Afleveringen
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The key to writing a book, working full-time, and keeping up with friends, family, and other activities is flexibility, says author, pharmacist, and triathlete Miffie Seideman. In this episode we talk about the importance of getting your facts right, research, staying grounded, and the importance of Plan Bs and 5
Find Miffie Seideman and her book "The Grim Reader: A Pharmacist's Guide to Putting Your Characters in Peril" here: https://miffieseideman.com/books/
Join our Simply Write community and become a member of the Simply, Paid Subscriber Perks program to receive access to tips sheets, writing assignments, feedback on your work, and more here: https://miffieseideman.com/books/.
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It's time to send out your work, it's part of your job--writers write and share their work. Yet, no matter how many thousands of times I've done that over the years it always feels a little scary.
Getting notes or negative feedback isn't easy, but giving and receiving it is essential to becoming a better writer and improving your work. It is also part of the publishing process.
In this show we talk about the Feedback Loop, how to ask for it, what to do with it, and how to use it in your work. Then we also discuss how to give feedback to help other writers.
Want to know more about beta readers, how to deal with comments on your work, and more? Tune in here and join the Simply Write
community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Sandra Gurvis hasn't run off to the circus, but she did write about the evolution of the Greatest Show on Earth in her historical nonfiction book Three Ringling Circus: A History of Sarasota, Florida, and the Famous Ringling Brothers It's one of nearly 20 books Gurvis haws written over her long freelance career. Today she talks about the importance of a cornerstone client, writing both fiction and nonfiction, and how to manage loads of research even when it's conflicting.
Contact Sandra Gurvis here: https://www.sandragurvis.com/
Join our Simply Write community and become a paid subscriber to begin receiving perks at https://simplywrite.substack.com
Thanks for listening.
Now sit down and Simply, Write.
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Writers can suffer from aching backs, carpal tunnel, stiff necks, cognitive issues, and chronic illnesses, that make it impossible to write. Remember to take care of your brain and body so you are able to do the work you want to do.
Start by staying hydrated, sitting in a good chair, and taking breaks, and be sure to tune in to Simply Write w/Polly Campbell for more tips and tricks to keep your body, brain, and business healthy.
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Author Laura Heffernan made her way by writing romance and then shifted to add multiple cozy mysteries to her repertoire. This prolific writer talks about writing romances, cozy mysteries under a pseudonym, and publishing three books a year.
Find Laura Heffernan at https:lauraheffernan.com
For more on the writing craft and crafting a writer's life join the Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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A writing niche can make researching, interviewing, and even writing more efficient and leave you more time to write. In this episode, Polly Campbell explains how to find your niche and why it makes the writer's life easier.
Get in touch with Polly and join the Simply Write community https://simplywrite.substack.com
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Last time thriller writer Tara Laskowski was here she was working on her book The Weekend Retreat. The book is now available and Tara returns to tell us what it was like to write the book under contract and on deadline, why she decided to toss out the original story--tears may or may not have been involved-- and what she's been up to since the book's publication.
For more join Polly and the Simply Write community at https://SimplyWrite.substack.com
Find Tara Laskowski here: https://taralaskowski.com and her new book The Weekend Retreat is available wherever you buy books.
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Whether you are writing nonfiction essays or books or novels and short stories, the most compelling pieces include emotional resonance. As readers, we are often sucked in by the feelings our characters are experiencing. We want to follow them through the story to see what happens next and the unique ways they experience and express their fear, joy, sadness, love. Our characters' emotions provide conflict and tension and reveal who they are. And as in life, the emotions on the page, often motivate a range of behavior.
But writing big emotions can be fraught because we've got to imagine, or feel them ourselves. In this episode, we explore the importance of allowing the people in your stories to express their big feelings and the techniques we can use to make them universal and unique. It's not enough to say your character is scared, you've got to show us what that looks like so we can feel it too.
This episode will offer some tips to do just that and also explain why there are some pieces we should put on hold until we have time to process the emotional moments before we write about them.
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From the comfort of a recliner Rachael Herron writes about her obsessions, whatever the thing is that has captured her interest, the thing that she's thinking about when she can't fall asleep--and then she gets down to the writing business working on deadlines, revisions, her podcast or classes that are coming up.
