Last week I discussed different kinds of composing tools, and how you can use them to get your work done. This week, I’m going to review the tools and tactics I use to organize my long novel in progress. I hope this talk can spark some organizational ideas for you. I, though, have only experimented with a small possibility of how a writer can organize a project. I’d love to hear from you! What are some of the ways you organize your work? What are the organizational tools you just have to use? He...
Jan 13, 2020•9 min
Today’s interview is with Eleanor Henderson, author of Ten Thousand Saints and The Twelve-Mile Straight. I loved my talk with Eleanor, especially for the number of practical, useful ideas she gave me. In the podcast, you’ll hear me react live to an exercise she has her writing students run through that I had to work on staying present in the interview because I just wanted to think about how I could apply it to my book. Do you know that feeling? Where you hear something so good it steals your at...
Jan 09, 2020•46 min
This Monday I'm out sick because my wonderful daughters got me sick (again). Just listen to my voice in the intro! I'm rerunning one of my favorite Monday Motivations -- The Waiting Place. Please enjoy and I'll be back next week with my normal schedule. Support the show
Jan 06, 2020•7 min
Today’s interview is with Amy Harmon. I was introduced to her work when I picked up her book What the Wind Knows. I loved the book and her style, especially for someone who loves historical fiction. What I did not know is how Amy is a complete baller. I’m not going to give anything away in this interview, but Amy’s writing journey, her grit, and spirit are incredibly inspiring. In fact, when we ended recording for the interview, I asked if I could call her each week for a pep talk. In this inter...
Jan 02, 2020•58 min•Ep. 9
Welcome to Monday Motivation – Composing and Editing Tools We are just a few days from 2020. New year, new decade. Boy oh boy, I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. To celebrate, on this Thursday, January 2nd at 7 pm I am hosting a free webinar on crushing your writing goals. The content is like the lite-lite version of the online course, but without the workbook and the full deep dive. If you want some quick pointers on setting your writing goals in 2020, if you want to ask some question...
Dec 30, 2019•13 min
Welcome to Monday Motivation – How Goals Saved My Life Before I get started, I want to thank all of the people who reached out with kind words about Marlowe. I am so touched by your support and stories. I recorded that episode barely a day after Marlowe died, and I was really, really raw. So, I want to say thank you for letting me share that moment and those emotions with you. Today is the last of the Monday Motivations on goals, and I’ve been working myself up to this one. There’s a reason why ...
Dec 23, 2019•14 min
Welcome to Episode 8 – How John Freeman Writes We are now just a week and a half away from the beginning of not just a new year, but a new decade. That means goal planning. For some of you, maybe you’ve set goals and haven’t been able to achieve them. Maybe you’ve dropped your goals, or not felt as if you had the right tools to accomplish them. If that is you, I’ve designed an entire online course just for writers on how to set and achieve writing goals. It is the first training I’ve published b...
Dec 19, 2019•55 min•Ep. 8
I had originally planned to do today’s Monday motivation, the last in the series on goals, on the redemptive power of affirming goals, but I have to pivot. I just don’t have it in me to dive into such a huge topic. Sometimes life gets in the way. Early last week, my almost ten-year-old-dog Marlowe started to breathe as if she had a small doggy cold. After a few days, we called the vet and they told us if she didn’t get better to bring her in the next day. That next day was Thursday. I walked Mar...
Dec 16, 2019•4 min
Welcome to Episode7 – How Deborah Landau Writes! It’d be hard for me to imagine someone who sits in a more unique spot in the creative writing world than Deborah Landau. As I say in the interview, she sees an incoming crop of incredibly talented writers as undergrad and MFA students for NYU, but she also manages a world-class team of authors as faculty. Deborah sees the entire spectrum, from those of us who are starting the writing journey, to those further down the path. This perspective is far...
Dec 12, 2019•34 min•Ep. 7
Welcome to Monday Motivation – Six Reasons to Set Writing Goals My experience with writers is that we generally look at things like structure, process, and goals as being antithetical to the writing life. And to some people, maybe they are. Writing is so deeply personal, that to try and do a one-size fits all approach to how, when, or why you write would be laughable… at best. Some people need goals, some don’t. That said, I believe that the wonky, underbelly parts of writing like structure and ...
Dec 09, 2019•7 min
Welcome to Episode 6 – How Darin Strauss Writes! Over the first month of publishing this podcast, I’ve learned that so many of the authors I’ve interviewed have taken their life story and fused it with the stories they put down on the page. This combination of real and imagined creates something powerful and timeless. I think this combination is what we love in the best of stories; the part of the storytelling that breaks from pure entertainment and into something deeper, more human. That was th...
