The Soul and Science of Great Writing with Mara Eller

You want to write. You really do. But somehow everything else feels more important, and there's always one more thing to do before you can sit down at your desk. 

Then, when you finally open your laptop, the words won't come. Every idea feels wrong, every sentence sounds like it was written by a 5th grader, and you begin to wonder whether you're cut out for this after all.

Sound familiar? Yeah, me too. 

 Today I'm sharing a concept that completely changed how I approach my writing, essentially making writer's block a thing of the past. Instead of approaching your writing as a task to be conquered, start treating it as a relationship to be nurtured.

If you're ready to explore that shift more deeply, my two-hour workshop, Wake Up Wanting to Write, teaches exactly how to do that. Get the replay, including my four-part framework and a 30-day writing plan, at maraeller.com/wanttowrite.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Read the original essay on Substack: “Dear Writer, Discipline Is Killing Your Creativity. Try This Instead.” 
• Read my essay about overcoming the resistance I encountered on my writing retreat: “Creative Courage and the Ways We Keep Ourselves Small”
• Read Merideth Hite Estevez’s “discipline button” essay: “Hang onto the Thread”
• Wake Up Wanting to Write Workshop

Send me a voice message with your questions or comments!

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And visit my website to learn more about my editing services, book coaching, and upcoming courses.

In this episode, you’re invited into my in-person book club for a conversation about Virginia Woolf’s classic novel Mrs. Dalloway. 

Widely celebrated as a masterpiece of high modernism and one of Time magazine’s 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, Mrs. Dalloway tracks a single day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway as she prepares to host a high-society party in post–World War I London. 

Our discussion explores the novel’s questions about death, intimacy, freedom, and the gap between what we say and how we really feel. 

We discuss:

• How Woolf uses free indirect discourse to move between the external world and her characters’ thoughts
• How her characters, who long for intimacy, so rarely say what they mean—and whether we can ever truly know another person
• How the novel portrays trauma, mental illness, and the systems that fail to understand or care for people who are suffering
• How marriage, class, gender expectations, poverty, and sexuality constrain the characters—and what Sally Seton, a friend of Clarissa’s, means when she suggests that we are all prisoners
• How the novel portrays trauma, mental illness, and the systems that fail to understand or care for people who are suffering, particularly through the story of Septimus Warren Smith, a shell-shocked war veteran
• Whether Clarissa experiences a genuine transformation, and what the novel’s circular structure might tell us about change, memory, and the self

You get to see the process of discovery in real time, offering a model of what thoughtful literary discussion actually looks like, including disagreement, uncertainty, and the willingness to change one’s mind.

Mentioned in this episode:

• BBC In Our Time podcast episode on Mrs. Dalloway
• Ulysses by James Joyce

Send me a voice message with your questions or comments!

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Landing on the New York Times bestseller list has long been the gold standard for author success. But after ghostwriting four books that made the list, Crystal Adair-Benning’s advice for writers chasing that goal might surprise you: “It’s not worth it.”

In this conversation, Crystal and I unpack the assumptions authors make about publishing, book marketing, and what success looks like as an author.

We also talk candidly about taking creative and personal risks, why promoting a book often feels harder than writing it, and how Crystal learned to see her ADHD as a superpower. 

You'll learn:

• What ghostwriters really do and what you can learn from Crystal’s approach
• What it takes to land on the coveted New York Times bestseller list—and why Crystal no longer recommends chasing it
• How to decide whether traditional, hybrid, or self-publishing makes sense for your goals, budget, and desired level of control
• How authors can approach book marketing creatively, including the “Taylor Swift” approach

Whether you're writing your first book or facing down the bugaboo of book marketing, this conversation is a reminder that there's no single right way to become a successful author—and that sometimes the best writing advice is also the best life advice: do it for the plot.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins 
• A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern
• Theo of Golden by Allen Leviz
•  Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
•  Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Connect with Crystal: 

• On her website: writewordmagic.com
• On Instagram: @writewordmagic 

Send me a voice message with your questions or comments!

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From its humble, self-published beginnings, Theo of Golden rose to become a #1 New York Times bestseller in 2025—and has sold over 3.5 million copies to date. But, in my not so humble opinion, the writing itself leaves much to be desired.

So what accounts for this book’s massive success?Today I'm joined by my friend, two-time author, and Juilliard-trained oboist Meredith Hite Estevez to unpack Theo of Golden—what it gets profoundly right and where it left us rolling our eyes or checking our watch. 

We also explore the powerful flashes of beauty, truth, and wisdom hiding among its literarily lackluster pages—because you don’t have to love a book to learn from it.

We discuss:

• How Theo of Golden uses portraiture to explore what it means to truly see another person
• Why specificity is, counterintuitively, what makes writing more universal
• How withholding information can create artificial suspense instead of genuine tension
• Why characters need flaws that actually get in the way of what they want
• Why love for your subject, your reader, and the work itself might be the most important ingredient for great art
• What writers can learn from the book's enormous popularity, even if its style isn't their favorite

Theo of Golden reminds us that, while the “science” of strong writing matters, when a book has enough soul, it can cover a multitude of sins in the science department.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Stein on Writing by Sol Stein
• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
•  My Friends by Fredrik Backman
• John of John by Douglas Stuart 

Connect with Merideth at artistsforjoy.org or on Instagram. 

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I really wanted to hate Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. But after my second read, I'm officially obsessed. 

In this episode, I'm joined by fiction writer and editor Hayley Milliman to discuss one of the most polarizing books of 2026: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, the satirical novel that follows Natalie Heller Mills, a successful trad-wife influencer who wakes up one morning in the 1850s. 

Through that suspense-infused frame, the novel explores what happens when a person becomes so committed to performing a version of herself that she loses track of who she actually is—and the societal pressures that make such a performance not only possible but, perhaps, inevitable.

Through a writer’s lens, we dig into the brave choices and narrative techniques that make this book so compelling and fresh—its deliberately unlikable protagonist, fascinating use of the unreliable narrator, and propulsive premise—as well as what we wish the book had done differently, from Natalie's sparse backstory to the slightly unsatisfying ending.

We also unpack novel’s most salient themes: surveillance, performance, identity, and the destructive influence of patriarchy on all who fall under its shadow. 

Ultimately, the novel invites readers to answer this important question: Where are we performing our lives rather than actually living them? 

Mentioned in this episode:

• Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
• My previous episode with Hayley: "Stop Trying to Write a Great Novel"
• Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang
• Black Mirror

Connect with Hayley:

• On Substack: hayleyiswriting.substack.com

Send me a voice message with your questions or comments!

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I've long said that verbs are the beating heart of great writing, but this book pushed my love of verbs into an obsession.

Today I’m joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning dance critic Sarah L. Kaufman to discuss her newest book, Verb Your Enthusiasm: How to Master the Art of the Verb and Transform Your Writing. 

We explore how precise, expressive verbs can bring your writing alive—creating movement, conveying emotion, sharpening meaning, streamlining wordy sentences, and expressing your unique voice.

Plus, we geek out about some of our favorite verbs—and some of our favorite writers who know exactly what to do with them.

You'll learn:

• The science behind why certain verbs can make us feel differently as readers
• Why action verbs unlock vivid setting descriptions
• How to use verb to reveal emotion without naming it
• Why passive voice and adverbs deserve more nuance than you probably learned in English class
• How paying attention to verbs can strengthen your voice

Sarah’s enthusiasm for language is truly contagious, I and love the way she encourages writers to trust their intuition even as they hone their craft. 

So the next time your writing feels flat, trust that instinct and then return to the tips in this episode—and in Sarah’s fantastic book—to help you find the perfect verb to infuse texture and meaning into your prose.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Art of Grace by Sarah L. Kaufman
•  The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
• Swing Time by Zadie Smith
•  The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
•  The Gathering by Anne Enright
• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

Purchase Sarah’s new book: Verb Your Enthusiasm: How to Master the Art of the Verb and Transform Your Writing

Connect with Sarah at www. sarahlkaufman.com. 

Grab my FREE download and mini-course on writing craft: Ten Tips to Write Like a Pro.

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Sometimes the fastest way toward a better book is to let yourself write a bad one.

In this episode, I’m joined by Hayley Milliman—author, editor, and Director of Community at ProWritingAid, one of the world’s largest communities for creative writers—who recently finished the first draft of her novel in just 30 days while working full time. 

We talk about how knowing the craft of writing doesn’t necessarily translate into actually doing the work, how the pressure to write something important can become paralyzing, and how her fast-drafting approach helped her overcome perfectionism and get a complete draft on the page in record time.

While the episode focuses on fiction, much of our conversation applies to memoir writing. Plus, writers of other kinds of nonfiction will find valuable insights.

You’ll learn:

• The mindset mistakes that keep even technically skilled writers stuck
• Why treating your first draft like a “50,000-word outline” can help you stop overthinking and start writing
• Why Hayley recommends setting drafting goals based on time rather than word count
• What to do when your outline stops working halfway through a draft so it doesn’t derail your entire project
• How to create the internal tension that drives a compelling story

Hayley’s process is a great reminder that the first draft doesn’t have to be good—it just has to exist—and that our strongest writing will always come from being true to our own lived experience. 

Mentioned in this episode:

• Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke  
• Dr. Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ 6 universal pleasure buttons: Tiktok explainer video here
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• The Wedding People by Alison Espach
• Hayley’s outlining process Substack article: “How I plan my novel so I can draft in 30 days”
• All's Well by Mona Awad

Connect with Hayley:

• On Substack: hayleyiswriting.substack.com

Book club alert! Hayley will be back on the show on September 30th to discuss Yesteryear, which I’ve now read twice. (I’m equal parts impressed and disturbed…) If you haven’t read it yet, now’s your chance because the episode WILL contain spoilers.

Send me a voice message with your questions or comments!

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Bad Bunny's music is danceable, provocative, and sometimes vulgar, but it’s also full of beauty and truth—if you’ll take the time to look closer.

Originally recorded for Mariana Herrera Mosli’s Meet at the Well, this episode discusses what I discovered when I began approaching Bad Bunny's music as literature and what we miss when we dismiss certain texts as too popular or secular to be worthy of deeper analysis. 

When we move past fear and knee-jerk reactions to Bad Bunny’s public persona, we uncover within his music complex ideas about culture, identity, liberation, and belonging—and a radical joy that resonates deeply with the Gospel.

You’ll learn:

• My journey to faith after my liberal arts college experience
• Why pop music can function as poetry
• Why I consider curiosity and generosity deeply Christian postures
• How “Tití Me Preguntó” uses music, structure, and narrative to complicate its seemingly simple message
• What Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance reveals about inclusive joy as an act of resistance
• Why Christians would benefit from looking for beauty, wisdom, and truth outside explicitly Christian art

Ultimately, this conversation is about how literature teaches us to resist simplistic thinking and to search for truth, beauty, and wisdom in unexpected places—even a reggaeton song.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Substack article about my “Holy Spirit moment” on the Camino: “To Be a Pilgrim”
• The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
• My Taylor Swift exploration, LIT112: The Life of a Showgirl on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Connect with Mariana:

• On Substack
• Her podcast: Meet at the Well
• On Instagram

Send me a voice message with your questions or comments!

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This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Listen to Episode 26 for Part 1.

You know it’s time to start building your author platform. But where do you begin? What if you’re not even sure who you’re writing for or what you’re writing about?

In this second half of my conversation with writing coach and author Ann Kroeker, we dive into the practical aspects of building an author platform from the ground up—from experimenting with audio and video content to Substack and email newsletters.

We talk about getting curious about your ideal readers, trying different ways of reaching them, and perhaps most importantly, lowering the stakes so you can actually get started.

You'll learn:

• Whether it’s OK to share material from your book draft on social media
• Why writers should view video as a huge opportunity
• Where to begin when you’re starting from zero
• Common platform-building pitfalls to avoid
• Why focusing on quantity will lead to quality content 

This episode will help you see platform building not as an additional requirement for publication but rather as an integral—and even enjoyable—part of the writing life.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Anne Kroeker, Writing Coach podcast episode: “Is Substack the Best Platform for Writers? Jane Friedman’s Expert Opinion”
• Jane Friedman’s article on Substack (updated May, 2025): “Substack Is Both Great and Terrible for Authors” 
• Pottery Parable: “Quantity leads to quality” by Austin Kleon 
• “Buckeye” by Scott Russell Sanders
• Anne Kroeker, Writing Coach podcast episode: “Prepare for Publishing with Insights from Literary Agent Lucinda Halpern” 

Connect with Ann:

• Podcast: Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach 
• Substack: @annkroeker
• Website: Ann’s “Everything” Page

And don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter if you haven’t already! 

Send me a voice message with your questions or comments!

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If the word “platform” makes you want to crawl under your desk—or give up on publication altogether—you’re not alone. 

But at its core, building a platform isn't about becoming an influencer, chasing followers, or jumping through hoops to win an agent’s attention. It’s about connecting with the people who need what only you can say. 

In this first half of my conversation with writing coach and author Ann Kroeker, we talk about how to approach platform-building with intention and integrity, in a way that feel authentic rather than performative—plus why you shouldn't wait until your book is finished to start building one. 

Building your platform is also a chance to hone your message and cultivate the voice that makes your writing unique—something AI can never replicate. 

You'll learn:

• What “platform” actually means and why it matters in publishing
• Why your author brand should be bigger than any single book
• The importance of clarifying your big idea, audience, and purpose before making other writing decisions
• Why the best time to start building your platform is before you write your book
• How platform building can help you hone your message, cultivate your unique voice, and discover what resonates with your readers
• Why the struggle of writing is part of what makes it meaningful 

Building a platform can easily become another performance metric for writers. This conversation offers a different way to think about it—not as a competition for attention, but as the slow but important work of connecting with the people who need your particular message delivered the way only you can say it. 

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Tune in next week for Part 2.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Art of Nonfiction by Ayn Rand
• “Don’t Use A.I. to Do This” by Colson Whitehead, The New York Times 

Connect with Ann:

• Podcast: Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach 
• Substack: @annkroeker
• Website: Ann's "Everything" Page 

Send me a voice message with your questions or comments!

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And visit my website to learn more about my editing services, book coaching, and upcoming courses.