The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, And Neuroscience

Award-winning novelist, speaker, and activist Talia Carner spoke with me about the intensive research processes that go into her novels, why she chose fiction to write about global social issues, the real-life crisis happening right before our eyes and what we can do about it. “I take a skeleton out of the closet and dance with it. The skeleton being the many social issues around the globe that vie for attention.” – Talia Carner Ms. Carner writes suspense novels with a social message and her latest historical novel, The Third Daughter, aims to turn the issue of sex trafficking into real-world activism. Talia's mission is to transform the lessons of the past into action in the present. Her fifth book has been described as, “A frightening journey into the New World of the late 1800s, told by a trusting young woman lured from Russia and forced into prostitution in Buenos Aires.” Before becoming a professional novelist the author had a corporate career in the magazine business, started her own business as a

In Part Two of this file the award-winning actress, comedian, and screenwriter, Jorjeana Marie, returned to talk with me about fulfilling her childhood dream of writing for Disney, how writers can rewire their inner-critic, improv as a writing (and life) philosophy, and secrets for beating block and creating countless ideas. “In improv the philosophy is, there are no mistakes.” – Jorjeana Marie The talented multi-hyphenate storyteller started out writing and producing plays during her stint at NYU's Dramatic Writing Program, and has gone on to write for several animated television shows, including a popular kids' series for Disney. Jorjeana is also an actress with extensive film and TV experience, as well as a prolific, award-winning audiobook narrator who has voiced over 300 titles for multiple NY Times bestsellers. She writes and performs comedy regularly on stage at UCB, The Improv, and The Comedy Store, and teaches improvisation to students across the country, including at studios in Hollywood where

Award-winning actress, comedian, and screenwriter, Jorjeana Marie, took a break to talk with me about fulfilling her childhood dream of writing for Disney, how writers can rewire their inner-critic, improv as a writing (and life) philosophy, and secrets for beating block and creating countless ideas. “In improv the philosophy is, there are no mistakes.” – Jorjeana Marie The talented multi-hyphenate storyteller started out writing and producing plays during her stint at NYU's Dramatic Writing Program, and has gone on to write for several animated television shows, including a popular kids' series for Disney. Jorjeana is also an actress with extensive film and TV experience, as well as a prolific, award-winning audiobook narrator who has voiced over 300 titles for multiple NY Times bestsellers. She writes and performs comedy regularly on stage at UCB, The Improv, and The Comedy Store, and teaches improvisation to students across the country, including at studios in Hollywood where she's coached writers of

In Part Two of this file the New York Times bestselling memoirist and journalist, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, returned to talk about her decades long journey to publication, why it's so important to find yourself in the pages, the meaning of memory, and the impostor syndrome that all writers face ... especially the kids of celebrities. "Writing can be the master, it can't be the servant of your time.” – Lisa Brennan-Jobs Lisa is a Brooklyn based writer whose father was the widely worshipped tech pioneer and entrepreneur, Steve Jobs, best known as the co-founder of Apple. Her first book, Small Fry, is her lauded memoir about growing up being shuffled between single parents in Silicon Valley during the 1980s and '90s, always in the orbit of her celebrity dad and struggling artist mom. Small Fry was a New York Times, New Yorker, and People Magazine Top 10 Book of the Year for 2018, and Best Book of the Year for the LA Times, NPR, Amazon, GQ, Vogue (UK), and Publishers Weekly. The book has been called, “Beautiful, literar

The New York Times bestselling memoirist and journalist, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, joined me this week to talk about her decades long journey to publication, why it's so important to find yourself in the pages, the meaning of memory, and the impostor syndrome that all writers face ... especially the kids of celebrities. "You find yourself in a whole net, in a constellation of stories, each one connecting to another. It was amazing how much I remembered.” – Lisa Brennan-Jobs Lisa is a Brooklyn based writer whose father was the widely worshipped tech pioneer and entrepreneur, Steve Jobs, best known as the co-founder of Apple. Her first book, Small Fry, is her lauded memoir about growing up being shuffled between single parents in Silicon Valley during the 1980s and '90s, always in the orbit of her celebrity dad and struggling artist mom. Small Fry was a New York Times, New Yorker, and People Magazine Top 10 Book of the Year for 2018, and Best Book of the Year for the LA Times, NPR, Amazon, GQ, Vogue (UK), and Pu

