency and an agency might use it with multiple clients. Jonathan: So a lot of people will come to the channels already knowing exactly what they need. And so a lot of the focus is on making sure that we can get that customer who already knows that they need to use this particular font, get them the font, get them in the cart, make sure that they know what license they need, so they can get back to designing as quickly as possible. So that's a lot of the emphasis there. Jonathan: And then the other point of emphasis is really on the discovery phase, and this is for the designer that knows that they need a particular type of typeface, they might have a classification in mind or a couple of different qualities in mind that will suit the needs of their project. So what are the tools that we can provide them, how can we help them filter down the inventory of a hundred thousand plus fonts so they can get down to the one that's really going to be the perfect design, perfect choice for their design. Stephanie: How do you go about personalizing that because I could see it being quite a bit of consulting and education depending on maybe the industry and I could see people also coming in with quite a few wild ideas where when I was looking at design recently it's like, "Okay, don't go too crazy. Don't go too designery or too out there because that stuff will probably got out of style soon." And like, how would someone go about recommending what kind of font a brand should use? Jonathan: Yeah, so I think there's a couple things you can focus on. One is just the making sure that you provide enough tools to help someone navigate the inventory. And so if you understand the attributes of your inventory, you can make it easy to filter down. And also you can go take a look at just the Sans Serif fonts. And then you can look at the Humanistic Sans, not to geek out too much on type here. No, but you can kind of narrow down your selections by the various characteristics of the typefaces for the person that has an idea of what they're looking for. Jonathan: But I think the more fun thing that we do is making sure that we give our customers a sense of how the typeface is going to perform before they purchase, right? So you need a lot of tools that allows the designer to experiment with the typeface before they purchase it. So before they lay their money down, make sure they understand what it's going to look like. And the visuals that we supply are critically important. So making sure that we have the images that don't just show the range of the typeface that's important, but also some fun examples of what it might look like when it's designed. So really just show off the characteristics of the type. Stephanie: Yeah, that's really important. I was just thinking when we're going through making website changes and stuff, I always wish they could just be an easy, quick switch of like, what does it look like with this font, this font, and maybe you guys have this functionality, and I just never knew it. But oftentimes, it's me like trying to preview and going back and changing again, previewing again. And after maybe changing it a couple times, I'm like, "Oh, I'm kind of done." So do you guys have that functionality? I think you mentioned it with the app earlier. But do you have that for desktop as well? Jonathan: Yeah, there's different ways that you can do that. And depending on what tool or what subscription you might have, there's different ways that you can experiment with typefaces. And that's always been a huge problem for the type industry, right? It is sort of, how do you allow someone to experiment with your product, but make sure that you're not cannibalizing your sale? So that's kind of the trade off that we have to work through. Stephanie: So I'm interested in thinking about metrics when it comes to changing typefaces. I mean, I'm sure you guys have case studies where different fonts produce different results, can you speak through some of that? Jonathan: Well, it's difficult to predict. So unless you're working with a typeface that has a track record, and you're doing a new version, you're actually not certain what you're going to get, right? So typefaces are a lot like music where there will never be enough created to satisfy the creative needs, both on part of the person that's doing the creation and the designers that are consuming what's created. So a lot of it is strategic, right? Jonathan: So we know that there are certain needs that need to be served so we'll do a release there. And some of it is creative expression. Stephanie: Got it. And you mentioned that a lot of people come to you knowing what they already want. Do you also do paid acquisition for getting customers to find out about you. Like if it was someone like me and I'm looking for a brand redesign, how would you go about targeting someone who maybe I don't really know much about fonts or for me if I wanted the font I might open up maybe Adobe Photoshop and get it in there and like I wouldn't actually know the process of maybe even buying one and licensing and stuff like that. Stephanie: So how would you go about maybe pulling in a new customer like me with very low awareness? Jonathan: Yeah, sure. So for targeting individual creative professionals, paid search of course is huge and all the typical advertising methods and affiliate programs, which bring people in and will, on the paid search side will also invest in terms where that are not product specific unless there's someone that's looking for a particular style of typeface we can bid on those terms or using terms like something that's more broad like font or by fonts as well. And for the larger customers that we work with those might come in to the agencies that we partner with as well. Jonathan: So if we doing a, involved in a big brand design, it's not uncommon for us to partner with the agency that's working with the brand. So some business comes in through that way. And in other cases, we might see that a brand has started to work with one of our typefaces, and we'll get to know them a little bit better and see if we can expand the relationship and then help them with the next steps in their brands. And maybe there's different ways that we can help them as they prepare to make that move further down the digital path. Stephanie: Got it. So you mentioned partnerships earlier, and I wanted to maybe touch on that a bit because I think maybe in our prep notes you'd mentioned partnering with other technology providers to basically have a more creative and collaborative approach when it comes to design and the whole ecosystem in general. I was hoping you could talk about what those partnerships look like and how you guys are thinking about the design and not just typeface, but the industry as a whole. Jonathan: Yeah, so I think on a more practical level, there are lots of Ecommerce providers that we partner with to put great quality type in the hands of their end users, right? So if it's an Ecommerce platform that has their own templates, you might find Monotype typefaces built in there. So when you're doing your design, you don't have to choose from the standard website, web safe typefaces that you know, are going to be resident on just about everybody's machine, right? So you have a nice variety of selections to choose from. So that's one way that we partner with which puts our type in