#AmWriting

Listeners, we’re sharing this interview again because if you’re not already subscribed to Theodora’s substack, you should be. We sent you a taste of it this morning on top of this episode. We adored talking to TT, as we like to call her around here—but now that she’s revved up her Substack, every single time we’re texting back and forth about its brilliance. “Butter” has joined our official #AmWriting lexicon.So, enjoy a favorite that you might have missed when it originally rolled out over the holidays last year. Notes on the Pod: Who doesn’t want a craft book that’s fun to read and will help you plan your fiction (or memoir), write that fiction, revise that fiction and then sell that fiction? This week we talked to Theodora Taylor, author of more than 50 novels and one brilliant book about writing that made Sarina and I (KJ) go SQUEEEE and then text back and forth frantically for a couple of hours. It’s all about the “Universal Fantasies” that give our story-loving brains the things we need when we read—and how to spot those in your own writing to help you tell people what you’re all about, use them in drafting and revising and just generally make sure they’re everywhere in everything you write—literary, commercial, genre, short stories, novellas—everything.We read Harry Potter for Hogwarts fun and the hero’s journey—but we also are in it for the universal fantasies of “crushed underdog proves self to loathsome family” and “ordinary person turns out to be special” and “loyal friends can be better than family” and so on—and the thing about those elements is that they appear everywhere. You could find a book in any genre that scratches those itches, and those feelings are a big part of what we’re reading for. As Theodora says, they’re what makes your book taste good.They’re the butter.7 Figure Fiction: How to Use Universal Fantasy to Sell Your Books to AnyoneFacebook group: 7 Figure Fictionhttps://theodorataylor.comhttps://7figurefiction.com#AmReadingTheodora: Beastars Manga by Paru ItagakiKJ: Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida CórdovaSarina: The Talent Code by Daniel CoylePeople my people, if you’re thinking becoming a Book Coach might just be your next sparkly goal, DO NOT MISS this live event with Jennie Nash: Find Your Zone of Genius as a Book Coach, Jennie will host the top reasons people resist starting a new endeavor, and how to fight through those negative thoughts and share how to brainstorm your way to a zone of genius to your book coaching business. This is a live working session that will not be recorded - because Jennie wants to workshop with YOU on your idea. It’s happening October 27th at 1PM Pacific, 4PM Eastern. FIND OUT MORE.Also…. you know we here at #AmWriting tend to think working with a book coach or developmental editor is the gold standard for getting help with your project. But that’s not always in the cards. If you’re more in the market for a course that will help you move forward with your project, check Happily Ever After Week. Our friends at Pages and Platforms have distilled what they've learned working with hundreds of authors into a 3-part framework to give you: * the mindset you need to persist in your efforts,* the tools you need to write the best book possible, and the willingness to put yourself out there and build the audience your book deserves. Learn more HERE. We’re an affiliate, so we do make a little something if you decide to sign up. But please know that we only team up with people and businesses we trust! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Listeners, you KNOW we got granular with this one because there are just plain so many links! Terena Elizabeth Bell has been writing all her life. Her first short story was published in a literary magazine when she was in college—almost thirty years ago, and she’s published many since and won multiple awards. She’s also written for more than 100 publications, including The Atlantic, The Guardian, Boston Globe, Smithsonian, Playboy, MysteryTribune, and Santa Monica Review. Platform-o-rama, right?But she could NOT find a publisher for her debut novel or debut short story collection. As she puts it: It wasn't for want of trying. Her novel was turned down by 64 agents.That novel, RECURSION, and Terena’s short story collection, Tell Me What You See were both purchased within two weeks once Terena decided to turn to the small presses associated with the lit mags she’d been a part of for so long.We talk about the glories AND problems with small presses, how to be sure you’re talking to a small press and not the kind of hybrid publisher we often warn you about (there are legit hybrids, but be careful out there, many take advantage of writers who don’t understand what they offer), finding the right small presses and literary magazines and what it’s like to be a more literary and experimental writer. It’s a great episode with a lot of information we haven’t covered before. BONUS: Read Previous guest Joni B. Cole’s When