In Part Two of another special edition of The Writer Files called "The Writer's Brain," a guest series with neuroscientist Michael Grybko, we dig further into the dreaded procrastination – a malady we all battle – what it is, how science looks at it, the difference between constructive and destructive procrastination, and some tips on how to overcome it. "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." – Mark Twain We're all guilty of it, let's be honest, it's really normal to procrastinate. Who among us hasn't waited until the last minute to do something tedious or uncomfortable like contest a speeding ticket, study for a test? Today, you're far more likely to grab your smartphone and search longingly for those little red notification flags from a social media app, or to pop open a rainbow colored game for that quick hit of dopamine your brain loves so much. I'm guilty of dusting and straightening every shelf and book in my office until they look conspicuously like modern art befo

Welcome to another special edition of The Writer Files called "The Writer's Brain," a guest series with neuroscientist Michael Grybko, and in this episode we dig into the dreaded procrastination – a malady we all battle – what it is, how science looks at it, the difference between constructive and destructive procrastination, and some tips on how to overcome it. "To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time." - Leonard Bernstein We're all guilty of it, let's be honest, it's really normal to procrastinate. Who among us hasn't waited until the last minute to do something tedious or uncomfortable like contest a speeding ticket, study for a test? Today, you're far more likely to grab your smartphone and search longingly for those little red notification flags from a social media app, or to pop open a rainbow-colored game for that quick hit of dopamine your brain loves so much. I'm guilty of dusting and straightening every shelf and book in my office until they look conspicuous

Welcome back to another special edition of the show with some thoughts on the malady that we rarely care to whisper of ... even on our most prolific days. We’ll kick off the show with the iconic, international bestselling author of 14 novels, including the era-defining Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture – Douglas Coupland – with his thoughts on the subject. "I don't believe in writer's block. Think about it -- when you were blocked in college and had to write a paper, didn't it always manage to fix itself the night before the paper was due? Writer's block is having too much time on your hands." – Jodi Picoult Last year I wrote a piece for Copyblogger titled "How to Outsmart Writer’s Block with Neuroscience" – there are lots of good resources embedded there – and that piece explored a handful of solutions to the accursed ailment. I wanted to revisit it here with some past podcast guests thrown in for humor and context. As you know if you’ve listened to enough of The Writer Files, I dig into t

In Part Two of this file the prominent book editor-turned-author, Peter Guzzardi, spent some time with me this week to discuss how he pulled back the curtain on the writer's life, finding courage in front of the blank screen, and important lessons from the Yellow Brick Road for creatives. "Somehow, despite having made a career of helping writers with their second and third and fourth drafts, I must have been harboring hopes that my first try would displace Shakespeare from his perch atop the literary pantheon." – Peter Guzzardi Peter has been a professional book editor for nearly 40 years. After getting his start in marketing, writing catalog copy in New York City, he moved to the editorial side where he eventually took the reins at Harmony Books, an imprint of Random House, Inc. Mr. Guzzardi has worked with some incredibly talented authors over the years, including Stephen Hawking on A Brief History of Time, Deepak Chopra on dozens of books, Douglas Adams on his Hitchhiker novels, Carol Burnett, Martin

Prominent book editor-turned-author, Peter Guzzardi, spent some time with me this week to discuss how he pulled back the curtain on the writer's life, finding courage in front of the blank screen, and important lessons from the Yellow Brick Road for creatives. "One thing I love about this work is the variety. I’ve edited novels by authors as different as Ruth Rendell and Martin Amis, memoirs by Tony Curtis...and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar..." – Peter Guzzardi Peter has been a professional book editor for nearly 40 years. After getting his start in marketing, writing catalog copy in New York City, he moved to the editorial side where he eventually took the reins at Harmony Books, an imprint of Random House, Inc. Mr. Guzzardi has worked with some incredibly talented authors over the years, including Stephen Hawking on A Brief History of Time, Deepak Chopra on dozens of books, Douglas Adams on his Hitchhiker novels, Carol Burnett, Martin Amis, Arianna Huffington, and even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Like so many aspirin

