Jennifer Dukes Lee ​invites you to transform into a better writer​ through “beautifully ruthless self-discovery.”

It starts in the pages of your journal.

In a recent interview, she delves into the therapeutic benefits of daily gratitude journaling and its potential to rewire our brains. By writing down things we’re grateful for, our minds seek out the positive.

Jennifer recommends guided journals when we’re stymied by writer’s block. The blank page of a traditional journal can overwhelm us. What should we say? Where should we start?

Guided journals aren’t blank pages—they provide prompts and structure when you’re stuck or unsure of what to write.

She stresses that journaling serves as a valuable tool for self-discovery and creative expression. When you use journaling to explore your experiences, memories, and struggles, you can weave your discoveries into your writing. This deep dive into the human condition adds depth and authenticity to all our writing: poetry, creative nonfiction, online writing, and fiction.

Jennifer introduces questions from her guided journal: some profound, some silly. Either way, they open you up and lead to deeper self-knowledge.

Some of your journal entries will be personal and remain private, just as her recent book title suggests: Stuff I’d Only Tell God.

Other entries you could share with a family member or friend, creating deeper connections through your vulnerability.

You’ll see how journaling unleashes your creative potential and invites you to be more open, leaving a lasting impact on yourself, your closest relationships, and your readers.

Listen in on our discussion—and start journaling—to become a more authentic and impactful writer.

Meet Jennifer Dukes Lee

Jennifer Dukes Lee is a bestselling author, thinker, and question-asker from Iowa. Her friends say they’re scared to sit alone in a room with her because they end up telling her things they never intended to say. She is both proud of this fact and also a little annoyed at how nosy she can be.

She put a bunch of her favorite questions into a journal called Stuff I’d Only Tell God. It’s like your own little confession booth.

She’s also the author of Growing Slow and It’s All Under Control.

Subscribe to her newsletter Top Ten with Jen to get the inside scoop on stuff that is blowing her mind, encouraging her heart, and refreshing her soul (subscribe and you’ll also get immediate access to free resources): https://jenniferdukeslee.com/subscribe/

Connect with Jennifer:

• Learn more at jenniferdukeslee.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferDukesLee
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferdukeslee/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jenniferdukeslee
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dukeslee/
• Subscribe to Top Ten with Jen: https://jenniferdukeslee.com/subscribe/

Time Stamps

The whole interview is packed with inspiration and ideas, but perhaps these time stamps help you navigate to places in our discussion that may seem more interesting.

5:29 Courageous honesty leads to self-discovery.
7:21 Journaling and memory keeping.
8:53 Journaling is essential for writing.
11:23 Gratitude journaling and its impact.
14:48 Journaling can inspire and inform.
15:01 Inspiration from journaling.
16:27 Outline and plan your writing.
19:06 The short form writing process.
22:03 Journaling preserves memories and emotions.
24:09 Capturing memories through journaling.
26:33 Journaling sparks creative self-discovery.
29:08 Writing about interesting moments.
29:35 Birds and dreaming.
31:38 Trust the spark, capture it.
35:56 Treating journals with different purposes.
37:48 Social media and storytelling.
41:33 Battle with depression and anxiety.

Transcript

(Transcripts are reviewed and lightly edited.)

Ann Kroeker I’m Ann Kroeker, writing coach. If you’re tuning in for the first time, welcome! If you’re a regular, welcome back.

Today I’m with Jennifer Dukes Lee, author of the guided journal Stuff I’d Only Tell God, and we’re discussing how courageously honest journaling can make us a better writer. Jennifer’s a best-selling author, thinker, and question-asker from Iowa, and she’s also a personal friend.

Her friends say they’re scared to sit in the same room with her because they’re afraid they’re going to tell her things they never intended to share. She says she’s proud of that, but also a little annoyed at how nosy she can be. Well, she put a lot of her questions into this one resource, Stuff I’d Only Tell God. It’s like your own little confession booth. She’s also author of Growing Slow, and It’s All Under Control. You can learn more about Jennifer at jenniferdukeslee.com.

Jennifer, it’s great to have you on the show. Welcome.

Jennifer Dukes Lee Yeah, we better watch out. According to that bio, I might turn the tables today and start peppering you with questions.

[laughter]

Life will never make sense until we get curious enough to ask good questions.

Ann Kroeker And you know, you’re more than just a guest here appearing. You’re also my friend. And so yeah, I can vouch for the fact that you do ask great questions.

And you ask great questions not only as a friend, but also with your background as a reporter.

And then all these years of being an author, and working with authors, you know, you’re funneling all that into this new book, Stuff I’d Only Tell God.

So, one thing I noticed when I opened it up and I looked inside, read through the prompts, I realized, first of all, I’ve got a lot of writing to do using these prompts for a very long time. There are plenty that will get me through, I think, more than a year for me.

But one of the things you said at the beginning was this. You write, “Here’s what I know to be true. Life will never make sense until we get curious enough to ask good questions.”

Say a little bit more about that from your background that I just described.

We get to know each other through the questions that we ask each other.

01:52 Jennifer Dukes Lee Well, when you think just relationally how we get to know one another, it’s the questions that we ask each other. I’m still learning about my husband of 27 years due to just asking questions out of this journal, for instance.

And life doesn’t make sense, relationships don’t make sense, faith doesn’t make sense until we get brave enough to ask good questions.

I come from a Christian background and a Christian worldview. And my way to faith was through questions. I was a deep, deep intellectual doubter of God and Jesus. And it was questions that led me into a life of faith. It’s questions that now I consider Jesus, my CEO of my ministry, when it was like 20 years ago, I didn’t even know if he existed.

So yeah, questions have helped everything make sense. And I’m just going to keep asking them to learn more about myself and learn more about people and learn more about God.

Questions have helped everything make sense.

02:49 Ann Kroeker I love it. And this book you have, it’s Stuff I’d Only Tell God, but what you just pointed out is that you actually can use these questions not only for your personal self-reflection, but to grow closer to other people. And so it’s not really stuff I’d only tell God.

I did notice that you have a section that’s like, you probably don’t want to … [you might want to] shove this part under your mattress. But you say in the subtitle it’s a guided journal of “courageous honesty, obsessive truth-telling, and beautifully ruthless self-discovery.” What does that mean to you? And how do people process all of that?

Really dig in and go hard after the truth of your own life.

03:31 Jennifer Dukes Lee Yeah, I wanted to convey the passionate aspect of this book, to really dig in. Journaling in general is digging in and pressing into how you’re feeling or pressing into your worries and your fears, your doubts, whatever it is. But I am calling people to go on an even deeper journey. And so I’m like, how do I convey that? What are the words that I could use?

And I remember sitting on the couch while Scott was watching Netflix and I was supposed to be watching Netflix, but I’m like, as a writer, I’m like busily in the notes app of my phone trying to craft this idea. And it just came to me and I’m like, Scott, pause Netflix. I’ve got to read this to you.

And it conveys that passion of honesty is one thing, but recognizing that there’s a certain kind of honesty that takes real courage. That’s where “courageous honesty” comes in, because it does take courage to get honest about what’s going on in our lives. It takes courage to look into our past and see how that’s shaped who we are today. It takes courageous honesty to ask God some important questions and to get honest with him about what’s going on in our lives.

And then when it comes to that “obsessive truth telling,” leave nothing behind. Just be obsessive about it. Really dig in and go hard after the truth of your own life.

When it comes to that “obsessive truth telling,” leave nothing behind.

And then the “beautifully ruthless self-discovery,” self-discovery is almost a buzzword, it’s just learning more about yourself so you can decide what you want to be as you move forward. But I know that the kind of self-discovery I’m asking people to do in this guided journal is ruthless. It’s hard to dig like that, but in the end, it’s beautiful. So that’s how I came up with “beautifully ruthless self-discovery.” So it conveys, I think, an idea of I’m going to do this thing and it’s going to make a difference. And if it’s going to make a real difference, then I need to give it all I’ve got.

05:33 Ann Kroeker Well, when I looked at those questions, as I said, I think it’s going to take me a very long time to work through them. And it’s for that very reason. It’s going to be a deep dive and hard work. And I don’t want to just rush through them. I want to spend some time with them and I hope that your readers do as well. And do you feel like this cross-section of being a writer, which you are, an author, you write regularly, you have great social media posts that really go deeper than what is normal, how much would you say your journaling intersects with your own writing efforts and projects?

06:09 Jennifer Dukes Lee Oh, quite a bit. I have sitting over here about seven different journals. Like you can’t see them in the camera, but I have a number of them. I’m going to show you a few of them actually.

So of course I’ve got Stuff I’d only tell God.

Multiple things in [journals] have then become social media posts, which may end up in books.

I have a gratitude journal. And when you take time to pause about what you’re grateful for, like all the time I’m like, oh yeah, like here, Beth Moore ministry was number 665. And I ended up making a post about something related to the Beth Moore ministry that has become my biggest Instagram post of all time. Just because I happen to just write it in a gratitude journal, whether it’ll make it in a book, I don’t know. But like there’s multiple things in here that have then become social media posts, which may end up in books that usually goes in that order.

I have a prayer journal where I keep track of things that I just need to pray about.

I have a commonplacing journal. I use this one a lot in my writing of books. This is where I keep quotes and other people’s thoughts and ideas and knowledge. This dates back, especially to the Renaissance era, where people would, they would call them commonplacing books and they would write down things that meant something to them. And I love doing the same thing. So this will definitely make its way into books because I keep quotes that I love.

I have a couple other journals here, but this one is very basic, very boring. It almost is like, I call it a memory-keeping journal. And in here are stories and sometimes just phrases or snippets. It’s not pretty on the outside. It’s not like Instagram-able, but they’re ideas and thoughts that I don’t want to forget. And often these will make … the memory-keeping journal stories will make their way into social media posts and into books.

Furthermore, I have the Notes app, which I treat as a journal. I told you, I’ve got a lot of them! And if I think of something, it’s going down in the notes app that counts as journaling.

And then finally, I have a running document on my computer called “Possible Posts,” which is really just a running list of ideas. And it’s 16,500 words. This is my one for this year. I started it in the spring, but that’s just all kinds of ideas and thoughts. And so I go to that file and I write from that particular document. And that counts as journaling too. Some of it makes its way into social media. Then some of it makes its way into a book. Some of it stays just for me, but it is just an absolute vital part of my ministry and my book writing.

Ann Kroeker How do you keep track of them all?

Jennifer Dukes Lee I don’t go through them every day.

Ann Kroeker Yeah. Okay. [voices overlap] Go ahead.

Jennifer Dukes Lee Yeah. I don’t go through them every day. I think that can be overwhelming when people hear about all the journals that I keep.

Some journals, maybe the memory-keeping one, I’m only in maybe once a week.

The gratitude journal, maybe a bit more. Commonplacing, it just depends on what I see.

So I know what they look like and they’re at the ready whenever I need them. The one that I’m in the most, quite honestly, is the Word document because it’s on my computer, which is where I create content for people in books and social media posts.

09:27 Ann Kroeker Okay. I’m going to just camp here for just a second because I get really practical and very curious. You said they’re always at the ready. You’ve always got these analog books, these physical books ready to fill in. Like when I’m traveling, I like to keep things pretty digital because then it’s lightweight. It’s always with me. Do you take these with you everywhere?

09:52 Jennifer Dukes Lee No, I don’t. I have been taking Stuff I’d Only Tell God with me. I’ve been doing a lot of travel this summer, mostly because I have committed to doing what I’m asking other people to do. So that is the one that I have taken. I also have been taking, I usually take this one, this is Praying the Scriptures for Your Kids. So this is how I parent now. I’m “prayerenting,” I call it, because my kids are now out of the house and so I’ve been praying the scriptures. But every once in a while, I’ve taken a gratitude journal or if I think I’m going to find some interesting stories, I might take my memory-keeping journal. But usually just one, maybe two, sometimes none.

10:26 Ann Kroeker So if you’ve got somebody who’s never really journaled before, obviously the best first step is to buy Stuff I’d Only Tell God. How can they make their decision about like, “I’m ready to do more with this”? Maybe they’ve had a stop-start experience with journaling in the past. Where should they begin to try to make this an ongoing habit?

Would you survive a zombie apocalypse?

10:51 Jennifer Dukes Lee It depends on if you like the idea of a guided journal or not. So Stuff I’d Only Tell God has thousands of questions in it that are very deep, but also like really quirky. Things like, “Would you survive a zombie apocalypse?” for instance.

So there’s just fun questions like that, but also questions about your past and your, you know, if you want to just like delve in and have somebody sort of help you along down this path of journaling Stuff I’d Only Tell God or any kind of guided journal would be super helpful for you.

If you don’t really, you’re not really into that and you don’t want to be told what to write, then making a gratitude journal would be a really great place to start because you just start numbering it and write down things you’re grateful for.

And that’s such a positive, that has an immediate therapeutic impact on your life. We know that journaling is therapeutic, but if you journal and write down things that you’re grateful for, your mind gets trained to begin to scan your environment looking for positive, good things for.

We have to train our brains to be positive, so a gratitude journal might be a really great place to start.

Our brains are actually wired to see the negative. We were made that way, honestly, to keep us safe so that long, long time ago we wouldn’t just say, “Oh, I wonder what that was in the bushes. It’s probably just the wind,” but you know, then it turned out to be a tiger. So we have negativity bias for a reason and it still works for us now when we’re like in a parking lot and it’s dark and there’s people around.

And so we have a negativity bias to be a little bit scared, but we have to train our brains to be positive, so a gratitude journal might be a really great place to start. If you are a writer, don’t feel bad. If you’re listening … you’re probably a writer if you’re listening to Ann’s podcast here.

I think the thing that I felt a little bit shameful about is that I could not do a blank journal very well. I would literally get writer’s block. I’m like, “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to do.” And so I just wouldn’t journal unless I had a specific reason. That’s why I have so many different kinds of journals. And I’m thinking if I, as a writer who’s been writing books for this many years, get writer’s block while journaling, then I think other people do too. And so a guided journal can be a great place to start.

13:03 Ann Kroeker Starting without it being a blank page. So starting with something on it does seem like a great way to kind of kickstart things, so you’re not starting from scratch, not staring at the blank page.

There are some things in a journal … can make their way out into the world and really serve a good purpose.

13:13 Jennifer Dukes Lee Yeah. I mean, it could end up being, I think for speaking again to the writers who are listening, answering some of the prompts in a guided journal like mine could end up being like, “Oh my goodness, this is like a whole chapter!” or “This is a whole book!” or it’s certainly, “I could make a social media post out of this.” You could go through that and I think really get yourself some good content to move forward.

I did one the other day called “Dear Younger Me.” And I wrote a letter to my younger self, which there’s space in the book to do that. And after I wrote it, I’m like, “I’ll bet somebody else could use that kind of thought about their younger self some, too.” And so I ended up sharing it on social media and it did really, really well. And a lot of people related to it.

There’s another one, “Things I Would Want Myself to Know on a Hard Day.” I ended up making a Reel out of the content that I put on that particular journal prompt. And it did really well because it spoke to other people when I was speaking from such a vulnerable place.

So some things you will just want to keep between you and God. But I think that there are some things in a journal like this or in any journal that eventually can make their way out into the world and really serve a good purpose.

14:32 Ann Kroeker And you’ve got a place to store it so that if you’re not ready right away, you can come back to it later. And there it is preserved, the thought, the exploration that you did. I asked people on Instagram to ask me if they had any questions they wanted me to specifically ask you. And Erica Baldwin said, “Have any of your previous books been inspired by your past journal entries?” So you talked already about how you’ve used it for short form, but how about your actual, the full length books? Have your journals?

Almost everything that you see in a book, at least the nugget of it, the seed of it started in a journal that made its way into a short form post on Facebook and Instagram.

15:01 Jennifer Dukes Lee Absolutely. And I’m going to, at this moment, treat journaling very broadly. I’m going to treat journaling also as answers that I put in Bible studies, the words that I put in my journaling Bible, where I can write in the margins where something will occur to me related to, you know, something in Exodus, like, “Oh, wow,” which actually happened when I wrote one of my Bible studies, it ended up coming into my Bible study, the notes that were in my, the side of my journal, it became a whole chapter or a whole session, if you will.

So very regularly, almost everything that you see in a book, at least the nugget of it, the seed of it started in a journal that made its way into a short form post on Facebook and Instagram. And then it made its way into a book.

I don’t have the entirety of a book out on social media. But if somebody watches my social media closely enough, they can probably figure out what I’m going to write next, because I’m just working it out. I’m just like, you know, this is stuff that I care about. I wonder if other people care about this. So I’m always like, ideating what I’m writing and thinking through what else to put out there.

Ann Kroeker We’re all going to be prowling through trying to pick up the clues.

Jennifer Dukes Lee Well, tell me if you see anything that looks like it should be if you’re listening and you see something that looks like a good next book, then do let me know because I’m trying to figure it out.

16:22 Ann Kroeker DM her! Let her know that’s going to resonate. Well, while we’re talking about your books, Twyla Franz asked this: “Do you outline where you’re going or let the writing lead? Also, is it different for long versus short writing?

Put together … an outline, an idea of where you’re going. It serves as a roadmap.

16:33 Jennifer Dukes Lee I do outline extensively for the books that I write. And that’s why I think even if you got a book contract without a book proposal, you should basically still put together the book proposal in terms of the chapter summaries and an idea of where you’re going. It serves as a roadmap. I’m very old fashioned in the way that I do this.

I actually have color coded cards and I have the chapter and what I think the chapter will be.

I have one color I’ll do in the key story.

One color will be the big takeaway.

And if there are any practical tips, that will be another color.

And then if there’s some kind of a Bible story, since I’m a Christian book writer, then that would be like in red or something like that.

So then I put them on the wall and I move them around and get them in the right order.

And on a writing day, I look at the wall and I pull one off. “That one, that’s the one I’m going to do today.” And I sit down with the card and I start.

So that’s the process that works for me. And I can, when I see it all together on the wall and move it into application software, I guess, called Scrivener. That is also kind of based on the same idea of little cards. It looks like that on Scrivener. And I do use that then as well. So it kind of moves, it migrates into the online cards. But that’s what’s worked for me for a long time.

And it’s what I coach other writers to do if they’re stuck. In fact, I’m an acquisitions editor, so I do help authors all the time, put their books together.

One last year was with a Nashville author and she’s like, “Jennifer, I’m stuck.” And I’m like, “Well, I’m getting a plane ticket.”

So I flew out and I brought my little cards and I’m like, “We’re going to map your book. And by the end of this day, you will know what the book is.” And we did it. And the book comes out real soon and I’m so excited about it. And it’s really, really, really good. We did exactly that: we just went through what’s the story, what’s the theme, what’s the takeaway, if there’s any practical helps, what can we put in there. And in her case, she had some biblical guidance. So we had that on the cards too.

Ann Kroeker Brilliant.

Jennifer Dukes Lee Yeah. The short form is less structured like that, or is less structured. It doesn’t have like a card system. And I assume that Twyla means like a blog post or a social media post. That is usually more just, I have an idea of what I’m going to write.

And I either start with kind of an impactful, thought-provoking question, or more often than not, I start with a short personal story before I move into whatever I’m trying to, whatever, you know, if there’s a teaching or a lesson or some bit of encouragement, I usually start first with my story and then move into speaking directly to the reader.

In the same way that I was interrogating police chiefs and mayors and governors, I began to interrogate my own life in that way.

19:36 Ann Kroeker Do you ever feel that there’s a danger of being a little too vulnerable? Because you’re very open about your life. And I’m wondering if some of the people who are tuning in might be feeling like, “I don’t know about being so brutally honest with myself and then vulnerable with others, especially online in a place where it’s now available for anybody to read.” How do you deal with that?

20:00 Jennifer Dukes Lee I just, you know, I literally don’t think about it. It’s so, I mean, that’s probably not the answer that you would want or think, but I have been writing online in a pretty open way since 2009. I just don’t know another way. It was hard at first because all of my other writing up to that point was about other people and other events because I was a newspaper reporter.

But in the same way that I was interrogating police chiefs and mayors and governors, I began to interrogate my own life in that way. So I feel like turnabout’s fair play. So I put a lot, there’s not a lot that’s off the record. Let’s just put it that way in news terms. And I feel comfortable with it. I’ve seen too much fruit to turn back now.

Ann Kroeker Yes, I mean, that last line makes sense because if we do hold back, then maybe we’re just skimming the surface and never really going to the places that people want and need to go to for their own transformation. Is that what I’m sensing from you here?

21:06 Jennifer Dukes Lee Yeah, I think so. Now I think there is a place for holding back if it’s just sort of like unprocessed grief or unprocessed hurt, or if it’s, “I’m going to say this in the name of vulnerability, but I’m really just going to be passive aggressive because I know that friend is going to be reading my social media posts.” You know? I mean, there’s a difference, right? So I think that you have to give yourself time to work through some things.

On the other hand, there are more harmless things that are in life that aren’t fully processed. For instance, my dad passed away in September. And the grief that I was feeling was expressed in real time on my social media. And while it was helpful for other people to read it, who were also grieving at some point in their lives, it was also very therapeutic for me.

And that’s the value of journaling. It’s just that my journals tend to be just a bit more public than most, but that is what I was doing through grief. And that one of the ways that it was therapeutic is that I knew that my pain was serving a really good purpose because I could see it in the comments and I could see it in my own life.

And now I have this real-time record of the pain I was feeling, the hope I was finding, all of those kinds of things.

Lists count as journaling.

There was something that I’d never wrote about and I didn’t write about it in my journal. I didn’t write about it in my notes app on my phone. And I had a fit about it about two or three nights ago. And I was in the grocery store parking lot. Then I texted my sister frantically in tears. And I’m like, “What did dad say? Remember when I asked him that one question and he said this one answer and I can’t find it anywhere. And I’ve got to know, I don’t know where it is. I don’t have it in any of my journals.” I was frantic.

Well, thankfully, my sister, Julianne, is a Notes app journaler. And she says, “Well, here it is, Jennifer.” And she took a screenshot and sent it to me.

And I think that that’s the power of it. This memory-keeping journal, if I don’t write things down, it’s just all these things that I think I would never forget. I do.

I wish that I had written down the way I felt on my wedding day. Things that I thought that I would never forget. And I don’t remember some details. I wish that I would have written down more about the way I felt when my girls were born. And I didn’t. And so much of it is gone.

23:41 Ann Kroeker I didn’t either. And I, like you, I regret it. In those moments though, it’s so like you’re getting married or you’re in the thick of dealing with a newborn. It’s really hard to figure out how, “Oh, I’m going to take a moment now to pull out my journal.” And in the chaos, “Hold on a second, honey. I know it’s our wedding night, but I got to write some things down.” How do we find appropriate times to capture the moment before it’s gone, but not interrupt life?

24:09 Jennifer Dukes Lee Right. I mean, obviously you don’t have to do it the night of, or, you know, like I didn’t pull out my journal at dad’s funeral or anything like that. But when I did get home and the dust had settled … like, I’ll just read this. All these things mean something to me. “Co-regulation, clap offering, my hand on dad’s chest, the hidden stairs, how Justin came from Canada. When you place your hand on your own heart when you talk to people.” I know what all those things mean. They don’t mean anything to anybody else. But because I have just that snippet, now I can build that out more.

So I didn’t have time. I didn’t have the energy. I still don’t have, in some ways, the capacity emotionally to address some of these in full, but I have enough there now that the memory is immediately coming back.

So that would be one way to do it. It’s not this, I think this counts as journaling. Lists count as journaling.

25:10 Ann Kroeker Yes. So you’ve got little fragments, you’ve got key words. Maybe you have some multi-sensory elements you want to remember and retain. Maybe the actual phrase seems key based on what you said about that frantic feeling that you lost what your dad had said. Those seem like things to preserve without having to take the time to write the whole story. Is that what I’m hearing?

25:29 Jennifer Dukes Lee That’s exactly right. And sometimes it’s just too painful to write. But, you know, I mean, Julianne, my sister had written down all of these conversations and all these things that dad had said in the last month of his life. And I was just hoping that her journaling, that counts as journaling, that it would be there. And I am so used to having my fingertips be able to find those things that when I couldn’t, it was really troubling to me.

25:51 Ann Kroeker  Wow. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this person. His name is Matthew Dicks and he encourages what he gives an assignment that he calls “Homework for Life.” Have you ever heard of him?

[Jennifer shakes her head no.]

Homework for Life has to be done daily to really reap all the fruits from it. Does all journaling have to be daily?

So, he wrote a book called Storyworthy and helps people—trains people—on how to tell better stories. He’s a Moth Story Slam winner and trains people through a program. But this Homework for Life is very much like what you just described with these little fragments. That’s why I thought maybe you are familiar with it.

And he keeps it all in a spreadsheet and he encourages people to do it every single day. “Ask yourself, what’s the most story worthy moment from your day?” And like you, he says you don’t have to write it all out. Just the little fragments that are going to bring it to mind so you can access that memory later.

And of course he’s just picking one moment from the day, one story from the day that you can connect with other stories. So he encourages it has to be … homework for life has to be done daily to really reap all the fruits from it. So one question I would have for you is, do you agree with that mindset that to do it daily is critical? Do you feel that’s true?

A lot of what makes its way into books are very ordinary things.

26:59 Jennifer Dukes Lee I don’t know that I do it daily, but it makes me want to! Because, you know, these things were ones that seemed like big moments to me. But in the end, a lot of what makes its way, if let’s say, let’s say we’re talking directly to the writer at this moment, a lot of what makes its way into books are very ordinary things.

And I suppose in a way, my gratitude journal offers that. But there’s some things I’m not grateful for that should also be listed. So I’m learning a new practice. But the essence of what he’s talking about is what I’ve been doing intuitively. I just didn’t know it had a name and I love it.

27:38 Ann Kroeker It is trademarked. So you can’t steal it, but you can certainly give him credit.

Jennifer Dukes Lee and I can use it. I can use it in my own life. I love that.

Ann Kroeker He has a nice TEDx talk that you can watch to follow that.

Jennifer Dukes Lee I’m writing it down right now.

Ann Kroeker Put it in your commonplace journal!

Jennifer Dukes Lee I’m literally typing it into the one that’s on my desktop. This is what I do!

Ann Kroeker There we go. Right at hand.

28:07 Ann Kroeker  When it comes to writers, then, you talked about getting started for anybody who might be listening in, but especially for the writers—because as you say, that’s the audience here that we’re talking with …

We’ve talked about using a guided journal if you really don’t know where to start or if you want to be “courageously honest and beautifully ruthless” in your self-discovery.

In order to do that deep dive that you might want to do in your creative nonfiction, maybe in your online writing, or even as a novelist to get down to the real human condition that’s within—to infuse some of your characters with certain aspects, memories, struggles … so, right? That would be one outcome of it.

Then you also talked about the gratitude journal.

But is there any other writing-specific practice related to journaling that comes to mind that’s different from that or is that sufficient? Those two?

28:56 Jennifer Dukes Lee  Yeah. No, I think that’s good.

One that just came to mind as you were talking is every once in a while, well, quite often, I will see something just sort of interesting and I will sit down to write about it to see where it goes. I don’t even know what it means until…

So I’ll just read you an example from the journal. This is going to be kind of weird. Okay. So a bit of context is I was driving up the driveway and I saw pheasants along the driveway. Okay. And I was just observing them. Side note, I’ve been kind of obsessed with birds lately. That’s a whole other story. But okay. So here it is … I just came down and wrote:

“You know how pheasants do that thing where they run alongside your car, scared out of their minds, running as fast as they can. And then they take flight, but they stay low. They can’t fly any higher because of their weight. But for a time, they soar like any other bird can, but low, like you could reach up and grab them. This is the way I fly in my dreams. Soaring only for a little while low, always afraid someone is going to pull me out of the sky.”

So I didn’t know the part about me until I started writing about the pheasant. And I still don’t fully know what it means, but it’s, it’s the start of something that is, it says something to me about the way I dream.

And I’m wondering if it says something about me regarding the way I dream about my future. I wonder if it says something about how I’m afraid that I’m not really going to soar, that I’m not going to get high as high as the other birds and that I’m going to be pulled down.

To me, it seems to suggest that I’m not very good at dreaming big.

All from a pheasant.

So, you know, I mean, maybe that’s like super weird or super deep, but that, I think that’s the kind of thing that a journal can do as you, you know, as you go along.

So like, you know, like Lydia [her daughter], she’s been at Oxford for the past six months and she’s been telling me about “wild swimming.” That’s what they call it. If you don’t swim in a pool, you’re in a lake or a river or a pond, it’s called wild swimming, which I really, really like. So I’ve got this little start of something about wild swimming here. I have no idea what that means, or if there’s any, it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any big lesson about it, but I just think it’s interesting concept, like the term wild swimming. So there you have it. I just, I think it’s just fun to explore ideas and nature and the things around us.

So many times we, we don’t trust the spark.

31:22 Ann Kroeker And you trusted that little spark that came to mind when you saw the pheasants, not knowing it was going to make that connection to your dreams, right? Like you just saw the pheasants and you went in and you captured the moment based on that spark.

I think so many times we, we don’t trust the spark. Anne Lamott talks about how everyone should carry a pencil because you get those little thoughts and then you don’t have something to write it down. Of course, this is before the time of smartphones, but you know, sometimes even with our smartphones, we don’t take that extra beat to say, “Ah! I noticed something” or “Something caught my attention and I have a little spark.” And if it doesn’t seem like much; we ignore it, maybe.

And I think your, your trust and your attentiveness to that moment, attending to it on paper or on, on a smartphone, you are capturing that and letting it go where it leads when you, when you have time to write it through it. I find that excellent advice for any writer.

John Steinbeck kept a journal while he was writing one of his books. I think it was East of Eden that he was writing through as a writing journal. So it would be sort of chronicling how much he got done and wondering about some of the questions and bemoaning himself, his own writing skill and feeling like he’s not, he’s not capable of doing it.

So that’s specifically a writing journal related to that book, but also there are writing journals where, so not just associated with a book project or a work in progress, but also just about your writing life. Are any of your journals, would you say any of them are sort of dedicated to you as writer or is all sort of, you know, linked together?

32:55 Jennifer Dukes Lee It is all sort of linked together. However, for most of my books, I’ve had, you know, kind of like this college bound, you know, this kind of thing. Well, there’s some of my notes that aren’t probably very much related to this, but I keep notes like that for my books.

And then what’s get, what’s here ends up on those cards. So it’s not pretty, it’s not as orderly as what you’re describing, but I do have dedicated notebooks so that I can write down ideas specific to the book as it’s forming. I have one going right now for my next book project and it’s, it’s helping me make some sense of it.

33:38 Ann Kroeker I think finding the type of journaling that works for you seems key. And I just love that you’re kind of all over the place.

Jennifer Dukes Lee I am.

Ann Kroeker And I think that’s just so refreshing because I tend to be more like, “I need to consolidate. I can’t find what I’m looking for. I’m never going to find what’s in a printed,” you know, written down on pages. I would have to look and look and look.

And for me, just to give our audience a different way of thinking about it, I do like to keep it all in one place. So it’s searchable. So I, you know, with one, you know, with a little bit of keyword searching, I can find what I’m looking for and then it’s much faster. It’s all in one place because the scatteredness would make me so crazy.

And again, like I said, I don’t think I would want to have a whole big tote bag with all my journals, but I really, really love that people who are drawn to that could then just grab the one you had some, you showed us, you held up your journals so we could see what they look like. And they each have a different look and feel. And one was so plain as you showed us and one had had some floral designs on it. And one is more like a bound book. And then of course, Stuff I’d Only Tell God is also a bound book that we can move through writing directly on the pages. And so anyway, I just love this variety, I guess. I just like giving people options that there isn’t one right way to do this.

35:01 Jennifer Dukes Lee Yeah. It surprises me, given my personality type that I actually do like this because I tend to be pretty like orderly in life. But in a way for me, this has order because each one has its purpose.

One is for praying for people, one is for praying for my kids, one is for gratitude. So I know if I’m in the prayer journals, I don’t really use for my books, I don’t suppose. But yeah, I kind of just know where the thing is. I will have to flip around to find things for sure.

Ann Kroeker It’s like if we had boxes or tubs that were labeled and this is where the Christmas supplies are and this is where packing material is, we would be opening the box to get what we need. It seems like that’s how you’re treating these different journals with different purposes.

Jennifer Dukes Lee That’s right.

Ann Kroeker Is there anything we haven’t covered today that you would want to share with a bunch of writers who are really thinking now, right now about journaling, that intersection of journaling and writing?

Journaling is a way to [build your author platform] with confidence and with joy.

36:01 Jennifer Dukes Lee I want to emphasize again how, I mean, if you’re a writer, you know the P word “platform,” right? I mean, if you want to get published by a traditional publisher, even if you aren’t wanting to get published by a traditional publisher, you need to grow your platform so people can find you and find out about your book, right?

Journaling is a way to do that with confidence and with joy.

You can look back on something you’ve written and see a nugget in there and you know you don’t have to share it word for word. You could leave out some of the hard details, but maybe just going one step further than you feel comfortable with, I think that you will see fruit with it too and that’ll give you more confidence and that will bring you more joy in the process of the social media piece of writing.

Social media for us is writing. It is such a gift, such an opportunity!

I hear some, I mean, probably 90% of the writers I know, say, “I don’t like social media because I don’t like selling myself. I don’t like it,” and I’m like, “Social media for us is writing. It is such a gift, such an opportunity!”

We don’t have to wait two years to get to make an impact with our words. We have an opportunity to do it every single day on socials and to make a difference like right away.

It’s a great place to practice your craft. It’s a great place to build, at the same time, build an audience.

It’s a great place to impact other people’s lives.

So I just encourage you to view social media that way as kind of an online journal that you’re letting people read in a way that you feel comfortable with and maybe even a little uncomfortable with, but just to approach it that way and to see what happens.

I just encourage you to view social media that way as kind of an online journal that you’re letting people read.

37:44 Ann Kroeker I 100% agree with all of that. It’s a way to distinguish ourselves from others who might be in a similar sort of space as what we are in.

When we tell our stories, they’re our stories and nobody else can tell those stories. Nobody else can reveal those pieces of ourselves.

And it’s also another sort of pushback to what AI is producing. They can’t produce our stories. They might be able to organize things nicely and give us suggestions for how to present content, but it can’t tell our stories.

And that comes from places like Stuff I’d Only Tell God.

And I guess I have one more thing came to mind before we close this out. When we’re telling our stories—and you touched on this a little bit, but I want to go just a step beyond with—when we share other people who are in our stories publicly, we have that frequent fear that memoirists face.

If somebody else is in my story—and almost all the time somebody else is in the story—how do we protect ourselves and not protect them? Because what if someone shouldn’t be protected, right?

How do we deal with that tricky issue and if we’re worried about any kind of negative impact for those relationships for the living or the dead … but mostly the living?

Be as transparent as you can with people before you put it out into the world.

39:08 Jennifer Dukes Lee Yeah. So first of all, there are the big picture legal issues you have to think about, right?

I would not just throw some stuff out on social media. Put it in your manuscript and then have your publisher do a legal review on it. I do that all the time with my authors if something seems a little bit touchy.

And so then if you really feel the story is needed, you will either need to A, get their permission or B, get corroboration for it and you may need to revise the content.

Now that’s a more of a negative piece, right? But I just had an author last week turned in their first manuscript and they had a story that was very kind toward the other people, but it involved the husband having gone through an injury of some sort that was debilitating in his life. And I said, “This is a great story. It’s a great example, but you’re going to need to have them sign a waiver of permission.” Right?

And so I think that the legal thing is a huge factor.

And then second, you have to ask, “Is this worth it? It’ll serve the story, but is it worth it?” Count the cost. Think about what you might lose and only you can decide if it’s worth it.

If it’s a life story and it involves things that your mom did when you were little that left you feeling alone and abandoned, you’re going to have to think through. Is it worth it? You’re going to have to think through, “Will this possibly bring me closer to Mom? If I share this with her before publication and say, ‘Mom, you know, I know we’ve patched things up now, but I’m going to share this story from my childhood just all along the way.'” Is it worth it?

And just be as transparent as you can with people before you put it out into the world.

I don’t tend to write stories about even my husband or my kids without saying, “Hey, this, do you mind if I share this situation?”

41:04 Ann Kroeker This would count also for social media posts, blog posts as well?

41:08 Jennifer Dukes Lee Yes, absolutely. And then you don’t have, unless you’re a lawyer or have one, you don’t have the benefit of those harder stories. So you just have to be a little bit more careful.

But I don’t tend to write stories about even my husband or my kids without saying, “Hey, this, do you mind if I share this situation?”

Anna has been — our younger daughter has been pretty public about her battle with depression and anxiety. And in fact, we went to Indiana together where she spoke at a conference with me and shared the stage with me. So she’s been very open about her battle with depression.

Even so, anytime I talk about it in anything, I have a read it first, or I read it to her first, or I’m not going to publish it. Scott, the same way, you know, I’m like, “Hey, honey, I’m going to put a post up about our anniversary. Is that okay?” It’s glowing. It’s wonderful. And he says yes, and he’s supportive of my work.

But for me, that’s really important to keep other people in the loop.

Ann Kroeker Do you have them sign a release?

Jennifer Dukes Lee No. It’s worked for me so far, though. I’ve been doing this again since 2009 and I haven’t gotten in trouble yet. Cross our fingers that it doesn’t happen like, today!

42:30 Ann Kroeker That’s great. Well, your training in those early years as a reporter? You understand maybe more how to navigate that.

But it seems like what you do most is you share from really your own … it’s more about you and your struggles and your questions and the things that you’re wondering about. And I think that comes through loud and clear on all of your social media and your blog posts, all that content.

And speaking of which, now that we’ve had this great conversation, I’m sure that people who are tuning in are dying to know how to get to know you better. So how can people, what’s the best way for people to connect with you?

43:04 Jennifer Dukes Lee I’m on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, @JenniferDukesLee. And I’m also on Instagram at @StuffIdOnlyTellGod — which has been kind of fun. We’re just going through the journal together and just journaling tips, all those kinds of things.

And my website is Jennifer Dukes Lee (jenniferdukeslee.com) as well.

Ann Kroeker Fantastic. Jennifer, thanks for your time today, for giving so much of your life to us, in the book, but also today as we’ve interacted.

I think you’ve probably given people a lot to think about and a lot to write about.

Jennifer Dukes Lee Awesome. Well, thank you so much.

Ann Kroeker Well, I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did. You can find all the links and all the information you need related to this episode at annkroeker.com/JDLStuff.

And I’m Ann Kroeker, cheering you on as your writing coach. Everywhere where you may meet, at my website, on this show, or even in person, I’m always looking for ideas to share with you that will help you achieve your goals and have fun by being more curious, creative, and productive. Thank you for being here.

_____________________

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CLICK TO LEARN MORE

The post Want to Become a Better Writer? Journal Before You Write appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

As writers, we spend countless hours crafting and refining our work to perfection. We labor over word choices, sentence structure, and the perfect flow.

Despite our best efforts—even after a pass through Grammarly—typos slip through. We tend to spot them in other people’s projects, even if we miss them in our own.

How do you react when you spot a typo in someone else’s writing? Do you assume they’re unprofessional and lose faith in them?

Or do you extend grace and understand that mistakes happen?

Automatic Unsubscribe

One time I spoke with a professional in the creative space who said if she sees a typo, it’s an automatic unsubscribe.

“Seriously?” I exclaimed. “You don’t even give them three strikes?”

“No, that’s it. I unsubscribe on the spot.”

I strive toward excellence and aim for perfect prose, but if I’m in a hurry or make a last-minute change, I miss details. I’m sure you’ve noticed them in blog posts and emails.

“Well,” I told her, “I suppose you aren’t on my list, because I send out notes with errors sometimes.”

She shrugged. That’s her rule and she stands by it.

Part of me respected the high standard she set.

The other part of me craved grace for my shortcomings.

Typos Are Human

As I said, even the most meticulous writers miss typos from time to time. In my rush to click “publish,” I’ll skip a step in the writing and editing process.

For example, I try to allow time to run my emails and blog posts through Grammarly. Then I look at the clock and realize I’m out of time, and I trust my eye to catch any issues.

Sure enough: those are the days a typo slips through.

As a writer striving to produce polished writing, I need to establish a process that slows me down long enough to follow through.

As a reader spotting typos in other people’s work, I hope to offer the same grace I long for from others who spot my mistakes.

One of my online friends is a proofreader, and her discerning eye caught errors on my Everything page. Instead of instantly unsubscribing and unfollowing me, she reached out with a gentle tone and kindly listed each one—it was a gift! She understood that typos are human. Better yet, she offered her expertise to make my work stronger.

Consider the Context

When it comes to typos, context matters. Typos in a casual email or social media post aren’t as concerning as typos in a published article or book.

And please don’t judge my writing ability when we’re texting. Between autocorrect and fat fingers, my messages are a mess!

One Last Look

Writing to family and friends is one thing; writing for the public is another. We can take steps to catch embarrassing blips before they’re released to the world wide web.

Proofreading is crucial to the writing process and ensures polished work.

The first place to notice issues is when you’re writing. Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, and Google Docs all track grammar and spelling issues with squiggly lines.

After revisiting what they’ve marked and making any changes, you can run your final draft through a program like:

• Grammarly
• ProWritingAid
• Hemingwayapp.com

Then read it aloud. Vocalizing each word will catch problems that our mind skips over when reading silently.

For high-stakes projects—queries, pitches, book proposals, manuscripts—consider hiring a human editor and proofreader.

Practice Gracious Typo Spotting

Not every project warrants that much attention. But relying on self-editing means some of our work will miss a letter, word, or phrase. We’ll use “it’s” where we should have used “its” or “your” instead of “you’re.”

Unless you’re asked to edit or proofread someone’s work, overlook their misspellings or misplaced modifiers. Feel pleased you recognized the error—after all, it means you’re developing an editor’s eye and ear. But when we approach typos with grace, we connect with other writers as human beings.

Maybe—maybe—if we know the person well, we can mention that we saw a minor error and want their work to shine. That way, they know we value the person behind the writing, not just the words on the page.

That’s how I felt when my online friend reached out. The way she emailed me, I could tell she wasn’t scolding or shaming me—she was supporting me.

We can offer ourselves grace, as well, when we realize we sent out our writing with a glaring mistake. Don’t beat yourself up or see yourself as a failure.

You’re an active writer, daring to share your work with the world.

The only way to avoid public typos altogether is to never click “publish.”

Let’s strive for clean, quality prose while extending grace to others—and ourselves—when an error slips through.

Instead of seeing it as a black mark on their record, view it as a reminder that a real person sits on the other side of the screen. Yes, that fallible writer is a real human being, writing her heart out.

Resources:

• Tips on Self-Editing from The Artful Edit
• The Paralysis of Perfectionism
• How Good Does My Writing Need to Be Online?
• Grammar Matters: Why Concern Ourselves with Commas?

_____________________

Ready to elevate your writing craft—with a coach to guide you?

Get the direction you need to improve as a writer with The Art & Craft of Writing.

In this eight-week intensive, I’ll help you elevate your writing skills and create a compelling piece you’ll be proud to show an editor or agent. By the end of our time together, you’ll have completed a 3,000-word piece, along with multiple short submissions that invite you to experiment and play with new techniques.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE

The post You’ve Spotted Another Writer’s Typo. Now What Do You Do? appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Years ago, one of my clients updated me on her publishing journey. She turned in her manuscript on deadline, so that was a huge relief.

Then her editor asked for one last piece she’d put off.

“Ann, it took me two full weeks to track down everything for my endnotes. Two weeks!”

This first-time author knew the editor would ask for endnotes, but she had not kept track of them as she wrote.

Putting Off the Inevitable

When words were flowing—forming chapters, shaping ideas—she didn’t want to lose momentum fiddling around with citations. So she decided to focus solely on the writing, trusting those endnotes would be easy to put together later.

After all, most of the books she mentioned in her text were stacked next to her, ready to access after submitting her manuscript. She could find the direct quotes online again in a few clicks, right?

“Please, Ann,” she said, “I’m begging you to tell all your clients to document their sources along the way. Waiting until the end was a nightmare.”

Save Time & Headaches

I’ve tried to convince the authors I coach to do just that: document all sources along the way.

More specifically, I recommend they create a citation at the moment they mention it in their draft. Or at the latest, create it before stepping away from that writing session. You think you’ll come back to it the next morning, but it’s easy to push it off until later…and later…and later.

Then your editor calls and you have to pull them together to submit a few days later.

Citations Are a Pain

It’s a pain to track these bits of information.

Author Joanna Russ writes, “I once asked a young dissertation writer whether her suddenly grayed hair was due to ill-health or personal tragedy; she answered It was the footnotes” (Russ, 137).

It’s tempting for authors to think of citations as a necessary evil, aging us, plaguing us.

Citations Are a Gift

But in reality they’re a gift to our readers. They can dig deeper into the topic we introduce by visiting the websites, books, and podcasts we mention.

Citations are also a gift to us.

Heaven knows we want to avoid accusations of plagiarism, adhere to copyright laws, and make good faith efforts to track down the origin of a quote or statistic.

I’m not a lawyer and can’t give legal advice, but giving credit where credit is due is a step in the right direction.

A good start is to include attribution for:

• direct quotes
• paraphrased quotes
• summarized ideas & info that aren’t common knowledge
• paraphrased ideas & info that aren’t common knowledge
• any idea, statistic, framework, or content you didn’t develop yourself

Create citations for any source: physical books, Kindle books, websites, interviews, podcasts, seminars, conferences, and more.

In doing so, you demonstrate you’re joining—even contributing to—the broader conversation on this topic.

Is Blog Post and Social Media Citation Overkill?

You may associate footnotes and endnotes with books and scholarly writing, but I hope you’ll join me in citing sources in your digital writing, as well: in blog posts, articles—even social media posts.

In years past, bloggers have generally taken a simpler approach, relying on linked text to credit sources. This minimized reader disruption and saved time.

Parenthetical citation or cumbersome in-text mentions with signal text slow the flow. You can see an example where I wrote “Author Joanna Russ writes…”

That phrasing signaled a source. Did it slow you down? Did it bother you?

Bloggers have generally viewed that style as clunky. Footnoting blog posts seemed over the top.

Vowing to Start Footnoting

I myself used to think it was over the top. In the early days of blogging no one else was adding footnotes, so I didn’t bother.

Until 2012, when I taught high school students a session about plagiarism. The more I prepared for the session, the more I realized I wasn’t following citation best practices in my own writing.

I wrote about it on my blog, vowing to do better.

In the comments of that post, readers chimed in with a wide range of reactions. Some applauded footnoting even in blog posts (especially teachers).

Others believed it would slow them down too much—they might not publish as often.

Still others saw my reasoning but felt footnotes or inline citations would disrupt the reader’s experience. In their opinion, the ease of hyperlinking text sufficed.

They leaned on leaving footnoting to the academics. Besides, newspapers and magazines follow AP Style, which doesn’t require footnotes. Why should a blogger bother with it?

When I started adding footnotes, the inconvenience did slow me down, just as those bloggers predicted. I regretted my vow. I backslid and returned to hyperlinking text to online sources.

Broken Links, Lost “Citations”

A recently installed plugin has been alerting me to broken links on my website, and I’m realizing links alone aren’t enough for proper attribution.

Over time, websites delete pages or close down altogether. New companies buy expired domains and publish unrelated content. Those links lead to a 404 page.

If I’d footnoted those articles, I could have preserved the source and demonstrated due diligence even if the actual link eventually turned into a dead end.

