#AmWriting

The whole “am I showing, or am I telling” inner debate can be tough in every part of a novel, memoir or nonfiction-with-elements-of-memoir draft. You don’t want to “tell” about the action. You don’t want to “tell” about the setting. And goodness knows you don’t want to “tell” what the character is feeling.

Except when you do. Sometimes a little telling, in the form of inner dialogue, is exactly what the reader needs to feel a part of the story, not just the happenings. Sarina, Jess and KJ are all in for a conversation about how to immerse a reader in emotions, reactions, fears, self-doubt and even self-deception. 

Got an inner dialogue question you’re wrestling with? Try sharing it in our Facebook group—and for other burning questions, small and large, email us at [email protected]. We can’t respond to every email, but we might answer your question on an upcoming show—or even invite you on for a little coaching.

All links and quotes from the pod are below—but first, did you know that making a podcast is not free? (We know, the nerve of people, wanting to be paid for their production or platforms or tools. You’d think they needed to eat or something.) Our sponsors pay for our production, but the time and effort we put into creating #AmWriting is supported by you, lovely listeners. If you’d like to chip in for more interviews, coaching, career and craft advice and all the #AmWriting things, click the yellow button. (Until I proofread this, that said “lick the yellow button”. Don’t do that.)

Support us! With cash!

Links and quotes from the pod:

From In Her Boots:

“Jasmine was still a little leery of the animals, so I set out to charm her with them. **Here’s what my editor said here:  Maybe Rhett could think here about how the animals always made her feel good and she wants to impart some of that to Jasmine, who is stretching so far outside her comfort zone to help Rhett? This could be a nice friendship moment to show Rhett caring about Jasmine.** After we fed the entire crew—which would make any human popular—I gave Jas Brownie’s curry comb and showed her the places where he loved to be scratched, and together we groomed the little pony to a sheen, Jas brushing while I pulled his mane and tail. Jas ran inside and emerged with a bandana that we tied in his forelock, giving him a rakish look suited to his personality, and at the same time we both pulled out our phones.”

Here’s the revision: 

“Some barn time would absolutely help me feel better. If Jas was a little more comfortable with them, I knew she would feel the same way, and I wanted that for her. I didn’t care about the Maggie part of it. I’d overheard her on the phone with Zale last night, and I wanted her to know that the farm was a refuge for her no matter what. After we fed the entire crew—which would make any human popular—I gave Jas Brownie’s curry comb and showed her the places where he loved to be scratched, and together we groomed the little pony to a sheen, Jas brushing while I pulled his mane and tail. Jas ran inside and emerged with a bandana that we tied in his forelock, giving him a rakish look suited to his personality, and at the same time we both pulled out our phones.”

From We Are Not Like Them:

p. 113 “I’m relieved to see that the crowd really is peaceful, so many faces filled with righteous conviction and purpose. Nonetheless, my cynicism kicks in. Ain’t nothing changed but the music. All the clever signs and chants, the people who showed up just so they could post it to their social media, what does it add up to?”

From Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake:

p. 161 “She laughed and then hoped he’d meant her to.”

p. 179 “Rosaline didn’t want to jinx it, and possibly she was reading too much into one ambiguously encouraging look from Marianne Wolvercote, but she thought she could do okay this week. Possibly even well? After all, she had a strong concept. And the part of her that used to do homework under test conditions was now secretly rather glad to get to practice in an unfamiliar kitchen.”

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Talia Hibbert

Jess: The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History by Thor Hanson

KJ: We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride & Jo Piazza

Sarina: The Enneagram in Love: A Roadmap for Building and Strengthening Romantic Relationships by Stephanie Barron Hall

GO GET A BOOK COACH! Or learn to be one. Seriously, if you’ve been thinking about it, what are you waiting for? Authoraccelerator.com or bookcoaches.com. Just take a look. 

Welcome to what I think we’ll designate as a fresh new season of #AmWriting! We are mixing it up a bit this fall. It’s KJ here, and I’ll be doing some great interviews on craft and getting the work done. Jess has some interviews up her sleeve as well, and Sarina will be joining us regularly for what I like to think of as “Masterclass” episodes on craft and process. We’ll also be doing some “coaching calls” with listeners who’ve written in with a burning question that one or more of of can help with—so if you’ve got something on your mind about your writing life, let us know at [email protected]. We can’t promise to answer every email, but if your question strikes us as something where we can helpfully weigh in, we’ll answer it—and we might just invite you to be a guest on the pod while we do.

