Talk About Writing

Writing through all the moods: Dealing with PMS, lethargy, lack of motivation, boredom, and more

In this episode of Talk About Writing, we explore what it means to write when you’re feeling low, unmotivated, or simply uninspired. Whether it’s due to lethargy, PMS, hormonal fluctuations, or just a dip in mental energy, many writers find that their productivity and the quality of their work suffer during such times. We discuss practical approaches to keep going when you’re not at your creative peak, as well as the importance of accepting that creativity naturally ebbs and flows. Touching brie...

The Self-Starter Guide to Writing Stories, Part III: The Setting/Location

What makes a darkened street or a haunted house feel real in your story? In this episode of Talk About Writing , we dig into the craft of building settings that are not just seen, but sensed, and how spaces carry mood and meaning. Drawing on writers like Dickens and Agatha Christie, as well as ideas from philosophers like Gernot Böhme and Henri Lefebvre, we’ll explore how settings shape emotions, reflect power dynamics, impact behaviours, shape relations, and even become characters themselves. I...

Writing in Cafes and Coffeehouse Cultures

There is something peaceful and stimulating about writing in cafés. In this episode, we talk about the timeless ritual of creating in coffeehouses. From the Ottoman Empire to Sigmund Freud’s Vienna, cafés represent the timeless ritual that blends solitude with crowds, which can be the perfect ground for writing. Let's dive into how working in cafes help us write better (or at least, make us 'feel' like writers). This bite-sized episode is all about coffee-fueled productivity, ambient noise psych...

The Self-Starter Guide to Writing Stories, Part II: Creating Powerful Protagonists

Today, we're diving into one of the most exciting—and perhaps most challenging—parts of writing fiction: building unforgettable and impactful characters. This is not just about the fundamentals. It is important to think about how characters can carry a narrative—how they can shape a story just as much as the plot itself. The best characters don’t just support the story—they are the story. In this episode, I’ll walk you through a framework—something I call the EIEPF model—that breaks down five es...

(Special Episode) “Is Translation an Impossible Art?” A Conversation with Arunava Sinha

Translation is more than transforming just words—it’s about preserving the rhythm, emotion, and the soul of a text to allow the reader to taste the essence of the original. In this episode of Talk About Writing , I sit down with renowned translator and professor of practice, Arunava Sinha , to explore the art of translation—what it means to carry a text across languages, cultures, and time. With nearly 100 translations to his name, Arunava has played a major role in bringing classic, modern, and...

The Self-Starter Guide to Writing, Part I: How to Come Up with THE Idea

Talk About Writing – Season 2, Episode 1 The Self-Starter Guide to Writing, Part I: How to Come Up with THE Idea, Staying Curious, and How Too Much Thinking Spoils the Story Welcome back, writers! After a much-needed break (and many scoops of gelato in Florence), I’m thrilled to launch Season 2 of Talk About Writing! This season is all about the technical side of writing—guiding you through the process of finishing a manuscript. In this first installment of the Self-Starter Series, we tackle one...

9. Rotten Apples, Hotel Rooms and Writing Naked: The Quirks of Famous Authors

Writers use strange and creative methods to stay productive. After all, writing requires persistence, and embracing peculiarities can sometimes unlock creative flow. This episode explores the unique habits of Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Agatha Christie, and others. It also touches on quirky habits like Friedrich Schiller inhaling the scent of rotten apples to stimulate his creativity and Dan Brown hanging upside down to overcome writer’s block. An unlikely writer wrote naked, because that is h...

8. Unfinished Stories and When to let go of a Manuscript

7. Writing from Memory, Why We Reminisce, and the “Proust Effect”

In this episode, we will delve into the connection between memory, reminiscence, and writing, drawing on the notion of the "Proust Effect." This concept, named after French novelist Marcel Proust, and describes how sensory experiences can lead to vivid recollections, especially those that are involuntarily. This sudden surfacing of memories, often at unexpected times, indicates the power of reminiscence in shaping our narratives on one hand, and our understanding of ourselves, on the other. The ...

Rambling While Writing, Existential Thoughts and Why We Gaze at the Stars in the Night Sky

In this episode we will explore why we go off on tangents that make our writing seem incoherent, ruining the flow and meaning, how it is connected to us having existential thoughts and, ultimately, to why we look at the stars in the night sky. The big question here is: why do we gaze at the trillions of shimmering celestial bodies that are thousands of light years away and seem unrelated to our mortal lives? Is it because we are drawn to the mysteries of the universe, to what lies beyond our rea...

The Neuroscience of Creative Writing: Brain Regions, Epiphanies, and Psychoactive Substances

Have you ever wondered why artistic people seem to be slightly different than the rest? That many of the creative people that we know seem to have unique personalities, and even tend to be somewhat eccentric? And have you ever read someone’s work and thought to yourself - wow, this writer’s brain is 'wired' differently? For this episode, we will get into the neuroscience of creative writing, by exploring some of the neural mechanisms that form the basis of writing creatively. We will discuss the...

The Art of Writing Dialogues and Why We Ruminate Over Conversations

In this episode, we will explore how dialogues operate in works of fiction, and what makes conversations between characters sound authentic, so that readers feel wholly invested. While doing so, we will also will delve into the broader picture of how the conversations that we have in our lives impact us as individuals, to be able to leverage those experiences while crafting powerful dialogues and conversations in our writing.

Fictional Settings, Literary Geographies and How Spaces/Places Affect Us

Have you noticed how we feel different in new cities, behave a particular way in certain social settings, and sometimes feel entirely out of place even in familiar surroundings?b We, as cognitive, perceptive, sentimental, and inquisitive individuals, tend to absorb elements of the spaces we are in or have been in. Even when we don't directly interact with the spaces around us, they have varying effects on our mental and physical state of being, sometimes even controlling our actions. This is a r...

"What Do I Write About?" Overthinking, Perfectionism and Indecisiveness in Writing

Feeling uninspired, stuck in a creative rut, and not knowing what topic to write on, is a common experience. Choosing the right subject can often be more challenging than the writing itself. We know that it's not just about finding any topic, but one that resonates with us, elevates our writing style, and showcases our talents in the best possible way. The key lies in identifying ideas with potential and having the confidence to develop them. In this episode, I will explore some reasons why we t...

Self-doubt, Fear of Criticism and Writing Anxieties

Feeling unsure about your writing is fairly common, especially when you are trying to pitch your work for publication. In this episode, we will talk about some of the unspoken struggles of being a writer, particularly in the beginning stages, to help you navigate these difficult moments in your journey.