Write Now! Workshop Podcast: Write A Book, Change The World

EPISODE 173E As you start the new year, it's important to remember that over-planning and over-scheduling can lead to stress, disappointment, and - worst case scenario - burnout. To avoid that and enjoy your work all year long, plan some white space into your schedule. Some extra room in your calendar so you can move things around when necessary, and to take a little time out sometimes to stare at the ceiling and daydream. It'll boost your energy and your creativity, and lead to a more peaceful - and possibly more productive - life.

EPISODE 172I Interviewing the lovely Patricia Bradley was an exercise in paradoxes. Hearing this sweet Christian woman pronounce in her soft, Southern drawl, "Oh, I love to talk about murder. It's just fun" was just the beginning of my mind bending to look at things differently. :-D But I should have expected nothing less after I read the tagline for her website: Where love and faith cross paths...with murder. Patricia writes romantic suspense and says that murdering your characters is a great way to kill off your anxieties. (I think I'm going to try that! :-D ) What follows is a fun conversation about how she writes - an encouraging look at writing for pantsers! My biggest takeaway was when I realized that Patricia writes the scenes with the murderer or psychopath's point of view without knowing who the bad guy is - so it's just "he or she" - and later she'll have an ah-ha moment about who that person is in her story. I can't wait to try this! Patricia has a lot of great stuff on her blog, and she also

EPISODE 171I James Scott Bell is a Christy Award-winning and International Thriller Writers Award-winning author in several fiction genres, and a beloved and sought-after writing teacher. He has written many nonfiction titles on the craft of writing, including several for Writer’s Digest Books. In today’s episode, Jim talks about how he got the idea for his craft book, Write Your Novel From the Middle.

EPISODE 170T Today's guest is - ME! :-D In https://selfpublishingformula.com/episode-100/ (January 2018), James Blatch interviewed me on https://selfpublishingformula.com/spf-podcast/ (The Self Publishing Show Podcast) (then called Mark Dawson's Self Publishing Formula Podcast) about time management for writers. I've been teaching a class called https://www.writenowworkshop.com/ (Going the Distance) for over a decade, helping other writers plan their time so they can get more done. I thought this would be a good overview of all the things I teach in my course, and give you something to mull on in the back of your mind while you're cooking or shopping or wrapping presents or lying on the beach. (Hello, Southern Hemisphere!) In January, I'll come back with more practical details you can use to make 2020 your best year yet!

EPISODE 169I Today Ellen Martin is back and discussing her Radical Rx - her path from overworked entrepreneur to fighting cancer and winning with a whole new health plan. As author entrepreneurs, we have to be careful not to work ourselves to the point of burnout - as I've talked about on several episodes - or worse, a terrible illness. What can we do to keep our health at its best while also getting our work done? And what might be done if we've pushed ourselves too far? Ellen is not a medical professional, and we are not giving medical advice, but she shares what has worked for her, and encourages us all to start taking better care of ourselves today.

EPISODE 168E A friend told me the funniest thing the other day in a Facebook comment - and I had to share it with you. Such a smart, funny bit of philosophy that can apply to so many areas of life!

EPISODE 167T A couple weeks ago, I spoke to my Rotary Club about myself and ended with what I hoped was an encouraging push for everyone to believe that they have a lot to give to the world, no matter background or age. I hope listening to my talk encourages you to believe you have more power than you realize! :-D

EPISODE 166I Our guest today, Natalie Walters, has just published her second romantic suspense novel, Deadly Deceit, the followup to Living Lies. We have an enthusiastic conversation about scary movies, where to hide the bodies, and finding story ideas in your own life. Natalie finds brainstorming to be the most fun part of writing. While usually a plotter, sometimes she brainstorms the main character first and sometimes it\'s the situation. For Deadly Deceit, she was excited to come up with the method of murder first. We spend some time discussing suspension of disbelief in books and movies, and the questions that writers ask themselves in order to keep readers believing that the situation could really happen. Natalie suggests reaching out to fellow writers to ask them for contacts to interview to make sure your characters and situations are as realistic as possible. You can find Natalie on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and all of her social media links can be found on her website.