BUT TODAY, enjoy my interview with Heather Chavez. Heather is the author of one amazing, fast-moving, can’t put it down heck of a ride thriller: No Bad Deed. Listen to this hook: A woman pulls over to help when she sees a man beating up another woman by the side of the road. He turns to her and says, you let her die, I let you live.

And OF COURSE SHE DOESN’T. 

I asked Heather to join me to talk about ideas, and hooks, and most importantly the difference between an idea, a premise, a situation—and an actual, honest to gosh plot that becomes an entire, satisfying book. (The road between those points is so long, ammirite?)

We had a great time talking about that process, and I hope you enjoy it. 

Links from the Pod

Heather: 

https://heatherchavez.com, Twitter: iamHRChavez, FB: heatherchavezauthor, and IG: @iamhrchavez

Heather’s books: No Bad Deed and (for preorder) Blood Will Tell

Heather: The Family Plot by Megan Collins

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

Where I Left Her by Amber Garza

KJ: No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez

OUR FANTASTIC SPONSOR Author Accelerator matches writers with certified book coaches! Head to authoraccelerator.com if you’re ready for top-level feedback on your draft, outline or idea in fiction, non-fiction and memoir. The service is free (and it might not be free forever….) and done entirely by hand so that each author is matched with a coach who connects to the project. Get matched today!

The author I’m interviewing today, Joy Imboden Overstreet, holds the distinction of having procrastinated on writing her first book longer than any previous #AmWriting guest—about 40 years. She is also the writer whose essay on her son’s unusual business venture enabled me, in my role as an editor at the NYT, to publish the paper’s first illustration of a personalized vibrator, and I will forever be grateful to her for that.

But wait, I hear you saying. Forty years? Forty? How did Joy manage to make it happen? Don’t worry—that’s exactly what we talk about in the episode. The backstory:

Back in 1975, Joy created a workshop program in the San Francisco Bay area on the her book’s topic: finding freedom from obsessing about food, weight and body size. When she sold the business to her partner to go to graduate school in public health in 1980, she fully intended to write a book based on her work, but—spoiler—things happened, and then more things happened (including a pretty thriving freelance career) until she woke up and realized her 80th birthday was only two years away and the book still only existed in her head. So she sat right down and typed it out and it was super easy. The end.

This is where I pause for Joy to laugh really hard.

So, Joy pulled it off, and in this episode she walks us through what it took to finally get her butt in the chair, and how—and with whom—she kept her head in the game. 

A word about what we DON’T talk about—this isn’t a podcast about body perception or our beliefs around it, so while we necessarily touch on Joy’s personal journey, there’s nothing shaming or promoting of diet culture in the episode (or in Joy’s book). We’re focused on Joy’s accomplishment: going from “someday I will write a book” to “the end.”

Links from the pod:

Joy’s book: The Cherry Pie Paradox: The Surprising Path to Diet Freedom and Lasting Weight Loss

Author Accelerator’s book coach matching service

Joy’s essay in the New York Times: When Sex is a Family Business

The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul

How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk

Improve Wisdom—Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up by Patricia Ryan Madson

The Husbands by Chandler Baker

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Lots of love for our sponsor, Author Accelerator, in this episode! Joy and KJ both talk about our coaching experiences and how even when we work solo, the time we spent getting that intense support really helps. If you’d like to be matched with a book coach, visit Author Accelerator—or if book coaching sounds like the right career or sidegig for you, head to bookcoaches.com to learn about Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program.

Stephen King says: Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. In this episode, we dare to ask if maybe that’s not always the case. Does having to put your idea into words and get it into another person’s head weaken it--or force you to make it strong?

The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction by Erik Bork

Great Stories Don't Write Themselves: Criteria-Driven Strategies for More Effective Fiction by Larry Brooks

Libro.fm

KJ: The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser

The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

Jess has criticisms:

A Carnival of Snackery by David Sedaris

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

And—got a burning question about a writing life issue? Something on your mind you’d love for us to help you with? Email us at [email protected]. We can’t promise to answer everyone, but if we think we could be useful to you (or know someone who can) and if your issue is of interest to other listeners, we might invite you to come on the podcast for a little coaching.

Finally, KJ here with a little news about Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program. I’m in the middle of it! You might remember this bonus episode, where Jennie Nash and I discussed “Shiny Thing Syndrome” and I was dubious about whether working with other writers as a book coach was a great side gig or a distraction for ME. Since then, I’ve been trying on the coach role in a number of small ways, and I’ve decided to go all in. This program is absolutely everything you need to get started from the editorial, coaching and business perspectives. It’s also entertaining and inspirational and makes me want to leap in right away. Learn more at Bookcoaches.com. (Want to see what I’m doing? Click here.)

By popular request, it’s the 2021 The Addiction Inoculation Launch Story! Jess fills us in on the weirdness and craziness that was a mid-pandemic non-fiction book release. Her advice includes: don’t try to do too much, target your energy—and ask for help making choices when you don’t know what to do when. We talk balancing an outside and an inside publicist, working with local booksellers for signed copies and larger orders, the challenges of a world with far fewer speaking opportunities and just generally what went right and what could go better next time.

Nicole Dewey

Media Mail via Paypal

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Horns by Joe Hill

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

We are so grateful to our sponsor, Author Accelerator, and the writing community they’ve built! If you’ve considered becoming a book coach as a side gig or possible fresh new career, I—as in KJ—can’t recommend their coaching course highly enough. I’m doing it now, and even people who already have coaching businesses have joined in to build skills and connections. Plus it’s super fun. Head to bookcoaches.com for more details, or visit authoraccelerator.com to for their free book coach matching service.

Jess and Sarina are back! After a hard-working summer and an August of anxiety (don’t tell us you didn’t feel that too), we talk about how we got all the things done and all the things we have planned, with a fun diversion into how and where to end a chapter to create the illusion of a break while keeping the reader hooked. Plus, a summer reading review that will absolutely add to your #tbr.

Links:

Sarina’s new co-author, Lauren Blakely

Sarina’s latest best-seller: Waylaid

The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction by Erik Bork. KJ thought she’d brought that book up on a Writer’s Bookshelf episode, but it turns out she didn’t—so it may turn up again in a future show.

#AmReading

Jess: 

The Stand-In by Lily Chu, Wilding by Isabella Tree, and Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy 

KJ: 

The Guncle by Steven Rowley, Good Company by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, The Roxy Letters by Mary Pauline Lowry, and Having and Being Had by Eula Biss

Sarina: 

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz, Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews, Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez, and The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (KJ tossed in The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave.)

And—got a burning question about a writing life issue? Something on your mind you’d love for us to help you with? Email us at [email protected]. We can’t promise to answer everyone, but if we think we could be useful to you (or know someone who can) and if your issue is of interest to other listeners, we might invite you to come on the podcast for a little coaching. 

Finally, KJ here with a little news about Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program. I’m in the middle of it! You might remember this bonus episode, where Jennie Nash and I discussed “Shiny Thing Syndrome” and I was dubious about whether working with other writers as a book coach was a great side gig or a distraction for ME. Since then, I’ve been trying on the coach role in a number of small ways, and I’ve decided to go all in. This program is absolutely everything you need to get started from the editorial, coaching and business perspectives. It’s also entertaining and inspirational and makes me want to leap in right away. Learn more at Bookcoaches.com. (Want to see what I’m doing? Click here.)

For that moment when you’ve hit the finish line—and now you’re going back to the beginning and starting all over again in a different hat.

In our new summer series, The Working Bookshelf, KJ and guest host Jennie Nash pull their favorite writing books off the shelf and debate: which is better and why—until invariably, they get distracted and just start talking about the topic at hand. Funny, fresh and full of frank advice, when KJ and Jennie get going they’re hard to stop.

This week, it’s Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative versus Blueprint for a Book. 

In a new twist, you can also watch these episodes on YouTube. Find Episode 10 HERE.

And, for your looking-forward pleasure, here’s the whole series, dropping once weekly all through the summer of 2021.

1. Inspiration
2. Plotting
3. Productivity
4. Up Your Game
5. When You're Stuck
6. Getting Published
7. Writing While White
8. When You Don't Know Why You're Doing This
9. Writer Comfort Reads 
10. Editing 

This special season of the #AmWriting podcast is sponsored by Author Accelerator. Author Accelerator hand-matches writers with book coaches who have been rigorously trained to provide motivation and inspiration and give writers the support we need to stop making excuses and get the job done. Find out more, and get book coach Jennie Nash’s weeklong find-your-foundation writing challenge at authoraccelerator.com/amwriting. Author Accelerator also trains book coaches to build their own successful coaching businesses. For more on becoming a coach, go to https://www.bookcoaches.com/.