Now I’m returning to old articles and blog posts, seeing sentences like, “As I found in this article and this blog post, families are slowing down and…” The words “this” link out to articles that were live at the time of the writing but are unavailable today.

Thankfully the Internet Wayback Machine helps me locate the original sources to figure out what it said. From that information I can generate an alternative link and create a footnote.

But what a hassle!

I feel like my client who lost two weeks of her life tracking down endnotes for her book.

I feel like the suddenly grayed dissertation writer who told Joanna Russ It was the footnotes.

If only I had created citations as I published those pieces, I would have saved myself so much time and trouble.

And I would have given readers who stumble on the piece a decade later easy ways to dig into the topic.

Citations = Credibility

When I see others cite their sources, I view them as more credible because they reveal the writers on whose shoulders they stand.

Readers see us as more credible and ethical, too, when we clearly point to our sources.

While inconsistent, I’m trying to improve. By including my sources, my readers can trace back to the writers on whose shoulders I stand.

Whether you’re an author drafting your manuscript or a blogger writing weekly posts, I hope you’ll consider citing sources as a new best practice.

Don’t worry about doing it perfectly or updating years of existing posts. Just start with your next post and use apps that generate citations with the click of a button.

When you build it into your workflow, you’ll see it’s not such a hassle…and I hope you’ll find, in time, that it’s worth the effort.

How to Start Citing Sources

Not used to documenting sources and creating citations? You may wonder thing like:

What’s “fair use”?

What’s “common knowledge”?

How do I know when an idea is emerging from personal knowledge after years of living, reading, and learning, and when the idea should be credited to someone else?

What’s the difference between inline, in-text, and parenthetical citations?

When do I footnote and when do I create endnotes—and do I need one of those Works Cited pages I created in high school English class?

Do I use MLA, APA, or Chicago Manual of Style formatting?

Learn a little bit each time you write. In time, you’ll feel more knowledgeable and confident.

And you can simplify the process using citation tools. Test some of these:

• EasyBib
• Chegg Citation Generator
• Chegg Citation Machine (I’m not sure why they have two—test them to see which works best!)
• built-in citation features in Microsoft Word
• built-in citation features in Google Docs
• Chrome extensions like MyBib

​Cite sources to serve your readers today—and yourself in the future.

If you plan to write a nonfiction book, you’ll probably search your blog posts and maybe even Instagram captions for stories, quotes, and ideas to include in that book.

Trust me, you’ll be so grateful for those footnotes!

Footnote

Russ, Joanna. How to Suppress Women’s Writing. Univ. of Texas Press, 2005. (137)

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Consider a lowly stick, memorialized by my friend:

Little Y Stick
Fragile, knobby crossroads in my fingers
Bring me eyes to see how God is in my midst.¹

​Jennifer Dukes Lee penned that poem after we chatted about a prompt found in poemcrazy, by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge.

Poemcrazy’s Prompt

In Chapter 31, Susan instructs us to find something in nature that attracts our attention. Maybe the object has a quality that we’re attracted to, or maybe it’s just speaking to us in some way.²

Jennifer pondered the little Y stick and used Susan’s prompt to craft that small poem.

I decided to try Susan’s prompt myself.

Following Susan’s instructions, I found objects in the yard that attracted my attention. One was a pinecone.

1. Name it

First, we name it. Name it by its actual name, like a pine cone, or make up a name, like “tree cigar.”

Susan says you could call a mushroom “white sticky,” for example, or “plump cloud.” Or you could use its actual name, “mushroom.”³

2. Describe it

Next, describe some of its qualities using descriptive language or by comparing it with something else.

3. “Bring me your…”

Finally, you have a line that starts, “Bring me your…” and finish with a quality that this item has.⁴

As with any creative venture or poem, you get to make it your own. You can leave off the “bring me” part or expand on its name or its description.

Here’s an example in Susan’s book from a seventh grader:

Dead rose,
crinkly as paper,
bring me love.⁵

This exercise taps attentiveness and imagination to make connections and explore our yearnings.

Sample Poems

Let’s look at Susan’s example using a mushroom:

Honey mushroom
floating in grass like a plump cloud,
bring me your love of dark places.⁶

After spending time with the object, the final template is:

• Name (real or made up)
• “You look like…” (feel free to drop “you look like” and creatively describe it)
• “Bring me…” or “Bring me your…”

Now that you know the template, look at Jennifer’s again:

Little Y Stick
Fragile, knobby crossroads in my fingers
Bring me eyes to see how God is in my midst.

Let’s Try the Prompt

In my yard, we have to deal with the seeds of two Sweetgum trees—long-stemmed spiky orbs.

Approximately five million of these “Sweetgum balls,” as we call them, coat our front yard year round. You could spend hours filling three giant trash bins only to look up and see a thousand more dangling from the branches above, poised to drop during the next thunderstorm that blows through.

Despite the trouble they cause me, I spent time with one of them, staying open to what it might offer me:

Spiky orb, one of hundreds, maybe thousands,
fragile, persistent, overwhelming:
bring me your abundance.

We also deal with an outrageous number of pinecones that fall from two fir trees.

I found a pinecone that was still closed, which happens when it’s cold outside. As the temperature heats up, the pinecone opens to release its seeds.

Smooth pine cone, waiting to warm, waiting to share yourself—
hatches shut tight against the cold,
protecting yourself, soon to unlatch—
bring me your care and caution,
knowing the time to stay guarded and safe,
and knowing the time to open oneself,
to be fully seen.

Try this prompt yourself and share your poem with me.

I can’t wait to read what you come up with.

__________________

_____________________

Ready to elevate your writing craft—with a coach to guide you?

Get the direction you need to improve as a writer with The Art & Craft of Writing.

In this eight-week intensive, I’ll help you elevate your writing skills and create a compelling piece you’ll be proud to show an editor or agent. By the end of our time together, you’ll have completed a 3,000-word piece, along with multiple short submissions that invite you to experiment and play with new techniques.

Footnotes:

1. Dukes Lee, Jennifer. Prayer labyrinth story with a Y stick image and poem. Instagram, 17 Mar. 2023. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp5KAwgLAR-/. Accessed 1 Apr 2023.
2. Wooldridge, Susan. Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words. Three Rivers Press, 1997. (113)
3. ibid (111)
4. ibid (109)
5. ibid
6. ibid (112)

The post Find your muse in nature with this inspiring poetry prompt appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

People wonder about Stephen King’s pencil. Writers (including me) want to know what writing instrument he uses.

Why?

Maybe we all harbor a secret hope that if we get the same pencil as Stephen King, we’ll end up as prolific and successful as Stephen King.

Or if we discover what Annie Dillard writes with, we’ll produce the same type of literary prose as Annie Dillard.

Or if we use the same writing program as, well…fill in whatever writer you admire. If you use the same pencil, pen, writing program, or paper as your favorite writer, do you imagine you’re becoming a little bit more like them?

Stephen King’s Pencil

I poked around, and it sounds like King’s favorite pencil is the classic Blackwing 602, favored by such luminaries as John Steinbeck, Vladimir Nabokov, and Truman Capote.¹

But while researching Stephen King’s pencil, I realized I wanted to hear from you—real writers at work.

What do real writers use?

Through social media, my newsletter, and a coaching call in my writing community, I asked:

What’s your favorite writing instrument?

And you told me.

I found out:

• There’s no one perfect pen for all writers.
• There’s no one perfect program for all writers.
• There’s no consensus on the best tool or writing instrument out there for every single writer to use.

Everyone’s simply using what they love.

Your favorite writing instruments

People seem evenly split between pens and pencils, and some weren’t picky at all. Any old ballpoint pen was fine with them, even the kind they swipe from one of the businesses they frequent.

Others were more precise on brand, color, and tip, preferring fine, medium, or thick.

Curious to hear what these real writers use to do the work?

Your favorite pens

Let’s dive into the pens.

Ballpoint pens are at the top with BIC. Yes, that common brand is a favorite option. They’re easily found, they’re really cheap, and they come in fun colors. And a lot of people prefer one particular color, like blue, or one particular tip, like fine point.

Coming up right after BIC is the PILOT brand. The PILOT Precise V5 seems to be the favorite.

Good gel pens are adored by a lot of people (and hated by a few).

TUL pens are also coming in hot with a lot of writers who are addicted to them. I also heard from writers who love Paper Mate InkJoy, Sharpies, and Flair pens, as well as a couple of fountain pen users.

If you’re curious, when I grab a pen, I like the Pentel RSVP pen in black, fine point. They’re easily found and affordable, kind of like the classic BIC ballpoint.

Your favorite pencils

As for pencils, well, again, BIC comes in strong with their mechanical pencils that a lot of people mentioned.

Others love mechanical pencils in general and aren’t particular about brands.

The Blackwing 602 is used by a few people who tracked it down and love it.

And a lot of people said they don’t have a preference—they’ll snatch any pencil within reach and start writing.

More specifically, I did hear about Paper Mate’s Mirado Black Warrior. A writer heard it recommended by author Daniel Silva and had trouble finding it, but once she did, reported that it’s excellent.

Someone mentioned they love writing with graphing pencils.

What are people writing on?

Whether they’re using a pen or a pencil, people are writing in all kinds of notebooks, and a few people love the freedom of writing on scrap paper with no lines.

Your favorite writing programs

Now let’s switch to writing programs.

Microsoft Word and Scrivener are neck and neck.

A lot of writers are using one or the other and sometimes both. After you export a Scrivener document as a Word document—and send it off to your editor—it’s much easier to track changes in Word.

Google Docs shows up as the next most popular option.

A few people use Open Source LibreOffice, and one person mentioned using Final Draft for screenplays.

Your favorite place to take notes

When it comes to the earlier stage of the writing process—like taking notes and doing research—people are using Evernote, Notion, random index cards, and Post-Its.

And one person mentioned Roam Research, which pulls things together and finds connections between ideas using AI technology.

Finally, a few people are using dictation or transcription.

One person simply speaks into the Notes app; others use Otter.ai.

How to choose the ideal writing instrument

This has been a delightful discussion and discovery, and the conclusion is loud and clear—it’s the same conclusion John Steinbeck came to years ago.

Steinbeck wrote about his eccentric “pencil trifling.” In Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters, he describes at length his search for the best possible pencil to do his work.

He tries a soft pencil, and that works fine one day and breaks the next. Then he tries a harder one, but that’s not quite right. Eventually he concludes:

You know I am really stupid. For years I have looked for the perfect pencil. I have found very good ones but never the perfect one. And all the time it was not the pencils but me.²

If you’re like me or Steinbeck, or the hundred people who shared with me what they write with, you love to test out pens, pencils, programs, and apps.

Don’t let that curiosity—dare I say, obsession—with pens, pencils, programs, and apps keep you from the actual work of writing.

So, do you really need Stephen King’s pencil?

Do you need Stephen King’s pencil?

I don’t think so, do you?

Feel free to try out a Blackwing 602 pencil—that is, if that’s actually what Stephen King writes with.

(Side note: I can see him telling the world one brand and then using another just to mess with us, can’t you?)

I tried it only to realize I prefer to write with pens and keyboards. But even those tools don’t really matter, because what we’re really writing with are:

• the memories we store up in our mind and heart,
• the ideas and opinions we explore and develop,
• the stories we dream up each day.
• the words we piece together, one after another.

Today, pick up your favorite writing instrument—or any writing instrument—and write 250 words toward your work in progress.

As Steinbeck discovered, it’s not about the writing instrument. It’s about the writer.

As long as we can remember that, we can write everything with anything.

_____________________

Ready to elevate your writing craft—with a coach to guide you?

Get the direction you need to improve as a writer with The Art & Craft of Writing.

In this eight-week intensive, I’ll help you elevate your writing skills and create a compelling piece you’ll be proud to show an editor or agent. By the end of our time together, you’ll have completed a 3,000-word piece, along with multiple short submissions that invite you to experiment and play with new techniques.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE

Footnotes:

1. Abramovitch, Seth. “Why Is Hollywood Obsessed with This Pencil?” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Aug. 2013, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/blackwing-602-why-is-hollywood-600265/.
2. Steinbeck, John. Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters. Penguin Books, 2001.

The post Do You Need Stephen King’s Pencil? appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

With inspiration from Mark McGuinness, you’ll integrate poetry into your writing life as a pleasurable practice that elevates your prose.

In this interview, Mark describes the vision for his podcast and his own poetic beginnings, and he urges writers (and readers) to simply enjoy poetry.

You’ll see ways poetry intersects with and impacts prose—you can even play a literary game he describes at the end.

Learn from Mark:

• How a mouthful of air is a perfect image for poetry and podcasts
• How can we translate metaphor into our other forms of writing (without being weird)
• The metaphor that comes to his mind when describing himself and his writing
• How poems “mug” Mark and he drops everything to chase them like leprechauns
• The importance of getting input on your work and finding a writing mentor
• Plus, play his writing game (bring your prose)!

Listen to episode 245 and check out excerpts in the transcript below. You’ll be inspired by his warm, encouraging advice. If his subtle persuasion succeeds, you may embrace poetry as the next step in your literary journey.

Meet Mark McGuinness

Mark McGuinness is a poet based in Bristol, UK. On his poetry podcast A Mouthful of Air he interviews contemporary poets about their writing practice and draws out insights that can help any writer become more creative, expressive and memorable.

Mark also takes classic poems apart to show us how they work and what we as writers can learn from the examples of poets including Yeats, Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Chaucer and Edward Lear.

Links:

• Visit amouthfulofair.fm
• Listen to A Mouthful of Air on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter: @amouthfulofair
• Instagram: @airpoets

Mark McGuinness Interview

This is a lightly edited transcript.

[00] – Ann Kroeker

With inspiration from my guest Mark McGuinness, you may find yourself integrating poetry into your writing life as both a pleasure and a practice. I’m Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach. If you’re tuning in for the first time, welcome. If you’re a regular, welcome back. I’m sharing my best tips and training skills and strategies to help writers improve their craft, pursue publishing and achieve their writing goals. Today I have Mark McGuinness on the show, a poet from Bristol, UK.

On his poetry podcast, A Mouthful of Air, Mark interviews contemporary poets to discover their writing practice and draws out insights that can help any writer become more creative, expressive and memorable. Mark also takes classic poems apart to show us how they work and what we as writers can learn from the examples of poets like Yates, Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy, Chaucer and Edward Lear.

Listen in on our conversation.

[00:54] – Ann Kroeker

I am so excited to have Mark McGuinness on the call today on our show and we are going to talk about a lot of different things related to the creative life, the writing life, even the poetry life. Mark, thanks for being on the call.

[01:09] – Mark McGuinness

Thank you. It’s lovely to be here, Ann.

[01:12] – Ann Kroeker

I am looking forward to learning more about how you approach your own creative life and how you use and enable poetry to be part of what feeds your creative life, how you inspire others with poetry, because that seems to be a big part of your life.

Can you tell the listeners and viewers, can you tell us a little bit more about who you are and what you do?

[01:37] – Mark McGuinness

Sure. I am a poet living in Bristol, in the southwest of England, in the UK. I’ve been writing poetry quite a while and in my typical group of friends, I’m usually the one who reads poetry. I’ve always been quite aware that most people don’t read poetry most of the time.

There are a lot of people who are very literate, very well read, very avid readers, but who will generally read anything but poetry. And to my point of view, it’s not that hard. I think a lot of people get put off at school, they have a bad experience or they think it’s this thing up on a pedestal that they don’t understand or that isn’t going to speak to them in their lives.

And I got this urge about two years ago when I first got the idea for the show that I would really like to take some of these books behind me down from the shelf and just read a poem and just share it with people and say, “Isn’t that great? And notice what’s happening in the third line here. Isn’t it marvelous what she’s done with the rhyme or whatever?” And just to share the magic that I feel that I don’t think it’s that hard for other people to tune into.

[03:00] – Mark McGuinness

And then following on from that, I thought, “Well, actually, I know quite a few poets I’ve been to their readings. I’ve read their books. I’ve sat next to them in workshops. Why don’t I invite them on the show, too? And then they can read it.”

