StoryADay presents: I, WRITER - A Writing Podcast about Building a Successful Writing Practice

There's a lot going on in the world today. AI, publishing worries, the world…the feeling that writing is somehow not as 'important' as any of that.

Bah!

In this episode I make the case that it's absolutely the time you should be writing — not because I can guarantee you publishing deals, awards, cash, or screaming fans, but because the act of creation matters.

And then, because it's October, I'm giving you pointers on how to write a spooky story (and no, you don't have to like horror, for, or long, dark staircases.) I'll show you how to take an extremely ordinary premise and make it deeply unsettling, by changing just a few details.

In This Episode

00:00 Why "a good idea" can stop you before you start

00:17 October, spooky stories — and why I want you writing

01:03 Why writing still matters when the world feels noisy

03:30 Why external success won't sustain your writing life

07:10 Writing as an antidote to cynicism 10:09 Why finishing stories matters

10:09 StoryADay November is coming 11:30 The trap of waiting for a good idea

13:30 How to turn an ordinary idea into a spooky story

15:30 Use setting, isolation and sensory details

17:00 Make one thing feel slightly wrong

18:00 Repetition, unease and psychological spookiness

19:00 What has your character done to deserve this?

20:00 Your spooky story challenge If you're inspired to write, don't go and try to learn anything else.

Instead do this: Put on one of my WRITE WITH ME videos and write: https://youtu.be/2DZ_tFC0nQk?si=RLChBSS292hqA-K9 No teaching, no scrolling, just quiet company while you get your words down.

Also mentioned:

StoryADay November (sign up here: https://storyaday.org/signup)

The Short Story Framework https://storyaday.org/framework

StoryADay Writing Prompts

What if the thing you think is supporting your writing is actually stealing your writing time?

Online writing communities can be encouraging, funny, useful, and genuinely connecting.

They can also become a very convincing substitute for writing.

In this episode, I'm talking about why StoryADay has never had the kind of always-on free community that so many writing sites now offer, what I mean by the power of inconvenience, and the question I think every writer should ask about the spaces they spend time in:

Does this community send me back to my writing — or keep me scrolling?

If you're the kind of writer who has trouble staying motivated or completing things, the upheaval and uncertainty in the world (around AI and politics and climate change and economic instability) probably aren't helping.

Here's my answer to whether you should bother (spoiler: yes) and the fundamental step you can't skip if you want to stay motivated and keep going on the greatest adventure you could choose: life as a writer.

LINKS

Watch the video edition: https://youtu.be/RAvJexG1i4I

StoryADay Challenge archive: https://storyaday.org/writing-prompt-archive/

SWAGr monthly accountability posts: https://storyaday.org/category/swagr/

'Define Success' article: https://storyaday.org/how-to-become-a-highly-successful-writer/

The Dream of being a Writer, article: https://storyaday.org/the-dream/

Permission to Write article (and certificate): https://storyaday.org/write-more-permission-to-write/

The I, WRITER Framework for a Successful Productive Writing Life, article: https://storyaday.org/i-writer-framework/

Planning & Tracking Worksheets Bundle: https://storyaday.kit.com/products/story-a-day-planning-tracking-worksheets

StoryADay Superstars group: https://storyaday.org/superstars

Book a 1:1 Writing Strategy Session with Julie: https://members.storyaday.org/creative-coaching

SWAGr monthly accountability posts

A four-week momentum/rescue plan to help keep your writing life progressing outside the bounds of a challenge like StoryADay May.

How can you be successful as a writer if you don't define success?

But how do you define success?

In this episode I suggest a definition of seven different writing 'modes' you can build into your success framework.

A reminder to mark the end of the StoryADay May challenge, and not to simply keep sprinting.

What does success really look like for a writer?

In this episode, I share a surprisingly encouraging reminder from a 1951 editorial in Galaxy Science Fiction: even at the highest magazine rates of the day, it took "a stupendous amount of writing" to support a writer.

That may not sound comforting at first — but it is.

Because it means writing was never easy. False starts, abandoned drafts, stories that don't quite work, and the sheer volume of practice required are not signs that you're doing it wrong. They are part of the work.

A gentle but honest episode about ambition, effort, StoryADay May, avoiding burnout, and building a writing life that makes room for a stupendous amount of writing.

What will you write this week?

How many times will you show up for your writing?

Don't go from zero to sixty. Increase your commitment a little.

Give yourself the chance to discover what happens when writing becomes something you return to, again and again.

LINKS:

StoryADay Handbook 2026

StoryADay Handbook 2024 (the one that's really a writing course disguised as a challenge): Prompts from Week 3 of the StoryADay May 2026 challenge:

Day 17 - A Critical Day, from Mary Robinette Kowal

Day 18 - Expanded Idioms, from Julie Duffy

Day 19 - Inspired by Artemis II, from Julie Duffy

Day 20 - Making a Grocery List, from Brenda Rech

Day 21 - The Nitty Gritty, from Ruby G. Dubois

Day 22 - The Hero of their Own Story, from Julie Duffy

Day 23 - Beyond Sound and Vision, from Elizabeth Twist

StoryADay 2026 Handbook: https://stada.me/2026handbook

Here are some prompts that you might have missed, this month, to get your creative wheels turning.

Days 1-9

Day 10 - Darkness to Light, from Renan Bernardo

Day 11 - Inhumanity, from Julie Duffy

Day 12 - The Visitor, from Debbie Ohi Ridpath

Day 13 - Here's a Quarter…, from Michele Reisinger

Day 14 - Mine your Emotions, from Jluie Duffy

Day 15 - Anarchic Archetype, from Julie Duffy

Day 16 - I Think I Can, from Somto Ihueze

Keep writing,

Julie

In the light of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America organization's statement on AI and eligibility for the Nebula Awards, I recorded this bonus episode of the podcast to give you my perspective on where we are and where we're headed, regarding AI and the creative arts and, well, civilization as a whole.

For more like this, subscribe and follow along at StoryADay.org

And please share this with a friend.

A story got accepted… and another came back not accepted — and I'm weirdly thrilled. Here's why embracing rejection can strengthen your consistent writing habits, PLUS: a holiday writing prompt to keep you writing in December.

Links:

StoryADay Podcast episode 109: https://storyaday.org/episode109

The 3-Day Challenge: https://storyaday.org/3dc