The Daily Writer

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...

When you think of ways to connect with your audience and add value to them, what comes to mind? What usually focus on the more flashy forms of marketing such as social media, Amazon algorithms or Facebook ads. But there's a way to connect with your readers that relies on a decades-old technology we use every day. It's not flashy, it's not the new, hip thing, but it absolutely works....

In a world of equality and opportunity, we usually talk about power as if it’s a bad thing. But power is like time, money, or any other resource. It can be used for good or for bad. Writers don’t think about what we do in terms of power. We use words like creativity, craft, platform, audience, and entrepreneurship. But power? It’s a concept that seems a little old-fashioned, if not outright outdat...

One of the tropes that seems to follow creative types around is the myth of the “tortured artist.” The myth goes something like this: creative work is very, very difficult, and it requires the artist to give their blood, sweat, and tears to their creative work. This tortured artist myth has been used to describe why so many creative types are depressed or otherwise messed up. And if you look at th...

Do you remember what it feels like to be criticized for your writing? Different memories come flooding back for different people. Maybe it was in junior high, when a teacher pointed out all your mistakes. Maybe it was in college when you submitted an essay to a contest, and you didn’t even place. Maybe it was more recently, when you published a blog post or wrote a social media post that someone d...

If you were to make a list of the most creative people from the last hundred years, Steve Jobs would be close to the top of the list. As the co-founder of Apple, he was in large part responsible for many of the devices and apps we use today, such as the Mac, iTunes, the iPhone, the iPad, and lots of others.  Especially in his later years, he was adored and admired for his visionary approach and hi...

What does it mean to be successful as a writer? It’s a simple question—you might say even deceptively simple. Why? Because we don’t often stop to think about how we define success. We are so accustomed to certain metrics that we seldom question our ideas of success. Like a dog chasing a car, we continue to run after it, never stopping to wonder if we should be chasing that particular car in the fi...

The holiday season is in full swing, and most everyone is thinking about the gifts they are going to give others. Just yesterday, my son and I were talking about some gift ideas for my wife. And my wife and I have certainly been talking about gifts to get our son. While we're probably spending a lot of time on Amazon or looking around local stores, the best gifts come from who we are, not jus...

There are a lot of challenging aspects of being a writer. But in my experience, some of the biggest obstacles come from inside. If we look at why we sometimes are not achieving the impact and success we want, it's because we are paying attention to the false labels that others have given us, and that we have given ourselves. My guest today is Bee Evans. She is a speaker, coach, and thought le...

Being a writer is a lot like living in The Wizard of Oz . Some days feel like you’ve lost your brain, most days feel like you’re holding onto your heart, and every day feels like a battle for your courage.  That’s how the Cowardly Lion felt just before he and the rest of the gang went in to see the Wizard in Emerald City. In one of the best musical moments of the whole movie, he says,  What makes...

Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full kind of person? If your answer is that you’re a glass half empty kind of person, it means you tend to focus on what you lack. If your answer is that you’re a glass half full kind of person, it means you tend to focus on what you have. So the question is not about what’s inside the glass. The question is, what’s inside of you ? It really comes down to...

Have you ever found yourself sitting, staring at the wall, thinking about that book you wanted to write? Then a few minutes later, you snap out of it and realize you were completely lost in thought? If so, you’re not alone. Probably every writer can relate to spending more time thinking about a book than actually writing it. But why do we do this? Why do we spend so much time planning, dreaming, v...

We live in an age when it is easy to get out of almost any commitment. If you’re unhappy with your cable TV service, you can switch companies. If your dinner at a restaurant doesn’t taste good, you can send it back to the kitchen. If you are irritated at someone on social media, you can unfollow or even block them. But what about your relationship to your writing?  The concept of having a relation...

When you hear the name J.K. Rowling, what comes to mind?  You probably picture an ultra-successful author whose books are adored by millions of readers all over the world. As the author of the Harry Potter series, she has achieved a level of fame and fortune that very few authors will know. But it wasn’t always that way. Just a handful of years before she published the first Harry Potter book, J.K...

One of the most common themes I hear from people who want to write is, "Where do I start?" So many people have the desire, even the calling, to write ... yet they don't know where to begin. Rather than do a straight-up teaching episode on this topic, or having a single guest, I thought it would be fun to do a round-table discussion with a few of my writer friends to give different p...

Episode Description (Libsyn & SM Post) Here is the U.S., we like to talk about ownership. In fact, one of the hallmarks of American society is the concept of owning land, owning a house, and owning a car. But when it comes to our careers and the direction of our lives, we often leave that completely up to chance. My guest today is here to help us do a course-correction. His name is Andy Storch...

If you’re a fan of the Peanuts comic strip, you may remember one of the ongoing storylines involving Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s loveable dog. Snoopy would be perched on top of his doghouse with a typewriter, trying to begin his novel. No matter what he was writing, he always used the opening line, “It was a dark and stormy night.”  Many readers of Peanuts thought Charles Schulz came up with this phra...

If you’re of “a certain age,” you probably remember watching Bob Ross on his TV show “The Joy of Painting,” which he hosted on PBS from 1983-1994. If you’re a little younger, you’ve probably discovered him on the internet, where he has developed an even bigger following. Each week on his show, Bob painted a mesmerizing landscape in just a half an hour. He was known for his soft-spoken style, his s...

Have you ever felt jealous of another writer’s success? We’re going for honesty here, so let’s assume the answer is “yes.” The world of writers can be a funny place. We love to support one another, read each other’s books, and collaborate in ways that few other industries do. On the other hand, because our work is creative by nature, it is often intertwined with our sense of self-esteem and securi...

Citizen Kane is universally recognized as one of the greatest films of all time. Orson Welles and his collaborators created a masterpiece that was well ahead of its time in storytelling, cinematography, and special effects. Yet for all its achievements, it's one of the saddest movies ever made. The film tells the story of Charles Foster Kane, a wealthy businessman who began his career with go...

One of the staples of the modern music world is the “Greatest Hits” album. When an artist has been around for a while, and they’ve had at least a few hits, it’s customary for their record company to release a new album that re-packages all those hit songs.  Have you ever thought about the work required to actually create enough songs for a Greatest Hits album? If you look at the albums of any popu...

If you've been listening to this podcast for any length of time, you know that I place a big emphasis on habits, mindset, creativity, and related topics. Those are all inputs into our writing. I emphasize those things because those are essential for any type of writing success. Today I want to shift gears a bit and talk about a very practical topic related to writing, and that is making money...

As I talk to writers, one of the most common themes I hear is, "I've always wanted to write a novel." It seems like almost everybody has a story they would love to tell. But how do you get it done? What is the process for writing a novel? And how do you work through all the inevitable struggle of the messy middle -- the part where the excitement wears off and you're still a lon...

Has this ever happened to you? You block out time on your calendar, you get your pen or pencil—or computer—ready, and you sit down at your desk, ready to write. You’ve been looking forward to this time and can’t wait to get your creative juices flowing. So you sit there, patiently waiting for the Muse to arrive and deliver the creativity straight to your brain. You’re ready for action. And . . . n...