Dec 05, 2019•58 min•Ep. 6
There are a couple of big buckets to think about when setting a writing goal for this coming year. If you didn’t catch the webinar I hosted last week, I’ll be releasing the content really really soon, but in the meantime, let’s talk about what level of excitement to use when setting your writing goals in the new year. Now, I know you’ve heard it said a million times that it is best to set “realistic” goals. I’m putting realistic in air quotes over here. But, let me tell you right now, that the l...
Dec 02, 2019•4 min
Welcome to Episode 5 – How Brian Platzer Writes As I’m sure you can see, my goal in these first interviews is to show how authors have worked through the ups and downs of life to create. Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone’s journey is unique and at times challenging and at times wonderful; but, the goal for writers is to write through all of it. This interview with Brian spans the distance of challenge, joy, and so much in between. I spent a few hours with Brian in his home office and we dis...
Nov 28, 2019•54 min•Ep. 5
Welcome to Monday Motivation – Maximize Your Energy Have you heard it said that “Time is your most valuable asset?” I won’t argue that maximizing your time on this Earth is critical, but I wouldn’t say that time is the most valuable . You have all the time in the world, but if you don’t have the energy to write, if you are physically, emotionally, and creatively depleted, you’ll show up to the desk with nothing to give. As we come into the holiday season, I want to share a framework of how you c...
Nov 25, 2019•6 min
Before we get started, have you signed up for the free webinar this evening, November 21st on how to crush your 2020 writing goals? If not, it isn’t too late. The webinar is at 7:30 pm ET tonight, and I will run through how you can set meaningful writing goals in 2020, how to stay motivated, and how to love your work along the way. I also have a few templates to download along with the webinar. Registration is open! Go to www.howwriterswrite.com/crush2020 to reserve your spot. I love this interv...
Nov 21, 2019•55 min•Ep. 4
Today, I’m inspired by a few pages of “Oh the places you’ll go!” by Dr. Suess. Anyone with at least one child has this book on their shelf. I’ll read the pages… You can get so confused That you’ll start in to race Down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace And grind on for miles across weirdish wild space Headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. The waiting place… … for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go Or a bus to come, or a plane to go Or the mail to come, or the rain to ...
Nov 18, 2019•6 min
Hello and welcome to Episode #3– How Michel Stone Writes! I am your host Brian, and If you’ve ever thought about giving up, just throwing the towel in, this Michel Stone interview is for you. But, before we get to the interview, I want to talk about setting writing goals. Those who know me will confirm that I am a big goal setter, especially my writing goals, especially in fall. Wasn’t it Fitzgerald who said, “ Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall ?” It is just the perfect t...
Nov 14, 2019•53 min•Ep. 3
Have you read the story Ming Lo Moves a Mountain by Arnold Lobel? The story goes like this… Ming Lo and his wife live in a shack right next to a mountain. The roof has holes from falling rocks from the mountain, vegetables don’t grow because the mountain is always blocking the sun. One day his wife has finally had enough, and she tells Ming Lo to go to a wise man and ask him how to move the mountain. The wise man tells Ming Lo and his wife to try all kinds of things, like ramming a tree into the...
Nov 11, 2019•6 min
I am soooooo excited to share some news! This week, the How Writers Write Podcast broke into the top 50 Fiction Podcasts on iTunes! We hit as high as #26! We are closing in on 1000 listens in just a few short days. Thank you to everyone who is supporting this podcast. I am out of my mind excited! But, I still need your help. If you haven't yet, be sure to rate, subscribe, and share this podcast. We're just getting started! Today's interview is with an author who I have admired and widely read, V...
Nov 07, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 2
Hello and welcome, this is Show #1! TODAY IS LAUNCH DAY!! Huzzah! I am so excited and thrilled and out of my mind. I’m kicking off the podcast with a really special interview. I spent the afternoon recording with the one and only Ann Hood in her Greenwich Village apartment. From the moment I met Ann, her warmth was so apparent. Ann has had times of great joy and great sadness in her life, and we talk about all of it in this interview. We dive into Ann’s working habits. How she wakes up. When she...
Nov 04, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 1
Welcome to Monday Motivation #1. Today is launch day! I am so excited! I cannot believe the How Writers Write podcast is finally live. Thank you so much for joining me on the journey. One of the reasons I decided to start the How Writers Write platform is because I’ve struggled so much with limiting beliefs, and I felt as if the writing world just wasn’t talking about the emotional, mental, and spiritual strength it takes to write. I said this in episode 0 and I believe it… most people quit writ...
Nov 04, 2019•5 min
Before we kick off the show on November 4th, I wanted to take a moment and explain why I decided to start another writing podcast in the first place. Support the show
Oct 30, 2019•10 min
