Women Creating Writerly Lives with Scribbling Woman Nancy Rue

In our sixth episode of the Craft and the Writerly Life series, we finally bring our protagonists to their feet and lead them into the ultimate battle, their chance to make things right. So satisfying! You’ll find suggestions for (1) what to include in that third act; (2) how to empower the protagonist; and (3) how to show the hidden need has been met. Intuitive and Intentional writers can apply a...

In our Fifth episode of the Craft and the Writerly Life series, we get in there and raise the stakes, all the way to the bleakest moment. We’ll provide 2 sets of questions to ask so you can bring your protagonist to their knees and get them on their feet again. Both Intuitives and Intentional writers can apply these questions whenever and however they want. The writerly outlook is NOT bleak!

In our Fourth episode of the Craft and the Writerly Life series, we play with building conflict, increasing tension, and making things bad, worse, and worst. We build a story together, make charts for characters butting heads, and consider 4 sets of questions to ask in order to weave that tangled web. Intuitives and Intentional writers alike will feel the tension rise. In a good way!

Third episode in our series: Craft and the Writerly life. Here we go into the messiest, most chaotic, most seemingly impossible part of writing a story: The Bloody Plot! Because there is no hack for this, we simply address 5 questions to ask ourselves, based on the throughline (Episode #58) and the turning points (Episode #59) Once again, this is NOT just for the Intentional Writer. Intuitives… we...

Second episode in our series: Craft and the Writerly life. This time, we talk about creating the character arc, the movement of our protagonist’s inner journey. The three steps will lead to a beginning, an end, and the turning points in between. And just so you know, this is NOT just for the Intentional Writer. Intuitives… we’ve got your back too.

First episode in a new series: Craft and the Writerly Life. We’ve built our writerly lives on all the levels. Now let’s look at the craft of writing—not “here’s how to do it”, but “here’s how YOU do it” in your own unique way. We start with the most foundational element of story-telling—the throughline. By following 4 steps we’ll discover the hidden need that shapes our stories.

We’ve reignited our passion and reconnected with our writerly lives. We’ve grown in that process, which means that some aspects of that creative life may need some remodeling. In this episode, we envision an updated “creative house,” and explore its five “rooms”—why, who, what, how, and when/where to see what needs some tweaking, if not an all out redo.

Listening to other people tell us the “rules” for living a writerly life is like waiting for permission to ugly-cry or snort-laugh. Before we can write—and live—authentically and creatively, we first need to release the “commandments” that limit us. In this episode we explore three areas that could do with some pondering. Prepare to feel—and be—free.

It’s one thing to feel the passion for writing stir again, and another to know how to move forward with it. This second in a series of episodes focused on the writerly REs offers four steps for REconnecting with the writerly life we grew apart from—and making it even more delicious.

Has your passion for writing flagged or even flatlined? It happens to all of us, and it’s essential that we REvive it. This first in a series of episodes focused on the writerly REs offers four steps in bringing back the passion that makes the best creativity possible.

We writers need a certain amount of solitude, but when that turns to loneliness or isolation, our creative work suffers. In this episode, we talk about why we need other writers in our lives, how to find them, and how to balance community and that much-needed space to be with ourselves. Introvert or extrovert, this one’s for you. You are not alone.

Writers who hang out on the more Intentional end of the Writing Process Ribbon always know where they’re going… until the caution flags indicate it’s time to slow down and play a little. In this episode, we talk about how to do that, without abandoning your authentic approach.

Intuitive Writers (formerly known as “Pantsers”) create freely and magically… until they hit the inevitable speed bumps. In this episode we talk about how to let those slow-downs work FOR you, without losing your authentic writerly self.

Knowing our own personal writerly whys—why we keep writing, why we quit from time to time, why we’re crazy people—is essential. So is answering them. Because then we get to ask the why nots—and that’s where the fun begins.

Are you as weary as I am of (if not downright ticked off by) having holes poked into your creativity by social media pressures and random trends and even other aspiring authors? Those things are and always have been challenges for writers. We can meet those challenges by once more falling in love with our writerly lives and nurturing the romance. Take 5 stepping stones to reclaim what you love abo...

Y’know that voice that chirps in your head, telling you that this new idea is way better than the one you’re currently working on? Sometimes that serves us writers well, and sometimes it’s a TIWE, Tiny Imp Who Entices. In this episode we talk about how to tell the difference, and what to do with the TIWEs so we don’t completely lose their magic.

Raise your hand if you have ever asked your writerly self, “Am I bad at this?” All of you? It’s natural to question yourself, but when those doubts interfere with your creative process—and even paralyze you—they need to be dealt with. That’s what we’re about in this episode, in concrete, doable ways, so that your answer can be an unequivocal “No! I am NOT!”

Writerly intentions are essential. Writers gotta have them. But, then, what do we DO? In this episode we continue Building From Where We are by going through the process of discovering our next stepping stones—the two or three moves we can make without pulling a creative hamstring. Steps. Checklist. And an offer for free one-on-one help.

Goals are for fitness and finance. Intentions are for writers. Not the kind the road to hell is paved with. The kind that define how we need to be in order to fulfill the why of what we do. Sound complicated? Nah. Deep? Yes. Let’s go there.

As we start any new season, whether it's January, March, or the end of a blistering August, let’s forget resolutions and goals. We need writerly intentions when we begin again, and those arise from one writerly word. In this episode we’ll talk about the qualities of such a word, how to discover ours, and what NOT to listen to as they take shape within our creative selves. In a word, this is writer...

The ability to write is a gift from our Creator. When we look at that gift and consider it to be not enough or not as good a somebody else’s, we insult the Creator and do immense damage to our own work. In this episode, we’ll unwrap our writerly gifts and focus on specific ways to appreciate them and use them to the max--without berating the places where we struggle.. Prepare to ooh and aah over y...

Episode 42 brings us to a topic that has paralyzed many an author, and sometimes permanently: unmet expectations. But unlike the infamous Miss Havisham created by Charles Dickens, we writers don’t have to be thwarted by the fizzling of hopes we counted on. Here we talk about what kinds of expectations to let go of, what false beliefs we need to detach from, and how to set healthy intentions based...

In this interview with the Southeast Sales Manager for Penguin Random House, Jessica Pearson brings us not only specific advice for selling our work, both to edits/agents and to readers, but invaluable tips on seeing ourselves as writers and remaining committed to this creative work we do. Besides that, she’s delightful! Grab a cuppa and join us.

“Good reading comes from damned hard writing,” said Nathaniel Hawthorne. Even if we don’t see it as “damned hard”, we’re usually at least a little depleted when we finish a project. So why do we jump immediately into the next one? Because we don’t want to “get behind,” have to “catch up” to everybody who’s “ahead?” What the Sam Hill? Art isn’t a competition! We need space between those projects—an...

If you haven’t been there as a writer you probably will be at some point—the funky place where the old way no longer fits and the past ideas don’t resonate any more. Fear not! You’re not “done!” You’re simply between writerly seasons, and that liminal space has much to show you before you once again find your passion. Join me as we imagine ourselves as trapeze artists—flying between swings.