The Confident Fiction Author

If you rest, take breaks, even take walks, and you still sit down to write feeling like there's nothing in the tank, this episode is for you.

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, in Why Authors Need Solitude (and Where to Find It), I'm sharing how solitude isn't about being alone.

In this episode, you'll discover:
•  How solitude differs from rest, downtime, and doing nothing
•  The solo train ride where nothing happened, and why that was exactly right
•  Where the quiet gaps in your day went, and how to take two of them back

By the end, you'll know where to find solitude in the life you already have, and why late September is the time to refill the well before Novel November and the holidays.

Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here.

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

If you do all of your own writing but you're hearing that half the writing tools you use are "AI," and you've wondered whether that could get your book rejected, this episode is for you.

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing Recognition AI vs. Generative AI: What Every Author Needs to Know.

In this episode, you'll discover:

•  The two types of AI—recognition and generative—and why lumping them together causes most of the fear
•  The three positions a tool can sit in, and the one question that sorts any of them
•  What Amazon actually asks you to disclose, and where dictation, Grammarly, cleanup tools, etc., land
•  A practical safeguard if you're on the traditional route and worried about being falsely flagged
•  Exactly where my own app sits on these lines, including the data and watermarking questions

By the end, you'll be able to sort every tool in your writing process into the right box, and decide what belongs there based on your own publishing goals.

Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here.

And if you want to dictate your fiction in a tool where all of this is laid out plainly, my app Fictate is designed specifically for fiction authors, with a free trial waiting at fictateapp.com.

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

If you came home from a conference, a class, or a bootcamp with pages of notes and a lit-up feeling, and two weeks later nothing about your writing life is actually different, this episode is for you.

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing The Week After: Turning What You Learned Into What You Do.

In this episode, you'll discover:
•  Why the energy you came home with after an event has a shelf life of about a week
•  Why your first step should be ridiculously easy (mine was 33 words on an airplane)
•  Why the gap between the demo and your first try is not evidence that it won't work for you

By the end, you'll have a three-move action step you can do in about ten minutes, and the window to do it in.

Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here.

And if your one thing is dictation, my app Fictate is designed specifically for dictating fiction authors, with a free trial waiting at fictateapp.com. Your first session can be 33 words. It doesn't have to be impressive. It just has to happen.

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

If you can dictate a scene now but a whole book still feels like a different animal —where the outline lives, what happens to all those messy transcripts, when does it become a manuscript?— this episode is for you.

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing The Five Stages of a Total Draft, the final letter of my D.R.A.F.T. framework series with T=Total Draft. This is where all of your practice pays off.

In this episode, you'll discover:
•  Why dictation doesn't remove the long haul of a first draft, and what it changes instead
•  The five stages of my Total Draft system, and why workflows fail at the seams between stages, not inside them
•  The 30-second startup checklist that protects your whole session
•  What a real dictation writing session looks like in a real life, including 350 words in the school pickup line and a full scene in four 10-minute sessions

By the end, you'll have the complete loop from outline to manuscript, and all five letters of the framework in hand.

Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here.

And if you've been listening to this whole series thinking, "I love this, but my tech is still fighting me," my Dictation Bootcamp starts today! We kick off this morning with the pre-party, and the replay is available if you miss it. Training days are Wednesday and Thursday, the masterclass finale is Friday, and you'll have seven days to watch the replays of the entire bootcamp. The whole event is about conquering the tech so you can actually begin dictating your fiction. There's still a little time to grab your seat at fictioncourses.com/dictationbootcamp.

I hope to see you in the bootcamp!

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

If you can read a page aloud and ramble through your morning pages, but the thought of making up a scene out loud, in your own voice, makes your brain freeze, this episode is for you.

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing Welcome to the Other Side of the Blank Page. We're on week four of my D.R.A.F.T. framework series with F=Fiction, the letter authors tell me they fear the most, and the place where every Fictator gets made.

In this episode, you'll discover:

•  Why speaking an unpolished story out loud feels so exposing
•  The "load before you fire" habit that stops the mid-sentence stall
•  My four-sentence paragraph for opening any scene
•  What to do when you stall
•  Your first full scene exercise, and how bracket notes let you keep going when a character shows up you didn't plan on

By the end, you'll have the recipe for your first dictated scene, and full permission for it to be messy.

Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here.

And if you want to dictate your first scene in a tool designed specifically for fiction authors, my app Fictate is out of beta and open to everyone! Your outline sits right on the screen while you speak, and you can teach it your character names so they come out spelled right. There's a free trial waiting for you at fictateapp.com.

Still not dictating yet because the tech is fighting you? My Dictation Bootcamp is where you start! It runs September 8 through 11, and the whole event is about conquering the tech, your built-in tools, the record and transcribe method, and getting everything talking to your writing software. Details at fictioncourses.com/dictationbootcamp.

I hope to see you in the bootcamp!

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

If you've been doing your dictation reps and wondering, "wait, am I supposed to watch the words appear, or close my eyes, or not look at a screen at all?" this episode is for you.

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, we're on week three of my D.R.A.F.T. framework series with A=Approach, and the first answer is going to take some pressure off: there is no right or wrong way to dictate your fiction.

In this episode, you'll discover:

•  Why the authors who quit dictation usually aren't failing at dictation, they're failing at the one approach they knew to try
•  The three roads into your story world, with the pros and cons of each
•  The one habit that protects you when you stop watching the screen
•  Why I wrote my first nine books on one road, switched roads for several more, and have now gone back to where I started
•  How to choose your starting road, and why switching later is growth, not inconsistency

By the end, you'll know which road to take for your next session, with full permission to try all three.

Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here. 

And if you want a tool where all three roads are built in, my app Fictate was designed specifically for dictating fiction authors, and it's out of beta and open to everyone! There's a free trial waiting for you at fictateapp.com.

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

If you've ever spoken a sentence into your notes app and thought, "there's a canyon between this and dictating an actual novel," this episode is for you.

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, we're on week two of my D.R.A.F.T. framework series with R=Reps, where your dictation training really begins.

In this episode, you'll discover:

•  Why dictation is a skill, not a switch you flip
•  Three reps that bridge the canyon from "never dictated a word" to a daily practice that makes dictation feel automatic
•  Your three punctuation options, including the one I trained myself on and recommend you try before you decide
•  My fastest writing session ever, and why that number convinced me to master this skill for good

By the end, you'll have this week's training plan in hand.

Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here.

And if you want to do your reps in a tool that was designed for fiction authors, my app Fictate is out of beta and open to everyone! There's a free trial waiting for you at fictateapp.com.

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm kicking off a brand new 5 week series on my D.R.A.F.T. framework, my complete roadmap for learning to dictate your fiction. We're starting with D=Devices.

In this episode, you'll discover:

•  Why the "$1,000 myth" (the belief that dictation requires expensive software and gear) kept me from starting for years, and why it's simply not true anymore
•  The exact 60 second test that confirms your setup is working, using nothing but the device already in your pocket
•  The "maximizer trap" that halts more dictation journeys than any tech problem ever has
•  What to actually do when the tech fights back

By the end, you'll know exactly how to take your first real step today, no research, no purchase, no waiting for the "right" setup.

And here's today's other big news in case you missed my earlier email: Fictate is officially out of beta! It's the app I designed specifically for dictating fiction authors, and it's open to everyone now with a free trial waiting at fictateapp.com.

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

If you've ever told yourself you just need to try harder, type faster, sit longer, and push through, this episode is for you.

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing The One Tool That Can 10X Your Fiction Writing Life, and making a case that 10X is actually easier than 2X.

In this episode, you'll discover:

•  Why the "2X trap" quietly costs you more strain for every extra word, and why that's not a career strategy, it's a countdown
•  The real difference between 2X thinking and 10X thinking, and why grinding harder can get you to double, but never to ten times
•  The one tool that breaks the trade between speed and effort entirely, giving you more words with less strain instead of more of both

By the end, you'll have a different question to ask yourself than "how do I do more of this." You'll be asking what would actually have to change, and that's the question that gets you somewhere typing harder never will.

Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here.
You can also listen to this episode on FictionCourses.com, or search for The Confident Fiction Author podcast on your favorite podcast app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and more).

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

Have you ever thought, this is just too hard — and wondered if that means writing isn't really your calling after all?

This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing Choose Your Hard — a phrase that landed for me fresh on a Saturday morning walk, soaking wet socks and all.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why writing a book is hard — and why not writing it is hard too, just in a way that lasts a lot longer
• The physical toll typing takes on authors' bodies, and why it compounds more than we admit
• Why learning to dictate your fiction is hard for a season, while typing is a hard on your body that never ends
• A simple practice for naming your two hards side by side so you can choose on purpose, instead of relitigating the decision every morning

Every path forward has a hard in it. This episode will help you pick the one that's actually going somewhere.

Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here. You can also listen to this episode on FictionCourses.com, or search for The Confident Fiction Author podcast on your favorite podcast app (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and more).

Also, Fictate™ — the only app I know of designed specifically for dictating fiction — is in beta and totally free right now! If choosing the "learning to dictate" hard is calling your name, grab your spot at fictateapp.com/beta.

***

Free resources for you:

The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit

Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation

Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide

5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes