The Daily Writer

For new writers, one of the most surprising elements of the craft is how much editing and revision it takes to produce good work. Until you get into writing as a serious hobby or a career, it may seem like writing should just come out clean and ready to publish. But experienced writers know this is not the case at all. Effective writing doesn’t happen by accident. First you create a rough draft, t...

Imagine if you were a writer living two hundred years ago. You probably lived on a farm and woke up at the crack of dawn with the sound of the rooster. You worked all day and went to bed not long after sundown. If you were a writer, this would be an ideal environment to get your work done. There were not many distractions except for your family, a farm, and some animals. That’s not the case today....

On this episode, we dive into a topic that may seem disconnected from writing. However, depression and other mental health issues affect writers just like they do everyone else. In fact, writers and other creative types may be more at risk than the average person. Why? Because we already have lots of internal battles going on, and we tend to stay isolated. I don't have all the answers, but I...

Welcome to this special bonus episode of the daily writer podcast. I am excited to bring you this short bonus conversation with Jessica Brody, author of over twenty novels, as well as the amazing writing guide, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel . She is also the founder of the online writing school Writing Mastery Academy , which I joined a few years ago. You can find out more by visiting her website ....

I'm excited to bring you my conversation with Jessica Brody. She is the author of the #1 bestselling novel-writing guide, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and the founder of the online writing school, Writing Mastery Academy . Jessica has also written over twenty novels for teen, tweens, and adults. These include The Geography of Lost Things , The Chaos of Standing Still , A Week of Mondays , 52...

So, you’re feeling tired. You’re feeling discouraged. You’re partway through your first draft and it’s not coming together just as you’d like. Or perhaps you’ve already launched your book and it’s not getting the attention it deserves. You’ve spent what feels like every ounce of energy on writing it … and now you’re supposed to market it also? It makes you want to give up. Maybe it’s neither the f...

Writers often talk about the need to feel inspired before they write. But what exactly does it mean to feel inspired? And more importantly, how do we get it on a daily basis? Inspiration comes when we have that creative spark which allows us to get moving. It helps us overcome interia and conquer the fear of the blank page. But how do we capture it? Is it even possible? On today's episode, Ke...

Have you ever stopped to wonder why we sometimes don’t do the things we really want to do? For many years, statistics have shown that at least 8 out of every 10 people want to write a book. Why, then, do so many not follow through on their writing dreams? But the problem is not just out there. It’s in here, too. We can think of times when we shrunk back and didn’t follow through on our goals. Is i...

Writing is mainly a solitary activity. Most books, articles, blog posts, and other content is created by people working alone. Yes, there are editors and others along the way who help, but writing is primarily done by people sitting at a desk doing their craft by themselves. It’s easy to feel a bit isolated. Stephen King identified this problem and also proposed a solution when he said, “Writing i...

It’s the sinking feeling every writer knows. You had a brilliant idea but didn’t write it down. Now you could kick yourself because you can’t remember it. Inspiration can strike at the most inconvenient times. Sometimes it wakes you up in the middle of the night. Sometimes it comes while you’re in aisle 10 of the grocery store. Sometimes it decides to visit when you’re on a phone call or in a meet...

It has been quite an eventful week at the Daily Writer. This past week, I did an official public launch of the Daily Writer Community. I know that I have mentioned it several times already here on the podcast, and I even did a full episode a couple of weeks ago sharing about it. But this past week was the first time I really put it out there on social media and shared it more widely than I ever ha...

I'm thrilled to bring you this bonus interview with Joe Ricci. We dive into all my geeky questions about story structure and the specifics of writing for the Hallmark channel. Follow Kent Sanders: Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders  

I'm excited to bring you this conversation with one of the coolest and most interesting people I have met in a while. His name is Joe Ricci, and he is an actor, playwright, screenwriter, and director. Joe has been an actor in stage productions such as the off-Broadway hit “I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change,” the national tour of “Carousel,” the first national tour of “Saturday Night...

If you’re not mechanically inclined, maybe you can relate to this scenario. You’re driving down the road one day, and all of a sudden you realize that your car has been running kind of rough lately. The engine is a little bit noisier than it used to be and wonder what might be wrong. Then it dawns on that you can’t remember the last time to had the oil changed. You wonder if maybe you’ve done some...

Michelangelo was one of the greatest artists who ever lived. As a sculptor, painter, designer, architect, and so much more, he transformed history and was a major force of the Italian Renaissance.    But have you ever considered exactly what it was that made Michelangelo so great? Was it his creative genius? His relationship with powerful and influential people such as the Pope? His ability to org...

There is something quite magical about a book. Of course, you already know that since you’re a writer. You’re already committed to the art and craft of writing books. But it’s interesting that so many writers don’t make a lot of time to read. We love books and are committed to creating them … but we struggle with fitting reading into our schedules. Reading is a critical part of the creative proces...

It is common in the entrepreneurial world to view a day job as the enemy of a writing career. You have a boss, you have office hours, and you have job responsibilities that feel a million miles away from the writing you want to do. If you want to build a full-time writing career or gain more financial freedom, then building your own business is certainly a great goal. But while you are in your day...

There is a strange dynamic within the world of writers. On the one hand, there is a huge amount of collaboration and community. We support each other, we buy each other’s books, we write books together, we share resources, and we generally try to spread the love. On the other hand, it is also easy to be jealous of other writers who we perceive to be more successful. We wonder why we don’t sell the...

On this bonus interview, Pastor John Stange shares his thoughts on the structure, writing, and marketing of his upcoming book, Dwell on These Things . I encourage you to listen to yesterday's interview with John if you haven't already. It will give you lots of context for the information in this episode. If you are working on a book, or considering writing a book, then you will find a lo...

Here in the first couple weeks of the year, everyone loves to talk about goals. But once a week or two passes, the reality of life kicks in and the idea of a nice goal is not enough to carry you through the messiness of life. Having a goal is not enough to make that goal a reality. That is where habits come in, which is the subject of today's episode. One of the most influential books of the...

On today's episode, I have the pleasure of interviewing my good friend John Stange about the release of his upcoming book, Dwell on These Things. Last month, John asked me to interview him for a special episode on his podcast. John and I talked about how the book can help people, especially right now in a time where man people are under a lot of stress financially and emotionally. A bit about...

As you begin to make progress toward your writing goals this year, you will run into some roadblocks. Life will get messy, you will feel tired, and even here in the first couple weeks of the year, you will probably feel like giving up.   But why do you feel like giving up? It all comes down to unrealistic expectations. We get discouraged when the picture we have in our head doesn’t match the reali...

You were having a perfectly good streak. Things were going well with your writing, and you were making great progress with your book, blog, client work, or something else you were working on. But then it happened. Maybe it was family drama. Maybe it was a work situation. Maybe an appliance or a car broke down. Or maybe there was political or social chaos that made it hard to focus. Whatever it was...

Here at the Daily Writer, we are a huge advocate for not just writing books, but for reading them. They are a critical facet of your growth as a writer. You will be hard-pressed to come across a great leader in modern history who has not also been a great reader. However, there is a danger in focusing too much on consuming ideas, and not enough on action. Reading doesn’t guarantee that your life,...

During this first week of the year, you will hear a lot of people talk about their goals. You will see social media posts, articles, emails, and news stories about all the big plans people are making for 2021. Perhaps you have set some goals for yourself. If so, congratulations! That is an important step toward being successful as a writer. Maybe you even shared them with a few friends or posted t...