Herron who produces her podcast Ink In Your Veins and has traditionally and self-published a range of fiction and nonfiction books, says she is "highly distractible" so she puts boundaries or "guardrails" in place so she can get the writing done each day. And while she has always wanted to be a writer, 99 percent of the time while she is writing she says she feels like a fraud or a terrible writer. Now she recognizes that this feeling is normal, it's part of the process, and that has helped her become comfortable in those feelings of discomfort that many writers experience.
For more, listen to this fantastic conversation with Rachael Herron and go to https://rachaelherron.com to learn more about her work and podcast Ink In Your Veins.
For more about our interview, and crafting a writer's life and join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com.
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You might be able to work in your pajamas, but creating freelance writing success or securing an agent and publishing deal often comes down to much more than your ability to write. You've got to act like a professional.
In this episode Polly talks about what it means to be a professional writer, including the importance of meeting deadlines, getting work in on time, meeting editorial market requirements, and taking notes in a way that will have editors coming back to work with you.
Professional writing is about being coachable, emotionally intelligent, and recognizing what your job is. Tune in to learn more about what makes someone a sought-after writer so that you can become one yourself.
For more on the other qualities editors, agents and publishers look for in a writer, join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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Don't be afraid to take a risk, says James Beard-winning food writer and author Danielle Centoni. "If you believe you can do the job do anything you can to prove to that person that you can."
Centoni, a food writer with a background in journalism and the co-author of Oregon Wine + Food and other books had a love for cooking and food and created an opportunity for herself when the newspaper she worked with was hiring for the foods section. After her newspaper experience, Centoni started writing cookbooks, and talks about what it's like to see her book used in a stranger's kitchen and why writing a book is a gratifying, labor of love. And by the time her recipes make it in the cookbook, she says it's got to be something she would make again and it must be "excellent."
"Do what you want with it," Centoni says about the recipes she develops in her cookbooks, "Put your own spin on it. You know whatever you want to do make it the thing that you love and come back to, like, that makes me so happy."
Get in touch with @DCentoni on Instagram.
Get in touch with Polly Campbell at https://simplywrite.substack.com and learn more about the writer's life, and how to develop a writing practice that
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Writer's Retreat for One
Producing on deadline is exhausting and a necessary part of the writer's work. Whether you are writing to publish or writing between breaks from your other job, between your child's school hours, or even early in the morning before the others in the house wake and you have to head out the door.
Yes, we have learned how to write in slivers of time. But the work deserves more and so do we.
Plan a writer's retreat for one. Whether it's a couple of days at the beach or a couple of hours on a Wednesday morning in a room in your house where you can go deep into a single project and work undisturbed and undistracted (put that phone away) setting longer blocks of time away to write is an important way to develop better work and feel better while writing.
For more on creating space to write and the ups and downs of publishing your work, join on Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
You'll be better for it and so will the work.
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Though Amy Stewart author of the Drunken Botanist, the Kopp Sisters historical fiction series, and many others, has wanted to be a writer since she was a kid, that doesn't matter one bit, she says. We change throughout our lives, whether you wanted to write early or are coming to it now, writing is accessible to anyone. Writing, like her urban sketching and artwork she creates, is about practice, learning the skills, and processes that help you improve and get the world done. It's also important that writers stay well. Writing, sitting at the desk typing, can hurt the body over time. In this wide-ranging interview, Stewart explains her writing process, and why she isn't an early morning or late-night writer.
To learn more about author Amy Stewart and take her classes go to https://amystewart.com
Her newest book, The Tree Collectors which she both wrote and illustrated, is set for a July, 2024 release.
And connect with Polly and join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substanc.com
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Are platforms still a thing? Absolutely. If you want to publish traditionally, publishers and agents will want to know you have a built-in audience and have expertise in the topic you want to write about. Having an expanded platform is important for self-publishing writers and fiction writers too. It's a way to reach readers and be seen as the "authority" by your target audience. And fiction writers aren't off the hook either. But how can we build an author's platform and still be authentic? How can we do the work of platform development and still have time to write?
In this episode, I'll share with you how I developed my platform before I published my first book and how it's evolved and grown since--especially when I played to my skills rather than trying to do it all.
If I can do it, anyone can.
Please, join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com for more about publishing, writing, and living the writer's life.
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It's described as science fiction but Khan Wong's newest book The Circus Infinite, is also apace fantasy and some even call it a space opera. No matter how it's categorized the book is getting rave reviews.
Publishers and readers rely on genres to identify and group books on bookstore shelves and for marketing materials, but blurring the lines can make for a compelling story. In this episode, Wong talks about genres, his writing process draws on both outlines and in-the-moment inspiration, and how his work was pulled from the slush pile to get a publishing deal.