Is It Smart to Submit Your Work to a University Press? (You’d Be Surprised!)Big Literary journals Duotrope, The Submission GrinderAssociation of Writers and Writing Programs ConferenceSMOL Fair ReadingsNYT article on how Billie Eilish’s platform didn’t sell her bookCamCat BooksJustine Bateman’s book, Fame: The Hijacking of Reality, which her platform also didn’t sell.The 10 National Book Award Finalists for 2022 include 4 books of short stories.Beacon Press: an American left-wing non-profit book publisher.Soho Press: a New York City-based publisher founded by Juris Jurjevics and Laura Hruska in 1986 and currently headed by Bronwen Hruska. It specializes in literary fiction and international crime series.Best Short Stories of 2022Malarkey BooksAuthors Guild Model Contract Brooklyn Book FestivalFSG—Farrar Straus Giroux does/does not take unagented submissionsSubmittableThe controversy surrounding Roxane Gay’s PANKThrillerFestFind Terena at www.terenabell.com or on Twitter @TerenaBell#AmReadingTerena: Edith Wharton’s A Glimpse of the Moon, A Son at the Front , and The Custom of the CountryNight Rider, All the Kings Men, both by Robert Penn WarrenKJ: The Letters of Shirley Jackson, as well as the four book omnibus that has Sundial in it (and Alexis Hall’s Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble and Glitterland) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

If you’ve listened to any of us for any time at all you know we love Laura Vanderkam, author of I Know How She Does It and 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. People often attribute to KJ a piece of advice she learned from Laura: People are a good use of time. We think of Laura every time we start to call ourselves “too busy” and then remember that much of what fills our time is a choice, and if we want to do it, we’ll find a way to get it done. One glorious result—we’re all much better at saying “yes” to the things that are important to us and “no” to the things that would get in their way.Because we always benefit from a re-read of Laura’s books, we’re bringing this earlier interview out and sharing it again. Laura also has a new book out: Tranquility by Tuesday:  9 ways to calm the chaos and make time for what matters. The idea is genius: upgrade your Tuesday, upgrade your life. The nine rules here really do offer big impact from small change. We can’t recommend it highly enough!Also on the horizon: If being a book coach –and you know we love book coaches here--sounds like a dream,  but you have no idea how you will run your business or get clients, our friend and sponsor Jennie Nash is hosting an event this month for you. In Find Your Zone of Genius as a Book Coach, Jennie will share the top reasons people resist starting a new endeavor, and how to fight through those negative thoughts. She’ll also show you  how to brainstorm your way to a zone of genius to your book coaching business. This is a live working session that will not be recorded - because Jennie wants to workshop with YOU on your idea. It’s happening October 27th, 2022 at 1PM Pacific, 4PM Eastern. Head here for more info! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Alexis Hall describes himself as a genrequeer writer of kissing books. You may know him as the author of Boyfriend Material and Rosalyn Palmer Takes the Cake, both of which we’ve talked about here. But like recent guest Emily Henry and so many others, those successes were far from his first rodeo. Head to his website, quicunquevult.com, to see the evidence. (Why is it called that? You’ll have to listen to find out.) Alexis has written, and still writes, everything from paranormal and fantasy to billionaire romance to rom-com, with the recent addition of genre mystery and historical fiction.We talk tropes, dialogue and leaning into the the thing you do best then revising for the rest. (And we did it all with a kitten climbing around on my desk, adding to both the joy and the challenge.) Sarina and I (this is, as usual, KJ) have long hoped to talk to Alexis because he is so prolific and also so willing to take chances. When we finally did, what we heard was someone who doesn’t see himself the way we see him—successful, talented, charming and able to convey all of that on the page. That shouldn’t be a surprise, because he often writes characters with that same block—they’re successful and delightful but see themselves as flawed in some way. That may be almost too generic to be considered advice (after all, we’re often told to write a “misbelief” into our characters)—but I found it striking, because along with the many other emotional journeys Alexis writes, he writes this one often and well: that of a self-perceived f**k-up accepting that they’ve transcended that earlier self and become someone capable and worthy of love. I’m calling that out here because as we talked to Alexis, we talked about his brand being clever banter and an uber-confident writer’s voice—but I think that emotional journey is part of his brand