Afleveringen
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Welcome to the final part of this special three-part workshop series exploring NLP modalities and how they influence the way you write.
Over the past week we've explored how understanding your unique creative wiring can help you move away from one-size-fits-all writing advice and towards a writing process that genuinely works for you.
In this final workshop session, we bring everything together so you can begin applying what you've learned to your own writing practice with greater clarity, confidence, and self-trust.
If this is your first episode in the series, I'd encourage you to head back and begin with Part 1 before continuing.
⨠Discover your Writing Personality:https://maddisonmichaels.com/quiz
đ Learn more:https://maddisonmichaels.com
You are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Welcome to Part 2 of this special three-part workshop series on NLP modalities and writing.
In this episode, we continue exploring how your natural creative wiring influences the way you write, think, create, and experience the writing process.
As the workshop unfolds, you'll begin recognising why certain writing approaches have always felt natural to you, while others may have created unnecessary frustration.
If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, I'd recommend heading back and starting there first, as each episode builds on the one before it.
The final part of this workshop will be released as a special bonus episode this Friday.
⨠Discover your Writing Personality:https://maddisonmichaels.com/quiz
đ Learn more:https://maddisonmichaels.com
You are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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This week I'm doing something a little different!
I'm sharing a special three-part workshop all about NLP modalities and how the way your brain naturally processes information shapes the way you write.
If you've ever wondered why some writing advice feels effortless for other writers but leaves you feeling frustrated, this workshop is for you.
In Part 1, we'll explore:⢠What NLP modalities are⢠We'll start diving into the four different ways writers naturally process information⢠Why there is no one "right" way to write⢠How understanding your natural wiring can transform your writing process
Whether you're writing fiction, non-fiction, or your very first book, understanding how you're naturally wired to create can help you stop fighting yourself and start working with your brain instead of against it.
This is Part 1 of a special three-part workshop series. Part 2 continues this Wednesday, with the final bonus episode releasing on Friday.
⨠Discover your Writing Personality:https://maddisonmichaels.com/quiz
đ Learn more:https://maddisonmichaels.com
You are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Episode 61: How to Build a Chapter Roadmap Without Boxing Yourself or Your Writing In!
Writing Wednesday episodes explore the outer work of writing: craft, structure, revision, publishing, process, and the practical steps that help you finish your book.
Episode Summary
If chapter planning makes you feel either beautifully supported or completely boxed in, this episode is for you.
In todayâs Writing Wednesday episode, Maddison explores how to build a flexible chapter roadmap that gives your manuscript direction without suffocating your creativity. Because structure should support the writing, not control it.
Whether youâre an Owl who loves a clear plan, a Peacock who resists anything that feels too rigid, a Dove who needs emotional safety around the process, or an Eagle who wants to keep moving with purpose, this episode will help you create a roadmap that works with your wiring rather than against it.
Youâll learn how to give each chapter a clear purpose, identify the shift that happens by the end, and leave enough space for discovery as the book reveals itself on the page.
Because a chapter roadmap is not a cage. Itâs a walking track.
Inside This Episode
In this episode, youâll learn:
Why chapter planning feels freeing for some writers and suffocating for others
The difference between useful structure and rigid over-planning
How to create a flexible chapter roadmap using purpose, movement, and discovery
Maddison also walks you through a simple next-three-chapters exercise you can use immediately, whether youâre writing fiction, non-fiction, memoir, or a book for your business.
Youâll learn how to ask:
What is this chapter here to do?What changes by the end?What possible ingredients could I use without locking myself into every detail?This episode is especially useful if youâve been avoiding your outline because you donât want to box yourself in, or if youâve been over-planning because youâre scared to write until the whole manuscript feels perfectly mapped.
Free Clarity CallIf todayâs episode helped you realise your manuscript needs more structure, but youâre worried structure will kill the flow, this is exactly the kind of work Maddison does with writers inside her coaching.
You can start applying todayâs process on your own. But if youâd love personalised support to see the shape of your book more clearly, identify where the structure is too loose or too tight, and build a roadmap that fits the way you naturally create, you can book a free 15-minute clarity call.
This is a mutual fit conversation, not a coaching session and not a pushy sales call. Itâs a chance for both of you to explore where you are with your book, whatâs getting in the way, and whether one of Maddisonâs coaching pathways is the right next step.
Book your free clarity call at:
maddisonmichaels.com/call
Support The PodcastIf this episode gave you a clearer way to think about your manuscript, please take a moment to follow the podcast, leave a review, or share it with another writer whoâs feeling boxed in by planning or lost without structure.
Your book does not need a perfect plan before you begin.
But it does need a path.
And sometimes that path is closer than you think!
You are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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THE JOY OF WRITING: HOW TO FALL BACK IN LOVE WITH YOUR STORY
Mindset Monday episodes explore the inner work of writing: blocks, beliefs, identity, resistance, procrastination, perfectionism, and creative flow.
EPISODE SUMMARY
Have you ever opened your manuscript and realised the spark has gone quiet?
You still care about the book. You still want to finish it. But the joy that brought you to the story in the beginning feels harder to reach. And when that happens, it is so easy to make it mean something terrible.
Maybe this book is wrong. Maybe you have lost your passion. Maybe you are forcing something that should feel easier.
But what if the loss of joy is not a sign the story has abandoned you?