Sometimes you just need to spend a few hours with someone who really gets you—without actually having to talk to anyone. 

In our new summer series, The Working Bookshelf, KJ and guest host Jennie Nash pull their favorite writing books off the shelf and debate: which is better and why—until invariably, they get distracted and just start talking about the topic at hand. Funny, fresh and full of frank advice, when KJ and Jennie get going they’re hard to stop.

This week, it’s Bird by Bird versus Making a Literary Life. Writer comfort reads from authors who know how we feel and can express it so well.

In a new twist, you can also watch these episodes on YouTube. Find Episode 9 HERE.

And, for your looking-forward pleasure, here’s the whole series, dropping once weekly all through the summer of 2021.

1. Inspiration
2. Plotting
3. Productivity
4. Up Your Game
5. When You're Stuck
6. Getting Published
7. Writing While White
8. When You Don't Know Why You're Doing This
9. Writer Comfort Reads 
10. Editing 

This special season of the #AmWriting podcast is sponsored by Author Accelerator, where you can become as a book coach to build a side gig, or a full time career. Author Accelerator’s book coaches come from all backgrounds. They’re talented editors who’ve learned through rigorous training and ongoing education to coach writers through every step of the process, providing feedback, encouragement and tough love. Learn more about becoming a coach at https://www.bookcoaches.com/.

Sometimes you find yourself asking—over a draft, or a failed draft, or a sagging outline or just during a really long drive—why exactly you do this thing we do. This week, we turn to some favorites to help answer that question.

In our new summer series, The Working Bookshelf, KJ and guest host Jennie Nash pull their favorite writing books off the shelf and debate: which is better and why—until invariably, they get distracted and just start talking about the topic at hand. Funny, fresh and full of frank advice, when KJ and Jennie get going they’re hard to stop.

This week, it’s Start with Why versus How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. 

In a new twist, you can also watch these episodes on YouTube. Find Episode 8 HERE.

And, for your looking-forward pleasure, here’s the whole series, dropping once weekly all through the summer of 2021.

1. Inspiration
2. Plotting
3. Productivity
4. Up Your Game
5. When You're Stuck
6. Getting Published
7. Writing While White
8. When You Don't Know Why You're Doing This
9. Writer Comfort Reads 
10. Editing 

This special season of the #AmWriting podcast is sponsored by Author Accelerator. Author Accelerator hand-matches writers with book coaches who have been rigorously trained to provide motivation and inspiration and give writers the support we need to stop making excuses and get the job done. Find out more, and get book coach Jennie Nash’s weeklong find-your-foundation writing challenge at authoraccelerator.com/amwriting. Author Accelerator also trains book coaches to build their own successful coaching businesses. For more on becoming a coach, go to https://www.bookcoaches.com/.

Everybody, no matter what box we check or refuse to check on the census, sees life most easily from our own perspective while knowing there are many, many others. How do we write books that reflect the world we live in and all the people we live among—without claiming to speak about experiences we have not and cannot have?

In our new summer series, The Working Bookshelf, KJ and guest host Jennie Nash pull their favorite writing books off the shelf and debate: which is better and why—until invariably, they get distracted and just start talking about the topic at hand. Funny, fresh and full of frank advice, when KJ and Jennie get going they’re hard to stop.

There’s no competition this week, because the books we found on this topic are all helpful, whether you’re a white writer working toward change or a writer who identifies in another way, ready to point your colleagues towards some books that will help them evolve—or a writer who fits into any category (that’s all of us) who wants to be sure her characters who don’t fit that same mold ring true. Because you can’t only write books about yourself. Or maybe you can, but those are called memoir—and you still better be able to see other POVs.

This week’s books:

In a new twist, you can also watch these episodes on YouTube. Find Episode 7 HERE.

And, for your looking-forward pleasure, here’s the whole series, dropping once weekly all through the summer of 2021.

1. Inspiration
2. Plotting
3. Productivity
4. Up Your Game
5. When You're Stuck
6. Getting Published
7. Writing While White
8. When You Don't Know Why You're Doing This
9. Writer Comfort Reads 
10. Editing 

This special season of the #AmWriting podcast is sponsored by Author Accelerator, where you can become as a book coach to build a side gig, or a full time career. Author Accelerator’s book coaches come from all backgrounds. They’re talented editors who’ve learned through rigorous training and ongoing education to coach writers through every step of the process, providing feedback, encouragement and tough love. Learn more about becoming a coach at https://www.bookcoaches.com/.