as well. So this episode left me thinking about how brand is more than the way a book or a writer looks and sounds. It’s also the way the book feels. And when you think about it that way—that the emotional arc and feel are part of the brand as well—I think it may help silence any voice in your head complaining that things are repetitive, or that you’ve “ done that before” or that something has been done by others.We tell our own stories and the stories that we hold most closely, in fiction, in non-fiction, in whatever we’re working on. Indirectly, directly. Again and again. I hope this episode helps you think about what your story is and how you’re telling it.LINKS! Alexis’s books in general are all here.But you can pre-order Paris Daillencourt Is about to Crumble on Amazon here and Bookshop.org here.Follow Alexis on Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram.#AmReadingAlexis: ARC of Kate Clayborn’s Georgie, All AlongSarina: Dark Matter, Blake CrouchKJ: Carrie Soto Is Back, Taylor Jenkins ReidDon’t forget that Author Accelerator is your one-stop for getting a coach on board to help you with your work, no matter where you are in the drafting game. Need a pro? Click here. And if you’ve considered becoming a book coach, here’s your link: Click here.And— this is KJ with a question. Do you own In Her Boots yet? Have you read it yourself, or given it to a friend who’d love a fun story about figuring out who you are as opposed to who you think everyone wants you to be—that also delivers a literary hoax, farm life and an ex who can’t seem to find the exit? If you don’t have it on the shelf yet, now’s the time! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

Kids, this interview with Gretchen Rubin is just too good not to share again. Find more about Gretchen, and sign up for her always interesting newsletter, here. Want to know which tendency you are? Take the quiz here. And which tendency would you attribute to your hosts? Answers coming soon… (or maybe in the episode…)Don’t forget that Author Accelerator is your one-stop for getting a coach on board to help you with your work, no matter where you are in the drafting game. Need a pro? Click here. And if you’ve considered becoming a book coach, here’s your link: Click here.Writers, do you read Sarina Bowen? If you don’t, you should—first off because her books are killer fun, and secondly because every one is a masterclass in pacing, characterization and plot—and if you think plotting romance is easy because “we know what’s going to happen” then call me again after you’ve tried it. Her latest is A Little Too Late. Find out more at SarinaBowen.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

THIS EPISODE. “Overnight success” Emily Henry reminds us that she’s not—she published three sad-and-serious YA novels before she embraced her real calling and wrote the book she craved—Beach Read, which she says “I never expected to send to anyone.”This discussion was so true to our hearts (KJ writing, Sarina co-signing). It’s hard to for some of us to give ourselves permission to write fun books in a world where “things we like” and especially “things women like” are often dismissed as less worthy. Sarina reminded us of this George Michael quote—when asked when he was going to “write serious music” his response was “You don’t understand. I’m very serious about pop music.” And KJ immediately demanded that everyone read This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch which is, instead, a book about exactly what we just said. That you should read. Immediately. We’ll wait.So how do your get very serious about writing fun reads? Emily’s insight on how to turn the seemingly small internal battles that our kind of fiction often hinges on is perfection: “you have to make things realer than real life”. For more, hit play.Links in the Pod#AmWriting Episode 302 with Katherine Center#AmReadingEmily: Miss Aldridge Regrets, Louise HareThe Bodyguard, Katherine CenterThe Change, Kirsten Miller Sarina: The Bodyguard, Katherine CenterUpgrade, Blake Couch (Emily then shouted out Dark Matter and The Letty Dobesh Chronicles with its Good Behavior TV adaptation)KJ: This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch, Tabitha CarvanThank You for Listening, Julia Whelan Emily Henry on Insta: @emilyhenrywritesJoin Emily’s newsletter: Get My Grocery List This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