What if it is a signal that pressure has started speaking louder than pleasure?
In this episode, Maddison explores why joy can fade during the writing process, especially when your manuscript moves from discovery into performance, judgement, pressure, or the messy middle. She also shares how she lost the joy halfway through her latest manuscript, what her own Owl, Eagle, and Auditory Digital wiring taught her, and how listening to the story instead of forcing it helped her reconnect with the book.
This episode will help you stop seeing lost joy as failure and start seeing it as information. Sometimes the way back to the page is not more pressure. Sometimes it is clarity, space, play, intuition, and the willingness to ask your story what it actually needs from you.
INSIDE THIS EPISODE
In this episode, youâll explore:
Why losing joy in your writing rarely means you have chosen the wrong bookHow pressure, comparison, feedback, and perfectionism can crowd out creative pleasureThe difference between ordinary resistance and your deeper writerâs intuition asking you to pauseHow your Bird Writing Personality and NLP modality can shape what joy feels like for youWhy discovery writing can feel freeing at first, then unsettling when your structure disappearsHow Maddisonâs own manuscript joy returned when the villainâs motivation finally clicked into placeThe three-part Joy Reset practice to help you reconnect with your storyTHE JOY RESET PRACTICE
This weekâs gentle writing invitation is simple:
Spend ten minutes writing something purely for fun.
No pressure to use it. No pressure to polish it. No pressure to make it part of the manuscript.
You might write a secret scene, a letter from your character, or one tiny moment in the most vivid, indulgent, playful way you can.
This is not wasted writing.
This is relationship repair between you and the story.
FREE CLARITY CALL INVITATION
If this episode stirred something in you, and you are tired of looking at the same manuscript, the same notes, and the same unfinished chapters while wondering why you are not making the progress you wanted to make this year, this is your gentle but direct nudge.
Awareness is beautiful. Awareness matters. But awareness without action is still just knowledge sitting on the shelf.
If you would love support, structure, accountability, and personalised tools to help you understand what is actually getting in the way of your book, you can book a free 15-minute clarity call with Maddison.
This is a mutual fit conversation. It is a chance for both of you to look at where you are, what has been getting in the way, and whether one of Maddisonâs coaching pathways is the right support to help you finally get this book written.
Book your free clarity call at:
maddisonmichaels.com/call
SUPPORT THE PODCAST
If this episode gave you exactly what you needed, please take a moment to follow Write The Darn Book, leave a review, or share it with another writer who needs help coming back to the page.
And remember, you are the vessel for the story.
Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Traditional, Indie, or Hybrid? How to Choose the Publishing Path That Fits You
Writing Wednesday episodes explore the outer work of writing: craft, structure, revision, publishing, process, and the practical steps that help you finish your book.
Episode SummaryHow do you know whether traditional publishing, independent publishing, or hybrid publishing is the right path for your book?
In this episode of Write The Darn Book, Maddison Michaels explores the publishing pathway decision through the lens of fit, self-trust, creative wiring, and the kind of author career you actually want to build.
Rather than treating one publishing route as better than another, this episode helps you look at what your book needs, what youâre willing to carry, and what kind of publishing experience will best support you.
Why This Decision Can Feel So OverwhelmingChoosing a publishing path can bring up more than practical questions about agents, covers, royalties, timelines, edits, and distribution.
For many writers, it also touches questions of validation, control, credibility, creative freedom, patience, support, and whether they feel like a ârealâ author.
This episode helps you take the pressure out of the decision and come back to the path that fits your book, your temperament, your current life season, and your long-term author goals.
Key TakeawaysThere is no one ârightâ publishing path. There is only the path that best fits your book, your temperament, your goals, and your current life season.
Traditional publishing can offer validation, professional support, industry credibility, and more space to focus on the writing, but it also asks for patience, resilience, and a willingness to work within a gatekeeper system.
Independent publishing can offer freedom, control, speed, ownership, and direct decision-making, but it also asks the author to carry more responsibility for production, investment, and marketing.
Hybrid publishing can offer support and flexibility when the company is reputable, but it requires careful research, clear contracts, and strong discernment.
Your creative wiring matters. Your Bird Writing Personality does not choose your publishing path for you, but it can show you where you may need more support, structure, patience, or self-trust.
The best publishing path is not the one that looks most impressive from the outside. It is the one that helps your book reach the right readers while allowing you to keep becoming the writer you are here to be.
Inside This EpisodeYouâll hear about:
Why publishing decisions can feel so emotionally loaded
The trade-offs between traditional, independent, and hybrid publishing
How your creative wiring, goals, capacity, and current life season can shape the right pathway for you
Questions To Help You Choose Your Publishing PathInside the episode, Maddison invites you to ask:
What does this book need?
What kind of publishing experience will help me stay steady and connected to the work?
What does my long-term author career need next?
These questions can help you move away from comparison and make a more grounded, conscious decision about the publishing path that fits you.
Writing Personality Blueprint SessionIf this episode has brought up questions about your writing path, your creative wiring, or the kind of support you need to move your book forward, youâre invited to book a Writing Personality Blueprint Session with Maddison.
This personalised session helps you understand your DOPE Bird Writing Personality, your NLP Writerâs Mind Modality, your resistance patterns, and the kind of writing process that will actually support you.
Book your Writing Personality Blueprint Session here:
https://maddisonmichaels.com/blueprint
Support The PodcastIf this episode helped you, please share it with another writer who is trying to choose the right publishing path for their book.