the hands of more end users. Jonathan: But I think that like when you're thinking more broadly about collaborations with Ecommerce, the industry has just evolved so much. And today Ecommerce when you're thinking about your Ecommerce experience, it's not really just about those few precious minutes that the customer spends on the website, right? To do it right, you really have to be thinking about how that Ecommerce site supports the brand and what are the key elements of a brand that you want to inject into that Ecommerce experience. And then that Ecommerce experience really broadens beyond just shopping. Jonathan: It's all the things that you're going to do to retain that customer and get them to think about you and create that positive sentiment when they're not shopping. So when the need arrives, they're right there going back to your site to purchase something new. Stephanie: Yeah, that makes sense. So talking about retaining customers, a bit and what came to mind was actually licensing for some reason, because that's also an arena that I don't fully understand. And it sometimes scares me of like, "Oh, is there certain licenses we should have around this? And like, how do you protect yourself and your company?" So I was hoping you could touch on what are some of the failures a new Ecommerce company might be making right now, when it comes to typefaces and licensing and not having the right licenses. What do you see happening right now that could be prevented that a lot of people might not know about? Jonathan: Yeah, font licensing is complex, and it's always been complex. And I think that's something that the industry Monotype included, needs to work on to simplify that and make it easier on our customers. And so a traditional font license, the traditional found license that we've been selling forever is a desktop license. So that allows someone to use a particular font on their machine, possibly multiple machines depending on the license. They do vary. And that's one of the bits of complexity right there is that... so take my fonts, for example, we have thousands of partner foundries that sell their products on our site. Many of which have their own licenses. Jonathan: So that puts a lot on the customer to look through and actually read the license and understand what they're getting. So one of our strategies there is to consolidate on fair industry standard terms there. So that the user is going to be more familiar with the license that they're purchasing. But even looking beyond that, it gets more complicated when you look at different use cases for the type, right? So if you want to use a font on the web, that's going to require slightly different font file as well as a different EULA, excuse me a license agreement and you have to pay attention to the amount of distribution with the font as well. So, are there limitations on the page views associated with the font? Jonathan: And, so really additional use cases oftentimes are tied to additional license types. So if you want to use a font in a mobile application, or you want to use it in digital ad, you might require a different license to go along with that. So there's a lot of different formats there that they have to pay attention to. And it's our job as a marketplace to make sure that we educate our customers when they come to the site and help them find the right license. Especially people that are looking to be compliant with that. [crosstalk 00:24:46]. Stephanie: Yeah, licensing is definitely tricky. I mean, how do you... like if I'm using photoshop, for example, and they have all the fonts in there, and maybe I'm using that to build my own logo, or build a page or something or some kind of like PDF, or if you're using a website builder tool that already has a bunch of fonts like is very different type of licensing thing you should think through, or are you kind of already covered because maybe Adobe already has like an unlimited forever license? Jonathan: Sure. Speaking in generalities here, right, because there are different font license agreements. But typically, a font license for a desktop font license is going to cover use on your machine. And as long as that font file isn't traveling to another user, you're good, right? So the output of that font as long as it's static text that is no longer leveraging the font file can be distributed. And that's the case with most, not all, but most font licenses. Stephanie: So I want to kind of touch on some higher level Ecommerce trends because you've been in the industry for a while. I think you could have some fun answers for them. First one is what kind of trends or patterns are you excited about right now in the world of Ecommerce? Jonathan: I think the thing I'm most excited about right now is machine learning. And it's application for recommendations. So recommendations within Ecommerce has been a problem that we've tried to solve collectively for 10s of years now. And I feel like it's really turned the corner in the past few years. The recommendations you get on store and your music service or other places where it's being leveraged have really gotten good, it's impressive, and it's exciting. So you can go from a place where you're making recommendations that maybe weren't well informed, and just come across as noise to recommendations that are personalized and accurate and are really helping your customers solve a problem. So it's interpreted really well and I think there's a lot of potential there. Stephanie: Yep. I completely agree. What about COVID? Have you guys experienced any kind of impact from COVID right now? And how do you see the industry moving forward after this? Jonathan: Yeah. So I think everybody's feeling some sort of impact. I think the companies that have really seen the most positive effects of it are the companies that have the brick and mortar locations where their Ecommerce businesses is taking off, because that's where the activity is moving. And we have digital goods and digital delivery. Jonathan: So we didn't see that. We saw some initial impact and as our customers spend is really tied to marketing and the agency world which was hit pretty hard. But we've since seen a lot of recovery, which is great. We're seeing a lot of positive signs. And when you look at the various products that we sell, we're seeing some really encouraging and some growth signs, particularly on the use of type on the web which makes sense that kind of speaks to the broader industry of Ecommerce. So that's been a strong point. Stephanie: Yeah, that's really interesting. Are there any other surprises that you've seen through all this where you're like, "Oh, now there's all of a sudden an industry around this, or people popping up asking for this that we didn't have before." Jonathan: The ripple effects of this are huge, right? And so, I think initially, it was kind of hard to put two and two together and see what the impact would be. But you think about it, it makes sense when you see companies like Zoom or DocuSign having success that they are and all of this and so we've kind of seen the effects of that as well and are just trying to cope with it like a lot of companies. Jonathan: And I think in some regard, it's been easier than then we anticipated. I'm very thankful that we're here today and not in 2010, right? If you can imagine trying to do the things that you go through on a