And so the way the show works is that every episode is focused on one poem, and the first thing you hear is the poem. Because if it’s a good poem, you don’t need an introduction. You don’t need to be told why you should like it or all the footnotes and stuff. You either like it or you don’t, or you feel something or you don’t. But you’ve really got to listen and put your kind of assumptions aside about it.

So we hear the poem read by either me, if it’s a dead poet, if they’re alive, I get them on the show and they read it themselves. And then we have a little bit of context, a little bit of, well, what’s going on in the poem? And again, if they’re alive and they’re on the show, I’ll ask them, where did the poem come from? How did you get the idea?

[03:59] – Mark McGuinness

How did you work it up? What process did you go through from the initial idea to what we have on the page or on the screen or in the ear. And quite often that journey is really surprising. I mean, as a writer, I’m fascinated by how things evolve. And if the poet is sadly no longer with us, then I will share my thoughts on why I think the poem is worthy of our attention and what I think is going on.

And then the end of the show, we hear the poem again. And even though it’s the same poem and the same recording, it should sound different. In fact, listeners tell me it sounds different because it’s a bit like a magic eye, because they can see things or they can hear things in it that they weren’t aware of the first time rounds. So that’s it. It’s all quite self contained.

[04:51] – Ann Kroeker

That is a wonderful concept. I took an online course in years past where we did these close readings, and it just opened my mind up. It took me back in time. I actually studied poetry and creative writing as an undergraduate at Big Ten University here in the States. And so I have a little exposure to poetry, and it was my entree into writing and building a writing life.

So tell us what the name of the show is and why you chose it.

[05:23] – Mark McGuinness

Okay. It is called A Mouthful of Air. And I know it’s a good title because I nicked it from W. B. Yeats in a little poem that he wrote, an early love poem. Would you like to hear it? It’s really short. It’s easier than me describing, of course.

Okay, so it’s called He Thinks of Those Who Have Spoken Evil of His Beloved.

And it’s not hard for us to guess that his beloved was like to be moored gone. Famously he was in love with her. She was a significant figure in the Irish political independence movement in the late 19th century. So it begins.

It’s just six lines, so blinking, you miss it, but it goes:

Half close your eyelids, loosen your hair,
And dream about the great and their pride;
They have spoken against you everywhere,
But weigh this song with the great and their pride;
I made it out of a mouthful of air,
Their children’s children shall say they have lied.

And I love the fact that Yeats, he emphasizes a poem, in which case a song. He was a very lyric poet. He emphasizes how light, how insubstantial it is. It’s almost nothing.

[06:56] – Mark McGuinness

“Weigh this song.” She’s being criticized by people. He doesn’t like “the great and their pride.” And he’s saying, but you can’t—don’t respond to the criticism. Just “weigh this song” with it almost as though he’s saying that poetry can balance the scales of this injustice.

And he says, “I made it out of a mouthful of air.” So that’s what the poem is made of. It’s made of speech, it’s made of breath.

And of course, this takes us back to the origins of poetry, which is even older than writing. So it would have been spoken or maybe sung way back before people thought of writing poems down.

And I think this is something for me, something quite magical about poetry, that insubstantial thing. You’re making it out of nothing, really. A mouthful of air that still survives into the 21st century. And I thought, Isn’t that a lovely way of thinking about a poem?

And it’s perfect for a podcast, because what you get on the podcast, of course, is the spoken poem. Again, we’ve gone from the text back to speech. So that’s where I got it.

[08:02] – Ann Kroeker

It’s both literal and metaphor. And metaphor is a big part of poetry, and we can grab it.

Most of the people, I think, listening to my show are writing prose or novels or short stories or essays or articles, and probably fewer writing poetry. Tell me how you feel like this. We can translate things like metaphor used commonly in poetry.

How can we translate metaphor into our other forms of writing without being weird?

[08:34] – Mark McGuinness

I mean, I’m thinking I can tell you about how to do it as a poet. And I use it a lot. I think I use it quite a lot in my nonfiction writing.

So I write about the creative process sometimes. But I think it’s probably basically the same process, which is on some level, the question you’re asking yourself is, “What does this remind me of?” Or, “What is this like?”

And you’re just allowing that thought to come maybe from the back of the mind to the front of the mind. If you have an image, I would say pay attention to the imagery in your mind.

If you’re picturing a character, say, and there’s an image of a waterfall in your mind, just trust that and say, you know, “She was like a waterfall.”

That’s a simile, technically, rather than metaphor, but you know what I mean. It’s the same kind of figurative language I would say or listen and take seriously the words on the tip of your tongue.

If you start to say, I’m feeling really heavy today, then just go with that heavy feeling. Or “He was feeling heavy. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

[09:47] – Mark McGuinness

I know that’s a cliche, but you can just go with that kind of language, I think. And the other thing I would say, of course, is read lots of poems, because you get loads and loads of metaphors and they just lodge in your mind and get you into that way of thinking.

[10:04] – Ann Kroeker

I appreciated how you modeled that close reading of the Yeats poem for us. And I think just with that alone, you’ve given us a powerful tool to do that, to pull a poetry book off the shelf or look one up online, read it, and then pause and look for those.

That would be a great place to start, I think, with metaphor. I agree.

I have a question for you.

What comes to mind when you think about your own writing life? What metaphor comes to mind for yourself?

[10:40] – Mark McGuinness

The image that came to mind then was kind of almost like a river bank, but it’s going up there’s the river down below, but then there’s the bank leading up, and there’s kind of trees and branches and hedges up there, and there’s all the life going on up there.

I’m waving my hand about for anyone listening to the audio version.

And I guess it feels if I’m writing, I’m going to go down here down by the river, and I’m just going to be out of sight for a little while. I can hear the world is still within earshot. I can listen to that. I can tune into that. But I can also listening to the river that is going in my other ear.

And I feel quite earth and I don’t know, you can’t quite say water, can you? Connection for water. But there’s a connection to the earth and water, which feels quite true to the spirit, I guess.

Well, that was the image that came to mind. I could run with that, plenty into that.

[11:47] – Ann Kroeker

Exactly. My mind was going, I’m imagining you dipping into that river that’s always flowing. And you do that with poetry you’re dipping in.

[11:56] – Mark McGuinness

Yeah, absolutely. And maybe take some back up over the hedge.

[12:01] – Ann Kroeker

Yeah. “Hey, drink this. Taste this.”

[12:04] – Mark McGuinness

That’s it. Yeah, maybe that’s it. That’s good.

[12:09] – Ann Kroeker

Has your writing life evolved in a dramatic way, a subtle way, from your origins?

Which…maybe tell us about those origins and then walk us through?

[12:19] – Mark McGuinness

That’s a good question. I would say my poetry, in one sense has stayed the same, which is that…so I remember the first time I really got excited about writing poetry.

We were at school and my English teacher, Jeff Reilly—wonderful guy, great teacher—he sets the task of writing a ballad based on the novel that we were reading.

And we got started in the class and then we had to go into the next class. It was probably chemistry or something deathly boring like that. And I found myself at the back of the class with my jotter, which I don’t know if your lot of us are familiar with that term it’s basically the rough notebook that we have with really awful paper that would probably take your skin off if you rubbed against it too hard. And I was writing in my jotter and I kept going with it…

I sat at the back of the class and kind of hid it behind my bag. And really I should have been doing chemistry but I couldn’t get the rhythm of this ballad—which a ballad’s is very strong rhythm—out of my mind.

[13:29] – Mark McGuinness

And I kept going through chemistry and history and goodness knows what and normally was the boringly good student who would be paying attention due to fully but I couldn’t. There was this mischievous thing in the poem.

Years later I interviewed the poet Paul Farley, who’s one of our foremost poets here, and he said to me something that really resonated because I was asking him about his writing life and he said, “I feel like I have to be skiving off to write.”

So skiving off is British slang for maybe you call it playing hooky, running away from school. Yes, he said, “I feel I have to be skiving off from something else.”

Like maybe he was supposed to be writing a review or a lecture or whatever and he would be scribbling in the margin. And I could really relate to that.

And I think, coming back to your question, my poetry writing life is not a million miles away from that. The poem is something that will come along and interrupt or tap me on the shoulder when I’m doing something else or even when I’m trying to sleep. Three o’clock in the morning is quite inconvenient sometimes.

[14:37] – Mark McGuinness

But I do have a rule with myself, with whatever else I’m doing, unless I’m in front of a client, I am allowed to go with the poem.

Even if I’ve said to myself I’ll be writing a podcast episode or something this morning. I’m allowed to write that poem because it’s a bit like a leprechaun, the Irish leprechaun. The little spirit’s supposed to appear in front of you, and you mustn’t take your eyes off him because he’s got a pot of gold at the end of his rainbow.

And if you make him, he has to give you the pot of gold. But if you look away and he will use all his tricks to get you to look away, he’ll disappear.

I think the poem is a bit like that, at least the initial idea. You’ve got to grab it before it vanishes.

And then there will be endless tweakings and revisions and rewriting over and over again. So I guess as far as poetry goes, it’s like that. It’s still quite feral, quite wild.

For prose, I’ve got a pretty well established routine, which is I write in the mornings and I do all my other stuff in the afternoon.

[15:47] – Ann Kroeker

No, go ahead. I love hearing about your process.

[15:50] – Mark McGuinness

Well, that was a decision I made about 15 years ago when I realized that my email inbox and my phone and running around after other people was running my schedule, my day. And I thought, “No, you’ve got to draw a line in the sand. You’ve got to actually start the day by writing and making something, not just reacting.”

And at that stage, I was so busy, I got up at 6:00 in the morning to write this blog. I had an idea for launching a blog, but to have it stuck with me.

Unfortunately, I’ve now managed to move the date further forward into the day, partly due to having children, when I capture every ounce of sleep I possibly could when they were small. But I still like that intentionality that that gives my day, that I’m starting off, I’m going to create something.

Later on, there’s plenty of things that I need and want to do for other people. But this is the thing I do that feeds me. First thing.

[16:55] – Ann Kroeker

As a writer, do you identify first and foremost as a poet who writes prose, or someone who writes prose and uses poetry…which comes first?

[17:04] – Mark McGuinness

Oh, poetry comes first. That’s much more exciting, at least in my mind, because to me, that is the most exciting form of reading or writing. And I love prose as well, don’t get me wrong. But what poetry gives me is that it’s even more concentrated, even more magical.

[17:25] – Ann Kroeker

What do you think is the biggest gift that a poem gives?

Is it the play with words? Is it conveying an idea slant? Is it something else?

[17:39] – Mark McGuinness

There’s a lot of pleasure in poetry, and I think that’s something that’s easily overlooked.

Like, we listen to music. We listen to songs because they’re fun. It’s not because we feel we ought to understand figurative language and Bob Dylan’s use of the metaphor, whatever. It’s because it’s a great tune and we like the sound of it and it sticks in our head.

And to me, first and foremost, poetry is like that, or rather, and also because I had to really think about this when I was launching the poetry podcast. Well, what does it do? And to me, it helps me make sense of the world, and that’s reading and writing.

And of course, Robert Frost put it much better than I did when he said, “a poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” It becomes “a momentary stay against confusion.”

And I just think that’s so beautifully and precisely put because it’s momentary. It’s not like this is the Truth, capital letters, and it will always be, but a momentary. You go, “Actually, yeah, I’ve got that.” When you read the poem or writing it, “Yes, I captured that.” And then, of course, we’re back in the flow of confusion.

But yeah, that delight and wisdom that will do me for poetry.

[19:01] – Ann Kroeker

Where is that? I want to know the source of that quote.

[19:05] – Mark McGuinness

I think he made it like an offhand remark, maybe in one of his interviews or talks. I’d like to think he sat down and considered it because it’s pretty good, isn’t it?

[19:15] – Ann Kroeker

It’s like you’ve prepared that for this.

[19:17] – Mark McGuinness

It’s a prepared line. That’s right.

[19:21] – Ann Kroeker

Wow.

When you think back to all the things that you have done and achieved as a writer, what are you most proud of?

[19:32] – Mark McGuinness

The poems that sing to me. And also I’ve heard they sing to…they sing or they speak to other people.

And I won’t lie, if a poet I really admire says, “I like that one,” that means a lot.

I think when you’ve got a fellow practitioner who’s further down the path than you, who says, “Okay, there’s something there,” ego aside and validation and aside, I think it’s a sense of “Yes, at least I captured that. At least I managed to kind of make sense of that little corner of the universe.” That’s quite satisfying.

[20:20] – Ann Kroeker

And that input that you’re getting that you know it sang to somebody, and it landed right, is that happening because it got accepted to a journal and it’s been read or available to the public? Or does this happen privately?

I’m asking because I’m thinking about all the people who are working so hard privately at their computers, at their notebooks, writing poems, writing other things, essays or whatever, and they’re hearing no from the gatekeepers.

So I’m just curious if some of this input that you’re getting…how are you getting it?

[21:00] – Mark McGuinness

Well, first of all, I’ll say if you want to get a lot more no’s, then write poetry.

Because the amazing thing is you walk down the street, you never meet a poet, and you submit to a poetry magazine and suddenly there’s hundreds of them in the inbox next to you. And I know this because I edited a poetry magazine once, and I saw what mind-boggling number of poems come in.

So I’m there with you. If you’re getting the no’s, I get more no’s than yeses. Most people do just because of the numbers. But the yeses outweigh the no’s.

And going back to the original question, which I think is a really good one, it’s interesting because the ones that come to mind aren’t publications or prizes.

When you asked the question, it was times when I’ve sat down when poet is tutoring me, because that’s when you actually see the real response, the one that they can’t fake. Either they frown or their face lights up and you can see even before they said something, “Oh, that one connected.” And then they will say something.

Because when you get accepted, generally you don’t get a lot of feedback.

[22:18] – Mark McGuinness

It’s just, “Hey, great poem, thanks. We’re pleased to have it.”

Whereas in a tuition situation or mentoring situation, I think you’re more likely to get a) the emotional response, and b) the more fulsome, detailed feedback.

So I would say if anybody is in that situation, get great feedback, find a tutor, find a mentor, somebody who really knows your genre.

And they’re not just going to give you general praise, but they can give you really specific praise or be open to the criticism if it’s not there yet. But that can really help you calibrate.

Because I think another thing I would say based on the experience of having edited a magazine is when we submit, I think there’s always a little frightened part of us that’s thinking, “Oh, will I be good enough?”

And if you get rejected it’s, “I wasn’t good enough. My poem wasn’t good enough. I’m not good enough.”

But rest assured, when I edited, it was Magma Poetry magazine. There were plenty of poems that weren’t of a great quality, that’s true. But there were also far more poems that were good enough—in other words, well written enough—than I had room for in the magazine.

[23:38] – Mark McGuinness

And so at that point it came down to my taste. It came down to the kind of context.

There were several sometimes that would form little constellations together. They would be on the same topic or around they seem to speak to each other. They kind of looked out for each other. And then the poor poem about a subject completely different wasn’t left on its own. It was harder to justify leaving that in.

Ever since then I’ve realized it’s not just about being “good enough,” whatever that means. Maybe think about that before you submit.

They always say read the magazine or read the books published by whatever. You really should because that will give you an idea of the kind of stuff that gets published there. Sometimes it helps to get an idea of if there’s a judge for a competition, sometimes, I’ve entered because I thought, “Oh, I like their stuff, I wonder what they think of mine?” So that can be interesting.

But the other thing is to just keep at it. And always have always have more submissions out.

Never have one submission at a time because when that comes back as a no, then you’ve got nothing to look forward to.

[24:56] – Mark McGuinness

But if you’ve got another two or three, then there’s a part of you that can go, “Yeah, but, well, maybe next month I’ll get a yes.” And then you rotate.

So the game is to always have more submissions always out there so there’s always, “Well, but maybe the next one.”

[25:13] – Ann Kroeker

So much good advice. And so reassuring.

Mark, I can’t tell you what a relief this is going to be for those who are in the trenches doing the work, submitting, to hear from someone who’s been an editor—and someone who has submitted their work and had to grapple with both sides.