The author, podcaster, and Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (AKA NaNoWriMo), Grant Faulkner, joined me this week to talk about the Fitbit for novelists, how to write a novel in a month (not just in November), why tracking your writing progress is a built-in reward system, and why you can't wait for inspiration to just get started. "No matter who you are, where you live, how old you are, or what your background is, your story matters." - Grant Faulkner Grant is a writer, speaker, and educator whose day job is to help run the non-profit, National Novel Writing Month, the world's largest writing event where every year 500,000 people commit to writing a novel in November, including 100,000 kids and teens via The Young Writers Program. And Grant reminded me that NaNoWriMo provides year-round "...structure, community, and encouragement to help [writers of all ages and backgrounds] find their voice, achieve [their] creative goals, and build new worlds." 2019 is the 20th anniversary of the "se

In Part Two of this file the bestselling author and creativity coach, Jennifer Louden, returned to talk with me about her twisty career path, the wicked feedback loop of procrastination, how to find your voice, and solutions for getting unstuck and back to writing. "How do you get your creative & scary sh*t done? And how do you keep getting it done ... even when life is hard and busy and full of distractions?" - Jennifer Louden Jennifer has been a professional writer since the early '90s and is considered a personal growth pioneer. Her first book, The Woman’s Comfort Book, was the bestseller that launched her career and she's since published six additional books with over a million copies in print in nine languages. The author is also an international speaker and educator on the subject of self-care and has written a column for Martha Stewart magazine, been quoted by author Brene Brown in not one but two of her books, been profiled in dozens of major magazines, and appeared on hundreds of TV and radio pr

Bestselling author and creativity coach, Jennifer Louden, dropped by this week to talk with me about her twisty career path, the wicked feedback loop of procrastination, how to find your voice, and solutions for getting unstuck and back to writing. "Claim your voice. Share your voice. Get your scary sh*t done." - Jennifer Louden Jennifer has been a professional writer since the early '90s and is considered a personal growth pioneer. Her first book, The Woman’s Comfort Book, was the bestseller that launched her career and she's since published six additional books with over a million copies in print in nine languages. The author is also an international speaker and educator on the subject of self-care and has written a column for Martha Stewart magazine, been quoted by author Brene Brown in not one but two of her books, been profiled in dozens of major magazines, and appeared on hundreds of TV and radio programs including Oprah. In addition to writing books Jennifer is also an entrepreneur who teaches wr

In Part Two of this file the top-ranked New York literary agent, Mark Gottlieb – of Trident Media Group – returned to enlighten me about all things publishing including what it's like to work at one of the world's leading agencies, how to stand out as a writer, and the kinds of projects he's looking for right now. "When approaching a publisher without that built-in platform, all you can really say to them is this is a great book. Please make an editorial evaluation." - Mark Gottlieb Mark grew up around books and bestselling authors, and the writing life had an influence on him from an early age. Inspired to go into the family business, he graduated with a degree in writing, literature & publishing, and began his career at Penguin. He's since gone on to become one of the top-ranked agents on Publishers Marketplace and has represented numerous award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors. Trident Media Group is a prominent New York agency that represents a diverse stable of over 1,000 bestselling

Top-ranked New York literary agent, Mark Gottlieb – of Trident Media Group – dropped by this week to enlighten me about all things publishing including what it's like to work at one of the world's leading agencies, how to stand out as a writer, and the kinds of projects he's looking for right now. "There's a lot out there that can really overwhelm an author when they're trying to figure out how to find an agent or how to get published." - Mark Gottlieb Mark grew up around books and bestselling authors, and the writing life had an influence on him from an early age. Inspired to go into the family business, he graduated with a degree in writing, literature & publishing, and began his career at Penguin. He's since gone on to become one of the top-ranked agents on Publishers Marketplace and has represented numerous award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors. Trident Media Group is a prominent New York agency that represents a diverse stable of over 1,000 bestselling and emerging authors across a w

