Write Now With Sarah Werner | For Writers, On Writing

Talking about creation and destruction go hand-in-hand. And I think that writers play a special part in not only conveying the destruction of the present, but creating the future. Makers gonna make, yo. Let's do this together in episode 031 of the Write Now podcast. Creation, destruction, & writing. Destruction is hard to talk about -- it's so deeply tied with loss and grief and pain. But it's a reality that we as writers have to deal with, whether it's the latest in a string of mass shootings, the bulldozing of a beloved local forest, or an illness that's ravaging the body or mind of someone dear to us. Today's episode is based on a quote that I love by Maxine Hong Kingston: "In a time of destruction, create something." -- Maxine Hong Kingston And so when we're in the midst of a time of destruction, a long and vast stretch of wilderness, I think what matters is how we respond to it. Because we are powerful, creative beings. I've said it before and I'll say it again until the day I die -- words have power

Episode 006: Kate Dyer-Seeley My friends, I have to admit: this episode of Coffee Break almost turned me into a hypocrite. Earlier this week, I released an episode of Write Now titled Letting Go, especially re: perfectionism. I proclaimed, several times, that "done is better than perfect!" This episode of Coffee Break really challenged that belief. The audio quality is not very good, thanks to a shoddy Skype/internet connection and echo-chamber-like setting, and my interview questions were total lame-sauce. I considered simply deleting this episode and sending an effusive apology letter to the interviewee, Kate Dyer-Seeley, who despite my flailing was absolutely delightful. But I couldn't do that, because on top of everything else I am stubborn as heck. So instead I'll apologize to you, lovely listener, for the substandard audio quality, let it go, and move on. :) Kate Dyer-Seeley on mystery plotting, hiking, & the magic of editing: Today's Coffee Break focuses on Pacific Northwest author Kate Dyer-Seeley.

  Letting go is one of the hardest things a writer (let alone a human being) has to do. It speaks of loss -- whether willful or not -- and grief and all manner of unpleasant things. But as a writer, you have to do it. And it would benefit you to learn to do it well, and with grace. Today, in Episode 030 of the Write Now podcast, we'll talk about the different types of letting go you may face in your daily writing, work, and life overall. And I'll try not to get that Disney song stuck in your head. How to let go of: Perfectionism. Remember, done is better than perfect. Things that have changed and you cannot change back. And how to be OK with it. Needing to change other people (and letting go of your own ego). You are a finite resource, and you may need to pick your battles. Your own self-deceit. Sometimes clinging to a good idea prevents you from working on a great idea. Finally, we'll talk about how to know when to let things go, and how to give yourself some breathing room. This is important stuf

I'm back from my mission trip to Jamaica, my friends. And I have several stories and writing insights to share with you. It's all here in episode 029 of the Write Now podcast. Is travel a "must" for writers? Travel is a great way for writers to learn, grow, and gain an entirely new perspective. The only downside is that it's not feasible or accessible for everyone. Travel can be expensive, and not everyone can take an extended leave of absence from work, family, or other duties. This is why I'm so grateful to my employer, Click Rain, for sending me on an annual overseas mission trip to inland Jamaica for the past three years. In today's podcast episode, you'll hear all about my trip and how it affected me as a writer. A more complete and engaging story. I acknowledge the irony of lauding "writing with all of your senses" in the same episode in which I visit a village for the deaf. But I'm not saying that you need all five senses (or only five senses) to be a good writer. Not at all. I think that films and

Episode 005: Abraham Allende It's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy another episode of Coffee Break. I love talking with people who have interesting stories to tell. And Abraham Allende -- former Cleveland sportscaster and current bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the ELCA -- has many. Language has been a central part of Bishop Allende's career, from teaching high-school French to broadcasting Cleveland Indians games under the name Allen Davis. And he continues to speak, teach, and write professionally today -- though now it's from the pulpit. Despite any misgivings you may have about organized religion, I think you'll enjoy our conversation about the power of language and the messages we choose to share. We also talk about what it means to be called to a vocation. (You know, like writing. Or teaching. Or whatever it is you feel called to do.) Oh, and the importance of being authentic. All good stuff. Visit Bishop Allende's blog, or read more about him at Cleveland.com. Want to be on Coffee Break

