The Novel Writing Podcast

In this slightly ranty raw podcast brought to you by a weekend sunrise hike, I talk about how to maintain high expectations but not feel terrible if you don't meet them. Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcripts & access interview recordings on Substack Apply for Author Coaching with Colleen Take the 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge for FREE   Sell your eBooks direct with Curios (k...

Comic book author and serial Kickstarter Caleb Palmquist joins me to talk about what he's learned from running over 20 Kickstarters. He has a lot to say about failure and finding your audience, both of which are important parts of the "successful creator" journey. This was a follow-up episode to Halie's interview with Caleb on the YouTube Channel, which you can find here: https...

What happens when you're in the middle of your draft and the plot has gone out the window, or you have no idea where to go next? The danger is "procrastiplotting" which I think is just a fancy word for writer's block. Learn how I deal with Procrastiplotting and how to identify when it's ACTUALLY a problem. Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcripts & access int...

Did you know you lose up to 23 minutes of attention every time you get distracted? This is the reality: you can't do two things at once, and if you try, your attention pays for it. Multitasking has been a myth for years, and yet we all believe we're immune to the actual cognitive cost of task switching, which is what really happens when we think we can write and research at the same time...

What are you saying "no" to in order to write?  We all make tradeoffs in life, and definitely in writing.  If you've ever had the urge to blame something else for "stopping" you from writing, this episode is for you. Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcripts & access interview recordings on Substack Apply for Author Coaching with Colleen Take the 60 Day Novel...

How would you write a better relationship portrayal? Not necessarily "better" as in "good", but rather, more realistic.  We all have good and bad examples of relationships in real life, but I think we all get sucked into the temptation to idealize written relationships. This episode is a prompt to reevaluate the idealizing, and lean into reality a bit more when writing relation...

What's an ARC reader?  What do ARC readers even do? And why do you need to know about them before your book is even done? As much as many authors hate to admit it, building a readership before you even release is one of the things successful authors do (both indie and traditional), and ARC readers are a key part of that. Listen to this episode to find out what ARCs do, why they're import...

Sunk cost is the time, effort, money, or energy invested in something that ultimately doesn't work.  Sunk cost FALLACY is when we believe that we have to keep doing that thing because if we don't, all that investment is WASTED. But the investments you make into things that ultimately become sunk costs are never wastes, and this episode details why. So if you've ever felt like you ca...

Last week's episode may have left you with some questions, primarily this one: How do you recruit alphas, betas, and critters? You can find these magical people in several places, but it can feel like hunting unicorns at times. In this episode, I list a few places you can find ABCs. Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcripts & access interview recordings on Substack Apply for Auth...

What are alphas, betas, and critters (aka critique partners)?  Are they different? The same? What exactly do they do? In this episode, I talk about how I define each of these types of feedback partners, and whether you need any of them at all.  Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcripts & access interview recordings on Substack Apply for Author Coaching with Colleen Take the 60 Day Nov...

Have you ever made a decision, started working on it, and then realized that you probably should have chosen something else? But then you feel like you HAVE to keep going because if you don't, then your integrity is at stake, or you'll feel like a failure if you "quit"? Insert a decision pivot. You don't have to remain beholden to the decisions you made in the past, and th...

What do you do to prepare yourself for a writing session? Whether it's lighting candles, playing music, or completely secluding yourself in a dark and mysterious library office, those things are probably your writing ritual. Writing rituals can make all the difference with finishing your book. Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcripts & access interview recordings on Substack App...

In this follow-up episode to the one on the difference between personality and temperament, I break down the four types of temperament traditionally known by their "Greek Humor" names: Sanguine Choleric Phlegmatic Melancholic We can use the temperaments not only to better know our characters, but to better know ourselves. Resources: https://psychologia.co/four-temperaments/ https://fourt...

Can you spot the lie in this episode? Our guest has a passion for storytelling, dinosaurs, and inspiring young people to write more.  Actually, none of those are lies. You'll have to listen to the episode for the real two truths and a lie! Shanna P. Lowe, author of Candy Sky Tells a Lie, joins me to talk about her experience with The 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge, Professional Premium, and t...

There are things in life that propel you forward, much like an engine moves a boat through water. These are the things we turn to when we need a boost of energy or inspiration, including when we write. Do you know what your writing engines are?  This episode includes examples of writing engines which might help you galvanize your writing life. Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcripts &am...

Quitter's day is that day just a few weeks into the new year when most people who set New Year's Resolutions feel like quitting. Don't let the natural entropy of excitement and motivation keep you from achieving your writing goals this year. You can make it past Quitters Day! Listen to the episode for tips on how to do this. Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcripts & a...

Halie Fewkes Damewood joins me to talk about the different types of publishing: big press, small press, hybrid, and self-publishing, where self-publishing is split between print on demand and ebooks, and what's known as offset printing.  As we get into in the episode, choosing the right kind of publishing for you depends on your preferences, and where you want your difficult to be. Send us Fa...

Writing is somewhat of an isolated endeavour if you are not already part of a writing community. Advice from other authors is really valuable, because we can see what's working for other people, and to take those ideas to test out in our own writing lives. In part one of top tips for writers, we have advice from the authors listed below. Christina Vourcos - https://www.authorchristinavourcos....

Going into a new year (or a new month) is a natural time to think about goalsetting, especiall writing goals. How you set and approach tthose goals makes all the difference in whether you accomplish them at the end, but it's not always easy to do. In this episode, I break down how to set yourself up for success, and share a bit about my 2024 goals. Click here to read more about The Chronicles...

You’ve heard it at the end of every episode: the first draft is supposed to be garbage! But if the first draft is supposed to be garbage, what is the SECOND draft supposed to be? Slightly more polished garbage? This episode breaks down the role of the second draft, how to approach your rewrite, and how I prepare my second draft for review (whether by alphas or a developmental editor) once it’s don...

Have you wondered how to run a Kickstarter campaign for your books? Halie Fewkes Damewood has successfully funded and published 8 books using Kickstarter (6 novels, 2 kids' books). She joins me on the podcast to give you guys a Kickstarter Crash Course if you've been thinking about using this popular crowdfunding platform to launch your author career.  Send us Fan Mail What to do next… R...

Murder mystery author Beth Savoie joins me on the show to talk about her book series and how The 60 Day Novel Writing Challenge (and Professional Premium) helped her go from five years to publish book 1 down to one year to publish book 2. Currently writing book 3 of her Compton-Murray Mysteries series, Beth has experienced her characters coming to life such that our entire writer's group know...

Is your word count nowhere near where you want it to be this far into November? Do you wonder if it's even worth it to finish if you're this far behind? I'm bringing you the truth about giving up—and why it's important to stop giving so much power to arbitrary dates on the calendar. https://studyfinds.org/writing-books-life-worthy-of-deal/ Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read...

The editing process (specifically professional editors) are an essential part of publishing a book.  Many a writer has released a book without it going through editors, and it shows in the quality of the story and the quality of the reader experience (AKA, low).  In this episode, Halie Damewood and I talk about why you should NEVER skip the editor.  Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcrip...

In the game of marketing on social media, what works for Author A might not be what works for Author B. And neither of those things may be what works for YOU. Are you willing to experiment? Because you'll need to in order to find out what really does work for you. Send us Fan Mail What to do next… Read transcripts & access interview recordings on Substack Apply for Author Coaching with Co...