The Daily Writer

It’s the beginning of a brand-new year. You have dreams. You have goals. You have big things you want to accomplish in the next twelve months. And your mind is consumed by one overriding question: “Can I do this?”   It’s not a question of whether anyone needs to give you permission. Rather, it’s a question of whether you can muster the resources, energy, creativity, discipline, and focus in order...

On this episode, I share details about the brand-new Daily Writer Community, which is now open for application! You'll learn why I'm launching this group, what's included, and how it's different than other writing groups. If you're looking for a small, intimate, supportive, generous, action-taking group of writers who are working to achieve their goals, then DW might be fo...

When it comes right down to it, everything about writing success comes down to productivity. We may have great ideas, we may feel inspired, and we may have great connections. We may even have a publishing contract. But if we don't actually produce the work, nothing else matters. I'm excited that my good friend Jennifer Harshman is here to give us some tips to become more productive in ou...

On today's special edition, I review the successes and challenges in my writing and business over the past year. I also share eight major goals I'll be working on in 2021. 2020 Successes: Ghostwrote two client books. Became a Literary Scout for Morgan James Publishing. Re-launched my podcast as The Daily Writer and changed to a daily format. Launched beta version of The Daily Writer Comm...

I’m taking a very short 1-week hiatus from the podcast to work on my next book and do some extra planning for 2021. We have nearly 300 episodes of the daily writer podcast published, so I encourage you to take some time to look back through the archive here and catch up on some episodes you might have missed. I especially want to encourage you to check out a few episodes from the last few months t...

Christmas means many things to many people. Some people look forward to parties and social events. Some people enjoy the lights and holiday displays in stores and homes. Some people love all the holiday entertainment you can enjoy, such as Hallmark movies and music specials. And of course, everybody loves gifts, especially kids. But for people of faith, Christmas is the time of year when we rememb...

If there is one word that describes our modern, hectic lifestyles, it’s “obligation.”  We are connected 24/7 to our devices, and literally anyone in the world with a smartphone can reach out to us. Our inboxes are filled with an email from marketers, influencers, clients, people who want something from us … and hopefully sometimes, from friends who are checking in. Our social media feeds are cramm...

In the year 532, the emperor Justinian stood gazing at the smoking ruins of Constantinople’s patriarchal church that had just been burned to the ground by riots. As the leader of the Byzantine empire, he wanted to build a cathedral that would surpass the glory of its predecessor, but also be a stunning place of worship and a testament to the beauty and creativity of the Byzantine tradition.   The...

If your writing was a cake, what would the ingredients be? You would certainly include structure. You’d think about the audience. If you were writing research, you would include some data or case studies. If writing fiction, you would make sure to include plot and characters. And if you want to work to be read, you must also think about publishing and marketing. All those are important, but there...

In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the military historian Robert Cowley coordinated a fascinating series of books called What If? The books featured essays by prominent historians, each one looking at a particular “what if” question in history. For example: What if the Mayflower had never set sail? What if JFK had not been assassinated? What if Teddy Roosevelt had won re-election in 1912? What i...

One of the topics we often discuss on this podcast is doing client work. If you haven't yet considered it as a way to supplement your income, I encourage you to think about it. When you're starting with freelance writing, how do you get that first client? This is a critical question because getting that first client is very important. Once that happens, you have more confidence and momen...

I 'm honored to have my good friend, Jim Woods, on the show today to help us develop our storytelling chops. Jim is a novelist, story coach, and editor. He has worked with many authors over the years, including some whose books have been on the New York Times bestseller list. Jim is the host of the Finish Your Book Podcast. He is also the founder of Storycrafting, a coaching service that help...

What do powerful words look like?  When you think of powerful words, you probably imagine Abraham Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address, or JFK giving a speech about America’s mission to go to the moon. Or maybe imagine an author like Maya Angelou talking about how she overcame a difficult childhood. But powerful words aren’t just reserved for classic speeches or world-renowned books. You have...

One of the most popular episodes of the original Twilight Zone series is “Time Enough at Last.” Burgess Meredith plays Henry Bemis, a bank teller with thick glasses who is obsessed with reading. One day during his lunch break, he goes to the bank vault to read.  Suddenly there is a violent explosion, which knocks him out. He later wakes up to find that an atomic bomb has destroyed the world. He wa...

Every period in history seems like the worst for people going through it. 2020 has certainly been a challenging year on many levels. We’ve still in the middle of a global pandemic, we had a bitter election in the United States, the economy has been in upheaval, many people have lost jobs, and the list goes on and on … One look at your social media feed or any news channel will tell you that people...

Anyone who grew up in the second half of the 20 th century was familiar with two icons of pop culture: The Wizard of Oz and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood . On the surface, these two couldn’t be more different. The Wizard of Oz was a 1939 movie about a young girl, Dorothy, who is swept away by a tornado and battles the Wicked Witch of the West in the land of Oz. Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood , on the o...

In the world of computers, WYSIWYG stands for “what you see is what you get.” It refers to an editing system or interface where the content you see on screen shows exactly how it will look when it’s printed or displayed elsewhere. But WYSIWYG can also refer to the writing life as a whole. What you see is truly what you get. On today's episode, Kent encourages you to put in the work and take a...

On this month's Listener Q&A, we tackle a number of great questions: How do you transition from writing as a hobby, to writing as a profession? Do you have to travel in order to be an author? How do I start making money as a freelance writer? How do I choose which book to work on next? Do you have any tips for marketing or how to build a platform? How do I start to market my writing and b...

When we consider the impact of our writing, there are many elements we pay attention to. We spend a lot of time thinking about our audience, our content, our strategy for reaching readers, our habits, our tools and technology, and so forth. But one important element of our writing that often gets overlooked is our "voice." According to my guest today, your voice is a vital element in you...

If you spend any time among a group of novelists, you will pretty quickly hear two terms: pantsers and plotters. Pantsers are the ones who prefer to write by the “seat of their pants.” They love to develop a great opening, then discover the story as they write. Pantsers get bored if they know where the whole story is going ahead of time. Plotters are the ones who have to carefully outline the whol...

Most young people only have a vague idea of who Johnny Carson is if they have even heard of him at all. But for anyone 40 and older, you probably remember him as the host of The Tonight Show. From 1962-1992, Johnny Carson ruled the airwaves as the King of Late Night. If you were a stand-up comedian in the late 70’s through the early 90’s, you got invited over to the couch to talk to Johnny after y...

If you talk to most writers, there is one thing they almost all universally hate: marketing. Most writers dislike the thought of promoting themselves or going through all the technical hoops they think they need in order to market well. Do you share this viewpoint as well? Do you hate marketing? If so, it’s no wonder because almost all of our firsthand experience with marketing tells us it’s dista...

If you recall your middle school history class, there were three distinct periods in ancient history, each one defined by the material they used to make weapons. The Stone Age came first. These weapons of stone were of course limited because stones are very heavy. They are also hard to shape if the only other tools you have are made of stone. Then came the Bronze age, when people began mining tin...

In September 1976, the American rock band Boston released their single called “More Than a Feeling.” The song tells the story of a young man who is listening to the radio, and a song comes on that reminds him of a former love. What he experiences is “more than a feeling.” But in a way, this song could also describe writers who are doing the work day by day. How many times have you heard writers wh...

If you've been listening to my podcast or reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I encourage you to do things that are scary. I've been getting into short story writing recently, and I recently dug this one out of the archives and dusted it off. This is the first time I have shared a short story publicly. I hope you enjoy it! *** If you enjoyed this episode, we would be gr...