WHOA heading into fall like Hope you’re feeling the fall mojo more than we are. Struggling here, which is a bummer because usually fall is the season that gives when it comes to forward momentum. We, a subset of three, can’t tell if this is a mood that’s overtaken us all, or if it’s life stage specific when you have kids leaving the house, or if it’s just that that the weird weather is taking its toll.A suggestion, if you too are grasping at momentum straws? Change it up. Have a ridiculous adventure. Sarina and I (KJ here as always) teamed up with another friend and some assorted partners and went… to the Hilton Garden Inn to hear their “house band”. Because when you tell me the Hilton Garden Inn has a house band, I say, bring it on. It fully lived up to the promise of the phrase. The band was a couple of talented guys, an enormous amp and a repertoire of songs ranging from originals to Thin Lizzie to… I don’t know. It would probably have all been quite loud for my old ears, except that we were outside, overlooking the bus station, and the band was… in the parking lot.The waitress had bright red hair and a constantly changing wardrobe and strongly recommended the salmon.Everyone was trying very hard, no one seemed to know what we were trying hard for, and high levels of absurdity were reached.I know, not EVERYONE has a Hilton Garden Inn House Band. But perhaps there is something, somewhere to go where humanity transcends our urge to mock ourselves and just plays The Boys Are Back in Town in the parking lot for people eating chicken fingers and jalapeño poppers. Which were excellent.Links from the pod:Leuchtturm monthly B5 plannerSarah Stewart TaylorNanowrimo#AmReadingJess: Carrie Soto Is Back, Taylor Jenkins ReidThank You for Listening, Julia WhelanSarina: Girl, Forgotten, Karin SlaughterJess also mentioned Michael Connelly and Wonder Boys, Michael ChabonKJ: Also a Poet, Ada CalhounAlso mentioned, and Jess is now reading: The Last Chairlift, John Irving This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

You’ve got everything you need to write this book—so what now? You may be feeling pumped and ready to dive in, or you may be feeling overwhelmed. I know that the truth is that you’re all at somewhat different stages of this. Some of you were working with totally new material, others imposing a better structure on a project you’ve been working on for a long time and others somewhere in between. But wherever you are, this is a hard moment—because you’re going to have to take off the training wheels and pedal this bike on your own.For many of us, these assignments, while challenging, also offer kind of a crutch. They’re things to check off a list, signs of progress, short achievable goals. They’re real and so is the progress they represent but they’ve also made things a little easier by providing structure—and now you need to provide that structure for yourself.In the episode, we talked about moving your project forward—the book, the chapters, the scenes, the story. Right now I want to talk mechanics. It’s one thing to know it’s time to write the book and another to know how—in terms of tools and timing—you’re going to do it. This bonus suggests you create your own goals and measurements to help you to both move forward—and to see yourself making that progress. Hours, words per day, specific in-book goals … they all work. The trick is setting them ahead of time and them meeting them.And—that’s it! You’ve blueprinted. Huge congrats are in order for getting this done. Hope to see you at the AMA in two weeks.Here’s the link for the End of Blueprint AMA on Friday September 16 at 12PM Eastern: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89290223042?pwd=QkUrbkpoWm51REFLbkdiaTdPZENPZz09How to listen: if you’ve listened to any previous Bonus episodes or Minisodes, this one should already BE in your podcast feed. If not, click on the link to listen and you’ll find yourself at amwriting.substack.com. You COULD listen there, but we’re guessing you’d rather get all subscriber episodes, from now on, in your usual podcast-listening app. It’s easy, and you only have to do it once to get every #Minisode from now on right where you want it.So click “listen in podcast app.” You’ll get an email with a link in it. Click the link—ON YOUR PHONE—and you will get a menu of the most popular podcast apps. Chose yours and click, and you’ll have a new “private” podcast feed for supporters only.If your favorite listening app isn’t included, fear not. There’s an RSS link in the email. Your podcast app has a way to add that—it’s probably a “+” sign somewhere on your main page. Add the link once, and any time we do a #SupporterMini, you’ll get it without having to do a thing. (Trust us, it’s easy. This is WHY we chose Substack.) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

You’re rolling into the final week of the challenge my friend! And yes, this episode is late. We’re rolling into the final moments before school starts in my house, and things are rough.But not in our Blueprints! Those are perfect… hahahahahaha.Listen. Your Blueprint isn’t perfect. This Inside/Outline or Outcome Outline sitting there, so shiny and new? It has flaws, my friend, flaws that will seem glaring to you in about a month or six months or a year or all three. Last week you went through a checklist to try to test that puppy out, and it helped. But as you head forward—as you start writing, keep writing, draft the beginning six times (don’t do that) and face the muddly middle (go back to that outline) and drag your way to the end (and then rewrite it)—there will be times when you doubt. When everything in the whole world you ever imagined will seem like it would make a better book than this sad, sorry pile of words. Words? Ha! They’re barely letters.So this little bonus is me at just such a moment, telling you what I’m doing to drag my sorry butt back to the chair and get my head back in the game.How to listen: if you’ve listened to any previous Bonus episodes or Minisodes, this one should already BE in your podcast feed. If not, click on the link to listen and you’ll find yourself at amwriting.substack.com. You COULD listen there, but we’re guessing you’d rather get all subscriber episodes, from now on, in your usual podcast-listening app. It’s easy, and you only have to do it once to get every #Minisode from now on right where you want it.So click “listen in podcast app.” You’ll get an email with a link in it. Click the link—ON YOUR PHONE—and you will get a menu of the most popular podcast apps. Chose yours and click, and you’ll have a new “private” podcast feed for supporters only.If your favorite listening app isn’t included, fear not. There’s an RSS link in the email. Your podcast app has a way to add that—it’s probably a “+” sign somewhere on your main page. Add the link once, and any time we do a #SupporterMini, you’ll get it without having to do a thing. (Trust us, it’s easy. This is WHY we chose Substack.) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

This short outline thing is hard. It’s hard for one of two possible reasons: Either you don’t want to write an outline at all, bc “you know what you’re going to write” or you “hate outlining” or “don’t want to practically write it before I write it” OR you love outlining and could do it all day, to the tune of 17 pages all about what this is about and what it’s going to say and therefore “can’t possibly fit this onto 2 pages!”Both of you, chill. It’s okay. You’re going to do this, and I suspect that you’ll end up liking it. The cool thing is that the thing that makes it easier—to either outline at all or to make a short outline as opposed to the monster some of us tend to create—is actually the same. (And don’t worry—there’s a place for those monster outline instincts. That’s called pre-writing, and we have a whole episode about it coming up in the fall.) Making outlines for fiction easier is all about where you start (try the end or the middle), and focusing on the emotions and tentpole events rather than on the plot. In non-fiction, the same reluctance applies—especially if you think you know where you’re going or what you’re doing. Know your topic inside and out? Think you could “write this book in your sleep” because you write, lecture or teach about the subject all the time, or it’s your business? Do you have a list of things to cover chapter by chapter, or a particular memoir story to tell? Then you need an outline desperately. Trust me. Can you write this book without one? Yep. Will it be the book you want it to be? Almost certainly not, and I speak from experience. You, two, may be inclined to either gloss over this, or to want to write reams, going into detail about each area you intend to cover. But doing either will get in your way. The path to a better book—one that has readers turning the pages of even a how-to in order to get to the next thing, or engrosses them in a chronological story of a thing they’ve never done and have no interest in doing—lies in getting this skeleton right. In non-fiction, that means finding a way to build interest and knowledge so that the reader constantly sees the need to follow you through to the end. In your outline, focus on the repeating themes and topics and the way those develop for the reader as they progress through the book. Keeping it short forces you to look hard at what you’re building before you cover it with glitter and tinsel and helps you see and work on the flaws before they get baked in. How to listen: if you’ve listened to any previous Bonus episodes or Minisodes, this one should already BE in your podcast feed. If not, click on the link to listen and you’ll find yourself at amwriting.substack.com. You COULD listen there, but we’re guessing you’d rather get all subscriber episodes, from now on, in your usual podcast-listening app. It’s easy, and you only have to do it once to get every #Minisode from now on right where you want it.So click “listen in podcast app.” You’ll get an email with a link in it. Click the link—ON YOUR PHONE—and you will get a menu of the most popular podcast apps. Chose yours and click, and you’ll have a new “private” podcast feed for supporters only.If your favorite listening app isn’t included, fear not. There’s an RSS link in the email. Your podcast app has a way to add that—it’s probably a “+” sign somewhere on your main page. Add the link once, and any time we do a #SupporterMini, you’ll get it without having to do a thing. (Trust us, it’s easy. This is WHY we chose Substack.) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe