Writer Craft Podcast

Author Valerie Ihsan gives tips on filling the creative well.

Hello Indie Authors! I'm Valerie Ihsan, and

This is Season Two, Episode 24 of the podcast and it's 9/11/2019 as I record this.

Main Topic: monthly reflection

But first the personal update segment:

• Passion Planner rep (affiliate, but different). 10% new customers. http://rwrd.io/ox4t691
• If you want to talk to me for a 30-minute interview and tell me what your challenges are and what you think can help you, you can book yourself a call at indieauthormentor.as.me and choose the Interview Call option.

• I'M READING: In fiction, Joe Wilkins' Fall Back Down When I die--debut novel ; Non-fiction: Jeff Goins' Real Artists Don't Starve.

• PATREON: No new patrons this week. I'd like to remind everybody that this podcast is sponsored by my supporters at Patreon. For as low as a $1/mo, you can get a shout out on the podcast, a monthly connections video where I'm just myself and share something more personal than I put out on the podcast, and at other tiers, the benefits increase--free books, free editing, and free coaching. Become a patron of the arts, and of me! Find me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

Resources: seanwes podcast, episode 438 from August 14 on how to Prevent Burnout. Talking about varying lengths of sabbaticals you can do...and what the rule of a sabbatical is.

And now: monthly reflection--part of a bigger thing--ties into productivity and confidence.

If you want to try a Passion Planner for 10% off, use this link: http://rwrd.io/ox4t691

How do you deal with the fear of judgment as a writer?

Show Notes: Hello Indie Authors! I'm Valerie Ihsan, and this is Season Two, Episode 23 of the podcast and it's 9/3/2019 as I record this.

Main Topic: Fear of Judgement

But first the personal update segment: • Course work for Sweet Spot Strategy. It's all about sweetening the deal and settling on my pricing for this particular signature service. • Some Passion Planner news coming up in the next week's episode, so check back in then for that tidbit. • If you want to talk to me for a 30-minute interview and tell me what your challenges are and what you think can help you, you can book yourself a call at indieauthormentor.as.me and choose the Interview Call option.

• I'M READING: In fiction, just finished JF Penn's Map of Plagues and now I've started Joe Wilkins debut novel, Fall Back Down When I Die; Non-fiction: Jeff Goins' Real Artists Don't Starve.

PATREON: No new patrons this week. I'd like to remind everybody that this podcast is sponsored by my supporters at Patreon. For as low as a $1/mo, you can get a shout out on the podcast, a monthly connections video where I'm just myself and share something more personal than I put out on the podcast, and at other tiers, the benefits increase--free books, free editing, and free coaching. Become a patron of the arts, and of me! Find me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

Resources: My Patreon page. BECAUSE, at the $25/mo level, you will get a 30-minute coaching call with me every month. They will be recorded, so you can keep a collection of advice on hand and won't need to take notes during our conversation. This is LESS EXPENSIVE than if you were to buy a regular coaching session with me. In fact, it's a 33% discount. So, go check it out at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

And now: Fear of Judgement

I battled with this for decades. I'm 45 and I've been judged my whole life, about something or another. Even if we claim to be non-judgmental people, we still judge. Well, we categorize. That's a bit different. More like labeling people, which is a form of judgment.

When you judge a book by its cover, you are saying, "I will like this book because the cover looks professional and I know it's written in a particular genre that I like to read." That's more categorizing. But if we look at it and say, "I won't like this book because the cover looks boring and so the book must be boring," probably we are judging it. Without checking inside to make sure.

Now, because there are millions of titles out there, we have to judge a little. We have to categorize. We simply don't have the time (nor inclination) to read every title out there. So when we put our books out into the world and people don't read them, don't despair. You just haven't identified your audience yet. Or, you have and they just don't know about your book yet. The people that are passing on it are the ones that don't read in your genre, or the book description indicates it's a topic they probably won't be interested in. (Categorization.)

