Are you overwhelmed trying to sift through all the information about

- how to launch a writing platform?

- how to create a God-honoring writing life?

In this episode, I talk with Cara Ray and Jana Carlson about the important role that mentors play in the life of a writer. We also share more about a unique new 6 month mentorship program for Christian writers that will begin in January.

We are hosting a free webinar on Thursday, November 16 to talk more about the mentorship and to give you a taste of what members will learn.

Learn more about the mentorship and register for the webinar here:

Www.mywritersbloc.com/launch-lab

We’d love to see you there!

What will your writing look like for November and December?

In this episode, I look at some simple considerations for how to manage our writing lives during the busy holiday season.

I offer some questions to consider and ideas to try, depending on what you and your readers need.

Listen in and share your ideas below in the comments!

How is your relationship with social media going? In this episode, I talk about ways to evaluate how effective social media is for you as a writer, but also how it affects you as a consumer.

Here’s an article on the same topic, including comments from the author’s readers about why they are silent on Instagram:

A great podcast on how to create a writing life that doesn’t include social media: Writing Off Social

How about you? How is your relationship with social media these days? Do you no longer comment on posts that you once used to? Is social media working for you as a writer?

Do you look at the multitude of writing related things that you could be doing and have no idea where to start? Then this episode is for you.

You’ll also learn:

* Two questions to ask yourself to help you decide where to focus your limited time and energy.

* How to decide if social media is working for you.

* What two things you can focus on to reduce the overwhelm.

Are you looking for a Christian writing community where you’ll grow in both the art and heart of writing? The Writers’ Bloc doors are open now! Www.mywritersbloc.com

Starting Wednesday, October 18, I’m offering once a month free drop in group coaching only for Substack subscribers. Subscribe here to learn more:

Https://amylynnsimon.substack.com

What do you call your writing? Is it a career? A hobby? A ministry? A business?

In this episode, we look at the preconceived ideas we might have about those terms and what they might reveal about our attitudes toward our writing.

Other episodes referenced in this one:

If you’re struggling with whether it’s “OK” as a Christian to charge money for your writing, listen to episode 9.

If some of those labels bring out impostor syndrome, listen to episode 3.

If you’re not already a Substack subscriber, I encourage you sign up at https://amylynnsimon.substack.com. Subscribers have access to additional discussion questions and weekly journaling prompts that relate to each episode.

I hope you like the new music! Lol!

If you’re a Substack subscriber, take a look at the chat section of my page. You’ll find discussion questions and downloadable journaling prompts posted each Thursday to help you go deeper into each episode.

If you’re not a subscriber, go to https://amylynnsimon.substack.com

This week, I talk about which comes first: the reader or the message. Some other takeaways:

* It’s helpful to have an umbrella topic and then a few “buckets” of content that all fall under that umbrella.

* Your reader and message should be the overlap of what you are passionate about with the need that a reader has.

* How you serve that reader also has to be the overlap of how you’re wired with where that reader goes to meet that need.

If you’d like to schedule a free 30 minute discovery call to see if coaching with me would be a good fit, you can make your appointment here: https://calendly.com/amylynnsimon/30min

We know that we’re supposed to write for a specific reader, right? But is there a point where it goes beyond serving your reader to succumbing to people pleasing?

Maybe you want to land a traditional publishing contract, but you’ve been told that your platform isn’t big enough. How do you raise those numbers without becoming a slave to them?

In this episode, I talk about

* the perspective shift that changes everything

* how thinking outside the box can bring you freedom

* that a traditional book deal isn’t the only path to a fulfilling writing life

Tell me in the comments what your next steps are.

The Purposeful Pen is now on Substack! Subscribe to be notified when a new episode comes out.

In this episode, I talk with Kristin Vanderlip about her journey to clarity. Some highlights…

* Our message frequently comes from what we’ve lived through.

* At what does point does “writing for your audience” or trying to get an agent cause us to lean toward people-pleasing?

* It’s easy to become a slave to the numbers and lose the joy of creating.

Kristin Vanderlip is a writer and writing coach who is passionate about spreading the love of writing as a source of healing and hope. She is the author of Rest: A Journal for Lament and the founder of the Pen & Mend Collective. Kristin, her husband, and two sons currently call California’s Bay Area home. When she’s not writing or journaling, Kristin enjoys creating oil pastel paintings and spending time with her family outdoors.

You can find her at www.kristinvanderlip.com

Do you dream of spending hours in a cabin writing but realize that's not realistic in the slightest right now? In this episode, we'll talk about creating a writing life that actually works for the real life you're living right now.

I talk about...

* looking honestly at what time you have available

* evaluating what exactly you're trying to accomplish and how to get there

* dividing tasks into those that need "crack time" versus "chunk time"

* working with your natural rhythms of energy and focus rather than against them

Coaching can be a great environment to work through these issues as they relate to your specific situation. Book a free discovery call with me to see how I can help.

How do you know who you're writing for?

In this episode, I talk with Anna Rachel Bolch about how she went from writing about anything and everything on a blog that 12 people read, to knowing clearly who she is writing for and what specific message she offers them.

Some topics we touched on:

• Liturgy and its role in our faith


• The questions she asked herself when determining her message


• For a while, her reader was herself from several years past and why that changed


• What is "Cheerwine", anyway?

More about Anna Rachel:

Anna Rachel Bolch is a spiritual formation writer and teacher dedicated to helping others keep life with God simple, never shallow. She believes in developing a spirit of practice over perfection, remembering that all of life is sacred when we invite God into it. When she learned about spiritual formation in college, it changed her life. She found such freedom and meaning in Christian spiritual practices that now she can't stop talking about them. She writes with a teaching mindset, pointing others toward a meaningful life with God through spiritual formation resources and reflections.

Anna is also an avid reader with perpetual wanderlust. She loves Cheerwine and pimento cheese—a true Carolina girl.

You can find her at AnnaRachelBolch.com or on Instagram at @annarachelbolch.

Connect with Amy:

Are you stuck in your writing - spinning your wheels because you aren't sure who you're writing for and what you offer them? Learn more about the group coaching cohort starting this September that will bring you clarity and direction in your writing.

You can also download 10 questions to help you discover your reader and message.