Welcome to Episode 028 of Write Now. I've returned from my annual writing retreat and we've got some catching up to do. Should I take a writing retreat? I've spoken with a lot of writers over the years about the merits of a writers' retreat. And the question of Should I? isn't really fair to ask, since the answer has been a resounding Yes! from all surveyed. Perhaps a better question to ask is: How do I keep the good effects of a short-term writing retreat going throughout the year? Takin' it to the woods. I know the woods aren't for everyone, but they're where it's at for me. And this year, I witnessed a lot of cool stuff, including a tiny snake, a toad that sat on my foot, and something mysterious howling in the night. But best of all, I found stillness and silence. I had time to process my thoughts (and time to even have thoughts in the first place). I ate when I was hungry and slept when I was tired, and read and wrote whenever the urge struck me -- which, in this environment, was often. You don't nee

Help support this podcast on Patreon! >> It's November--and you know what that means! Or maybe you don't, in which case I'll tell you: it's NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH! And the way I see it, November is a time to celebrate all writers, not just novelists. That includes you. Get ready for the writing frenzy with episode 027 of Write Now. What is NaNoWriMo, and is it right for me? NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month (because who wants to say that over and over?), and over the years this has become a sort of marathon for writers. The challenge? To write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days, from November 1-30. Yes, that's nearly 1,700 words per day. Yes, that's insane. But it can also be kind of fun, and a great way to get into a daily writing habit. Keeping NaNoWriMo realistic. NaNoWriMo is a positive, inclusive event that encourages everyone to tell a story, and I love it for that. But it can also be incredibly difficult to meet and keep up with the daily word count. That's why I advocate partici

Episode 004: Dave Booda It's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy another episode of Coffee Break. Dave Booda (that's him, with the magnificent man-bun) of the Darken the Page podcast got in touch with me a while ago about recording a podcast episode together, and I thought it sounded like a great idea. SO THAT IS WHAT WE DID. Enjoy our banter about the creative process and all the STUFF that comes with it. :D Please note: This episode originally aired as Episode 43 of the Darken the Page podcast, but Dave very generously let me use it for today's Coffee Break as well. Thanks, my friend! Interested in Coffee Break? I'm always looking for exciting people to showcase with casual conversations about creativity, writing, and work/life balance. Send me an email at hello [at] sarahwerner [dot] com or contact me if you're interested in a guest appearance. WOOOO, email! Find out all of the latest haps when you sign up for my email newsletter! I promise I won't spam you. :) Subscribe to Coffee Break (& Write Now). Yo

Help support this podcast! >> Episode 026 of the Write Now podcast is once again sponsored by my good friend Dave Booda at the Darken the Page podcast. Check it out! Life isn't always as amazing as we'd like it to be. ...To put it lightly. Sometimes the Powers That Be decide that juggling the usual work/life/writing balance just isn't hard enough, and sends us fun new things to deal with on top of it all. Things like illness, depression, toxic people, and bad situations at work. So what's a writer to do? Keep yourself from getting lost. Sometimes, it's easy for all that rotten stuff to get to us -- to corrupt us, to dishearten us, to discourage us from writing. But you're stronger than that. Today we're going to talk about that, and about how to stay true to yourself during the toughest times. Tell me your thoughts. How do you deal with all of the negative stuff that life throws your way? Submit your thoughts or questions on my contact page, or simply email me at hello [at] sarahwerner [dot] com. I can'

Episode 003: Matt Paulson Hey friends. It's time for another Coffee Break! Today, I'm speaking to my good friend Matt Paulson, the author of two books and finance blogger-turned-entrepreneur. Matt is a smart dude who did something really interesting. He built a software program to gather financial data and generate blog posts about it. So today he's talking to us as the writer who literally built his own robot replacement. It's like science fiction, but it's REAL LIFE! And Matt has seen an incredible amount of success. That left Matt the writer with nothing left to write -- so he started writing books. One of those books he wrote in just 18 days (which you'll hear more about in this episode), and it's about an aspect of being a writer that often gets overlooked or pushed to the sidelines -- marketing. Matt's newest book, Email Marketing Demystified, is a great and accessible way to gain a following for bloggers, novelists, and writers of all kinds. He spills some secrets in this episode about when to sta

