Living Beyond the Book

As writers and entrepreneurs, it’s easy to hit burnout. We’re driven to succeed, but that ambition doesn’t take away the fact that there’s a lot of mental, emotional, financial, and physical pressure that comes with having high expectations of ourselves. Just in time for a new year of goal setting, here are ten ways to honor your body and mind and let them heal, while still making progress toward your goals. Resources mentioned:Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Em...

Characters are the heart and soul of your story. They are who your readers identify with. They’re who we cheer for. You can have the best plot in the world, and if we don’t care about the characters, we’re not emotionally engaged in the story. Falling in love with the characters is what makes a book last in our memories and become one of our favorites. In the book Building a Storybrand, Donald Miller says: “If three questions can’t be answered within the first fifteen to twenty minutes, ...

In this episode of the Messy Mapping mini-series, we talk about knowing your guideposts. The guideposts are simply the structural highlights of your novel. We’ll talk about a story from Brian Tracy’s Eat that Frog that exemplifies why guideposts are so helpful in keeping us motivated and on track and save time in the editing stage of our books. We’ll talk about my five favorite methods for identifying guideposts, so you can find what works for you without it being too overwhelming....

In our continued discussion of Messy Mapping—or having a loose idea of where you want your story to go—this episode looks at conflict.Conflict is the heart of any story, and it’s what compels us to keep reading. It’s conflict that creates cliffhangers or makes us want to read just one more chapter. It’s the drama and intrigue and suspense and tension that brings our plot and characters to life. It’s also what keeps YOU, the writer, engaged in your own story. We’ll talk about:· ...

December is a time when most people relax and take time to reset, which is important. But with minimal effort, you can also keep your momentum going so you’re ready to start strong, right out of the gate, in January with your new book ideas. Throughout December, we’ll be talking all about structure within your story. If we have a plan, it makes it easier to get into the actual writing. Messy Mapping is my favorite. It’s a loose, messy plan that doesn’t take a lot of time and effort,...

If you’ve spent any amount of time in a creative industry, you hear a lot of conversations about structured vs. unstructured habits. For example, with writing, we often hear the debates between: · Plotters vs. pantsers· “Butt in chair” vs. writing when you feel inspired · A scheduled writing time vs. writing in the cracks of time All of these depend on your life situation, and there is no one size fits all s...

In this introduction to Living Beyond the Book, we'll talk about why we might need another writing podcast when there are already so many out there, why wellness matters for writers, and the challenges that convinced me that health and wellness are inextricably linked to living a creative life.