And if youâre enjoying Write The Darn Book, Iâd be so grateful if you left a quick review. It helps more writers find the show and get the support they need to finally write the darn book.
Remember, you are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Episode 58 Show Notes
Why Resistance Spikes Right Before a Breakthrough
Mindset Monday episodes explore the inner work of writing: blocks, beliefs, identity, resistance, procrastination, perfectionism, and creative flow.
Episode SummaryHave you ever noticed your resistance gets louder right before your writing asks more of you?
Maybe youâre close to a breakthrough scene. Maybe the end of your manuscript is finally in sight. Or maybe youâre starting a brand-new book, with ideas in your head and a deadline on the calendar, but somehow opening that blank document feels impossible.
In this episode, Maddison explores why resistance often spikes right before an important shift in your writing. Youâll learn how to stop treating resistance as proof that something is wrong with you, and instead begin reading it as information that can help you understand what your writing is really asking from you.
Inside This EpisodeYouâll explore:
Why resistance often gathers around the parts of your writing that matter mostHow resistance can show up when youâre starting, finishing, or facing a chapter youâve been avoidingA simple way to identify what your resistance is protecting and choose one small next step through itWhether youâre writing your first book, returning to a manuscript, or beginning again as a published author, this episode will help you meet resistance with more clarity, compassion, and self-trust.
Free Masterclass InvitationTomorrow, Tuesday 30 June at 10:00am Sydney time, Maddison is running her free writing masterclass:
Write To Your Wiring: Discover your NLP writing modality and build a process that works with your mind
Inside the masterclass, youâll discover the four NLP writing modalities: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Auditory Digital. Youâll begin to see why some parts of writing come naturally, why other parts feel harder, and how to build a writing process that works with your unique wiring.
Save your free spot here:maddisonmichaels.com/masterclass
Canât attend at 10:00am? Register anyway and youâll receive the replay.
Support The PodcastIf this episode helped you understand your resistance in a new way, please follow Write The Darn Book and leave a quick review. It helps more writers find the show and reminds them theyâre not broken. They just need the right support, structure, and self-trust to keep going.
And remember, you are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Episode 57: Mind Maps For Writers: How To Untangle Your Story When Your Brain Feels Full
Writing Wednesday episodes explore the outer work of writing: craft, structure, revision, publishing, process, and the practical steps that help you finish your book.
Have you ever opened your manuscript and realised your brain feels so full of ideas that you canât find the actual scene inside them?
In this episode of Write The Darn Book, weâre talking about mind maps for writers and how they can help you untangle plot problems, character motives, chapter planning, theme development and non-fiction structure when your brain feels crowded.
Sometimes youâre not stuck because you have no ideas. Youâre stuck because youâre holding too many ideas at once. A story mind map gives those thoughts somewhere to land so you can see whatâs connected, whatâs missing and what needs to happen next.
Inside This EpisodeIn this episode, youâll learn how to use a simple Question, Branch and Connect Mind Map to move from scattered thoughts to one clear writing decision.
We explore:
Why a full brain often needs a visual release before it can write.The difference between thinking in circles and actually mapping an idea.How to create three simple branches from one clear story question.How to use mind maps when you donât yet know what the next scene is about.How to turn your map into one practical next writing step.Try This With Your ManuscriptTake one scene, chapter or section that feels crowded, flat or unclear.Write this question in the centre of a page:What is this scene really about?Then create three branches:
What does the character or reader want?What is creating tension or confusion?What needs to change by the end?Circle the strongest discovery and turn it into one sentence:
In my next writing session, I will...
That sentence becomes your bridge back to the manuscript.
Visual Mind Map ResourcesIâve also created visual resources to go with this episode, including an example story mind map using The Devilish Duke, a practical How To Create A Story Mind Map infographic, and a simple scene-planning mind map based on the example from the episode.
Youâll find those linked below.
Devilish Duke exampleMind Map ExampleHow to Create a Mind Map Free Masterclass InvitationIf todayâs episode made you curious about why certain writing tools work beautifully for you while others feel awkward or frustrating, join me for my free masterclass, Write To Your Wiring, on Tuesday 30 June at 10:00am Sydney Time.
Youâll learn how your natural processing style shapes the way you write, what you notice on the page, and what helps you move back into flow.
Save your free spot here:
maddisonmichaels.com/masterclass
If you canât attend at that time, register anyway and youâll receive access to the replay.
Support The PodcastIf this episode helped you, please share it with another writer who might need it.
And if youâre loving Write The Darn Book, please follow the show and leave a review. It helps more writers find the podcast and means so much to me.
You are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Episode 56: Writing From Imagination: How to Access Your Creative Subconscious
Mindset Monday episodes explore the inner work of writing: blocks, beliefs, identity, resistance, procrastination, perfectionism, and creative flow.
Episode SummaryHave you ever written something and afterwards thought, I have no idea where that came from?
In this Mindset Monday episode, Maddison explores the difference between writing from mental pressure and writing from imagination. This is the deeper creative place where the story begins to feel alive, where characters surprise you, and where the words feel like they are flowing through you rather than being forced onto the page.
This episode speaks directly to the Write The Darn Book belief that you are the vessel for the story. Whether you call that God, intuition, consciousness, creative energy, or the creative subconscious, the heart of this conversation is learning how to quiet the analytical mind, listen more deeply, and allow the story to come through with greater trust.
Inside This EpisodeInside this episode, youâll learn:
⢠The difference between writing from your head and writing from your imagination⢠Why the creative subconscious matters so much for writers⢠How your NLP writing modality shapes the way you access story⢠Why your Bird Writing Personality can affect how safe imagination feels⢠A simple Imagination Doorway Practice to use before your next writing session
Youâll also be invited to try one imagination-led writing session this week, using one doorway question, one breath, and ten minutes of writing before judging what comes through.
Free Masterclass InvitationIf this episode made you curious about the way your mind naturally accesses story, imagination, and creative momentum, Maddison would love to invite you to her free masterclass, Write To Your Wiring.
Itâs happening on Tuesday 30 June at 10:00am Sydney Time, and everyone who registers will receive the replay.
Save your free spot here:maddisonmichaels.com/masterclass
Support The PodcastIf this episode supported you, please take a moment to follow the show, leave a review, or share it with another writer who needs a gentler way back into the page.
Your support helps more writers find Write The Darn Book and remember that they are not broken, they are not behind, and their story still matters.
You are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Body Language for Writers: How to Reveal Character Emotion, Secrets and Lies on the PageWriting Wednesday episodes explore the outer work of writing: craft, structure, revision, publishing, process, and the practical steps that help you finish your book.
Body language is one of the most powerful tools you can use in your manuscript, especially when your characters are hiding something.
A character can say, âIâm fine,â while their fingers keep worrying the edge of a napkin. They can smile at the detective while their feet angle toward the door. They can tell the truth in their words and still reveal the fear, guilt, longing, shame, or calculation moving beneath the surface.
In this Writing Wednesday episode, weâre diving into body language for writers and how to use it to reveal emotion, deepen character, create subtext, and build tension in your scenes. This is more than a simple âshow, donât tellâ technique. Used well, body language becomes story evidence. It lets the reader notice what your character is trying to hide, what theyâre feeling beneath the dialogue, and what changes when another character sees the truth leaking through.
Drawing on my eighteen years in policing and my fascination with human behaviour, weâll look at how real-world behaviour awareness can help you write stronger, more layered scenes. Weâll also explore body language through the lens of baseline, context, clusters, contradiction, and consequence, so you can use physical cues with more precision rather than relying on random clenched jaws, crossed arms, or dramatic glances across the room.
This episode will be especially useful if you write mystery, thriller, suspense, romantic suspense, crime, historical fiction, fantasy, memoir, or any story where characters carry secrets, hide their emotions, or say one thing while their body reveals another.
In this episode, youâll learn how to:
Use body language to reveal what your character feels before they say it out loud.Create stronger subtext by showing the tension between words and physical behaviour.Use body language as story evidence in mystery, thriller, suspense, romance, and emotionally charged scenes.Understand why one isolated gesture rarely means much without baseline, context, and consequence.Revise a scene so your characterâs body reveals emotion, pressure, secrecy, attraction, fear, or desire without over-explaining it to the reader.Weâll also talk about why body language is so useful in everyday life and in writing. Once you start noticing how much people communicate before they speak, you begin to see your characters differently too. They stop feeling like people who simply deliver dialogue, and they start feeling like real human beings with bodies, instincts, defences, fears, secrets, and desires.
Your practical tool for this week is the Body Language Scene Audit. Youâll choose one scene in your manuscript where a character is under emotional pressure, identify what is normal for that character, find the moment where the pressure changes, and revise one paragraph so the body reveals more than the narration explains.
Because the body is often where the story leaks through.
And as writers, we get to notice that, shape it, and place it on the page in a way that helps the reader feel the truth before anyone says it out loud.
Free Masterclass InvitationIf this episode has you thinking about how you naturally write emotion, dialogue, body language, tension, or scene detail, Iâd love to invite you to my free masterclass, Write To Your Wiring, happening on Tuesday 30 June at 10:00am Sydney time, live on Zoom.
In this 45-minute masterclass, weâll look at how your natural NLP modality shapes the way you think, create, access story, and move through resistance at the page. Some writers see the scene first. Some hear the dialogue. Some feel the emotional truth in their body. Some need the logic and structure to click before the words can flow.
Once you understand that about yourself, writing can begin to feel less like forcing and more like working with your own creative wiring.
Save your free spot at:
maddisonmichaels.com/masterclass
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd love for you to leave a five-star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps other writers find the show, and it means so much to know these episodes are supporting you as you write the darn book. đ
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Starting Your Book for the Third Time? Hereâs How to Stop Starting and Actually FinishMindset Monday episodes explore the inner work of writing: blocks, beliefs, identity, resistance, procrastination, perfectionism, and creative flow.
Have you ever opened your laptop, looked in your documents folder, and realised there are six different versions of a manuscript sitting there?
Maybe itâs the same book youâve started over and over again. Maybe itâs several different manuscripts youâve written but never finished. Or maybe you keep moving between projects, telling yourself youâre still writing, while deep down you know one manuscript needs your full commitment if itâs ever going to reach the finish line.
In this episode of Write The Darn Book, weâre looking at the restart cycle: why starting again can feel so productive, why it often happens when the manuscript starts asking more from you, and how to work out whether your book needs craft support, emotional reconnection, or a different kind of support based on your writing personality.
Because unfinished drafts arenât proof that you canât finish. Theyâre evidence that youâve had the commitment to begin, the imagination to keep creating, and a pattern that needs better support.
Inside this episode, youâll explore:
Why starting again can feel like progress, even when itâs keeping you stuckThe three common patterns underneath the restart cycle: perfectionism, fear of finishing, and chasing the energy of something newHow Dove, Owl, Peacock, and Eagle writers may leave the manuscript at different pointsWhy your book may need craft support, reconnection, or bothThe Finish-First Framework to help you identify where you leave, what leaving gives you, and the next continuing action to takeYouâll also learn how to use your Writing Personality lens to come back to the manuscript in a way that works with your natural wiring, instead of forcing yourself through another generic writing process that doesnât fit.
Save Your Spot for the FREE MasterclassIf this episode resonates with you, Iâd love to invite you to my free masterclass, Write To Your Wiring, happening Tuesday 30 June at 10:00am Sydney time.
In this free masterclass, weâll look at how your natural creative wiring shapes the way you write, process story, experience resistance, and find flow. Youâll begin to understand your NLP writing modality, whether you tend toward Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, or Auditory Digital processing, and how that affects the way you show up to the page.
Save your free spot here:
https://maddisonmichaels.com/masterclass
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple or Spotify. It helps other writers find the show and reminds them theyâre not broken, they just need the right support to keep going. đ
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Is Your Writing Setup Making It Harder to Write? Ergonomics, Energy, and Creative Flow
Writing Wednesday episodes explore the outer work of writing: craft, structure, revision, publishing, process, and the practical steps that help you finish your book.
Your writing setup is not separate from your writing momentum.
In todayâs Writing Wednesday episode of Write The Darn Book, weâre looking at how your desk, chair, keyboard, screen, and movement habits can either support your creative flow or quietly make writing harder than it needs to be.
Because writing is physical. Your mind may be willing, your story may be calling, and your book may matter deeply to you, but if your body is uncomfortable, tense, or constantly pushing through pain, writing can begin to feel harder to return to.
Iâm also sharing my own experience managing a shoulder injury from my policing career, and how tools like a sit-stand desk, walking treadmill, ergonomic keyboard, posture support, and movement breaks have helped me care for my body while writing. Weâll also look at the other side of the equation: when researching the perfect setup becomes another form of procrastination.
In this episode, youâll learn how to:
⢠recognise when physical discomfort is affecting your writing momentum⢠tell the difference between useful ergonomic support and setup-based procrastination⢠use a simple writing setup audit before your next writing session⢠care for your body so writing becomes more sustainable over the long term
This episode is not medical advice. If youâre experiencing ongoing pain, numbness, tingling, headaches, or symptoms that concern you, please seek support from a qualified health professional.
And if youâre listening before 30 June, Iâd love to invite you to my free live masterclass, Write To Your Wiring: Discover Your NLP Modality and How It Shapes the Way You Write. Youâll discover how your natural processing style shapes the way you think, create, access story, and move through resistance.
Join the free masterclass here:https://maddisonmichaels.com/masterclass
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps Write the Darn Book reach more writers who are ready to honour their stories, trust their creative process, and keep showing up for the book theyâre meant to write. đ
And remember, you are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Mindset Monday episodes explore the inner work of writing: blocks, beliefs, identity, resistance, procrastination, perfectionism, and creative flow.
Have you ever looked at your book idea and felt that little tug inside that says, this matters, this is mine to write?
And then almost immediately, another voice comes in.
Who are you to write this?This is too personal.Someone else has already said it better.Maybe this story only matters to you.
In this episode of Write The Darn Book, weâre exploring how to write the book only you can write by accessing your unique creative truth.
Maddison talks about why the most personal parts of your story are often the parts that become the most universal, why writers sometimes pull back right before the truth comes through, and how your NLP modality shapes the way you naturally access emotion, meaning, story, and voice.
Youâll learn how Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Auditory Digital writers may each access creative truth differently, and how to begin writing the scene, chapter, or message you may have been circling for far too long.
This episode is a reminder that your book does not become powerful because you sound like everyone else. It becomes powerful because your lived experience, perspective, emotional honesty, and creative wiring are allowed to come through on the page.
In this episode, youâll explore:⢠Why personal stories often become the most universal⢠The difference between literal truth and emotional truth⢠Why resistance can show up when the writing starts to feel real⢠How NLP modalities shape the way creative truth comes through⢠A simple practice for writing one honest page from your natural wiring
Free Masterclass InvitationIf this episode stirred something in you, Iâd love to invite you to my free live masterclass on 30 June 2026 at 10am AEST:
Write To Your Wiring: Discover Your NLP Modality and How It Shapes the Way You Write
Inside this free masterclass, weâll explore the four NLP modalities, Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Auditory Digital, and how each one shapes the way you access story, process ideas, experience blocks, and find your way back into creative flow.
Youâll learn what your modality means for your writing rhythm, your story access, your resistance patterns, and the practical shifts you can make in your very next writing session.
Reserve your free place here:maddisonmichaels.com/masterclass
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps Write the Darn Book reach more writers who are ready to honour their stories, trust their creative process, and keep showing up for the book theyâre meant to write. đ
And remember, you are the vessel for the story. Let the words flow through you and onto the page.
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Writing Wednesday episodes explore the outer work of writing: craft, structure, revision, publishing, process, and the practical steps that help you finish your book.
Have you ever walked into a stationery shop and felt that little spark of possibility wake up inside you?
The coloured pens. The highlighters. The sticky notes. The beautiful notebooks. The fresh blank pages.
And maybe youâve wondered whether youâre just procrastinating, or whether thereâs something about those tools that genuinely helps your creative brain come alive.
In this Writing Wednesday episode of Write The Darn Book, weâre exploring how coloured pens, handwriting, notebooks, highlighters, sticky notes, and messy handwritten pages can become practical tools for unlocking creativity, especially when your writing feels stuck, flat, tangled, or too much like a task.
This is not about abandoning your laptop or hand-writing your entire manuscript. Itâs about understanding how colour, handwriting, and physical stationery can help your brain access your story in a different way.
In this episode, youâll learn:Why stationery often feels so creatively energising for writersHow handwriting can shift your brain out of stuck, screen-based thinkingWhy coloured pens and highlighters can help you make invisible story threads visibleHow to use colour without creating an overwhelming colour-coding systemHow notebooks, pens, and sticky notes can become writing-state cuesThe difference between stationery as a creative doorway and stationery as avoidanceA simple three-colour practice to help you work through a scene, chapter, character, or ideaTry this simple coloured pen practiceChoose one writing problem or creative question youâre currently holding.
Take a notebook or blank page and choose three colours:
One colour for what you already knowOne colour for the questionsOne colour for the sparks, meaning the words, images, ideas, or emotional truths that make something inside you lean forwardGive yourself ten minutes. Write messily. Draw arrows. Circle things. Highlight the sentence that surprises you.
Then ask yourself:
What is the colour showing me?
If this episode made you realise that the way you brainstorm, plan, organise your ideas, and reconnect with your creativity might be deeply connected to your writing personality, you can book a Writing Personality Blueprint Session at:
maddisonmichaels.com/blueprint
And if youâd like to begin by discovering more about your own writing personality, you can take the free Writing Personality Quiz at:
maddisonmichaels.com/quiz
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps Write the Darn Book reach more writers who are ready to honour their stories, trust their creative process, and keep showing up for the book theyâre meant to write. đ
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Mindset Monday episodes explore the inner work of writing: blocks, beliefs, identity, resistance, procrastination, perfectionism, and creative flow.
Words are never just words, especially for writers.
In this episode of Write The Darn Book, weâre exploring how the language you use around your writing shapes the way you experience the page, your manuscript, your creative flow, and even your identity as a writer.
Because itâs not just the words that end up in the manuscript that matter. Itâs the words you speak to yourself before you write, during a difficult session, after you close the document, and every time you decide what kind of writer you believe yourself to be.
If youâve ever caught yourself thinking, âIâm behind,â âIâm inconsistent,â âI never finish anything,â or âIâm not a real writer,â this episode will help you understand why those words land so heavily, and how to begin choosing language that supports your creativity rather than shutting it down.
This is a grounded, practical conversation about self-talk, writer identity, nervous-system safety, creative confidence, and the way your words can either reinforce resistance or open the next doorway back into your writing.
In this episode, youâll learn:⢠Why the words you speak to yourself are part of the writing process too⢠How language shapes your emotional state before, during, and after writing⢠Why a hard writing day is not a verdict on your talent⢠How pressure language, judgement language, and identity language can block creative flow⢠Why the way you speak to yourself after a writing session matters so much⢠A simple Magic Words Reset to help you shift from self-criticism into grounded action⢠How to use your words to support the writer you are becoming
The Magic Words ResetIn this episode, Maddison walks you through a simple three-step process you can use when your inner language turns against your writing:
Notice the sentence.Hear what youâre actually saying to yourself.
Soften the meaning.Find a truer, kinder, more useful version.
Choose the next doorway.Take one grounded step back toward the work.
This isnât about fake positivity or pretending writing always feels easy. Itâs about using language to return yourself to the page with more steadiness, self-trust, and creative safety.
For deeper personalised supportIf this episode helped you recognise that the words you use with yourself are tied to bigger patterns in your writing, your resistance, your confidence, and the way you see yourself as a writer, a Writing Personality Blueprint Session may be a beautiful next step.
Inside a Blueprint Session, we look at how you are uniquely wired to write through your Bird Writing Personality, your creative patterns, your resistance points, and the kind of support that actually helps you move forward.
Youâll come away with clearer insight into why you write the way you do, why certain approaches havenât worked for you, and how to build a writing process that feels more aligned, practical, and sustainable.
Book your Writing Personality Blueprint Session at:maddisonmichaels.com/blueprint
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps Write the Darn Book reach more writers who are ready to honour their stories, trust their creative process, and keep showing up for the book theyâre meant to write. đ
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Writing Wednesday episodes explore the outer work of writing: craft, structure, revision, publishing, process, and the practical steps that help you finish your book.
Can music actually help you write, or is it quietly pulling you out of the story?
In this episode of Write The Darn Book, weâre exploring how music, silence, and background noise shape your creative flow, and why the best sound environment for writing is not the same for every writer.
Because sound is more than background noise. It can become a writing-state cue, a doorway into your manuscript, and a signal your brain begins to associate with story, focus, creativity, or safety.