That helps us get a vision for what these editors are trying to do with their work and how they honestly react and respond to pieces. And that there are many good poems that end up hearing no simply because it didn’t fit the theme that emerged organically. I loved that part.

I think that’s just one example of why we need to just turn around and resubmit.

Keep finding the right home for your work.

[25:57] – Mark McGuinness

That’s it. That’s the phrase. Find the right home for it.

Because if you go with the idea that, well, I mean…sometimes it’s been rejected enough. There are poems I’ve taken to Mimi Khalvati, my longterm mentor, and she said, “Well, you know what, Mark? Maybe it’s time to retire that one.” And that’s fine.

But sometimes it is a case of…I’ve had plenty of poems accepted by good publications that have been rejected several times by others, and it’s about: you could find the right home for it. I think there’s a lovely phrase to use.

[26:31] – Ann Kroeker

Is there a number we should keep in mind? Like when Mimi would tell us what’s the number of rejections where….yeah, maybe…?

[26:42] – Mark McGuinness

I don’t know, because famously, if J. K. Rowling had given up after, was it 29, 30 rejections, she wouldn’t have sent it to the next one.

[26:51] – Ann Kroeker

True. Yeah.

You said a couple of things that were interesting that I wanted to explore with you. One was early in the discussion with me today. You’ve talked about just start reading poetry. Then later here, we’re talking about creating poems.

So we’ve got sort of the person who’s taking it in and maybe for the first time, starting to integrate that as part of their writing and creative process. And then you have people who are actually trying to write poetry.

And you’ve suggested getting mentors, getting some sort of input with genre-specific, feedback, so that you can really learn and grow.

When would a person who’s just starting to read poetry know when they’re ready to start getting that kind of education and input? And where can they find it?

[27:40] – Mark McGuinness

I would say, if you really want to get going, then go and look for a course.

Obviously, look for a beginners’ course, but as well as the actual tuition and feedback you get, there’s nothing like being in a room full of people who want to do the same thing.

You know, I did a writer’s retreat a few years ago and we had to go round the table on the first evening and, “What does everybody want? What does everybody want from the week?”

And I just said, “I want a week where writing poetry is normal.” And there were a few smiles around the table because people recognize that normally, it’s not. Normally, they’re the odd one out. Normally, they’re fighting for that time or trying to sneak it away from other things in terms of where to go.

I mean, I’m in the UK, so to me the obvious place would be the Arvin Foundation, which does all kinds of different genres. It does poetry, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction and so on.

There’s also the Poetry School in London, which is a wonderful—well, they’re based in London, but they have courses online and they have courses around the UK.

[28:50] – Mark McGuinness

Arvin and Poetry School have been doing a lot more online since the pandemic came along. So that’s one benefit from somebody like me who doesn’t live in London anymore, or indeed, if you’re in the States or elsewhere in the world. I think those are my main recommendations. So it might depend on time zones and online availability, but I’m sure wherever you are, they will be.

If you Google fiction for beginners or poetry for beginners or nonfiction or whatever it is.

Ann Kroeker

How did you find Mimi?

Mark McGuinness

Good question. I found Mimi…I can’t entirely remember. I’ve got a feeling that I was in the Poetry Cafe in London in Covent Garden, which is a lovely space. It’s a cafe for poets and poetry. They do readings and drinks and stuff, and the Poetry Society is upstairs where it used to be. And there was a notice board.

I think maybe I saw her advertised for doing, because Mimi did a course for the Poetry School years ago called Versification, where she took all the major types of meter and verse form and we had to write them every week. I think we started with Anglo Saxon, and that was quite demanding course, but also a really amazing one, because at that point I’d done an English degree, so I kind of knew all of this stuff.

[30:25] – Mark McGuinness

But Mimi showed us how the craft of it works. “Okay, this is the result, and this is what it looks like when it’s finished. But how do you write a Petrarchan sonnet? How do you write terza rima? How do you write heroic couplets or blank verse or a villanelle? And how did it evolve and what does it do that other forms don’t do?”

So she really conveyed the magic of the form, really. And that was a lot of the traditional forms in poetry.

They’re not exactly endangered species, but they’re not the mainstream anymore. Most poets these days will write what’s called free verse, which basically means it doesn’t have a regular meter, it doesn’t have a regular rhythm, and it quite often doesn’t rhyme. And that’s great. But it turns out that’s not predominantly the kind of poet I am.

I really like the pulse, as I call it, of the rhythm of the meter, and I like the rhyme. To me, there’s a magical quality to those old forms.

And Mimi really showed us how to tap into that and use it in our own voice. So that’s how I met her. And I just kept going to different classes, and she’s currently mentoring me one to one.

[31:53] – Ann Kroeker

So you must have just asked and she said yes? I love it.

[31:58] – Mark McGuinness

Yeah. I would say again, if there’s a writer that you really admire and you think, “If I could write a bit more like them,” or “I’d really love to get their view on my work,” or just to learn more about how they do it, just Google to see:

Are they giving a talk? Are they being interviewed? I mean, there’s loads of interviews on podcasts, for example. Are they offering classes? Is there any way that you can get into that person’s orbit? And you can learn a lot.

[32:30] – Ann Kroeker

When you are working on a poem or any creative project, how do you get started?

Like, where do you start with an idea, with a phrase? Tell us a little bit about your process.

[32:41] – Mark McGuinness

A lot of the time it kind of mugs me.

There’s another thing that Paul Farley said. He said, “I want the poem to mug me when I’m doing something else.”

So it’s the line that pops into your mind, which is quite a well established phenomenon for a poet. Paul Valéry called it le vers donner, and le vers calculer.

Le vers donner is the given line. This is the line that the muse or the unconscious or whatever we want to call it, pops into your head.

And then le vers calculer is the line that you make yourself.

So I was once on getting on my children on the Tube, and…I remember just setting them into their seat on the Tube and then the line “terminate the human race” came into my mind and I thought, “What is that?“

And it was the start of a poem. And it was interesting. As soon as I heard that line, I knew what shape and size poem it was and how it related to another poem that I knew.

And it had nothing to do with children, so don’t worry about that. But it just shows how inconvenient and how completely unconnected it can be with whatever’s going on in the rest of your life, it will pop into your mind.

[34:08] – Mark McGuinness

I think actually it’s possible to kind of prime the pump, so to speak.

So a few months ago, I had an idea that I wanted to have a ballad in my poetry collection, because I had a few times that were kind of almost ballads or next door to ballads, and I thought, “Oh, come on, you know you could do the actual thing.” But I had no idea what I would write about. And then—let me show you.

[34:35] – Ann Kroeker

You pulled out your notebook from childhood and the ballad that you are hiding.

[34:40] – Mark McGuinness

It’s interesting because that’s probably the last time I’d written about it.

No. Maybe I wrote one in Mimi’s class, but I went on the internet and I ordered this. Which is the Faber Book of Ballads, from the ’60s. And it’s all lots of old traditional ballads. Irish. Scots. English. Nearly all anonymous.

And I just read it from cover to cover, and then sure enough: A few days later I wake up at three in the morning and there’s my ballad starting to write itself.

And it was a topic I would never have guessed. So that can happen.

If you can kind of say that I’m going to mark out the ground and invite the spirit of the form in, then sometimes they answer the call.

[35:28] – Ann Kroeker

It reminds me of two things, and the first is just that you seem to have like, that invitation—that openness to whatever might come, whenever it might come, and then trusting it when it comes. That is one thing that strikes me about how you approach what enters your orbit, to use your phrase from before.

The other thing that strikes me, too, with that story in particular is I’m a big Sting fan.

[Oh, right.] There was this era where he says that he was creatively blocked and it was old music that had kind of been lost and forgotten. I think there’s a TED Talk that he gave about it, but that’s where he went when he needed to reignite his creativity—it’s going back to the older music and letting that stir something up in him.

I’m not trying to quote him or anything, but it seems like that you pulling that book off the shelf, revisiting what was long ago, allowed you to bring that into your own contemporary life and something came.

What was the theme of that ballad?

[36:35] – Mark McGuinness

I can’t tell you. Literally. Well, actually, I can tell you it was about the pandemic. I can’t quote it because I’ve sent it out on submission, so I don’t want to jinx it, okay? But it was about the pandemic, and I never thought I’d be writing about the pandemic because it’s a big theme to explore and there is quite a lot of pandemic poetry out there.

But anyway, sometimes you’ve got to do what the poem tells you you’re going to do.

[37:01] – Ann Kroeker

There you go. There’s a line. Yeah, “You’ve got to do what the poem tells you to do.”

[37:05] – Mark McGuinness

But to your question about the traditional, I do think it’s important to know whatever genre you’re writing it.

I mean, for me it’s poetry, but different types of fiction, it will have begun at some point. And there’s a backstory, there’s a history, there’s a tradition, and it’s your job to know that and read that because it’s evolved and you learn so much. And there’s a sense that you’re carrying that torch forward for the next generation.

We love to think we’re so individual, particularly poets. Goodness me, we love that. But at the same time we’re kind of part of a procession or part of a team, even. And I think it’s important to know what people further down the line have done.

I think my experience of writing the ballad was I wanted to tap into that whole very old oral ballad tradition.

A lot of people who “wrote” ballads were illiterate. They were songs, they were sung, and they were recited orally and changed. They went through many hands.

And just to pick up a kind of a wave, the metaphor that’s come out like a rippling wave from that and just to go, “Okay, that energy can flow into my poem.”

[38:31] – Ann Kroeker

Where do you see…so you’re entering the conversation now.

You’re entering that with your own energy, adding to that pulse of poetry, that pulse of ideas. Where do you see yourself headed?

Mark McGuinness

As a poet?

Ann Kroeker

As a creative person, I guess? You can broaden it if you want to.

[38:52] – Mark McGuinness

Yeah. So the image that’s coming to mind now, which is one that comes up quite a lot when I think about poetry, is because I think it’s like a big group writing project. And the image I have is a Persian carpet and all the poets throughout history and all the different languages, they’re all weaving it together simultaneously throughout time and space.

And of course, in the middle you’ve got Shakespeare and Homer and Dante doing the big flourishes and whatever.

But even if I could just do a little Bird on the Border or I could do a bit of the trellis work or whatever, I’d be happy because I’m connected up to that grid.

So it comes back to that. It’s not to say I’m not ambitious to do the best I can, but it’s more and more that phrase you used earlier, just find a home. Just write the work that I feel I want to write and find a home for that and just pass it on to the next.

Ann Kroeker

What a beautiful image.

Mark McGuinness

That’s not to say I don’t have ego and ambition and all of that, but there’s a time and a place for that, and that’s not really where the real writing comes from.

[40:07] – Ann Kroeker

Mark, that’s so beautiful, the image you’ve given us, the desire to be one color, one thread woven into that carpet, into that tapestry. I’d be happy to be part of the fringe. I don’t mind.

[40:21] – Mark McGuinness

Right.

[40:22] – Ann Kroeker

Just straighten it out a little bit.

[40:24] – Mark McGuinness

Yeah.

[40:25] – Ann Kroeker

Because that adds to it. Right? We’re all adding to it.

And when it comes to ideas, I think there’s a common word that people use, which is this ecosystem of ideas that we’re all connected to. This giant pond area.

But I love your image. It’s so much more beautiful and a much stronger metaphor, and one that I think we could all dream of to add color to this world. Yeah.

Any parting words that can inspire us and leave us ready to go do the work?

[40:56] – Mark McGuinness

Well, I’ve got a little suggestion for a little game you could play with some writing if you’re remotely curious about writing poetry or just using poetry as a way to look more closely at the words that you use.

So for instance, if you’re a novelist, then you will know far more about plot and story and narrative structure than I will ever know. But what poetry can help you do is to really hone in on the words and that close reading that you were talking about.

So I would say you don’t even need to write anything new for this little game. I would say take a piece of writing of yours that you pretty well like that doesn’t make you cringe when you look at it, that you think, “Okay, I like that.”

And then I want you to copy-paste it and get about one page, a fourth’s worth, or maybe half a page is probably better.

Then I want you to play the game of chopping it up into lines. Because that’s really the only difference between verse and prose—it’s that the verse means a turn. Somebody once said it’s writing that doesn’t meet the right hand margin.

And it’s debatable whether that—and it’s not the same as poetry, which we could argue all day about what the definition of that is—

[42:12] – Mark McGuinness

but for verse, it’s divided up into lines.

So take your poem and divide it up into lines. And don’t get too…try to do them kind of much of a muchness, roughly the same length.

And just look at it on the page, and read it like that and see what difference that makes. And see if it changes the way you see the words or the way you might try speaking it aloud. That would be really interesting. Read the prose aloud and then read that aloud.

Then take that same text and divide it up into stanzas of four lines each. And don’t play with it, just chop it up and just put an extra line space in, and then have a look and see what difference that makes.

And you can keep playing. You can try it with two-line, three-line, five-line stanzas.

You can try longer or shorter lines.

You could try it with what they call verse paragraphs, where you have one section is altogether as a block and then you break it up and there’s another section.

And copy all the different versions of this and maybe print them out and you can just see.

[43:23] – Mark McGuinness

That will teach you a load about poetic form and about the effect of it without anyone having to explain it to you because you will see and feel and sense the difference between the same words in different arrangements.

So that’s the game I invite you to play.

[43:41] – Ann Kroeker

I like that game. I will play it this afternoon. Thank you, Mark. How can people get to know you better? Where do you want to send them?

[43:50] – Mark McGuinness

If you listen to podcasts, wherever you listen to podcasts, search for A Mouthful of Air, and you will find us.

Or online, AMouthfulofAir.FM. Now, the great thing about the website is, remember, poetry is what I call an amphibious art, which means it can live in two different elements. It’s not water and air, but it can live on the page and it can live in your ear.

So if you go to the website, you will find the text of all the poems. And it can be interesting. You listen to the audio and you look at the text and there’s also a transcript of every episode with links to all the technical terms I mentioned. I do try and explain them as we go, but if you want to know more about it, then go there and there will be a link to explain all of that.

And you can sign up and you can get it delivered via email. You get the audio and the email, or you can just subscribe and listen to the podcast. And I do have some people who only read it because they just prefer to read and that’s cool, too.

[44:50] – Mark McGuinness

So that’s where to go. I think on Twitter, it’s @amouthfulofair. And on Instagram, I’m putting the poems on Instagram, it’s @airpoets.

[45:00] – Ann Kroeker

You are investing in writers so generously. This is incredible. I think we talked about finding a class, finding a mentor. You can be our first mentor, I believe, with all of this.

[45:13] – Mark McGuinness

Thank you.

[45:13] – Ann Kroeker

Yeah, thank you. Well, thank you for your time, too, and it’s been a pleasure to get to know you better, to get to your work and to introduce you to listeners of “Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.”

[45:23] – Mark McGuinness

Well, thank you. With a coach and a podcast, you ask great questions and it was a real delight to talk to you. So thank you.

[45:31] – Ann Kroeker

Are you ready to make poetry part of your writing routine? You can let Mark continue to guide and inspire you through his podcast, A Mouthful of Air. I’ll link to that and all things related to Mark at annkroeker.com/amouthfulofair. That’s annkroeker.com/amouthfulofair. I can’t wait to hear your best takeaway from this interview. Thank you for being here. I’m Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

The post Poetry as a Playful and Pleasurable Creative Practice, with Mark McGuinness appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Writers working on projects that are destined to be published—to be read—can struggle with nerves.

We edit our words before they have a chance to breathe on the page.

We hold back our true feelings and opinions.

We forget to play with language.

Serious Writers Need to Play

I tend to encourage my clients to move toward practical goals, to create work that is going to be published.

But at the same time, I also encourage writers to play, to get past the gates we put in front of ourselves and try to tap into those first thoughts without fear of being misunderstood.

If you’re a writer taking yourself a little too seriously, I have just the thing for you today—a writing exercise you can play with in your writing journal, where nobody will see it.