EPISODE 165I Today\'s guest is James R Hannibal, author of military thrillers for adults and fantasy adventure books for kids. His newest book is The Gryphon Heist, book one in a new series. In this episode, we chat about James\' military background and how he came to write military thrillers. We also discuss how to create characters different from ourselves, and the kinds of research James did for The Gryphon Heist. James is a big believer in the power of writers conferences to network, even if you\'re an introvert. Like many writers, he\'s made some lifetime friendships at conferences. You can find James at his website, and on most social media as James R Hannibal. He\'s most active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and is happy to answer questions on Facebook.

EPISODE 164I Since I’m sick this week, I’m bringing you an encore of one of my favorite episodes of the show, an interview with Lisa Cron, which aired April 12, 2018. I hope it inspires you! In addition to teaching writing in the UCLA Extension writing program, Lisa Cron is the author of both Wired for Story and Story Genius. She is an energetic and enthusiastic speaker who will reignite your fire and passion for writing! Lisa says that her first book, Wired for Story, is more of an explanation of how it all works in the audience member’s brain when they are reading or watching a story. Story Genius takes it a step further and explains how to make your stories amazing. If you’re a neuroscience geek like me, there’s really interesting stuff to get your mind racing along those lines. But if you just want to know, Why do people love the stories they love?, Lisa and her books will help you better understand it. This interview is so interesting on so many leve

EPISODE 163E In this Encouraging Words episode, I compare how I get a book written with how I learned to run a half marathon, and I share some of the ways I keep up positive energy when I’m writing. So much of our energy is in our minds, so watch your thoughts! So much of it also comes from our hearts, so choose how you feel about writing today. And have some fun – stickers, word count competitions with your friends, or working toward badges in something like https://nanowrimo.org/ (National Novel Writing Month).

EPISODE 162I Our guest today is debut author https://www.tarifaris.com/ (Tari Faris). Her first book, https://amzn.to/2NqUWDE (You Belong With Me), just came out in September 2019. Tari’s number one tip for authors is patience. She’s been writing for ten years, and it took seven years from the time she began pursuing publication to getting a contract. She encourages writers to find a community of writers to get involved in so you don’t feel alone. It’s also a good place to learn and share information. Tari shares other tips and things she’s learned along her journey as we discuss https://amzn.to/2NqUWDE (You Belong With Me) and the other books she’s writing in the series. In addition to the writing, we also discuss some of the business parts of writing including her decision to give away the prequel novella to anyone who https://www.tarifaris.com/ (signs up for her newsletter) by November 30, 2019. You can learn more about Tari and her books at https://www.tarifaris.com/ (TariFaris.com) and on her https:/

EPISODE 161I Today’s guest is Ellen Martin, founder of https://www.courselauncherhq.com/ (CourseLauncherHQ). We’re talking about online classes and all the questions you might have as to whether or not this is something you might want to pursue. Some of the questions Ellen answers include: How do you know if you’re really a teacher? How do you know if you know enough to teach someone else? How do you know if your class is successful? How much work is it to setup and run an online class? She also mentioned a couple of books she likes – https://amzn.to/2PgMkBT (The Course Design Formula) by Rebecca Frost Cuevas, and https://amzn.to/2BD5I3Z (Teach and Grow Rich) by Danny Iny. If you’re interested in learning whether Ellen and CourseLauncherHQ can help you, go to https://www.courselauncherhq.com/go/writenowworkshop (CourseLauncherHQ.com/go/writenowworkshop) to get more information. She’s launching a beta program soon, and it might be just the right time for you to tea

This month’s Encouraging Words episode – sorry it’s late! – is about the power of our words, both written and spoken. In Proverbs, it says words hold the power of life and death. I really think that’s true no matter what kind of words – spoken or written, fiction or social media or conversation. The tricky part is trying to keep our hearts in a good place…and keeping our mouths shut when our hearts are not quite right.