daily basis, without the collaboration and communication tools that we have today, it would be incredibly challenging. Stephanie: Yep. Are there any challenges that you guys are facing? Of course, it wouldn't be 2010 levels challenges, but is there anything right now where it's kind of like, feeling a little tough to do X, Y, or Z based on the changes in the market or the increased demand? Jonathan: I don't think that they're market driven. I think if you look at the things that we need to do, everything is totally accomplishable. But that doesn't mean it's not without challenges, right? So you have a team and you work together. There's just something. It's difficult to put your finger on, but I don't know if it's the morale of the group or just that whatever you get from being able to socialize in person, so you feel the effects of that when you can't meet in person and just have that initial catch up. But you know, you can kind of do that informally but it's definitely missing something. Jonathan: And so I think everybody kind of has to find different ways to make sure they get that in their life, in their day to day. The other thing that I think is more challenging is when you're trying to solve a difficult problem, and you can't collaborate the same way. So like I said, Zoom is great, but there's really no substitute for getting five people in a room together with a whiteboard and just working through a problem with everybody's undivided attention. So I do long for those days. And hope that we can do those types of things again soon. Stephanie: Yep, I long for the happy hour day where you can just get together again and not worry and catch up on all things work or not work if you don't feel like talking about it. Jonathan: Absolutely. Stephanie: So I want to hear a little bit about more about Monotype and the successes behind your guys brand. What do you see is working? Like how do you portray your company in a design oriented, beautiful way. Jonathan: One of the things that we've had success with is putting emphasis and attention into our communication materials. And if you look at the newsletters, they're very heavy with imagery that shows the type, shows it off, shows how it can be used. And it's really gratifying when our customers tell us that they find these materials which are ultimately marketing materials that are designed to sell, and inform, and educate that they're inspirational to them. Now, so it checks a lot of boxes there and I definitely perceive that as a victory. Stephanie: How do you go about building those materials? Like how do you know what's going to connect with the customer? How do you know... what one person might think is beautiful another one might be like, "Urgh." So how do you build something that connects with the majority of your customers or prospects? Jonathan: Sure, well, you certainly aren't going to please everyone. You need to rely on talented people that are great with type and see the unique value in an individual typeface and know how to use it and design that shows off its characteristics and present it in a way that shows how it might likely be used by a typical project that would work well for. Stephanie: Got it. Do you ever have to educate new customers in a way of like, "Well, here's what we did with this font, like look at that little curlicue there, that's newer," like showing people why something special? Jonathan: Yeah, so I think, readability, legibility might be a good example. And you could read all day on the various aspects of a typeface that can aid or hinder readability. And so we'll put a lot of time into the generalities of what makes a typeface more legible, more readable. And then certainly, if there's an individual typeface that has some of those characters or those properties we would point those out. Stephanie: Yeah, there's a email newsletter, I can't remember who it is, but they essentially show just how subtle design tweaks and fonts make a big difference in like portraying whatever you're talking about. And it was displayed in such a way that made it be like, "Oh, of course, this one looks better," or, "Oh, we're talking about food in this one." Like you can kind of get a feeling depending on the type of font and I just thought that was a really nice way to just show two things up against each other and it'd be general accepted like which one looks better, which one connects with the brand depending on what the product was. Jonathan: Yeah, that's a great way to present it because great typographic often goes unnoticed. Stephanie: Yep. I think that was kind of their point is like, you wouldn't think anything if you just saw this by itself. But if you saw a random font next to it, or a font that was just like so off brand, it would be very obvious and you would not feel disconnected with it. So I like that. Jonathan: Right. Stephanie: All right, let's jump into the lightning round brought to you by our friends at Salesforce Commerce Cloud. This is where I'm going to throw a question your way and you have a minute or less to answer. Are you ready, Jonathan? Jonathan: I am ready. Stephanie: All right, what's up next on your Netflix queue? Jonathan: Cobra Kai, high recommendation from my wife. So she's jumped in and I'm trailing her. But that's gotten her through the pandemic. Stephanie: I like it. I saw that being the trailer playing and I was just about to watch it. So I'm glad that it has good recommendations from your wife. What's up next on your reading list? Jonathan: It's a book I think it's called Writing Down The Bones. And it's a practical guide to doing more writing and getting more practice at it and ultimately improving your writing skills. Stephanie: All right, cool, I like that. I thought it was going to be A Practical Guide To Typography. And I would say, "Man, Jonathan, you are a lover of typography." Jonathan: I'm all in. Stephanie: I like it. Where are you traveling to when you're able to go out and about again? Jonathan: Oh, Cocoa Beach, Florida is my happy place. And I'm looking forward to getting back down there again. Stephanie: I love Florida. And the last one, if you were to have a podcast, what would it be about and who would your first guest be? Jonathan: Oh, wow. Let's see. Well, I guess I can't steal your idea and talk about Ecommerce. Stephanie: You can just keep coming on the show. Jonathan: I might have the chops to talk about fonts with an Ecommerce audience, but I don't think I could handle it there. So let's see, I might do something just on creativity in general, because I love the arts. I love expression. And so it'd be fascinating to pull in different people from different genres and have them speak about their art form. And who would my first guests be? Stephanie: Yeah. Jonathan: Let's see, I'll probably pull in a musician. And let's see. I'm really excited about the new Deep Sea Diver album that's coming out next month. So Jessica Bazzi. Stephanie: Cool. That sounds great. All right, Jonathan, well, thank you for coming on the show and teaching our audience about all things fonts. Where can people find out more about you and Monotype? Jonathan: So you can follow me on twitter @Zitnik and for Monotype, it's just monotype.com. And you can learn more than you ever wanted to know about fonts from there or you can go to our flagship Ecommerce store myfonts.com. Stephanie: Awesome. Thanks so much.

