This week we're talking about an obstacle, but also a force that you need to get comfortable with in order to take all of the steps that are necessary to build a writing life. This experience, or force, or process is getting comfortable with risks. The experience of doing something without any certainty of the outcome is necessary to look forward, learn, and believe in the possibility of growth.

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Welcome back, today on episode eight we are going to talk about not writing. This is a somewhat surprising topic, but I think that by the end of the episode you'll see why it's important.

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Over the past few weeks of this podcast, I've been able to reflect a lot on my own writing life. Because of that, I've begun to realize I can't talk about making a writing life without including the impact of Coronavirus and the pandemic, so I want to share my story of what happened in 2020 because it illustrates the way many of us have shifted around writing in the past couple of years.

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Welcome back to the Secret Library! Today we'll be covering the relationship between teaching and building your own writing life. Teaching is one of the most frequently suggested jobs for writers, so it deserved its own discussion. There are major advantages for writers who teach, and also quite a few challenges. Let's explore.

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Today I'm bringing in today's theme as a pair: boundaries and burnout. These two obstacles in the creative writing life have a cause and effect relationship. Boundaries can be an obstacle, but are also an essential protector.

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Welcome to episode four, in which we're moving on to the concept of creative fuel. Writing is not so different from driving a car or an athlete running — it'll only continue while there's fuel to burn.

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Today we're talking about the third obstacle that I faced when constructing a writing life over the past number of years. This one is a little bit less concrete than the ones we've looked at before — it's mindset (the way you think about yourself as a writer and how you think about your writing). This one is difficult to nail down, but it's so important.

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Today on the podcast we're going to talk about one of many obstacles I've faced while trying to put writing at the center of my life. This obstacle is one that I hear the most about from other writers, which is time — managing time, having enough time, spending the time you want on writing. This is the perpetual complaint. My mantra for years and years was, "If only I had more time, I could get more writing done." Let's dive in.

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Welcome to season 5 of The Secret Library Podcast, Making a Writing Life. This season is a little bit different because each episode will be a solo show. In the past, I've wrapped up the seasons with a solo show, and I began to notice that there was more that I wanted to share that I couldn't fit into one episode. So, each episode this season will be a new topic centering on obstacles that we all face as writers and creative when it comes to making time for our writing. I'll share the solutions that I've found in hopes that it inspires you to find what works for you, too. For now, I'll ask what are the dreams that you have for your writing? Then, we'll dig deeper as the season continues.

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How does visibility change your relationship to writing? How much of your process do you make public? How soon do you share your work after it’s written? We’ve explored these and other questions this season and today I’m wrapping things up with our final solo episode.

It’s my continual dream to make this show more visible. If this or any other episode inspires you, please share it with a friend and review a show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thank you, thank you for being a part of The Secret Library.

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