Write For Your Life

We all have have the occasional lapse in confidence, but it’s important to keep writing with intent and conviction. It’s just like cycling with cleated pedals. Honestly, it’s exactly the same.

Writing is pretty much a process of constant disappointment. It comes in many forms and from a wide range of sources, but it’s something you have to learn to deal with. In this episode Iain talks about the inevitable ins and outs of writing and being disappointed. Don’t worry. It isn’t all bad news.

Iain recently spoke to a bunch of design students about social media and the opportunities it brings when you’re looking to build a career. He was surprised by how few of them were active online. The things he said to those students apply to us writers too. For example, you don’t need to be on Twitter to get published or shift copies, but what an opportunity. Why would you not take it?

It’s easy to think that when you have a good idea for a piece of writing, that’s your job done. But most great pieces of work have two ideas. In this episode of the podcast I talk about this concept and attempt to use my own novel as an example. Spoiler alert.

Sometimes you just want to dictate an awesome idea, sometimes you want to publish your thoughts to the world. Dropvox and Audioboo provide two excellent ways of doing those very things. Dropvox links up to your Dropbox account and gives you a great way to access your audio recordings from all your techno devices. Audioboo is simply the easiest way to get your own podcast up and running.

Iain talks about what it takes to get a writing job. Basically, professional experience and good qualifications are fine, but it’s what you do outside of those things that will catch an employer’s eye. Why are you different to all the other candidates? What do you do simply because you choose to do it? What have you created that no one else has? These are the things that will make a difference and get you noticed.

A few thoughts on productivity for you. If you feel like you’re always losing time, it’s probably not hours or days, it’s the minutes you spend on unnecessary tasks. It’s your meddling with nonsense. The fiddling about. The waiting for something to happen. Much better to think about work, life and the space in between. Then figure out which bits are most important. It’s the first two, by the way.

Iain talks about a new approach to the podcast. He also covers the terrible act of using a double space following a full stop. Imagine.

Iain is joined by Myke Hurley, who records several times a week for his own various podcasting ventures. Together, they talk about the benefits of starting your own podcast and, more importantly, how to do it. From microphones to headphones, Garageband to getting your episodes on the web, Iain and Myke take you through the process of setting up a podcast. While there is some technical talk, they try to make it as easy to understand as possible.

Iain is joined by Tom Evans from The Bookwright. Tom is an author’s mentor who specialises in helping writers think clearly and unblock their blockages. They covered all sorts of subjects, from how the muse works to understanding what success and failure is.