I've done a lot of work around fear of judgment, stemming back to my cultish upbringing and permeating into my romantic relationships. It wasn't until I'd worked through most of that self-delusion and fear of judgment that I was emotionally open to finally meet the right man and now I'm happily married to him.

But that's not what this podcast is about.

What it is about is looking at that fear of judgment that you might have. Because I thought I'd worked through so much of my past baggage, I didn't think I had any residual fear of judgment, but, I discovered, that was false.

A few years ago, I was working through the workbook edition of Joanna Penn's The Successful Author Mindset, and that question came up. "What are you self-censoring? What are you afraid of sharing for fear of judgment by other people?"

I was pretty stunned at the answer within.

It was a long journal entry, but what it boiled down to was, "What if everything I write is misinterpreted as being thinly-veiled autobiography--and it's not?"

Joanna's answer was to "write another book, because who we are right now changes and the next book is something else again." The chapter ended with a quote from Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic: "The reaction to your art does not belong to you--and that is the only sane way to create."

And that's it for Fear of Judgment. Next week I'll go over the process of monthly reviews and how that can help you with confidence in your projects and in your business.

Valerie interviews Cai Emmons about her new book, her writing process, and her brain hack tip for more productive writing. Cai will be giving a talk on The Evolution of a Novel at Tsunami Books on WEDNESDAY, September 4, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. Suggested donation: $5-10 (for non-Willamette Writers members; members are free) CaiEmmons.com CaiEmmonsAuthor.com

Procrastination and Writer's Block might just be the same thing around here. What about you?

Show Notes: Hello Indie Authors! I'm Valerie Ihsan, and This is Season Two, Episode 21 of the podcast and it's 8/21/2019 as I record this. Main Topic: Procrastination/Writer's Block But first the personal update segment: • Course work for Sweet Spot Strategy. I finished writing my Origin Story and I'm working on a production calendar --trying to figure out how many times I want to offer my signature coaching program. I'm getting really excited about this! • If you want to talk to me for a 30-minute interview and tell me what your challenges are and what you think can help you, you can book yourself a call at indieauthormentor.as.me and choose the Interview Call option. • I'M READING: In fiction, Just finished Elizabeth George's first YA novel called The Edge of Nowhere. It was a fast read. Now reading The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld; Non-fiction: Resonance by Nancy Duarte, on how to give presentations that the audience, well, resonates with--doesn't make them fall asleep.

PATREON: No new patrons this week. I'd like to remind everybody that this podcast is sponsored by my supporters at Patreon. Being a Patron of the Arts is a totally cool thing to do. For as low as a $1/mo, you can get sneak-peeks into my creative world, become a patron of the arts, and of me! Find me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

Resources: Trying out a new-to-me podcast on business called Seanwes podcast; looks like it has a lot of good content.

Next week I'll have an interview for you! I'll be talking with author Cai Emmons about her latest book and what her take is on mindset. Plus, what her upcoming talk at the Eugene Willamette Writers chapter meeting is about.

And now: Procrastination and Writer's Block ▪ Where are you? (In between books? Stuck in the middle? On deadline?) ▪ Why? (Self-doubt? Too hard? Too big of a project? Distracted? Emotionally/Creatively dry? Exhausted?) ▪ What can you do about it? ⁃ Accept it. Clean out that closet. Maybe you really can't write until you've cleaned your office. ⁃ Research theme and character motivations. ⁃ Sleep. ⁃ Go play. ⁃ Take a walk. Or a shower. Do yard work. ⁃ Write about something different. ⁃ Journal. Or do other writing exercises or prompts. ⁃ Set a timer and just do it. Be miserable for 25 minutes, until you aren't. ⁃ Wait for the story. Do another hobby. (Knitting, or snorkeling.) ⁃ Meet up with other authors and discuss the perceived problem. ⁃ Chip away at it. Trust that if those wretched 300 words took 90 minutes to write and the scratched at you the whole time, when you read you manuscript before editing, you won't be able to tell where those 300 words are. ⁃ Affirmations. "I'm doing the best I can right now." Remember, your best yesterday doesn't equal your best today. You're different every day.

The definition of perfectionism, how it shows up in a writer's life, and what to do about it.

Show Notes:

Hello Indie Authors! I'm Valerie Ihsan, and

This is Season Two, Episode 20 of the podcast and it's 8/14/2019 as I record this.

Perfectionism

But first the personal update segment:

• Course work for Sweet Spot Strategy; contact me via email [email protected] to meet with me (virtually or locally) for a four question interview. Tell me what your challenges are and how you think a coach or mentor could help you.

• I'M READING: In fiction, Just finished Sparks by Maren Anderson and loved it. Now reading First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen, also loving it; Non-fiction: Almost done with Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit

• I'd like to remind everybody that this podcast is sponsored by my supporters at Patreon. And being a patron of the arts is a totally cool thing to do. Joining my Patreon community also gets you sneak peeks into my creative world. For $1/month, or more, less than a pack of gum, you too can become a patron of the arts, and me! Find me at: Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

Resources: kriswrites.com

Main topic: Perfectionism

Perfectionism

I want to talk about perfectionism. What it is, how it shows up, and what to do about it.

WHAT

It has to be perfect before I can release it out into the world.

Why?

• People will think I'm dumb if it's bad.
• People will think I'm a loser if it's bad.
• I'll be embarrassed/horrified/ashamed/mortified.
• People won't take me seriously is if not professional.
• I'll let myself down if it's not the best I can do.
• [Xxx] won't be proud of me if it's not any good.

HOW

• (Stuck in cement.) Rewriting it for ten years and never publishing it or moving on to another project.
• (Never start.) Find excuses why you can't work on your book. (Kids, partner, no support, no resources, mental illness, chronic health problems, job, too much to do...)
• • I didn't want to be bad at something.
  • Writing was what I was good at. I didn't want to find out differently. Logically, I knew that books needed to be edited and reworked after writing them, but somehow I didn't *actually* believe that. Somewhere deep inside I thought that if I was good enough (insert negative belief structure to read: good enough person), it would be practically perfect and people would exclaim, "What?! That's your rough draft?! No way!!"
  • Not only did I not want to be bad at something, or more accurately, *look* bad, I didn't want to know that I was sub-par. Not good enough. As a human.
  • WHAT TO DO
  • Know that your first book will not be your best work ever. It might be the best you can do *right now*, but you will grow as a writer. Your skills will improve. Here's how I battled perfectionism one time: I was just about to publish my first novel. It was out at the ARC readers (which is past the point where you want changes to your manuscript--unless it's dire) and one reader (another author) got back to me about what she perceived as a lack of motivation for some of the characters. As if, I--the author--just wanted the characters to do something and so they did it. I was so done with working on this book. It had taken me a couple of years to finish and I was proud of it. When she gave me the feedback, I said, "Thank you. I can maybe see how you'd think that, but here's the thing. It's my first book. I know it's not going to be the best thing I ever write. It's good enough for a first book. I'll make more. But it's time to let this one go. I'm not going to get to be any better of a writer by re-working the one over and over for another six months to a year. But I will improve by writing another whole one."
  • And on another note: RESOURCE:

The Pursuit of Perfection: And How It Harms Writers

by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

• I've heard people say that if you aren't doing it, you don't want it bad enough. I'd always get so mad hearing that. I did, too, want it! I just had all this other stuff in the way--what I thought were legit reasons. But, really, what they were was not excuses, it was perfectionism. Perfectionism is self-doubt. AND, I've discovered, a crazy mutant version of the inner-editor. So one thing that helped with that was Nanowrimo. I learned two things the first year I did it (and finished): 1) I worked faster than the inner-editor could keep up. When I'd hear him running up behind me, I stuff earplugs in and say, "It's not about quality, it's about quantity. I just need the words right now." And, 2) I *did* have time to write. With a family, raising two elementary school-aged children, and homeschooling my 2nd grader. None of my excuses worked. I wrote a whole novel in one month. (Maybe you'll learn something different from Nanowrimo.)
• As far as the self-doubt goes, I just try to remember that everyone (even Lee Child and Steven King and Sandra Brown and Clive Cussler and Rachael Herron and Joanna Penn--read: all authors) has self-doubt. It's part of the writing process. It's part of being an author. When I remember that, I can default into self-care. I have several in my toolbox:
• • Affirmations
  • Meditation
  • Journaling
  • Artist Dates
  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Connecting with other authors
  • Surrounding myself with people who think I'm awesome
  • Read books and listen to podcasts to get inspired, change my mindset, and learn new things. (If I doubt my ability to do something, I'll study it until I'm confident I can do it.)
  • Do something that inspires me

Last thoughts about perfectionism--the kind that keeps you from writing or putting your work out into the world:

• Go to Goodreads or Amazon and read the reviews of famous authors. Lots of people hated The Great Gatsby; Eat, Pray, Love; The Lovely Bones; and The Davinci Code. If your reviews are coming in and some of them are 1 stars, you're a real writer, and in the company of some of the greats.
• The biggest epiphany I ever had as a writer was: My husband is not my target audience. I was never going to write a book that he loved, and that was okay, because he didn't read the kind of books I wrote. I was a much happier writer after that.

How does perfectionism show up in your writing life? How can you deal with it and push through to success?

Valerie goes over some of her highlights from the conference this year.

What's the difference and does one work better than the other?

Show Notes:

Hello Indie Authors!

This is Episode 18, Season Two, and it's 7/24//2019 as I record this.

Goal-setting vs Time Blocking

But first the personal update segment:

• Course work for Sweet Spot Strategy; contact me via email [email protected] to meet with me (virtually or locally) for a four-question interview. Tell me what your challenges are and how you think a coach or mentor could help you.
• No writing for the summer (summer hours)
• Thinking of online courses, some clients have asked for them and they would generate passive income.
• Camping this weekend and at the Willamette Writers Conference the first weekend in August. I'll be taking a master class from a literary agent on Good Beginnings. And doing a book signing on Saturday night at the conference. I skipped it last year, so I'm super looking forward to it. Jeff Goins will be there, and I'm volunteering to staff his workshop, so I'll meet him.

• I'm READING: In fiction, The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan. Non-fiction: Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit: Learn it and use it for life.•
• I'd like to remind everybody that this podcast is sponsored by my supporters at Patreon. And being a patron of the arts is a totally cool thing to do. Joining my Patreon community also gets you sneak peeks into my creative world. For less than a $1/month, less than a pack of gum, you too can become a patron of the arts, and me! Find me at Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

Resources: Jeff Goins' podcast Your Portfolio Life; Teachable has a new podcast, interviewing successful online teachers, Everyone is Teachable.

Main topic: Goal-setting vs Time Blocking

Ideas for managing overwhelm and burnout.

Show Notes:

Hello Indie Authors!

This is Episode 17, Season Two, and it's 7/17//2019 as I record this.

In Season Two, I'll be talking about Mindset and Work/Life Balance, and all the things that might fall under that category. If you have a particular topic you want to discuss or a question you want the answer to, please contact email me at [email protected].

But first Author Life segment:

• I've been thinking a lot about ways that I can help the writing community and that means YOU. I do have a coaching program that I'm designing with the help of business coach Racheal Cook, MBA--she does the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast. Highly recommend it! And also with the help of some author friends and some prior students. There are a lot of writing coaches out there and I want to make sure I can stand out in the crowd, and offer the help that writers need. Mostly, right now, that means I'm looking at what my strengths are and how I can translate that into a viable service that writers will pay for. Because, maybe like you, I want to make a living with my writing and with my author brain.
• Minnesota was a great experience. I reconnected with my sister, whom I hadn't seen in twelve years, back when we were more judgmental people. ;-)

• I'M READING: In fiction, The Reckoning by Louise Penny. And before that, Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen. Non-fiction: Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit: Learn it and use it for life. (Recommended by Racheal Cook.)
• I'd like to remind everybody that this podcast is sponsored by my supporters at Patreon. And being a patron of the arts is a totally cool thing to do. Joining my Patreon community also gets you sneak peeks into my creative world. For less than a $1/month, less than a pack of gum, you too can become a patron of the arts, and me! Find me at: Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

Resources: Promote Yourself to CEO podcast by Racheal Cook, MBA

Main topic: Taking a day off vs. Goofing off (Managing Overwhelm and Pre-Burnout)

Taking time off to recharge is a necessity. Everyone seems to agree with that, but lots of entrepreneurs, stay at home parents, and grad students seem to agree with it in principle, rather than reality.

I'm good at taking time off when I need it. Saying Yes to myself, watching British gardening shows and Queer Eye on Netflix, or diving into a novel with a dog on my lap. Even napping or sitting in the hot tub when the day has just gone wonky. BUT, I'm afraid I'll Yes myself into laziness.

Where's the line between taking the day off and goofing off?

I know. And I bet you do, too.

The trick, I think, is to plan ahead--like budgeting--for the inevitable need to take time off--trying not to have it happen during a deadline or when my reputation, client satisfaction, or money are on the line.

1. I could plan one afternoon a week off to recharge.
2. I could say Yes to myself until I detox and naturally want to create and accomplish. (For burnout or extreme overwhelm.)
3. I could scale back and lighten my load so that overwhelm doesn't happen as frequently. (Requires some checking in and time budgeting.)
4. I could start saying No to things I want to do. I've mastered the saying No to things I DONT want to do.
5. Create systems so that projects take less time to do. (I'm still working on that. Read Running Down a Dream by Tim Grahl for help with that.)

In conclusion, when overwhelm or burnout occur, try on a little compassion. Things don't always go according to plan. Course correction, making a new plan, or sitting out the next dance are all successful tactics of successful authors.

What do you do when you hit overwhelm?

Valerie offers multiple strategies for launching your book and talks about ad stacking.

Show Notes:

Hello Indie Authors!

This is Episode 16, and it's 6/19//2019 as I record this.

Today we're doing Book Launch, Part Two.

But first Author Life segment:

• Life has been getting in the way and I haven't been working this week on my manuscript. Trying not to beat myself up about it. I told my husband I needed a week off to get ready for the vacation...and remembered I often needed a week off AFTER a vacation to get caught back up. So, note to self--vacations take a huge chunk out of writing and revising time. And brain space.
• I'll be heading to Minnesota and Wisconsin this weekend, seeing both family and friends. Most of the friends I've seen within the year, but my family--some of them--I haven't seen in ten years or even, in the case of my youngest niece, haven't met at all. So I'm hoping to reconnect with that part of my family.
• This episode will conclude Season One of The Indie Author Mentor. The podcast will resume mid-July (the 17th) for Season Two. I'll be planning out the next season during this short hiatus, so if you have any requests for topics or any questions, please contact me at [email protected].

• Had my monthly review with an author friend of mine. I like these because they always get me back on track and inspired.
• I'M READING: In fiction, White is for Witching. Don't know if I like it yet. Non-fiction: YNAB. Nearing the end of them, so I'm thinking about my next reads, and because I'm going on vacation, I'll be bringing favorite authors and lighter reading. That means probably Sarah Addison Allen and Louise Penny, and the like.
• No NEW PATRONS this week, but I hope you'll consider becoming a patron and helping me reach my FIRST Patreon goal. To earn $125 in monthly income from Patreon. When that happens...extra bonus Q&A episode for Patrons only.
• Think of it as an inexpensive mini coaching session with me!

• Patreon.com/valerieihsan.

Resources: selfpublishingformula.com, booksandtravel podcast, tex thompson's newsletter is either hilarious or inspiring, most times both. Go to thetexfiles.com to read about her and sign up for her newsletter. The blog is funny, too.

Main topic: Book launch, Part Two