Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley

Terri Trespicio is the author of the fabulously helpful and hopeful book, Unfollow Your Passion: How to Create a Life That Matters to You, which was named one of the best feel-good reads of the year by the Washington Post. Her book is based on her TEDx talk, which is called Stop Searching for Your Passion and has been viewed 8 million times. Terri opens that talk recounting the day she got fired from Martha Stewart's Whole Living magazine, which is where I was lucky enough to meet, work with, and become friends with her.Today, Terri is an in-demand speaker, a brand strategist, a writing teacher, a standup comedian, and always a writer whose work can soothe you, crack you up, and crack open possibilities in your mind all at once.If you can't tell, I love her. In this first part of her interview, we unpack:- The thought process on whether or not you should stop working for yourself and go get a job- How creativity is more like a butterfly than a workhorse- One of the best things you can do to promote creativity (hint: it’s not what you think)- Terri’s morning routine in detail- Writing in your robeFor detailed show notes, with links to everything we discuss--plus bonus photos!-- visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final installment of my interview with Leigh Medeiros, we talk about her most delightful visions of the future, who inspires her, and exactly what happens in her cacao ceremonies.Why Leigh finds many social media videos incredibly inspirationalThe importance of expanding your capacityWhy she loves learning from drag queensWhich social media videos are giving her hope–and getting her to take notesWhy she’s a huge fan of January. Yes, January!And we have a little love fest for condiment-heavy cuisinesFor detailed show notes, with links to everything we discuss--plus bonus photos!-- visit katehanley.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why it’s crucial that you share your work without disclaiming itThe screenplay she almost gave up on because her inner critic was going bananas—a hilarious and so relatable storyWhy it matters that you pursue your art (prepare to shed a tear or two)For detailed show notes, with links to everything we discuss--plus bonus photos!-- visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lee Medeiros is an award-winning screenwriter, author, and all-around creative who, when she isn't making her own work, is helping others make theirs. Leigh is the author of the One Minute Writer, 396 Micro Prompts to Spark Creativity and Recharge Your Writing. She also writes a column for Script Magazine called The Climate Screenwriter, is the co-producer of the Writing Climate Pitch Fest, and founded the Linden Place Writer's Residency in Bristol, Rhode Island.I am lucky enough to know Leigh in person, and every time I see her, I feel like my batteries get recharged and I just wanna give her a huge hug and take in every word that she says, like manna from heaven.In this first part of her interview, we unpack:How screenwriting is like a bad boyfriendHow her focus on writing screenplays with a climate angle is the perfect intersection of her personal Venn diagramUsing fellowships to spur new ideas (whether you actually get them or not)The podcasts that lit a fire under Leigh’s butt to start writing about climateHow “merging your siloes” uplevels your work and your beingLeigh’s morning cacao ceremony and the unexpected beings she shares it withThe hacks she uses to stay focused when actually trying to, you know, writeSuperheroes have capes–writers should have a talisman, tooFor detailed show notes, with links to everything we discuss--plus bonus photos!-- visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final installment of my interview with Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggets, we talk about her most delightful visions of the future, who inspires her, and what she's staying up too late reading (or in this case, listening to).My biggest takeaway was how Tracey focuses on one primary topic--joy--but then spins it in to a lot of different directions, and how that helps her a) create a meaningful legacy but b) also means she doesn't get bored.For detailed show notes, with links to everything we discuss--plus bonus photos!-- visit katehanley.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of my interview with Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggets, award-winning author of 21 books, including "Black Joy" and "Then They Came for Mine," we plumb the depths of her mind, including:- What's it like to be writing for a larger audience--the good and the bad parts- The things her inner critic loves to tell her- What's it like to be writing for a larger audience--the good and the bad parts- The deeper meaning of rejectionFor detailed show notes, with links to everything we discuss--plus bonus photos!-- visit https://katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggets is the author of 21 BOOKS, Y'ALL--more than one of them have won awards, including her two most recent: "Black Joy" and "Then They Came for Mine." In this episode, Tracey shares a ton of particulars, or what she called before we started recording her "cheat codes":- How considering herself a storyteller instead of a memoirist or novelist helps her find her way along her throughline- How her experience as an English professor shapes her writing practice today (and what advice she gives her student that she no longer observes)- What walking has to do with creativity- The specifics of her morning routine- The exact tools she uses to help her "open up to the page" (I definitely learned some things that I'm gonna be trying!)For detailed show notes, with links to everything we discuss--plus bonus photos!-- visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final installment of my interview with generous and prolific writing goddess Sari Botton (she publishes Oldster Magazine, Memoir Land, and Adventures in Journalism on Substack, authored And You May Find Yourself: Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen X Weirdo, Goodbye to All That, and Never Can Say Goodbye, and was the essays editor at Longreads), we talk about what's coming up next for her, as well as her favorite shows, books, songs, time, and food.- What projects she’s dreaming about creating next- The two things she knows she needs to shift (including a great tip for folks with Sephardic Jewish heritage!)- Plus, Sari’s favorite show, the last book she devoured, her go-to karaoke song, and her ideal dinner (hint: it’s shellfish heavy)If you want to hear these interviews in one, ad-free episode, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com (and get lots of other perks, too). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of my interview with Sari Botton, founder of Oldster Magazine and author of And You May Find Yourself: Confessions of a Gen X Weirdo, we dive deep into the inner stuff, including:- Her favorite part of sharing her work with the world- How she navigates the ethics of including other people in her personal writing- How her inner critic loves to tell her she doesn’t haven’t permission to write about what she wants to write about—and how she gets past it- How getting older, and developing arthritis, is making her re-think some things, including her beloved wooden clog collection- Her personal role models- That thing that just won’t remove itself from Sari’s bucket list, even though she’s trying to move past itIf you want to hear these interviews in one, ad-free episode, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com (and get lots of other perks, too). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

[Sari Botton, Practical Matters]: The power of curiosity, offhand comments, and writing stuff you've already done on your to-do listThis seed of the idea for Finding the Throughline: Conversations about the Creative Process, was first dropped by Sari Botton in her Substack publication Oldster Magazine—specifically, it was her Oldster Magazine Questionnaire, in which she asks creatives of all ages to answer the same dozen or so questions about what it means to grow older.I’m telling you, each time a new Oldster questionnaire lands in my inbox I drop everything and read it immediately. I love that even though I rarely know of the person who is answering the question (although sometimes I do—she’s interviewed Elizabeth Gilbert and Neko Case, for instance), I am moved, enlightened, provoked, and delighted by their answers.Sari had to be my first interview, she just had to be. And thankfully, she responded with an enthusiastic yes within just a few minutes of my asking her to come on.In this episode, Sari spills the beans on the practical parts of her process, including:- The continuing ed class she took as a 20-something that lead to her personal writing career- The thing her uncle told her when she was 10 that sparked a lifelong fascination with growing older- Why she loves Substack—as both a writer and a reader- The thing about trusting your instincts that Shalom Auslander first told her in 2010 that it took her 10+ years to believe- The incredible power of writing annoying, non-work stuff down on your to-do list (even if you’re already done it)- What she does to cheer herself up and clear her head- Her morning routine (including what exactly goes in her mug)If you want to hear these interviews in one, ad-free episode, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com (and get lots of other perks, too). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices