[Ep 212] For about four years, I didn’t do much to get healthy or stay healthy. I’d talk about getting in shape but wouldn’t actually do anything. I’d wake up and think about it, then roll over and go back to sleep. It’s no surprise, of course, that the idea of exercising—the thought of it—didn’t strengthen a single muscle in my body. The desire to be healthy, no … [Read more...]
Ep 211: Be More Creative to Enjoy Your Best Writing Life: Pillar Two
[Ep 211] Creativity as a pillar of the writing life? It’s a no-brainer. Creativity and writing go together like pencil and paper. Writers practice creativity each and every day. But when we think about creative writing and a creative writer, our minds may turn toward MFA programs. After all, that’s where you study creative writing. I hate the potential … [Read more...]
Ep 210: Cultivate Curiosity for Your Best Writing Life, Pillar One
[210] Dani Shapiro writes, “When I think of the wisest people I know, they share one defining trait: curiosity” (213, Still Writing). As she notes this connection between wisdom and curiosity, she continues, “They turn away from the minutiae of their lives—and focus on the world around them. They are motivated by a desire to explore the unfamiliar. They are drawn … [Read more...]
Ep 209: Curiosity, Creativity, Productivity: Three Pillars to Building Your Best Writing Life
[Ep 209] Each week I claim that writers are discovering ways to reach their writing goals—and have fun—by being more curious, creative, and productive. And each week you may be thinking, “Really?” Yes, I really do believe these three traits or these three values can drive you forward to achieve your goals—and have fun along the way. They are values I myself … [Read more...]
Ep 208: Children’s Book Author Sharon Stohler’s Path to Self-Publishing
[Ep 208] Today I’m chatting with Sharon Stohler, author of the nonfiction children’s biography Affectionately Yours: The Devoted Life of Abigail Adams, a charming and inspiring picture book released in June 2019. As you’ll learn in the interview, Sharon and I met years ago when we both started home educating our very small children, so we’ve known each other for … [Read more...]
Ep 207: How to Sort and Stack Your Ideas and Tasks to Transform as a Writer and Person
[Ep 207] On my drive to Minneapolis to serve on the faculty of Northwestern Christian Writers Conference, I listened to podcasts: one after another, back-to-back. I welcomed that stream of input filling my mind with ideas, strategies, and solutions that I can apply to my writing life. But it’s easy to listen and then forget what I heard. What a waste if I … [Read more...]
Ep 206: A Writer’s Guide to ROI (Part 4)
[Ep 206] Several years ago I watched a free training presented by Chalene Johnson, where she explained how to start with one piece of content and then use it in several forms for various outlets. With this efficient and productive approach, she gets the most mileage out of a single piece of content. It’s a clever, creative way to improve ROI. Chalene Johnson’s … [Read more...]
Ep 205: A Writer’s Guide to ROI (Part 3)
[Ep 205] In the Next-Level Writer series, we talked about plans and goals. When we set out with a goal and make a plan to methodically move toward that goal, we see what it takes. We understand the investment involved. That’s when we measure the ROI of a particular task or activity using not only our deepest values, which we looked at in Part 2 of A Writer’s … [Read more...]
Ep 204: A Writer’s Guide to ROI (Part 2)
[Ep 204] My son participates in value debate. The competitors take either the affirmative or negative stance on a resolution and argue for or against it based on a value. The judge determines which side best upholds their value. I’ve served as a judge for these debates many times, and the more I listen to these clashes, the more I’ve come to realize we make … [Read more...]
Ep 203: A Writer’s Guide to ROI (Part 1)
[Ep 203] If you’re like me, you do a lot of writing and writing-related activities essentially for free. You craft social media content, articles for a blog, and guest posts as part of your plan. We do these kinds of activities to educate, entertain, and inform. We hope to solve problems for readers, connect with them, share our ideas, and build bridges. At … [Read more...]
Ep 202: Enjoy Creative Freedom with the Modular Approach to Writing
[Ep 202] When my kids were little they didn’t really like the LEGO sets that require you to put the bricks together a certain way to create a specific thing, like a Death Star. They preferred giant quantities of individual bricks so they could snap them together and build whatever they wanted. And this is the brilliance of LEGO: its modular approach. The sets are … [Read more...]
Next-Level Writer – Have You Emerged at the Next Level? (Ep 201)
[Ep 201] In the first episode of this series, I described a hypothetical character in a hypothetical game—a little dragon that gains power or abilities after playing the game for a while. This dragon demonstrated what it means to level up in a video game. Depending on the rules of this hypothetical game, the dragon might gather certain tokens, interact with key … [Read more...]
Ep 200: Next-Level Writer – Relentlessly Execute Your Plan to Level Up
[Ep 200] Unless a fairy godmother shows up and sprinkles fairy dust all over your laptop to magically boost you to the next level—without any effort on your part—you’ll have to commit to your plan and follow through. Relentless Implementation Shane Melaugh of the ActiveGrowth podcast said in a recent webinar we must “relentlessly implement” or “relentlessly … [Read more...]
Ep 199: Insights into Christian Publishing with NavPress Publisher Don Pape
[Ep 199] Today I’m chatting with NavPress Publisher Don Pape. Don has published over a dozen New York Times best-sellers, including Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Don is also the publisher of Julie Cantrell’s Into the Free, which won the 2013 Christy Book of the Year Award. He led a team that won 20 ADDY Awards between 2008 and 2010 for David C Cook titles … [Read more...]
Ep 198: Next-Level Writer – Organize, Schedule, and Enact Your Plan to Level Up
[Ep 198] Some people love to sit down and just start writing with no worries whether or not the work is moving them toward their goals. Others love to spend time making lists, making plans, setting everything up, scheduling down to the minute—devoting so much time to those tasks that they struggle to get around to the actual work of writing. Let’s figure out … [Read more...]
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