EPISODE 159I Our guest today has been a cheerful and encouraging presence on the show before – bestselling author http://www.susanmaywarren.com/ (Susan May Warren) is back to tell us about https://www.mybrilliantwritingplanner.com/ (My Brilliant Writing Planner). When people started asking Susie May how she gets so much done, she explained her system for planning and organizing all the facets of her life from writing to mothering to personal time. Her base idea is called power blocking, and she explains how she’s been using it for years. Eventually, she created her own daily planner that included all the aspects of her writing career that she wanted to plan and track as well as aspects of her daily life that also needed to be done. In the new planner, there is also a section at the beginning explaining values-based planning, and a sacred rest assessment. Understanding what Susie May intended when she created the planner will help you use it in the best way for you personally. There is even a fr

EPISODE 158I Join us today as https://sites.google.com/site/carollwright/ (Carol L Wright) and https://www.wordsmeetworld.com/ (AE Decker) from the https://sites.google.com/site/bethlehemwritersgroup/home (Bethlehem Writers Group) share their wisdom and experiences in creating an online literary magazine. Carol and Ann explain how it all started, some of the mistakes made along the way, and how they found their groove. In addition to the quarterly literary magazine, https://sites.google.com/site/bethlehemwritersroundtable/ (Bethlehem Writers Roundtable) (a paying market!), the group also publishes an anthology of short stories every other year. Early each year they host a contest based on the theme of the anthology. The annual winners are published in the anthology, and the runners-up are published in the online magazine. A celebrity judge chooses the best story. In 2019, https://johngroganbooks.com/ (John Grogan), author of Marley and Me, was the final judge. In 2020, https://www.peterabrahams.com/ (Spe

Today’s guest is https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/352222/Women-of-Ubisoft-Ellie-Rhodes (Ellie Rhodes), a product manager (and copywriter!) at Ubisoft Montreal, a video game developer. Ellie has tweeted her experiences in the area of anxiety, depression, and burnout, sharing tips with her followers about coping mechanisms and just helping others know they are not alone. We talk about burnout and the video game industry, self-care tips and taking selfish time to renew your energy (might be a puzzle, might be watching cake decorating videos or farm animals on YouTube), and more things Ellie and I have found that help or hinder the healing process. Ellie and I hope that this episode is encouraging to you – personally or so you can help a friend.   If you’d like to read the article that introduced me to Ellie in the first place, you can do so https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/352222/Women-of-Ubisoft-Ellie-Rhodes (here). A list of all the Women of Ubisoft articles is https://news.ubis

EPISODE 156E Sometimes it seems like I overplan. Some days I think I need a better plan. I’ve had a few days that have been blissful with no plan! But how do you know when to do the one thing and when to do the other? I give you my best ideas on how I decide.

EPISODE 155T Many of us are wrapping up the summer, vacations, and watching or helping students go back to school. It’s one of those natural times of year to see what else we want to accomplish in the last few months, and figure out the best way to accomplish our goals. I teach a time management class most January’s, and I help people do all they can to accomplish the tasks they set for themselves. But this past year or so, I’ve been very careful about not helping you to the point where you burn out, too. One of the things that can help is planned time off. I marked last Sunday off my calendar specifically to have no plans. It was blissful! So in addition to planning some time off, we also want to plan the most important things we want to get done before year’s end. You can plan forward – how much time do you have each day or week, and how much can you get done in that time. Or plan backwards – what do you need to get done, and how many hours a day or week will be neces

EPISODE 154T Sadly, I’ve felt like my journey to recovery from burnout has been a bit two or three steps forward, one step back. I don’t ever want to create an episode about it just to have someone to vent to, but it’s been a hard few weeks. I thought if I could figure out…