Yeah, I know, it can be tough to see even the most well-deserved colleagues climb the bestseller charts when you are struggling to find an agent or even knock out a first draft. I get it. Writer's Envy is real, but it can also be motivating.

There are opportunities out there for hardworking writers and your success will not limit my chances. So the best way to deal is to celebrate the success of others and use your own envy and big feelings to drive your work.

In this episode of Simply Write w/Polly, we talk about managing Writer's Envy and making it work for you.

And, thank you, thank you, thank you. This is the first episode of Season 2, Simply Write w/Polly. The podcast has been on for a year now thanks to you. Thanks for listening each week and being a part of our growing Simply Write w/Polly community. I've already got some fabulous authors booked for the year ahead and I can't wait to share their insights with you, as well as more tips, thoughts, and ideas about the writer's craft and crafting a writer's life.

Thanks for being here.

-p

Want to get in touch with me, Polly, and become a part of our community? Join us at Simply Write, on https://simplywrite.substack.com

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Journaling helps award-winning author Kathryn Brown Ramsperger solve problems, access her imagination, and free up her creative brain to get the work done.

Whether it's Morning Pages or journaling on the go, Rampsberger is a firm believer that journaling is a door to our imagination. A journal can keep our ideas in a safe place, or allow us to release big feelings so that we can move on. It's also a tool to get the ideas for our next novel or project percolating. Ramsperger, who is also a writing coach and journalist, talks about how to journal to make our writing better.

Get in touch with Kathryn Brown Ramsperger https://kathrynbrownramsperger.com/ and find all her books including A Thousand Flying Things there or wherever books are sold. Subscribe to her newsletter and receive a free cookbook.

Get in touch with me, Polly Campbell, and become part of our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com. Find my newest book You, Recharged, at your local bookstore and here: https://www.amazon.com/You-Recharged-Fatigue-Mostly-Usually/dp/1642504882

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Every Service Piece Needs These Things

Problems.

Solutions.

Hope and Humans.

There are plenty of places to break in with service pieces, but each article must include the components editors are looking for and readers want.

I've written service for decades and in this episode I'll share what those elements are and how you can structure them to break in and publish.

Want more?

Join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com and let me know how you handle the ups and downs in a writing life join us as we talk about the writing business and craft and crafting a writer's life. You'll find me, Polly Campbell, there too, so please get in touch. And if you like what you hear on Simply Write w/Polly, please drop a star rating or review. It helps other writers discover us.

Thanks. I appreciate you reading, writing, and listening with us.

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Writing for the Children's Market

Author, poet, and journalist Susan Johnston Taylor writes articles and books for children and adults, and her newest picture book is written in poetry.

Diversifying your writing career is akin to diversifying your investment portfolio, Johnston Taylor says, and an important way to publish in a variety of markets.

Throughout her career, Johnston Taylor says she has followed her own curiosity and her interests and then sought the markets that are best suited for the range of writing she likes to do.

Writing picture books is especially demanding because you have only a few words to convey action, character, and a compelling story.

In this episode, Johnston Taylor talks about her newest book, Animals in Surprising Shades, https://bookshop.org/p/books/animals-in-surprising-shades-poems-about-earth-s-colorful-creatures-susan-johnston-taylor/18745652?ean=9781957655048, illustrated by Annie Bakst, and the rules she follows to write short, strong prose for children.

A few things she recommends?

Use strong verbs, that do not need to be modified by an adverb.

Consider how the words sound on the page since many of these books will be read aloud to young children.

And, don't narrate what can be illustrated.

For more on Susan Johnston Taylor and to get in touch, go to https://staylorwrites.com/

And get in touch with us by joining our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com where we talk about the writing business and the craft and crafting a writer's life.

If you like what you hear on Simply Write w/Polly, please drop a star rating or review. It helps other writers discover us.

Thanks. I appreciate you reading, writing, and listening with us.

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Keep Going

Writing Our Way Through

The news of the week has knocked me back. It can be hard to head into the quiet of the writing desk and focus on the work we need to get done. But, writing is also a job. My husband works in a hospital, and he doesn't skip work when he's feeling sad or uninspired.

Last week we took our car to the mechanic, and he was there. I don't know if he has problems in his relationship or is bothered by the news reports. I wish him well, but I just want him to fix my car.

It's tough, writing, because our jobs require us to be quiet and focused. We must observe, notice, take in those details, and then apply them to our fiction or essays, articles, or screenplays so others can understand them too.

This is hard to do when external factors push in whether they be our worries over a sick kid, a late check, or stories of war and natural disasters and people suffering. It isn't easy to gather ourselves and sit quietly and get the work done.

This is the work of it. Despite my anxiety, I have a story due. So, over the years I've cultivated my mental preparedness kit to help me get to work when other things are pushing in. I share some of the tricks I use to stay on track, like writing about the thing that seems to be nagging at my attention and then getting down to the work, and other ideas.

