Send a text

In this warm and reflective conversation, host Aderonke Bademosi Wilson sits down with writer and writing practice coach Simone Dalton to explore what it means to build a sustainable, soul-nourishing writing life rooted in rhythm instead of burnout. 

Simone shares how her love of language, her Caribbean roots and her journey through grief and transformation have shaped her creative work and the way she supports emerging writers, especially women of color who are juggling demanding careers and a long-held desire to write.​

Listeners will hear Simone describe what it truly means to be a language lover and story steward, and why she focuses on helping writers develop a writing practice that fits the reality of their lives rather than an idealized image of what a writer is supposed to look like. She explains the tension many writers feel between creativity and busy schedules, and how she guides them to sit with uncertainty, ask deeper questions of their stories and show up for the page with courage and tenderness.​

We travel with Simone back to the panyard in Trinidad where she grew up among steel pan orchestras, women who cared for her as a baby in a car seat on a bench and a community that taught her about rhythm, belonging and women holding one another up. She reflects on how those early experiences with music and community still live in her imagination, shape her sense of joy and inform the work she does today with writers and through her company, Island Scribe.​

Simone also talks about being inward focused and the personal development work she has done over the past 15 years to listen to the stories she holds, question where they came from and gently reframe or release them so she can move forward. She describes integrating mindfulness, embodiment and self-care into her work with writers, helping them separate their inner critic from their inner witness so they can return to the page even when it feels uncomfortable or lonely.​

A rich part of this episode centers on Simone’s coaching work with writers who do not yet feel comfortable calling themselves writers, often because their lives do not match their image of what a real writer looks like. She speaks to the specific challenges faced by women of color in writing spaces, including feeling exoticized or like the only one sharing a particular kind of story and how that disrupts their ability to sit with their questions and develop their work. Simone explains how she walks alongside writers as a story steward, helping them move from chasing validation and external success to cultivating a habit of creativity and a rhythm that lets them live with their writing for the long term.

Throughout the episode, Simone returns to the idea that stories shape how we see ourselves and how claiming our story can quietly shift the narratives of our lives, our leadership and our communities. She invites listeners to see writing as a retreat and a long game, to build confidence instead of chasing validation and to remember that they do not need to be extraordinary to begin. As she reminds us, you cannot edit what you do not write. You just need to begin.​

https://www.abwilsonconsulting.com

https://abwilsonphotography.com