Help support this podcast! >> Episode 025 of the Write Now podcast is sponsored by my good friend Dave Booda at the Darken the Page podcast for creatives of all kinds. He's a smart and funny dude. Check it out! LET'S TALK ABOUT BOOKS AGAIN! Today's podcast is a follow-up to last week's episode about 5 of my 10 favorite books. In this episode, you'll learn about the remaining five, as well as the reasons why they're so important to me: My remaining 5 favorite books! All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle Sabriel by Garth Nix Storm Front by Jim Butcher I'm so excited to share these books with you! Tell me your thoughts. Do you have a favorite book (or two or three or fifty)? Have you read any of the 10 books on my list of favorites? What did you think of them? Submit your own thoughts or questions on my contact page, or simply email me at hello [at] sarahwerner [dot] com. I can't wait to hear from you! Lea

Episode 002: Mad Like Alyce Welcome to another episode of Coffee Break! This week, I'm talking to lifestyle blogger Mad Like Alyce, who offers a special focus on living a healthier life with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and chronic pain. This is a great podcast episode for any writer who has a blog or is thinking about starting a blog! In our conversation, Alyce & I talk about the importance of selecting a niche for your blog without letting it confine or label you, how to draw inspiration from other bloggers while maintaining your own voice, how much time to spend writing a post vs. how much value it provides to your readers, and so much more. Alyce is not only a writer but a tech geek like myself, and so you'll also get some tips on starting your blog on a shoestring budget, using Google Analytics to understand and grow your blog traffic, and finding the right blogging platform. I hope you enjoy it. Visit Alyce's blog. You'll find Alyce online at madlikealyce.com, where she blogs about living 

Help support this podcast! >> DID YOU KNOW THAT I LOVE BOOKS? This is a good thing, because episode 024 of the Write Now podcast is all about books. Hooray! This week's episode is sponsored by my good friend Dave Booda at the Darken the Page podcast. Dave is passionate about exploring the creative process, and his interview-style podcast lends some great perspective. Check it out! What are your favorite books? As writers, we tend to love books. Many books, various books, perhaps even all books. But we still have our favorites -- those books that we've had since childhood, books that comforted us when we were afraid, that kept us company when we were lonely. Those books that contain characters we count closer than our friends and remind us of all the possibilities life can bring. Here are 5 of my 10 favorite books, along with the reasons why. My favorite books! Today's podcast is about 5 of my 10 favorite books, and it gives you some background on why they're so important to me: Pattern Recognition by W

A truly delightful conversation with the author of the Thornleigh Saga about crafting a real page-turner. Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/sarahrheawerner 

Help support this podcast! >> Oh man. Episode 023 of the Write Now podcast is about SUCCESS. Get ready  for some kind of MONTAGE or MOTIVATIONAL POSTER, probably! ...Or, you know, a nice earnest discussion on what it means to find success as a writer. What does success look like for you as a writer? It's something that we all daydream about but rarely give any serious thought: What would it look like if we were successful? I think that a lot of writers interpret success as a "luck of the draw" type fate, and to a certain degree, that's true. But I think those writers also tend to underestimate the power of strategic planning and goal-setting. It all starts with understanding and defining what success means for and looks like to you as a writer. For you, is success: Changing the way your society operates? Shaking up the status quo? Spreading an idea? Selling a lot of books? Making a ton of money from selling a ton of books? Hitting the New York Times or Amazon bestseller list? Or is it something e

Help support this podcast! >> Hey friends. Have you ever questioned your writer-ly destiny? Then Episode 022 of the Write Now podcast is for you. What if I simply wasn't meant to be a writer? I received a letter from a very bright, very talented young writer named Amanda who was wondering whether she was actually meant to be a writer. Her letter affected me so much that I decided to dedicate this episode to exploring the topic. Amanda writes, I'm not sure if I'm meant to be writing... I like coming up with characters and thinking about the situations they would get into. I like developing the characters. I love dialogue particularly. ...But I spend maybe 5% of my writing time actually writing. The rest of the time, I am in misery. I agonize over my faults until I can barely move, let alone be creative... I'm just wondering if I should even be writing at all. Can someone maybe have a passion for writing but then shouldn't do it anyway? Wow. It took me a while, but I was finally able to provide Amanda with

Help support this podcast! >> My friends. Episode 021 of the Write Now podcast is about writer's block and how to defeat it. GET READY. Have you ever struggled with writers' block? Writers' block can seize any writer at any point during the writing process. But that doesn't mean you can't fight back! In today's podcast episode, I talk about what to do when: You can't come up with an idea You have too many ideas and you can't commit to just one You don't know what to write next You've strayed from your outline and you don't know how to get back on track You're bored with what you've written You don't feel like writing You're paralyzed by fear You're stuck in revision purgatory The many cures for writers' block. From writing exercises to the steps to getting unstuck (WN 013), getting yourself in a writing mood (WN 008), or regaining your confidence (WN 005), you'll want to make sure that you choose the cure that fits your situation. I'll help you do that in today's episode. Going through a period o

Help support this podcast! >> I never intended to go into marketing. In fact, I just kind of fell into it -- and realized I was fairly decent at it. In marketing, I've learned a lot about truth (and how people respond to truth) that I'll share with you today in Episode 020 of the Write Now podcast. Truth! Beauty! Right? There's an adage that says, "Writers are professional liars." I can understand the cynicism and humor that lie beneath that statement, but I don't agree with it. Not a bit. When you're writing to connect with people, whether it's an account of factual events or a story about unicorns piloting spaceships through a multiverse of rainbows, you have a responsibility to tell the truth. The fiction writer is the penultimate truth-teller. The resonant and enduring beauty of fiction doesn't lie in a mere faithful retelling of events. And simply writing what you know (yet another writing adage) is not enough. We write and read fiction to connect with others -- to find truths in one another. As Erne

Help support this podcast! >> Do you have a writing mentor? Find out why it's super-important to have one in Episode 019 of the Write Now podcast! Every writer needs a mentor. What are the benefits of having a writing mentor? How do you go about finding one? Is it possible you have one already? And how can you tell a good mentor from a bad one? SO MANY QUESTIONS! Good thing I have so many answers. You are not alone. I think that, in general, writing as seen as a fundamentally solitary, isolated, and alone process. We imagine writers sitting up late at night at a well-shadowed desk, sipping cognac by the fire, shut into an office or study, out for a lonely walk. Maybe it's a man, maybe it's a woman. Heck, maybe it's this guy: (Sorry, I couldn't resist. That pipe-chomping, suspender-wearing image of a writer really cracks me up.) Point is, I don't think it's healthy for a writer to be perfectly 100% alone in their craft. Good vs. bad mentors! I share the story of how I met my current mentor, Melissa, and w

Help support this podcast! >> Hey there, friends. In episode 018 of the Write Now podcast, I'm going to give you some advice that I'll bet you don't hear all that often: Fail a lot. As writers, why are we such perfectionists? Why do we expect perfection from ourselves? Shouldn't we understand better than anyone else that the human creature is inherently and beautifully flawed? I know, I know. I'm guilty of this, too. But let's do something we writers tend to be not-super-great at and dive headfirst into REALITY and admit: We are human. We are not perfect. And that is okay. Go ahead and repeat that a couple times, whether out loud or simply to yourself. Because it's true, and it's true of everyone. Especially if you're the type of person who protects yourself from failure -- and by doing so also prevents yourself from trying. And protects yourself from success. Failure fun facts: Failure is not rejection -- rejection is subjective feedback. Failure is not the opposite of success -- failure is a step