The Creative Writing Exercise: A Three-Line Poem

This one comes from Imaginative Writing by Janet Burroway. When you’re done, you’ll end up with a three-line poem (24).

Each of the lines has a template you can follow.

➤ Line 1: abstraction + verb + place

➤ Line 2: describe attire

➤ Line 3: summarize an action

Here’s one of her examples.

Hunger yells in the hallway,
draped in cymbals;
he stomps and shouts, “Hear me now!”

Notice how she plays with the template.

Line 1:

• “Hunger” is the abstraction
• “Yells” is the verb
• “In the hallway” is the place

Line 2: “Draped in cymbals” is her way of describing some attire.

Line 3: “He stomps and shouts, ‘Hear me now!'” describes action.

It’s okay if your poems come out a little weird or kooky. That’s part of the fun of it.

Your Turn: Try It!

You’re putting together ideas and images and creating something fresh—have fun with it!

Don’t overthink the noun, the verb, or the action. Simply play.

Join Others in The Art & Craft of Writing

This offers a taste of some of the exercises we are going to play with in The Art and Craft of Writing.

If you’re reading this before August 29, 2022, you have a chance to sign up for a fall intensive I’m running: an eight-week program designed to help you get input on your writing while you learn literary techniques and put them into practice. You’ll get eyes on your work from peers in the cohort and from me, as well!

If you’re coming across this information after the fact, go to annkroeker.com/acw, which will take you to the page where you can sign up if it’s live or get on the waitlist if it’s not.

You don’t have to wait for that or even be in the program to play with writing. You can start today, with this three-line poem.

While you’re playing with your own words in your writing notebook, you don’t have to share anything with anybody. It’s just a chance to warm up—to get the creative juices flowing.

Creative Writing with Your Coach

That said, maybe it helps to know that this writing coach loves to play with words.

Would you like to see what I came up with, just for fun?

Here’s one:

Ideas skid across my path;
jaunty in their tilted caps and leprechaun-green suits,
they dance a jig, daring me to catch them.

Here’s another:

Time slithers under the bedroom door,
its wrinkled skin sloughing off
as it scrapes the wood and leaves me behind, guilty of pressing snooze once more.

Experiment, Play, and (if you want) Share Your Poem

If you end up writing your own three-line poem and like the way it turned out—and you wouldn’t mind sharing it publicly—drop it into the comments below. Or you could share it with me privately via email.

I’d love to see what you come up with.

As writers, we do the work of writing, but by experimenting with a creative writing exercise now and then, we can also play.

_____________________

Ready to elevate your writing craft—with a coach to guide you?

Get the direction you need to improve as a writer with The Art & Craft of Writing.

In this eight-week intensive, I’ll help you elevate your writing skills and create a compelling piece you’ll be proud to show an editor or agent. By the end of our time together, you’ll have completed a 3,000-word piece, along with multiple short submissions that invite you to experiment and play with new techniques.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE

Footnote: Burroway, Janet. Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft. Pearson, 2015. Page 24.

The post Try This Writing Prompt to Get the Creative Juices Flowing! appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Have you ever wondered what a writing coach is?

As you can imagine, I get asked this a lot. I mean, it is baked into my branding, and I love sharing insights I’ve gained over my years of coaching.

Let’s start with the simplest, broadest definition of what a writing coach is and does:

A writing coach provides you with input and support designed to close the gap between where you are as a writer and where you want to be.

I coauthored the book On Being a Writer with Charity Singleton Craig (2014), and our editor used similar language on the back cover copy of the book and in marketing materials:

Let this book act as your personal coach, to explore the writing life you already have and the writing life you wish for, and close the gap between the two.¹

That phrasing captures the foundational purpose and core intent of this coaching role in a writer’s life, so I adapted it here.

And as a writing coach myself for over a decade, I can confirm that this is indeed a high-level description of writing coaching.

Differences in Writing Coaches

Every coach approaches the work differently based on their experience, background, training, and philosophy. As a result, not every coach will feel like the right fit for you.

In fact, you may need one kind of coach at one stage in your writing journey and another kind of coach later.

Bottom line: you want to find someone ready to address your current goals and challenges.

Writing Coaches Are Not…

To begin to understand what a writing coach is and does, let’s look at what a writing coach isn’t.

➤ Writing coaches are not editors

A coach may have been and may still be an editor. They may offer both services and, thus, be both a coach and an editor. They may also offer editorial input within their coaching style. But these are two different services, so writing coaches are not editors while they are coaching.

➤ Writing coaches are not agents

A coach may have been and may still be an agent. But these two services must be distinct and separate, since authors never pay for representation. If you find an agent who offers coaching, be sure the service you’re paying for is coaching.

➤ Writing coaches are not ghostwriters

A coach may have been a ghostwriter and may still offer ghostwriting as a separate service, but a coach’s role is not to collaborate or do any of the writing for you. You’re the writer!

➤ Writing coaches are not social media managers or designers

A coach may have personal experience and success in social media, and offer ideas to increase engagement with followers. They may recommend social media managers and designers. But writers don’t hire coaches to set up marketing campaigns or design Instagram images.

➤ Writing coaches are not marketing and promotion specialists, publicists, or launch team organizers

A coach may offer marketing, publicity, or launch team services in addition to coaching. Authors who become coaches may pass along insights from their own marketing and publicity experience. But when coaching a client, they are not marketing or publicizing their client’s work or organizing a launch team.

➤ Writing coaches are not mentors

My writing mentors—I’ve had at least five—invested time in me, guiding and steering me through phases in my career, and from those relationships, I know that a coach’s advice might feel like the advice you’ve gotten from a mentor. A coach might even have a mentor. You yourself might have both a mentor and a coach. Despite the similarities, however, a writing coach is not the same as a mentor.

➤ Writing coaches are not teachers

A coach may have been—or still be—an English teacher or a professor, and a coach may also, separately, teach through courses, conferences, and workshops. I suppose a coach may informally teach through a one-on-one session. But coaches are different from teachers.

Writing Coaches Complement Other Roles

A writing coach is not replacing or competing with any of those roles.

In fact, you may need or want an editor, agent, or teacher at another stage of your writing life—sometimes you’ll need both at the same time: a coach and any number of these roles.

I plan to explore the differences between these roles in more detail in the future, but for now, let’s look at categories of coaches in more detail, so you can grasp the variety and land on the type of coach to best support your writing needs and challenges.

Not All Coaches Are the Same

As you research writing coaches, you’re going to see people with that title, but when you inquire about working with them, they don’t offer what you need. That’s probably because their core strength is not what you’re looking for.

Not all coaches are the same.

I see the term “writing coach” as the broadest label—an umbrella term, if you will. Under that are specialties.

You’re trying to align your needs and challenges and goals with their experience, training, philosophy, personality, and expertise.

Not all writing coaches are book coaches. In your search for a writing coach, you’ll discover some who focus on novelists, nonfiction authors, and memoirists. They may call themselves writing coaches or book coaches, or both, but their focus is on coaching authors—people working on book length projects. A book coach is a type of writing coach, but you may come across a writing coach who is not a book coach.

You’ll also find people who coach bloggers, copywriters, essayists, and poets. And you may see coaches who offer guidance to freelance writers, grant writers, PhD candidates working on dissertations, and professionals in the workplace seeking to improve their communication skills.

Another way coaches differ is through training, education, and experience, and that’s going to influence their specialties, style, and services even more.

Working with a writing coach who has training or background as a life coach may feel much different from someone who coaches out of experience as an editor, academic, marketer, or author. They may offer few resources or recommendations and rely instead on their skill in asking curious questions to free the writer to discover solutions to their own challenges.

A coach with an editorial background, on the other hand, may provide input on writing samples to point out areas of strength and weakness for a writer to improve craft. They may even assign homework to complete before each session.

Coaches who have been successful freelance writers might provide clients with a plan to launch their own business.

And book coaches may rely on a framework or process they’ve developed that adds structure, deadlines, input, and milestones so clients complete their manuscripts.

Coaches with experience building platform may work with the clients to develop a set of strategies to implement.

Add in their personality and their interpersonal communication style, and the types of coaches you could work with starts to seem endless, especially as this role is exploding right now, with coaches popping up everywhere with different kinds of certification as well.

Types of Writing Coaches

Here are some of the types of coaches you’ll find.

1. Coaches for academics

In your search, you’ll discover coaches who serve PhD candidates completing their dissertations or undergrads leveling up their essays and response papers.

2. Freelance writing coaches

These coaches equip writers to launch their own freelance writing careers so they can confidently present their freelance writing services or pitch and submit articles to magazines.

3. Coaches focused on mindset

Almost all coaches have experience working with writers who deal with writers block, perfectionism, imposter syndrome, fear, and other mindset hurdles, but people with training as a life coach often specialize in it. They might not supply strategies, provide publishing advice, or send resources, but they are skilled at asking questions that unlock and unwind your creative blocks.

4. Literary writing coaches

You can find coaches who support poets, essayists, or writers of short stories. Some may have earned an MFA, but they don’t need one to successfully review projects or prepare clients for submissions.

5. Corporate Communication Coaches

Some coaches serve professionals in the workplace determined to become more skilled and confident with written communication in the corporate world.

6. Coaches focused on grant writing

This is really specific, but there are people with experience writing successful grants who then offer that as a coaching service to support writers ready to craft their own grants.

7. Coaches for bloggers and digital writers

Some coaches serve bloggers and digital writers—people getting started online or seeking to improve their style and try new approaches.

These writers may be transitioning from print and need input to feel comfortable following best practices for digital writing. A coach who specializes in this may be just what a writer needs to launch a website, begin blogging, or understand how to write in the micro-essay form emerging on social media.

8. Coaches specializing in platform

You’ll find coaches who help people establish and expand their online presence and influence so they can reach readers with their message.

9. Book coaches

I saved this for last because it’s the biggest category. As I mentioned, we have this broader category of “writing coaches” that narrows to become “book coaches.” They may call themselves “book coaches” or “writing coaches,” but whatever label they use, their focus is on supporting authors working on book-length projects.

Book coaches narrow even further.

Book Coaches with Publishing Expertise

Depending on the publishing path you want to take, you could search for a coach experienced in self-publishing or traditional publishing.

Book Coaches for Authors of Nonfiction

Many coaches specialize in types of nonfiction, like:

• prescriptive nonfiction (some agents and editors call this “transformative nonfiction”)
• history
• biography

Book Coaches for Novelists

You may discover a coach who coaches novelists in general or brings a deep understanding of specific genres, like:

• literary fiction
• women’s fiction
• genre fiction (like thrillers, fantasy, or romance)

Book coaches for Memoirists

There are coaches who work with memoirists developing their narrative arc to complete a full manuscript.

Book Doctors

I’m going to add one more term here that you may encounter: “book doctor.”

A book doctor works with an author to revise an existing manuscript and make it ready for publication. A book doctor combines developmental editing with coaching gifts.

Keep in mind this is not an exhaustive list, but it reveals the variety of writing coaches. You may find one whose background—combined with personality and specialty—feels like the perfect fit for you and your challenges.

Be Open When Searching for a Writing Coach

While it may be tempting to seek a coach who has already achieved what you want to achieve, don’t limit yourself.

A coach’s own writing, editing, and publishing experience—their education and specialty—may matter less than if they can actually ask you the right questions and offer you resources to take the next step.

After all, in sports you’ll find plenty of coaches who coach Olympic athletes without having been an Olympic athlete themselves. I’ve coached bestselling and award-winning authors who have landed on lists and received honors I haven’t achieved or received.

You want a writing coach who sets you up for success.

That broadest definition that I started with works for every kind of coach:

They provide you with input and support designed to close the gap between where you are as a writer and where you want to be.

Find a Coach Who’s Here for You

Coaches love books. They love words. They love to empower writers to reach their potential. They exist to support you as you achieve your goals. Coaches identify a writer’s struggles and strategize next steps.

They see you for the individual writer you are with your own unique set of skills and gifts, challenges, and questions. They’ll hear your heart, your dreams, your goals.

Look for a coach who provides you with input and support designed to close the gap between where you are as a writer and where you want to be.

That’s why we’re here. For you.

Is there a gap in where you are as a writer…and where you want to be?

Source: Kroeker, Ann, and Charity Singleton Craig. On Being a Writer: 12 Simple Habits for a Writing Life That Lasts. T.S. Poetry Press, 2014. (Quote is from the book’s back cover copy.)

The post What’s a Writing Coach (and what kind do I need)? appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

For author Clarissa Moll, hiring a writing coach was like finding her book midwife, and she urges writers to seek that kind of intimate, knowledgeable support and input for their own writing and publishing journey.

In this interview, Clarissa shares her approach to writing, platform, and publishing, like:

• make a list of 10 things whenever you’re stuck or developing an idea
• say “Yes” before you’re ready
• pitch publications as a core platform-building activity
• authentically engage with readers—she’s committed to building connections and offering support

Listen to episode 242 and check out excerpts below. You’ll be inspired by her clear, sensible, inspiring personality and advice.

Clarissa Moll is an author and podcaster and the young widow of author Rob Moll. Clarissa’s writing has appeared in Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, RELEVANT, Modern Loss, Grief Digest, and more. Her debut book, Beyond the Darkness: A Gentle Guide for Living with Grief and Thriving After Loss is forthcoming from Tyndale (2022).

Clarissa co-hosts Christianity Today’s “Surprised by Grief” podcast and hosts the weekly hope*writers podcast, The Writerly Life. She lives a joyful life with her four children and rescue pup and proudly calls both New England the Pacific Northwest home.

Interview Highlights

Enjoy these highlights from Clarissa’s interview.

Find Your Book Midwife

As folks in my life kept saying to me, “You should write a book!” I thought, I don’t even know where to start.

I mean, I can write a five-paragraph essay. I can write a thesis. But to write 55,000 words? It seemed like an elephant that was too big to swallow.

I knew that to do it well, in a way that was sustainable in my own life, I needed to make sure that I was having a meaningful life outside of my writing.

And I knew if I wanted to do this again—if I didn’t want to end at the finish line so exhausted that I said, “No more. This is it.”—I knew I needed some guidance.

And so I reached out to you.

I gave birth to my four babies with a midwife, and when you’re in that delivery room, that baby feels like the only one that’s ever been born. And isn’t it wonderful to have a midwife stand beside you, who’s seen hundreds of delivered, to say, “This is normal. You’re doing great!” To be able to offer that encouragement and guidance along the way.

And so I found in you my book midwife. You’re the person who helped me to make that journey from just a nebulous kind of idea to something that’s really concrete.

Make a List of 10 Things

One of the exercises that I have gone back to time and time again is one that we did together.

You encouraged me to write a list of 10 things. And if I struggled with making my list of 10, I had to write another 10.

When you’re out of ideas, just force yourself to put pen to paper. That’s where clarity is born.

It’s not born in the writer’s retreat over a long weekend or at a cabin by the lake. It’s born out of those very ordinary, disciplined kind of practices that you taught me.

Say “Yes” Before You’re Ready

Back in my acting days, I had an audition and the acting professor said, “Could you do an Irish accent for this audition?”

I said, “Oh, I don’t know how to do that. I’m sorry.” And nothing ever came of it.

A couple of weeks later, he came to me and said, “You know, I wanted to give you that role, but you said you couldn’t do it. Next time, say ‘I’ll learn how.'”

That kind of perspective has been really helpful for me, as I have said yes to things that are beyond whatever I have done before.

Had I podcasted before? No.

But when someone invited me to do the Christianity Today podcast, I said, “I’ll learn how. I’ll get the equipment. I’ll learn how to do the technology. I will do it.”

Check Your Heart

I’ve been trying to think about what other things I could do that relate to my writing.

Should I build in speaking more?

Should I be expanding podcasting?

Should I try to do some sort of retreat where I can be writing new materials that are actually more interactive?

Maybe group resources?

I’m trying to think beyond just book writing, and that’s exciting for me because honestly, I hadn’t thought about those things before.

I had just been thinking about this book baby and getting it born. And now as I entered this new stage—trying to think about how writing can be sustainable for me in the long haul—I’m thinking about diversifying in more ways than I ever did before.