How do you keep going to meet your writing deadlines when the world pushes in?

Join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com and let me know how you handle the ups and downs in a writing life join us as we talk about the writing business and craft and crafting a writer's life.

And if you like what you hear on Simply Write w/Polly, please drop a star rating or review. It helps other writers discover us.

Thanks. I appreciate you reading, writing, and listening with us.

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Reframe Your Marketing Mindset

Author, writer, and book marketing expert Sandra Beckwith suggests that when writers and authors change how they think about marketing they will feel more comfortable promoting their work.

It's a simple reframe, says the host of BuildBookBuzz.com a marketing resource for writers and authors at https://buildbookbuzz.com/

Nobody cares about your book more, and nobody is going to do it as well as you will, Beckwith says. But, writers must look beyond the self-promotion.

"You are selling your book, not yourself," Beckwith says in this enlightening episode.

If you care enough to develop, write, and publish the work, to begin with, then you must also have a deep desire to not only write more but also to inspire, inform, educate, and entertain others. That's what writing does.

If that is the case, Beckwith says, it's your responsibility to sell your writing. Recognize your writing and books as products people need. Then, by letting them know about your work, you are doing them a service.

This reframe shook my world and made marketing a whole lot easier.

Listen to this fab episode now and get in touch with Sandra Beckwith at BuildBookBuzz.com

How does this notion of marketing your book as a service to readers sit with you? Join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com where we talk about the writing business and craft and crafting a writer's life and let me know how you approach marketing.

And if you like what you hear on Simply Write w/Polly, please drop a star-rating or review. It helps other writers discover us.

Thanks. I appreciate you reading, writing, and listening with us.

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Have you ever heard of the term, pre-crastination? I hadn't and yet, now I know, I am an avid pre-crastinator. When the to-do list is too long, or I'm feeling the tension of deadlines, I tend to act hastily, quickly checking things off my list. And that can cause big problems for writers.

Pre-crastination is when we are more focused on getting things done rather than deliberate steps we need to take toward the overall, larger goals. We get wrapped up in the doing without considering if what we are doing really makes sense. This is a time-waster and can diminish our productivity because often we have to come back and start again when we realize the things we were checking off are not applicable to the larger body of work. And, pre-crastinators often make more mistakes--hello, like the email I sent to the wrong editor.

Though our tendency toward pre-crastination may have been inherited from our ancient ancestors, now it makes for sloppy, unprofessional, and unclear work. Not traits that are good for writers--or anyone for that matter.

With awareness and the tools we cover in this episode, we can break the pre-crastination cycle before it causes big trouble in our work.

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Writing Despite Criticism

Fantasy author Joshua K. Rutherford keeps a notebook nearby while working his day job and finds pockets of time to write at night after the kids are in bed. Often, he says, the writing process is restorative. But criticism weighed heavily on him until he decided to independently publish his fantasy novel and felt empowered. Now, readers are clamoring for his books like Sons of Chenia, and the novels in his Fourpointe Chronicles Series, including the newest Peacefall.

Rutherford says fantasy allows him to discuss real-life issues like racism, inequality, and love, in made-up worlds.

Find Joshua Rutherford and his books at https://joshuakrutherford.com/

Get in touch with Polly at https://pollycampbell.com and become part of the Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com.

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Use Retrieval Practice for Better Writing

Writers must take in and process a lot of information. But it's not enough to store it in our memories. We've got to index the information in a way we can remember it in our brains, and then apply it to the craft and the pieces we are working on. Learning is not just about memorization, it's about our ability to apply that knowledge when needed.

In this episode, Polly explains how this powerful practice helps embed the knowledge we are learning so that we can access it as needed to make the writing process easier and more efficient. Polly also shares how she used retrieval practice to help her work through the trouble spots in her novel.

Want to get in touch? Join Polly and the Simply Write community for inspiration and information about the writer's craft and crafting a writer's life simplywrite.substack.com.

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Award-winning journalist, teacher, and editor Estelle Erasmus has spent three decades in magazine journalism serving as editor-in-chief to some of the biggest magazines in the U.S. Now she shares her wisdom on Simply Write w/Polly and in her new book Writing that Gets Noticed.

To write articles and essays that get published Erasmus says writers must understand the market and audience for the publication they want to write for, as well as themselves so that they can write from their unique point of view and voice. Pitching the story's peg to the editors is also essential and Erasmus explains what that is and how to discover it during this wide-reaching interview An essential-listen for anyone who wants to publish their work. For more on her classes and work, go to https://estelleserasmus.com/

Find her book, Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published wherever books are sold, and listen to her podcast Freelance Writing Direct.

Be sure to join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com for insider tips and writing inspiration.

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