After rereading Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones with the Stop Writing Alone Happy Campers Club this June, Nicole reflects upon ten great takeaways from the book and the lessons she learned from the reading. Mentioned in this episode:   Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg https://nataliegoldberg.com/books/writing-down-the-bones/   Natalie Goldberg’s website https://nataliegoldberg.com/    The Four Agreements https://www.miguelruiz.com/the-four-agreements   Rich Lit Society https://seancroxton.lpages.co/rich-lit-society-enrollment-the-richest-man-in-babylon/ Quote of the Day Podcast https://seancroxton.com/quoteoftheday/ NV Rivera YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpPlp1EVzQhDFPdGp5w2KoQ?view_as=subscriber  Stay connected to learn about all Stop Writing Alone stuff -- get on Nicole’s email list: https://mailchi.mp/ff8df93e57dc/penpals  Buy Nicole a coffee (AKA support the podcast!) https://ko-fi.com/stopwritingalone   Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself: Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/ Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/ Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/ff8df93e57dc/penpals  Stop Writing Alone Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/stopwritingalone/  Nicole’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera  The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607    When you find a group of people who lift you up on a daily basis, it is important to share their awesome. Here are links to the women in Nicole’s Mastermind group (currently going by the name The Voxer Vixens!). Please support these women who do so much to support Nicole on a daily basis! Kim A. Flodin https://www.howinthehellpodcast.com/ Lisa Murray https://ihavedreamsdammit.com/ Claire Oldham West https://slimmingstories.podbean.com/ Johanna Jaquez-Peralta https://www.instagram.com/latina_livin_keto/ Emma Isaacs https://www.instagram.com/emmaisaacsdesign/ 

This is the one year anniversary of the good life coach podcast!  A heartfelt thank you to all of you.  It is because of all of you that I do this show.  This podcast is about empowering women through story-telling - sharing the stories of female entrepreneurs who are creating success on their terms.  As one of us rises, we all rise.  Let's continue to do this together! Today to keep you inspired I'm sharing Lisa Genova's story. She was my very first guest in episode one and here we are 52 episodes later so thought it would be fun to have you hear Lisa's story as many of you are new to the show. Show notes can be found at http://thegoodlifecoach.com/052. I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout-out to my awesome podcast editor Zack David — thank you Zack for all of your effort and care in getting the show out in the world!  Review my show and win a copy of my book:"Design a Life You Love: A Woman's Guide to Living a Happier and More Fulfilled Life!" Instructions on how to Rate + Review the Podcast: 1. Click on this link 2. Click “View in iTunes” button 3. Click “Subscribe” button 4. Click “Ratings and Reviews” text 5. Click to rate and leave a review and you're done! 6. Take a screen shot of the review and email it to michele@thegoodlifecoach.com and I'll pick the first 3 people who submitted to win a signed copy of my book. It's that simple. Thank you so much for listening! Please share today's show with a friend. Also, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast player! In this Episode: I'm thrilled to share that Lisa Genova, the New York Times Bestselling Author of Still Alice, is today's guest.  When I learned of Lisa's work and life mission I knew I had to have her on the show.  She epitomizes what is possible when you listen to your internal voice and have the courage to pursue what's in your heart.  Lisa will tell you that she is doing her “soul's work” and living a life of purpose by bringing empathy and understanding to neurological disorders people don't like to think about.  Her book “Still Alice” became a New York Times best-seller and was turned into a major motion picture.  However, before finding her purpose, Lisa was on a very different path.  A Harvard trained Ph.D. in neuroscience, Lisa found herself at a crossroads when her first marriage ended in divorce.  It was in this moment of uncertainty that she found the courage to leave the familiar for a life as a writer.  If you are a writer or want to be one, would like to find your purpose, and/or enjoy stories of how dreams become reality, then you will love today's episode. Key Takeaways: Why Lisa left her life as a Harvard trained PhD in Neuroscience to become a fiction writer, with no prior writing experience Why her grandmother having alzheimer's triggered her desire to write How & why she became an "empathy warrior" for people with neurological disorders How acting classes helped her become a better writer We dig into her creative process – how she crafts her books Why all of her books cover a neurological disorder and how they connect to life themes How she kept up her motivation when her future was uncertain.  Her book was originally rejected by 100 agents yet she was determined to get her book out in the world and it paid off. How her self-published book eventually secured her an agent and ended up on the New York Times Best-sellers list for 59 weeks! How she trusted that fiction was the way to tell her stories to create empathy with the reader. Why she loves the concept of duality and how our decisions create the reality we are living today vs the path not taken. How her book "Still Alice" became a major motion picture starring Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin.   We go into how it felt to be at the Oscar's and seeing her work on the big screen. Why her latest book, "Every Note Played" deals with ALS. Lisa shares the questions we need to ask ourselves to discover our own life purpose Why you should never make decisions out of fear The books she used to learn the craft of writing 3 key tips for all women out there who want to pursue their dreams....and so much more... Lisa Genova's Bestselling Books: Still Alice  Inside the O'Briens: A Novel Left Neglected Love Anthony Every Note Played Other books referenced: On Pluto by Greg O'Brien  Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott On Writing by Stephen King The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron Ted Talks: What You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer's Inbound Talk: "If You Could Do Anything You Wanted" I'd love to here from you, if you have questions or comments, visit me here. If you'd like to advertise or sponsor the show, you can reach out here.

Tamara Woods is a poet, fiction writer, leader of the #WriteStuff Twitter Chat and Facebook community for writers, and she has a vlog on YouTube devoted to all things writing. Nicole Rivera, host of Stop Writing Alone, talks to Tamara about her writing craft as well as all the ways she’s found community, created community and continues to connect with writers both near her home in Hawaii, and around the world. Mentioned in this episode: *Any links to Amazon are affiliate links. Using any of these links to make any purchase on Amazon will support STOP WRITING ALONE.*   Buy Nicole a coffee (AKA support the podcast!) https://ko-fi.com/stopwritingalone Tamara Woods website (*don’t forget! This is where you can sign up for Tamara’a newsletter to get a free copy of her new cozy mystery WIPED OUT!) https://tamarawoodsauthor.com/ Tamara’s Twitter handle https://twitter.com/penpaperpad?lang=en Link to the #writestuff conversation on Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23writestuff&src=typd&lang=en #writestuff FB Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/writestuffchat/ Tamara’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCUt-YGmeMSHZfXQQe4XF0g/%20sub_confirmation=1 Nicole’s Wattpad page https://www.wattpad.com/user/NicoleRivera319 CampNaNoWriMo https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in Amazon link for NEWSLETTER NINJA by Tammi Labrecque (the first book covered in Tamara’s Writing Workshop on YouTube) https://amzn.to/2TD8IrG Amazon Link for WRITE TO MARKET by Chris Fox (book that will be discussed on the last Saturday of March 2019 in Tamara’s Writing Workshop) https://amzn.to/2XJavuS Amazon Link for Tamara’s book BLOOD ROSES & HONEYSUCKLES https://amzn.to/2SNgdI4 Amazon Link for Tamara’s poetry book THE SHAPING OF AN “ANGRY” BLACK WOMAN  https://amzn.to/2NNw9t5 Amazon Link for ON WRITING by Stephen King https://amzn.to/2EzCzYw Amazon Link for WRITING DOWN THE BONES by Natalie Goldberg https://amzn.to/2XIB2Z9 Amazon Link for BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott https://amzn.to/2VJrifn Scribbler FB Page https://www.facebook.com/goScribbler/ Scribblers FB Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/ScribblersChat/ Meetup.com (search for Shut & Up Write!) https://www.meetup.com/ NaNoWriMo Monthly Meetup Groups https://www.meetup.com/topics/nanomonthly/ The Numberblocks on YouTube (the brilliant British show Nicole’s son is in love with) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPlwvN0w4qFSP1FllALB92w Music for coffee break from freesound by lemoncreme https://freesound.org/people/Lemoncreme/sounds/186942/   Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself: Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/ Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/ Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/fcbe414431f5/tawgiveaway Nicole’s Instagram (be prepared for lots of #momlife exposure!): https://www.instagram.com/nv_rivera/ Nicole’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607   The EVERYONE CAN PODCAST crew. Here’s a list of podcasts made by my classmates coming out of Cathy Heller’s ECP course. This is one inspiring, creative, and informative bunch: The Soul Mammas Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-soul-mammas-podcast/id1393133041?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1tjUxnEcrG1q_5m35ZzCduaS4fZJT2cYHl53CaWevMuRlcuvxBI6AFb3s How in the HELL Did I Get Here? https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-in-the-hell-did-i-get-here-the-podcast/id1448137091?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR2GyOaw93q3IplQLaF3_GZyzbgwEoxZFzB-uNQAoThKKghAKKCrVKYYohQ Creativity School https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creativity-school/id1447571085?fbclid=IwAR28GwcZ9Tu81dH7aLtxFoX68-yYEisH3socPrcjmbN0Xk-YY3REgQ9L1Fc The Ready Pause Go Career https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ready-pause-go-career/id1446761976?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR0GXU0O9TjFUcpTTIx_qfypkV1oizQwE_nBjD8hAW4G7x6PXq9PYwgs5IY Food Tribe https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/food-tribe/id1440417232?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR0dADVs36_TgBDzSHIBmFB5JhY6wgag9RpnaX5B8NWjVvB1QTB7Cz5tkjU The DaddyBe Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daddybe-podcast/id1447237794?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1wUDvNi9dl3vvWzuGPlGydgxiU7evJWKYJrjY-cgrfaWRPRF_xsralitU I Have Dreams Dammit! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-have-dreams-dammit/id1449508412?fbclid=IwAR0hmiKzF2ABgaqGwQVskxF-OQTV14v9uj1kTlLydvqFvST3kySb76YrKVw Lessons from a Quitter https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lessons-from-a-quitter/id1412305413?mt=2 Do the Damn Thing https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/do-the-damn-thing/id1437481006?mt=2 Creative Cravings https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creative-cravings/id1451813556?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR3pbdpDTUdZHiowOls8Ixf03l4XraMUaB4bS66F3b9LQYrBe-p3uA6XpMo Elder & Wiser https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/elder-wiser/id1453289708?fbclid=IwAR34ZTDVUcdIcHtt9tA1b67Z-WhmDtzM2GnTC8x4huJaS-YOowi1ij1Od2o Hustle Heartbreaks https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hustle-heartbreaks/id1453207903?fbclid=IwAR2NAhma5OpBfR7P-XjMymAvDJhWVcvnizb5TqjZ5IncJIH4e8U49ai9nh0 Find Your Glee With Dinah G https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/find-your-glee-with-dinah-g/id1451375805?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1_c5kV2wvsaFxwDe7zCMpyx047mtHl4eqskA0rc-FaPoIw-Hi8p84TYH0   And our teacher… Don’t Keep Your Day Job https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-keep-your-day-job/id1191831035?mt=2