I also hesitate, because I know that there’s some pressure to, once you publish a book, sort of build your writing empire. “Oh, it’s time to start a course!” Or it’s time to start this or that or the other thing.

And I think that’s where I always check with my heart and ask myself:

Is that where your heart is?

Do you need to write a new lead magnet because you know that this is what drives traffic and you feel the pressure to perform or to keep doing something? Or is it that you feel like you have something valuable to share?

And so in that space, checking my heart is a really good practice. To say, “Am I trying to build an empire here, or am I still doing the thing that I love—and am I reaching people with words that matter?”

When I do that, I find that I can take a break to rest without feeling any guilt.

Pitch to Build Platform

[Question from Ann: What is the backbone of your platform? What is your core platform activity?]

I pitch and write.

And I love to do it.

I have a list on my phone where I keep article ideas. I usually get like an idea down and then start to get bullet points underneath it.

In fact, a lot of times when I’m driving, I’ll have my daughter help. “Hey, can you pull out my phone? I’ve got some ideas!”

And once I start to see stuff kind of globbing together around an idea, I think, “Oh, okay. It’s time to pitch that.” And I pitch it before I’ve written it, because that makes me have to write it if they say yes.

I like that external commitment. I like that there’s a little bit of pressure there.

And as soon as I have committed to writing it, I start trying to get the idea for the next one. Because I want to keep the momentum going.

Engage with Readers

I told my publisher that I was committed to being engaged with my audience. That said, I was married to a man who published books before social media was the gauge for what a platform should look like. And so I have kind of an old school attitude toward platform-building.

Use Vintage Methods to Engage with Readers

I’m going to call it vintage, though, because I liked that better than old school. But when Rob published both of his books, he engaged with readers.

That’s what he did. And it wasn’t through social media.

It was to speak.

It was through radio and other kinds of interviews.

He emailed people.

It had an intimacy that I think a lot of social media lacks today.

And so even though I am building my social media platform as best I can…I’ve determined that an engaged audience is always better than a big audience.

And so for me, the commitment has been not so much about numbers, but about engagement.

Respond to Every Reader Who Emails

For example, when I sent out my monthly email, I write back to every single person who replies to me. I’ve committed to that.

I write to every single person who sends me a direct message on Instagram.

I’ve committed to that because I think it’s important for people—particularly in the space in which I write—to know that they’re not alone…to know that someone has read what they’ve written and cared about their words and wants to respond to them.

Who’s to say that if I had a gigantic following, I wouldn’t be able to do that anymore. But I’m grateful for the small enough following that I have to be able to relate intimately to my readers and listeners, because I think that’s where the beauty happens.

The Magic and Beauty of Live Interaction

I worked in theater before I ever was a writer, and the live experience was exciting. There was the clapping, the laughter—there was an energy in that room.

And when you’re writing, it’s kind of a solitary practice. You’re all alone in your office, writing, hoping as you send your words out into the world, that it makes a difference to anybody.

And I think by committing to that kind of regular engagement with people you get some of that energy that I used to feel onstage. And that’s where the real magic and beauty happens in writing.

All that we don’t like about social media and all of its shortcomings—there is that—it’s closer to an immediate feedback that I really appreciate.

Clarissa’s Writing Advice

Keeping going when life feels hard is really hard. It’s hard to do. It’s hard to keep writing—to keep thinking that writing is something essential in your life.

Writing Doesn’t Have to Be Expendable

When life gets hard—and life getting hard could be anything from pandemic stressors to job difficulties, and for me, it was losing a loved one, but—it doesn’t have to be that kind of loss for life to feel hard and for writing to feel expendable.

And so I think if I were to say anything to a writer, I would say: keep writing.

Even if it’s just a little bit.

Keep Writing (Even a Little Bit)

A couple of sentences in an Instagram post?

That counts as writing.

Jotting notes while you’re waiting for your kids to be picked up in the school pickup line?

That counts as writing.

There are so many things that can count as writing! A really beautiful letter written to a loved one? That counts as writing.

I keep saving letters that a friend of mine sends to me because they’re beautifully written. And I know that those words were intended for me.

There’s an art to that.

It’s writing.

When life feels hard, writing doesn’t have to be expendable.

Subscribe to the “Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach” podcast on your favorite podcast player and listen to the full interview.

Resources

• Clarissa’s website, clarissamoll.com
• Beyond the Darkness: A Gentle Guide for Living with Grief and Thriving after Loss, by Clarissa Moll (July 2022, Tyndale; affiliate link)
• Clarissa on Instagram: @mollclarissa
• The Writerly Life podcast, sponsored by hopewriters and hosted by Clarissa (links to Apple Podcast; look it up on your favorite podcast player!)
• Christianity Today’s “Surprised by Grief” podcast

Join us in Your Platform Matters (YPM)

YPM is a warm and welcoming membership community committed to creative, meaningful ways we can grow our platform and reach readers—check us out!

The post Find Your Book Midwife, Say “Yes” Before You’re Ready, Pitch to Build Platform, and Authentically Engage with Readers (interview with author Clarissa Moll) appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Louis L’Amour is attributed as saying, “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”¹

Sounds easy enough, but a lot of times we can’t even find the faucet. Or we find the faucet but fail to turn it on.

Either way, we want to write, but no words flow.

Is that you?

Are you ready to begin writing but you don’t know where to start—you don’t know how to get the words to flow?

I’ve got 10 options for you—ten faucets, if you will. I’ll bet one stands out more than the rest.

Pick one. Try it.

See if it gets those words flowing.

1. Start with a memory

Think back to an event that seems small yet feels packed with emotion. You don’t have to fully understand it. Just remember it. Something changed due to that event. The change may have been subtle or seismic, but you emerged from it a different person. 

The simple prompt “I remember” can get you started. Use it as a journal entry and see where it takes you, or go ahead and start writing something more substantial.

When you remember and recreate these scenes from your past, you’ll learn from them. I experienced this when I wrote a short scene in this style, called One Lone Duck Egg.

2. Start with a photo

Photos can whisk us back to another place and time, whether as recently as last week or as long ago as childhood.

Pull a photo from your collection of family photos, physical or digital. 

Write in response to the scene. Recreate it. Let the memories unfold. 

You could be in the photo, or not. 

You could write the story behind the moment, or elaborate on a particular person in the scene. 

• What do you think was happening? 
• Why were you—or weren’t you—there? 
• What does this say to you today?

Another approach is to combine words with images to create a photo essay. 

Back in 2011, I walked around the farm where I grew up and snapped photos. Each time, a fragment of thought came to mind, a flash of a memory. 

When I got home, I pieced it together to come up with Dancing in the Loft.

3. Start with art

Art ignites imagination. Whether you invent a story behind the piece of art you choose, or you document your response to it, you’ll end up with an interesting project. 

One of my creative writing professors in college gave us a similar assignment to write poetry from art. It’s possible she was trying to introduce us to ekphrastic poetry,² which, according to the Lantern Review Blog,³ is “written in conversation with a work(s) of visual art.” 

But she took a less formal approach, asking us to find some art, study it carefully, and write a poem.

I used a small, framed print of an Andrew Wyeth painting as inspiration.

I studied the boy sitting in the grass and imagined a possible scenario leading up to the moment Wyeth captured. As I was finishing the poem and typing it up, I realized I needed to include information about Wyeth’s work. I turned the frame around and fortunately I found the date and name of the painting. Wyeth named it “Faraway,”⁴ and I coincidentally called my poem “Runaway.”⁵

Spend time with the art and see where it leads.

4. Start with an object

I once wrote about an old, worn knob that topped the post at the bottom of our stairs. 

I loved the worn knob for being worn. All the stain was rubbed off one side of it from the years before we owned the house. Like the previous owners, we swooshed around that newel post, running our palms around the knob every single time we ran up or down the stairs. 

When we decided to replace the railing, I begged our carpenter—who is also a friend of ours—to save the knob.

He did.

And I wrote about it.

Another time I wrote about a precious soapstone vase I played with as a child. The consequences of that day of play lasted a long, long time.

My friend and coauthor Charity Singleton Craig uses objects (and places) to launch a “chain of remembrance.” She explains in her newsletter “The Wonder Report“:

I start with something specific: a year, a place, an object. Then I try to remember just one specific thing about it. After that, I try to remember another thing and another after that, allowing each memory to flow from the one before. Eventually, I have a whole chain of memories, often growing stronger and more specific as I go.⁶

One story can stand alone or link multiple stories for a more complex chain of connections.

5. Start with a question (inquiry)

“I begin an essay with a willingness to be changed by what I write,” Scott Russell Sanders says. “I do not set out to deliver something I already know, but to inquire into the unknown, to dive into confusion in search of greater clarity.”⁷

To inquire into the unknown is to start with curiosity—to start with a question.

Your questions could be personal questions, cultural questions, specific questions, or big questions about the meaning of life. 

To get you thinking, here are some of Scott’s questions, which he shares in his book The Way of Imagination:

• Why did my father drink, and how did his drinking affect me?
• How have the landscape and culture of the Midwest shaped the people who live here?
• Why is racism so persistent?
• What is beauty?
• What is wildness?
• What is so mesmerizing about rivers?⁸

Scott writes with the same sense of inquiry as Dani Shapiro, who says, “I write in order to discover what I don’t yet know.”⁹

What questions rise up in you? 

Use those to launch your next writing project.

6. Start with another piece of writing 

Have you read something recently that resonated with you—something you wanted to discuss with someone?

• Maybe you ran across an article you connected with, that put words to your thoughts.
• Maybe you read a book that you disagreed with?
• Maybe a blog post held information you’d never heard before?

In any of these scenarios, you can start with the writing that stirred something up in you. 

Refer to it.

Respond to it. 

Riff on it. 

The world of online writing has expanded the sphere of discussion and debate so that anyone with a digital device can find a way to publish their point of view.

This could be you.

Start by re-reading an existing piece of writing and type your thoughts as a response. 

Weave a select quote from the original with your thoughts. Add other perspectives. This is how we enter the conversation and add our angle and deepen a discussion. 

7. Start with news 

I first heard about newsjacking from Teej Mercer, founder—or as she calls herself, “Chief Noisemaker”—of Media Mavericks.¹⁰ I’ve since learned it’s a known publicity and marketing technique.

The idea is to monitor breaking news and find a connection with your personal brand.

• If you write about health and wellness, you could respond to any study released with your take on it. 
• Your personal story may relate to a high-profile person’s announcement.
• If you’re passionate about the environment, you could write in response to any number of breaking news, from wildfires to another animal added to the endangered species list.

Monitor the news, find your connection to the event or announcement. Learn what’s being said about the event, and bring your slant, story, perspective, and opinion.

8. Start with culture 

You could argue that a cultural event falls under the broader category of news, but I like separating these. Starting with culture might stimulate creative connections to a talked-about episode of a show or a scene from a film.

On a group coaching call in Your Platform Matters (YPM), my membership program, we discussed this concept. After describing Newsjacking, I coined this: “Culture Lassoing.”

That’s because of Ted Lasso.

That show has so many different threads you could engage with. I’ve seen several Twitter threads about mental illness because of some plot twists in this season.

You could use a pop culture phenomenon like that and lasso it. Fans notice the show they love and enter the comments to weigh in.

When The Good Doctor first came out, authors who write about autism analyzed the accuracy of the portrayal of a surgeon who is on the spectrum.

Look at music and movies, social media shifts and gaming trends. Identify what you’ve discovered, decide what to say about it—and share it with the world.

Because you’ve lassoed something with name recognition, you may interact with a whole new set of people you never would have met otherwise.

9. Start with conflict 

When you see two product options or two wildly different opinions on something, take a side. Make a claim. Explore it and support it.

• Write a this versus that piece, like Trello versus Notion, front-loading versus top-loading washers, or Yellowstone versus Yosemite National Park
• Provide a balanced view to something that has been presented as either/or
• Start with a public claim someone made and support it if you agree with it, or disagree with it

This can feel risky in a time when positions on various issues seem more volatile than ever, but milder versions and topics can be just as interesting.

10. Start with a list

Start with a list. Your brain loves lists. If you’re stuck, you may find you’re unstuck by the time you scribble the fourth or fifth entry.

And then you might as well keep going. Next thing you know, you’ve written the draft or at least the outline of any number of things: a poem, essay, short story, or blog post.

While a list can store ideas and fuel longer projects, occasionally a list can actually become the project itself, like, oh, I dunno, maybe a blog post titled “10 Ways to Start the Writing Process When You’re Staring at a Blank Page.”

James Altucher is an idea machine and he attributes that to the habit of making lists.¹¹ 

Most often, he seems to suggest writing at least 10 things on the list, but the topic can be about anything.

Let’s say you’re working on a book about trust—maybe you’re flipping the standard idea of trust by redefining it and claiming distrust is a good thing. You could make lists related to this book:

• 10 beliefs people have about trust
• 10 quotes about trust
• 10 examples of trust with this new definition
• 10 cautionary tales of people who don’t step into this new way of viewing trust
• 10 people who exhibit healthy distrust

You could build out your book’s content with a series of lists. 

Of course, you could use this for any kind of writing, from a poem to an essay. 

How Will You Start the Writing Process Next Time You Face the Blank Page?

Let’s run through the list one more time:

1. Start with memory
2. Start with a photo
3. Start with art
4. Start with an object
5. Start with a question
6. Start with another piece of writing
7. Start with news
8. Start with culture
9. Start with conflict
10. Start with a list

Like I said at the beginning, one of these ideas is likely going to stand out a little more than the others. 

Try that one today, and bookmark this post for the future. 

Next time you’re stuck and the words won’t flow, you’ll have options for how to start the writing process when you’re staring at a blank page. 

Resources

• Your Best Material: The Practice of Remembering
• One Lone Duck Egg
• Dancing in the Loft
• The Old Worn Knob
• Write Poetry from Art: Runaway (Andrew Wyeth, “Faraway,” 1952)
• Charity Singleton Craig’s “The Wonder Report” that describes the chain of remembrance
• How to Use Lists to Transform Your Writing (and your life)
• My Everything Page

Footnotes

1. “A Quote by Louis L’Amour.” Goodreads, Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/303969-start-writing-no-matter-what-the-water-does-not-flow. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.
2. “Ekphrasis: Poetry Confronting Art.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, https://poets.org/text/ekphrasis-poetry-confronting-art/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.
3. Malhotra, Mia: “Weekly Prompt: Ekphrastic Poetry.” Lantern Review Blog, 19 Mar. 2010, http://www.lanternreview.com/blog/2010/03/05/weekly-prompt-ekphrastic-poems/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.
4. “Andrew Wyeth in China.” Christie’s, Christie’s. https://www.christies.com/privatesales/andrew-wyeth-in-china#about-section. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.
5. Kroeker, Ann. “Write Poetry from Art: Runaway (Andrew Wyeth, ‘Faraway,’ 1952).” Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach, 3 Sept. 2015, https://annkroeker.com/2015/09/03/write-poetry-from-art-runaway-andrew-wyeth-faraway-1952/.https://annkroeker.com/2015/09/03/write-poetry-from-art-runaway-andrew-wyeth-faraway-1952/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.
6. Craig, Charity Singleton. “September 24, 2021.” The Wonder Report, The Wonder Report, 24 Sept. 2021, https://thewonderreport.substack.com/p/the-wonder-report-september-24-2021. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.
7. Sanders, Scott R. “A Writer’s Calling.” The Way of Imagination: Essays, Counterpoint, Berkeley, CA, 2020. (204)
8. Ibid.
9. “On Inquiry.” Dani Shapiro, 10 July 2015, https://danishapiro.com/on-inquiry/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.
10. “MEDIA Mavericks Academy.” MEDIA MAVERICKS ACADEMY, https://www.mediamavericks.tv/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.
11. Altucher, James. “The Ultimate Guide for Becoming an Idea Machine.” James Altucher, 14 May 2014, https://jamesaltucher.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-for-becoming-an-idea-machine/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

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