In Part Two of this file the prolific, award-winning, #1 New York Times and international bestselling author, Sherrilyn Kenyon, returned to talk about what it's like to be a literary legend with over 70 million copies of her books in print in over 100 countries. "When the characters have chosen you ... you need to go tell their stories, because nobody else can do it, and they picked you for the job. Are you really going to disappoint them?" - Sherrilyn Kenyon Sherrilyn is considered one of the most popular and influential writers in the world and the multi-genre author is best known for urban fantasy and paranormal romance, including her popular Dark-Hunters series (Amazon), now also a NY Times bestselling manga. Since her debut in the mid-90s she has placed more than 80 novels on the NY Times list in all formats and genres, including YA, children’s books, coloring books, historical romance (under the pen name Kinley MacGregor), and even graphic novels – her Lords of Avalon novels were adapted by Marvel.

Prolific, award-winning, #1 New York Times and international bestselling author, Sherrilyn Kenyon, joined me this week to talk about what it's like to be a literary legend with over 70 million copies of her books in print in over 100 countries. "To me, the characters are why I write. They're family. And I love the worlds." - Sherrilyn Kenyon Sherrilyn is considered one of the most popular and influential writers in the world and the multi-genre author is best known for urban fantasy and paranormal romance, including her popular Dark-Hunters series (Amazon), now also a NY Times bestselling manga. Since her debut in the mid-90s she has placed more than 80 novels on the NY Times list in all formats and genres, including YA, children’s books, coloring books, historical romance (under the pen name Kinley MacGregor), and even graphic novels – her Lords of Avalon novels were adapted by Marvel. Ms. Kenyon's path to bestselling novelist was winding one, as you'll hear, but through all the ups and downs she has c

In Part Two of this special edition of the show the author, educator, book coach and founder of Author Accelerator, Jennie Nash, returned to go deeper on tools and strategies for writers on the winding, sometimes daunting journey, to finishing your big, scary book. "Writing a book is a noble endeavor, it does something no other art does." - Jennie Nash Jennie started her career in publishing at Random House and has over 30 years experience in all facets of the industry. She also taught at the UCLA Extension Writers' Program for 12 years and has spoken at writing conferences across the country. She's the author of seven books including a self-help book for writers – The Writer's Guide to Agony and Defeat (Amazon) – and has written hundreds of magazine articles for national publications. For nearly a decade now Jennie has been coaching authors "from inspiration to publication" (including Lisa Chron, author of Wired for Story and Story Genius, and Sam Polk, author of For the Love of Money: A Memoir), helpi

Author, educator, book coach and founder of Author Accelerator, Jennie Nash, joined me this week in a special edition of the show dedicated to unearthing tools and strategies for writers on the winding, sometimes daunting journey, to finishing your big, scary book. "Writing a book is like childbirth." - Jennie Nash Jennie started her career in publishing at Random House and has over 30 years experience in all facets of the industry. She also taught at the UCLA Extension Writers' Program for 12 years and has spoken at writing conferences across the country. She's the author of seven books including a self-help book for writers – The Writer's Guide to Agony and Defeat (Amazon) – and has written hundreds of magazine articles for national publications. For nearly a decade now Jennie has been coaching authors "from inspiration to publication" (including Lisa Chron, author of Wired for Story and Story Genius, and Sam Polk, author of For the Love of Money: A Memoir), helping them to land top New York agents an

In Part Two of this file the multi-hyphenate and bestselling author of over 20 books, Elizabeth Ann Atkins, returned to share her inspiring and winding journey from Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist to groundbreaking novelist, ghostwriter, educator, TV host, and health & wellness expert. "When you write from that intuitive voice, it's your truth. And writing from that is your power." - Elizabeth Ann Atkins She received a Master's degree in Journalism from Columbia University and her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the San Diego Tribune, Essence, Ebony and the Detroit News, for her articles on race which were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Elizabeth has written 20 books, including novels White Chocolate, Dark Secret (Amazon), and Twilight (a collaboration with Billy Dee Williams), and she's also one half of the indie publishing duo Two Sisters Writing and Publishing, with sibling Catherine, where the two share the mission to promote diverse voices in the book world. Their credo is to "..