In This EpisodeYouâll learn:
How sound can become a cue your brain associates with writing and creative flowWhy music can help you access the emotional world of your book, but may also pull you into the wrong stateWhy silence supports some writers beautifully, while making the inner critic louder for othersHow background noise can reduce pressure and help some writers bypass overthinkingWhy your sound needs may be shaped by your creative wiring, Bird Writing Personality, nervous system, and trained writing habitsHow to use the Sound Check Method before your next writing sessionThe Sound Check MethodThis episode introduces a simple tool to help you choose the right sound environment before each writing session.
Instead of asking, âShould I write with music or silence?â youâll learn to ask:
What state do I need for this session?What sound supports that state?Is this sound helping me stay with the work?Because the better question is not simply, âShould writers listen to music while they write?â
The better question is: what sound environment helps you enter the work, stay with the work, and come back to the work again tomorrow?
Writing Personality Blueprint SessionsIf this episode made you realise your writing process might be fighting the way youâre naturally wired, you might love a Writing Personality Blueprint Session.
In one focused session, we map your unique Writing Personality, uncover the patterns affecting your writing rhythm, resistance, focus, and follow-through, and build a personalised strategy for how you plan, draft, revise, and keep moving with your book.
You can book your Writing Personality Blueprint Session at maddisonmichaels.com/blueprint.
Loved This Episode?âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps Write The Darn Book reach more writers who are ready to honour their stories, trust their creative process, and keep showing up for the book theyâre meant to write. đ
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Mindset Monday episodes explore the inner work of writing: blocks, beliefs, identity, resistance, procrastination, perfectionism, and creative flow.
Have you ever opened your laptop, placed your hands on the keyboard, stared at the blank page, and felt absolutely nothing come?
No words. No clear thought. No spark. Just that awful white space staring back at you.
In this Mindset Monday episode of Write The Darn Book, Maddison explores what is really happening when you freeze at the blank page, and why that moment is rarely proof that you have no story, no message, or no ability.
Often, blank-page freeze is a sign of pressure, overwhelm, perfectionism, fear, or a nervous system trying to protect you from getting it wrong. The page becomes loaded with expectation, and instead of writing one small sentence, your mind tries to prove you are a âreal writerâ before you have even begun.
This episode gives you a practical, compassionate way back into the writing. Youâll learn how to lower the pressure, ask the page a smaller question, and begin with one honest sentence, so you can move from frozen to writing again.
In this episode, youâll learn:
⨠Why the blank page can feel so confronting⨠How pressure and perfectionism can shut down your words before you begin⨠Why âI canât writeâ is often a pattern, rather than the truth⨠How to use the 5-Minute Momentum Method when you feel stuck⨠Why the first sentence of a writing session is allowed to be ordinary⨠How to ask smaller, more useful questions that help your mind re-engage⨠How your writing personality and creative wiring can shape the way you begin
Youâll also be guided through a simple five-step process you can use the next time you sit down to write and nothing comes:
Name what is happening.Lower the pressure.Ask the page a smaller question.Write the first honest sentence.Build momentum for five minutes.
Because the blank page is not a verdict on your talent. It is simply the starting place. And when you learn how to begin gently, practically, and in a way that feels safe to your system, the next sentence becomes possible.
Ready for support with your own writing blocks?If this episode made you think, yes, this is exactly what happens to me when I sit down to write, then this is your invitation to go deeper.
Blank-page freeze is often a pattern. It may be connected to pressure, perfectionism, fear of getting it wrong, self-doubt, uncertainty around structure, or simply trying to write in a way that works against your natural creative wiring.
Inside a Writing Personality Blueprint Session, Maddison helps you understand how you are uniquely wired to write, using your DOPE Bird Writing Personality and your creative patterns as the starting point. Youâll walk away with clearer insight into why you get stuck, what kind of writing process actually suits you, and practical next steps to help you return to the page with more confidence, clarity, and momentum.
If youâre ready to understand your writing patterns and build a process that works with you, rather than against you, you can book your Writing Personality Blueprint Session at:
maddisonmichaels.com/blueprint
Your book is still calling. And you do not have to keep trying to figure it all out alone.
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps Write The Darn Book reach more writers who are ready to honour their stories, trust their creative process, and keep showing up for the book theyâre meant to write. đ
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Writing Wednesday episodes explore the outer work of writing: craft, structure, revision, publishing, process, and the practical steps that help you finish your book.
Have you ever been told to âshow, donât tellâ and immediately felt yourself overthinking every sentence?
In this Writing Wednesday episode, weâre looking at one of the most common pieces of writing craft advice through a completely different lens: your creative wiring.
Because showing versus telling isnât only about adding more description. Itâs about helping your reader experience the moment. And the way you naturally process the world often shapes the way you write the world.
In this episode, Maddison explores how the four NLP Writerâs Mind modalities â Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Auditory Digital â can influence what lands on the page. Youâll discover why visual writers may naturally lean into imagery, auditory writers may hear dialogue and rhythm first, kinesthetic writers may write from feeling and body sensation, and auditory digital writers may move quickly into meaning, thought, and explanation.
None of these are wrong. They are clues.
Youâll learn how to recognise when one modality may be taking over your scenes, how to revise with more intention, and how to use the Four-Modality Showing Pass to make your writing feel fuller, more embodied, and more alive.
In this episode, youâll learn:
Why âshow, donât tellâ is really about reader experienceHow your dominant NLP modality can shape your natural writing strengthsWhy visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and auditory digital writers may all âshowâ differentlyCommon signs that a scene is leaning too heavily on one modalityHow to revise your scenes using the Four-Modality Showing PassWhy your creative wiring is not a flaw, but a powerful clue to your writing voiceThis episode is especially helpful if youâve ever received feedback that your writing feels flat, over-explained, under-described, too internal, too emotionally heavy, or hard to picture â and you werenât quite sure what to do with that feedback.
Your natural modality is part of your gift. The more you understand it, the more intentionally you can use it.
Want to understand how youâre uniquely wired to write?
If todayâs episode made you realise that the way you naturally process story might be shaping what lands on the page, then my Writing Personality Blueprint Session is the perfect next step.
This is a personalised 1:1 session where we look at your unique writing wiring, including your Bird Writing Personality and creative patterns, so you can better understand what supports your writing, what creates resistance, and what kind of process will actually help you move forward.
Youâll walk away with practical, personalised strategies designed around how you write best, so you can stop fighting your natural process and start building a writing rhythm that truly works for you.
You can book your Writing Personality Blueprint Session at maddisonmichaels.com/blueprint
Resources mentioned:
Discover your writing personality: maddisonmichaels.com/quizBook a Writing Personality Blueprint Session: maddisonmichaels.com/blueprint
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps Write the Darn Book reach more writers who are ready to honour their stories, trust their creative process, and keep showing up for the book theyâre meant to write.
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Episode 46: The Walt Disney Strategy for Writers Part 2: Three Guided Visualisations to Access Your Dreamer, Realist, and CriticMindset Monday episodes explore the inner work of writing: blocks, beliefs, identity, resistance, procrastination, perfectionism, and creative flow.
In Part 1 of this Walt Disney Strategy series, we explored the three creative modes every writer needs: the Dreamer, the Realist, and the Critic.
In this bonus episode, we move from understanding the framework into actually experiencing it.
Maddison guides you through three gentle visualisations designed to help you deliberately step into each creative mode. Youâll connect with the Dreamer, who imagines without restriction. The Realist, who builds the bridge between idea and page. And the Critic, who refines the work once something has been created.
These visualisations can be used together as a creative preparation ritual before a writing session, or individually whenever you need to access a specific mode in your writing process.
Inside this episode, youâll experience:
A guided Dreamer visualisation to reconnect with possibility, imagination, and creative freedomA guided Realist visualisation to access grounded momentum, structure, and the next practical stepA guided Critic visualisation to invite constructive refinement without letting self-doubt take overA gentle reminder of why the order matters: Dreamer first, Realist second, Critic thirdA practical way to use this NLP-based strategy before planning, drafting, or revising your bookIf youâre driving, walking somewhere busy, or need to stay alert, save the visualisation section for a time when you can settle in and give it your full attention.
đ WANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW YOU ARE WIRED TO WRITE?
And if youâre ready to stop fighting the way you write and finally understand how your creative mind actually works, my Writing Personality Blueprint Session is the perfect next step. Together, weâll uncover your natural writing personality, the patterns that may be creating resistance, and the personalised tools that can help you write with more clarity, confidence, and flow. You can learn more at maddisonmichaels.com/blueprint.
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps Write the Darn Book reach more writers who are ready to honour their stories, trust their creative process, and keep showing up for the book theyâre meant to write. đ
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Writing WednesdayEpisode 45: Pantser or Plotter or Something In Between?Find Your Writing Style and Stop Fighting Yourself
Are you a writer who needs a detailed outline before you begin, or do you prefer to discover the story as you write?
In this episode of Write the Darn Book, weâre diving into the pantser versus plotter debate, but through a much deeper lens. Because your writing style is rarely just a preference. It is often connected to how your brain is wired, how you process story, and what makes your creative system feel safe enough to write.
Maddison explores how the four Bird Writing Personalities, Dove, Owl, Peacock and Eagle, often approach structure, freedom, planning and discovery. Youâll learn why some writers thrive with detailed outlines, why others feel blocked by too much structure, and why many writers sit somewhere in the middle.
Most importantly, this episode gives you permission to stop fighting yourself and start building a writing process that actually works for the way you create.
In this episode, youâll learn:
⢠What the pantser versus plotter debate really means⢠Why writing advice can fail when it was built for a different type of writer⢠How each Bird Writing Personality tends to approach planning and drafting⢠Why your writing process may change from book to book⢠How to find the middle path between structure and discovery⢠Why the goal is not to become a perfect plotter or pantser, but to understand how you write best
If youâve been forcing yourself to write in a way that feels heavy, flat, or completely wrong for you, this episode will help you see that the problem may never have been you. It may simply be the method.
⨠Want personalised clarity on how youâre uniquely wired to write?Maddisonâs Writing Personality Blueprint Session is a dedicated one-on-one Zoom session where youâll explore your Bird Writing Personality profile and receive a personalised Blueprint Report with your creative strengths, resistance patterns, and practical strategies for building a writing process that works for you.
Book your session at:maddisonmichaels.com/blueprint
âď¸ If this episode resonated with you, Iâd be so grateful if you took a moment to leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps Write the Darn Book reach more writers who are ready to honour their stories, trust their creative process, and keep showing up for the book theyâre meant to write. đ
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