When you run a writing group, sometimes the hardest part is finding writing prompts that will inspire your group to write. This week Nicole shares a tool she’s been using for over a decade for her own inspiration, as well as with her local writing group. It’s called THE WRITER’S TOOLBOX by Jamie Cat Callan. It contains three different timed writing games for writing practice, inspiration, and fun.   Mentioned in this episode: *Any links to Amazon are affiliate links. Using any of these links to make any purchase on Amazon will support STOP WRITING ALONE.*   The Writer’s Toolbox https://amzn.to/2GVzpRF Natalie Goldberg’s WRITING DOWN THE BONES: https://amzn.to/2WvihaT Verbuary website https://www.verbuary.com/ Verbuary Instagram https://www.instagram.com/verb.uary/ Nicole’s local writing group: https://www.meetup.com/StatenIsland-Writers/ Sign up for the STOP WRITING ALONE email list/Enter THE ARTIST’S WAY giveaway: https://mailchi.mp/fcbe414431f5/tawgiveaway   Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself: Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/ Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/ Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/fcbe414431f5/tawgiveaway Nicole’s Instagram (be prepared for lots of #momlife exposure!): https://www.instagram.com/nv_rivera/ Nicole’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607   The EVERYONE CAN PODCAST crew. Here’s a list of podcasts made by my classmates coming out of Cathy Heller’s ECP course. This is one inspiring, creative, and informative bunch: The Soul Mammas Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-soul-mammas-podcast/id1393133041?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1tjUxnEcrG1q_5m35ZzCduaS4fZJT2cYHl53CaWevMuRlcuvxBI6AFb3s How in the HELL Did I Get Here? https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-in-the-hell-did-i-get-here-the-podcast/id1448137091?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR2GyOaw93q3IplQLaF3_GZyzbgwEoxZFzB-uNQAoThKKghAKKCrVKYYohQ Creativity School https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creativity-school/id1447571085?fbclid=IwAR28GwcZ9Tu81dH7aLtxFoX68-yYEisH3socPrcjmbN0Xk-YY3REgQ9L1Fc The Ready Pause Go Career https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ready-pause-go-career/id1446761976?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR0GXU0O9TjFUcpTTIx_qfypkV1oizQwE_nBjD8hAW4G7x6PXq9PYwgs5IY Food Tribe https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/food-tribe/id1440417232?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR0dADVs36_TgBDzSHIBmFB5JhY6wgag9RpnaX5B8NWjVvB1QTB7Cz5tkjU The DaddyBe Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daddybe-podcast/id1447237794?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1wUDvNi9dl3vvWzuGPlGydgxiU7evJWKYJrjY-cgrfaWRPRF_xsralitU I Have Dreams Dammit! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-have-dreams-dammit/id1449508412?fbclid=IwAR0hmiKzF2ABgaqGwQVskxF-OQTV14v9uj1kTlLydvqFvST3kySb76YrKVw Lessons from a Quitter https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lessons-from-a-quitter/id1412305413?mt=2 Do the Damn Thing https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/do-the-damn-thing/id1437481006?mt=2 Creative Cravings https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creative-cravings/id1451813556?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR3pbdpDTUdZHiowOls8Ixf03l4XraMUaB4bS66F3b9LQYrBe-p3uA6XpMo Elder & Wiser https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/elder-wiser/id1453289708?fbclid=IwAR34ZTDVUcdIcHtt9tA1b67Z-WhmDtzM2GnTC8x4huJaS-YOowi1ij1Od2o Hustle Heartbreaks https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hustle-heartbreaks/id1453207903?fbclid=IwAR2NAhma5OpBfR7P-XjMymAvDJhWVcvnizb5TqjZ5IncJIH4e8U49ai9nh0   And our teacher… Don’t Keep Your Day Job https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-keep-your-day-job/id1191831035?mt=2

WRITING DOWN THE BONES by Natalie Goldberg & Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke While breaking down Natalie Goldberg’s WRITING DOWN THE BONES, we discuss the best writing advice books and how candles create magic. Then we review our first five star novel, JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL, and share which books grabbed us on the first page. 

It’s our first official Stop Writing Alone podcast episode and that feels a lot like the first meeting of a writing group. What do we do in first meetings? We talk about what we are doing here, we introduce ourselves, and we get to work with some writing. In this episode the host, Nicole Rivera, describes her writing journey and path to finding the writing communities -- both online and in real life -- that helped elevate her writing from a private passion to a pursuit for publication. She also provides a writing activity, and invites listeners to introduce themselves as well.   Mentioned in this episode:   For more information on Intracranial Hypertension and to donate: ihrfoundation.org NaNoWrimo: https://nanowrimo.org/ Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/ SI Writers Meetup Page: https://www.meetup.com/StatenIsland-Writers/ PitchWars: https://pitchwars.org/ Austin Aslan’s blog: https://laustinspace.wordpress.com Austin’s Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7392660.Austin_Aslan Nicole’s 2016 PitchWars pitch for GIRL UNPLUGGED: http://pitchwars.org/pw-315-young-adult-speculative-fiction-girl-unplugged/ BookCon: https://www.thebookcon.com/ Natalie Goldberg’s WRITING DOWN THE BONES: https://amzn.to/2WvihaT (*this is an affiliate link. Using this link to purchase this book, or make any purchase on Amazon will support STOP WRITING ALONE.)   Places to connect to the STOP WRITING ALONE community and introduce yourself: Stop Writing Alone FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/stopwritingalone/ Join the Stop Writing Alone with Nicole Rivera FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2205774733034348/ Stop Writing Alone website: https://stopwritingalone.com/ Join the Stop Writing Alone email list: https://mailchi.mp/fcbe414431f5/tawgiveaway Nicole’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nv_rivera/ Nicole’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/nv_rivera The Stop Writing Alone voice number (call to introduce yourself!): (646) 907-9607   The EVERYONE CAN PODCAST crew. Here’s a list of podcasts made by my classmates coming out of Cathy Heller’s ECP course. This is one inspiring, creative, and informative bunch: The Soul Mammas Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-soul-mammas-podcast/id1393133041?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1tjUxnEcrG1q_5m35ZzCduaS4fZJT2cYHl53CaWevMuRlcuvxBI6AFb3s How in the HELL Did I Get Here? https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-in-the-hell-did-i-get-here-the-podcast/id1448137091?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR2GyOaw93q3IplQLaF3_GZyzbgwEoxZFzB-uNQAoThKKghAKKCrVKYYohQ Creativity School https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/creativity-school/id1447571085?fbclid=IwAR28GwcZ9Tu81dH7aLtxFoX68-yYEisH3socPrcjmbN0Xk-YY3REgQ9L1Fc The Ready Pause Go Career https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ready-pause-go-career/id1446761976?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR0GXU0O9TjFUcpTTIx_qfypkV1oizQwE_nBjD8hAW4G7x6PXq9PYwgs5IY Food Tribe https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/food-tribe/id1440417232?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR0dADVs36_TgBDzSHIBmFB5JhY6wgag9RpnaX5B8NWjVvB1QTB7Cz5tkjU The DaddyBe Podcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daddybe-podcast/id1447237794?mt=2&fbclid=IwAR1wUDvNi9dl3vvWzuGPlGydgxiU7evJWKYJrjY-cgrfaWRPRF_xsralitU I Have Dreams Dammit! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-have-dreams-dammit/id1449508412?fbclid=IwAR0hmiKzF2ABgaqGwQVskxF-OQTV14v9uj1kTlLydvqFvST3kySb76YrKVw Lessons from a Quitter https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lessons-from-a-quitter/id1412305413?mt=2 And our teacher… Don’t Keep Your Day Job https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-keep-your-day-job/id1191831035?mt=2  

I'm thrilled to share that Lisa Genova, the New York Times Bestselling Author of Still Alice, is today's guest.  When I learned of Lisa's work and life mission I knew I had to have her on the show.  She epitomizes what is possible when you listen to your internal voice and have the courage to pursue what's in your heart.  Lisa will tell you that she is doing her “soul's work” and living a life of purpose by bringing empathy and understanding to neurological disorders people don't like to think about.  Her book “Still Alice” became a New York Times best-seller and was turned into a major motion picture.  However, before finding her purpose, Lisa was on a very different path.  A Harvard trained Ph.D. in neuroscience, Lisa found herself at a crossroads when her first marriage ended in divorce.  It was in this moment of uncertainty that she found the courage to leave the familiar for a life as a writer.  If you are a writer or want to be one, would like to find your purpose, and/or enjoy stories of how dreams become reality, then you will love today's episode. We discuss: Why Lisa left her life as a Harvard trained PhD in Neuroscience to become a fiction writer, with no prior writing experience Why her grandmother having alzheimer's triggered her desire to write How & why she became an "empathy warrior" for people with neurological disorders How acting classes helped her become a better writer We dig into her creative process – how she crafts her books Why all of her books cover a neurological disorder and how they connect to life themes How she kept up her motivation when her future was uncertain.  