This is a must-listen for authors exploring genre, sci-fi, fantasy, and anyone who needs a dose of hope and inspiration to keep writing.
Get in touch with Wong and find his book The Circus Infinite https://khanwong.com
Get in touch with me Polly and join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com where you can become a paid member and support more of these kinds of conversations with authors and writing discussions.
Thank you for listening
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Short pieces between 250 and 1,000 can be a good way to break into new markets and create a steady flow of income. Content marketers are often hired to write 500-word Welcome pages, many publications publish and pay for short essays, and front-of-the-book shorts are a good way to see your name in print. If you can explain a complex idea in a brief, or rally brand enthusiasm in less than 400 words in a corporate newsletter, you may even get a regular gig.
But writing short pieces is one of the more difficult things to do. Each short piece requires a tight focus, emotion, a setting, evocative details, and even a character or expert source.
Getting all of that to work in a 500-word piece is challenging, but with practice, you'll get better at it and the skills you learn will make all of your writing better.
Listen in to learn strategies to write powerful, shorts and join the Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com for tip sheets and columns about the writing craft and crafting a writing life.
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Many people from entrepreneurs to entertainers hire ghostwriters to write books on their behalf.
And that makes for some great writing opportunities for writers who can manage a book project from start to finish and do it in the voice, cadence, and tone of their client.
But how can you break into the ghostwriting business? What skills are required for writers who want to work as ghostwriters, and what is it like to collaborate with a client while writing a book on their behalf?
Veteran author and ghostwriter Marcia Layton Turner explains the unique niche of ghostwriting, and how she landed her first client and has gone on to write dozens of books over the years. She also talks about fee structures, boundaries, and what to expect as a ghostwriter.
Want to learn more about ghostwriting? Visit the Association of Ghostwriters, at https://associationofghostwriters.org.
Connect with Marcia Layton Turner at Marcia Layton Turner here: https://marcialaytonturner.com/about/
And be sure to get in touch with Polly and join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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Writing happens long before we sit down at the computer. It happens in our hearts and our heads. Yet too, often writers don't leave the time they need to think their stories through. I'm not suggesting you develop a specific outline, or have everything figured out before you sit down to write, but it is helpful, necessary even to invest some time to think about this. This counts as writing too.
This kind of deliberate thinking works like brainstorming for me. I'll take notes, let my imagination unspool and solve problems in my story, figure out story structure, or consider the form and markets that might best work for me.
It's a creative process and gives me a more solid footing when I sit down at the computer to create a loosey-goosey first draft.
In this episode, I share some ways I approach this kind of development process--one of my favorite parts of writing--and why I'm never really off work, even when I'm not sitting at the computer. Writing is always working on the mind. When we learn how to harness that, it makes us better writers.
Get in touch with me, Polly, and get class discounts, publishing insights, author tips, and more as part of our Simply Write community at https:simplywrite.substack.com
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Enjoy this replay of one of our most popular shows and learn why Polly doesn't really believe in writer's block. Join us Monday, Jan. 8 for all new shows and author interviews on Simply Write w/Polly.
To get in touch with Polly and pick up the End of the Year Writer's Wrap Up and other tip sheets join the Simply Write Community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
Happy New Year.
There are plenty of times when the writing feels hard. When it's difficult to find flow, you are filled with self-doubt and everything you put down on the page seems to suck. Still, that's no reason to quit, and those difficult feelings don't have to keep you from writing. In fact, they shouldn't. And if you want to write to publish, they can't. Every profession has days where the work isn't fun or doesn't come easily. No excuses. No blocks. You've still got to do the work.
But there are some tips we can use to push through and make the hard writing days feel a little easier. In this episode, Polly talks about the things that can make a writer believe they are blocked and how to manage them so you can get the writing done. And, she shares a confession.
For more on writer's block, the writing craft, and crafting a writer's life join the Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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The New Year is a great time to reflect on your writing process and routines. What is working? What isn't? How can you be more productive, and creative, and generate more publishing opportunities? Rituals and routines can help. In this episode, one of our most popular from last year, Polly talks about her writing routines and how you can create those practices that will help you get the writing done.
Ready to move that project forward, daily rituals and a solid writing routine can help you get the writing done.
This episode originally aired Nov. 7, 2022.
Get in touch with Polly and become part of our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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