The Daily Writer

Today, I want to use an analogy from the world of baseball to help us understand the value of putting in the work every day. One of the greatest reputations you can acquire as a baseball player is that of a home run hitter. Everybody loves the player who can reliably step up to the plate, crack the bat, and send the baseball flying into the stands.  I was curious about how many major league baseba...

Most people, including myself, create a task list each day. We also call this a “to do” list. These are things we must do. And in a world that increasingly demands our attention every second—in a world filled with ever-increasing opportunities and connections—this list seems to get longer all the time. The antidote to all this is to create a “stop doing” list. These are things you are NOT going to...

Although this podcast is called The Daily Writer , the reality is that many people don’t write every day. They may set aside time every couple of days or once a week to work on their writing. I want you to know that this is totally legitimate. You shouldn’t take the concept of the “daily writer” too literally. The main point is to write regularly, whatever that looks like for your schedule. The mo...

Do you have trouble focusing and getting your writing done? It's a common problem almost all writers face. On today's episode, we'll explore how to focus and be more productive with your writing using cutting-edge science. My guest is Dan Clark, CEO of Brain.fm , a company that takes a science-first approach to creating music that sounds different, and affects you differently, than...

In the previous episode, I mentioned the importance of finishing a first draft of your book. But the urgency doesn’t stop there. I’m not saying you should be sloppy or rush through things. You should make your book, or any writing for that matter, as good as it can be. But the fact of the matter is that we all have limited time on this earth. On today’s episode, you’ll learn that one of the best w...

Why don’t people finish goals that are important them? There are probably many answers to that question, but an obvious reason is that they simply get tired and don’t see a lot of discernible progress toward the goal. Take writing a book, for example. If you tend to be a perfectionist, writing a book can take a very long time because you’re trying to both write and edit as you go. On today’s episo...

One of the reasons why we sometimes get stuck in our writing is that we see how much there is left to do. Let’s say you’re writing a 750-word blog post. You would typically write this in sections—an introduction, two or three main points, and a conclusion or call to action. So really, this is a collection of pieces that are somewhere between 100-200 words each. You can have trouble getting motivat...

Whatever you’re working on right now, you’re bound to get stuck at some point. When you stumble upon our old friend, lovingly called “writer’s block,” here are ten tips to keep the words flowing. On today’s episode, you’ll discover 10 ways—plus 2 bonus tips—for how you can overcome writer’s block. ***     Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous writers to help you build better ha...

Most people listening to this podcast are located in the United States, so let me focus on that crowd for a second. Part of our culture here in the U.S. is what we call the “Protestant work ethic.” Even though not everyone is religious, or even Protestant, we still abide by this standard today. The Protestant work ethic basically says that we believe the way to a more fulfilled and God-honoring li...

I hope your 2022 is off to a great start. Here it is, the end of January, and we've had a solid month to get some meaningful work done toward our goals. How are things going for you? At this point, a lot of people give up on their goals and say, "Maybe next year." But I want you to know that it's never too late to make significant things happen in your writing, your life, and y...

Once you make the decision to start writing, and you do it on a regular basis (hopefully every day), over time you will build up quite a collection of half-baked ideas and unused pieces of material. It might be blog posts, book chapters, social media posts, podcast material, or in the case of myself, I’m sorry to admit, entire books you have written but never released for one reason or another. I...

We've talked about it many times here on the podcast, but it always bears repeating: one of the most powerful skills you can learn is storytelling. We are wired as humans to tell, and to crave, powerful stories. My guest today is John Bucher. He is a mythologist, writer, and storyteller based out of Hollywood, California. John serves as the Creative Director for the Joseph Campbell Foundation...

If you have ever watched behind-the-scenes documentaries for movies, you have probably heard directors talk about the impulse to keep tweaking a movie. Sometimes they will say, “The studio had to come and take the movie away from me.” What’s this all about? It’s pretty simple, really. When you’re working on a big creative project, whether it’s a book or a movie, you always see what needs to be fix...

A common problem we writers have is how to get started. We have a rough vision of what we want to create, but we’re afraid to take that first step. What if we go in the wrong direction? What if we discover we aren’t really talented? What if someone thinks it’s no good? What if this whole thing was a giant mistake? On today’s episode, Kent shares the best way to conquer a blank page. *** Are you lo...

If you get heavily involved in the writing community, you have to be careful. Why? Because there is a whole sub-industry devoted to writing tools that supposedly help you be more productive and creative. Are many of these helpful? Yes, of course. But it’s important to not get too obsessed with specific writing tools. The only measure you should use to determine whether a tool or app is good is whe...

One of the difficulties of creative work, which includes writing, is that we sometimes have vague ideas about our goals. We haven’t determined ahead of time what it means to win or lose. Therefore, no matter what we do, we never quite know if we have hit the mark. This is a surefire way to get discouraged and confused because we don’t have a clear idea of success. When you lay your head on the pil...

A lot of you who are listening are working on books. I’d like to share a method I’ve been using to write my upcoming Daily Writer book, which will release this coming October. This process is very doable for anyone. I’ve been doing my Daily Writer podcast since November 2020, well over a year now. As you probably know since you listen to this show, I release a short episode each weekday. Here is w...

If you’ve ever seen the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies Dr. Strange or Avengers: Infinity War , you’re familiar with an object called the “time stone.” The time stone is one of six infinity stones that control various aspects of existence. Whoever possesses the time stone can see visions of the future as well as stop time, or even rewind it. It’s all fiction, of course . . . but what if you actua...

If you have followed my journey the last couple of years, you know that I have transitioned into being a full-time ghostwriter, while also leading our Daily Writer Community and helping writers with this podcast and other resources.   Today, I'm thrilled to feature a conversation with my friend and ghostwriting mentor Nick Pavlidis. Nick used to be an attorney, but a few years ago he began to...

There are many ways to market yourself as an author, but, on today's episode, we will explore one of the most effective strategies—being a guest on other people's podcasts. My guest is Kim Stewart. She is a marketing strategist who helps Christian authors meet new readers and market their messages by guesting on podcasts. She’s also the host of the Book Marketing Mania podcast where she...

The most common complaint about writing is that it takes time. There is nothing that keeps people from writing more than the idea that they simply don’t have the time to write. That’s why so many writing resources—including this podcast—focus on helping people be more productive with their writing. On today’s episode, Kent encourages us to take some time to evaluate what is keeping us so busy that...

Have you ever tried taking a cold shower? Apparently, it’s all the rage these days. If you want to spend a couple of hours going down a rabbit hole, hop onto YouTube and watch a few videos where people experiment with taking cold showers and talking about the positive effects, such as helping them wake up fast or having more energy. I can tell you that it does work, even though I don’t take a cold...

There are lots of enemies we have to battle as writers. One of the most ferocious ones is self-editing. Self-editing is the tendency to edit as you go, to clean up and try to perfect your writing while you’re creating it. The big problem with self-editing is that you’re trying to use your right and left brain at the same time. The right brain focuses on creative activities, and the left brain focu...

For most writers, writing feels like work because it requires a lot of brainpower. So why not use tools that help make the work easier? One of the most effective tools is music to help you focus. On today’s episode, Kent shares the three different music platforms he uses to help him focus, be more productive, and boost his creativity. *** Are you looking for a community of enthusiastic, generous w...

We live in an age of urgency where everything must be done right now . But is that really true? Does everything in life have the urgency we ascribe to it? Mark Twain said, “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” On today’s episode, you’ll be encouraged to prioritize so you can focus your attention on the things that matter. *** Are you looking for a community of enthu...