Her book was originally rejected by 100 agents yet she was determined to get her book out in the world and it paid off. How her self-published book eventually secured her an agent and ended up on the New York Times Best-sellers list for 59 weeks! How she trusted that fiction was the way to tell her stories to create empathy with the reader. Why she loves the concept of duality and how our decisions create the reality we are living today vs the path not taken. How her book "Still Alice" became a major motion picture starring Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin.   We go into how it felt to be at the Oscar's and seeing her work on the big screen. Why her latest book, "Every Note Played" deals with ALS. Lisa shares the questions we need to ask ourselves to discover our own life purpose Why you should never make decisions out of fear The books she used to learn the craft of writing 3 key tips for all women out there who want to pursue their dreams....and so much more... Show Resources: https://www.lisagenova.com Lisa Genova's Bestselling Books: Still Alice  Inside the O'Briens: A Novel Left Neglected Love Anthony Every Note Played Other books referenced: On Pluto by Greg O'Brien  Writing Down The Bones by Natalie Goldberg Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott On Writing by Stephen King The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron Ted Talks: What You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer's Inbound Talk: "If You Could Do Anything You Wanted" Michele's New Book, Design A Life You Love: A Woman's Guide to Living a Happier and More Fulfilled Life Thank you for listening to the show. I hope you enjoyed it and would love to hear what your key takeaway was from this episode.  Please be sure to share it with your friends who would benefit from this information.  Also be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Rate & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, would you take a minute to review it on iTunes?  Your review helps me better understand what topics you most enjoyed.  It also helps others find this podcast so that they too can learn this helpful information.  This community is all about women supporting women!

I denne episode handler det om at komme i gang med at skrive. Vi taler om Natalie Goldbergs bog Writing Down The Bones, som er fyldt med gode råd - både til dig, der er nybegynder og til dig, der har skrevet i mange år. Vi laver to skriveøvelser undervejs, så find pen og papir frem, hvis du vil være med. Værter: Pernille Nielsen og Jacob Ulrich

On this episode, author Tim Clare (that's me) shares 7 easy ways to help your writing that aren't actually writing. That's right! I've gone all lifestyle guru. Except not really. These are 7 small tweaks you can make to your daily routine or lack thereof, that have helped me write quite a bit. What are they? Well... - Get In The Shower - Get A Wall Calendar - Make A Could-Do List - Read Stuff You Hate - Tidy Up - Move - Tempt Yourself I don't think I've ever sounded more like a curmudgeonly dad than reading those titles back to myself. But of course if you'd like to know the advice appended to each of those tasty lil lexical meathooks you'll have to listen to the episode. They're all pretty simple to roadtest, cheap or free, and chosen to yield disproportionately great results. If you can do something that only takes 5 minutes, and makes your day 5% better, that's worth it, right? In this episode I quote from Natalie Goldberg's classic creative writing manual, WRITING DOWN THE BONES, and you can grab yourself a copy here: https://wordery.com/writing-down-the-bones-natalie-goldberg-9781611803082#oid=1908_1 Here's a link to info on how to do the Pomodoro Technique: https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique And oh! Oh! Be a love and buy my novel, THE HONOURS: https://wordery.com/the-honours-tim-clare-9781782114765#oid=1908_1 Here's the page where you can chuck the show a few bucks directly: https://ko-fi.com/timclare And don't forget you can contact me via http://www.timclarepoet.co.uk or on Twitter @timclarepoet Thanks very much for your support.

3 big ideas discussed in this episode: Write until you have nothing left. Don't be afraid to be absurd. Write with your whole body. To Connect with BIG Thinkers and Hear More BIG Ideas: http://TheBookDistrict.com Websites: www.sharedpathah.com  www.thebookdistrict.com

Nadya Hajj reads from Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg, published by Shambhala in 1986. "When you are writing, if you write a question, that is fine. But immediately go to a deeper level inside yourself and answer it in the next line."

On this seven minute recording, your feelings of overwhelm are invited to come out, be heard and then contained, leaving you with a clear mind, centered body and a sense of true direction. The idea for this was inspired by the work of psychologist Margaret Wehrenberg and also by the words of Natalie Goldberg, who wrote in her fabulous book, Writing Down The Bones, “Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Not is that important. Just lie down.” Ahhhhh! Lets do it. Get into Shavasana!!

A twenty minute podcast recorded at 3 a.m. Saturday morning, a sleepless night, meditations on "saying a holy yes to the real things of our lives as they exist," [from Natalie Goldberg's "Writing Down The Bones], studying with Natalie Goldberg, finding a spiritual home in Taos, and more importantly in my heart, and, after many days of grieving, my heart opens once more like the thousand petals of the lotus flower. Flower pictured here was taken past midnight on the deck outside my studio windows...