Get Your Writing Done
30 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago - ★★★★★ - 4 ratingsThe Get Your Writing Done podcast is hosted by Trevor Thrall, Ph.D., author of The 12 Week Year for Writers. Every week we dive deep on strategies and tools to help writers be their most productive selves.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
GYWD #28 Five Strategies for Finishing What You Start
December 20, 2023 05:00 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBEverywhere I look I see workshops promising to help you get a fast start to 2024. And that’s great! But here’s the thing: how many times have you or someone you know got off to a quick start on a new writing project but never quite finished it? That’s why this episode is all about Starting to Finish. We'll talk about five common reasons people don't finish their writing and five concrete steps you can take to avoid them. For more information and tools for the productive writer, visi...
GYWD #27: Mastering the Art of Slow Progress
October 11, 2023 04:00 - 36 minutes - 25 MBDo you ever hear yourself saying these sorts of things? - I don’t have enough time to write - I don’t have enough energy to keep going to the end - I am so demoralized at how slow this is going - I’m losing my enthusiasm for this writing project I’ve been at it so long If you find yourself in one of these situations, you need to become a master of making slow progress. This idea of slow progress gets very little discussion these days, but I think it deserves a lot more. In today’s e...
GYWD 26: Five Strategies for Finding Focus When Life Gets Crazy
August 30, 2023 04:00 - 36 minutes - 25 MBDid you know that the average person spends just 47 seconds before switching from looking at one screen/window on their computer to looking at another? Or that it takes 25 minutes to regain focus after an interruption? Staying focused in the best of times is a brutal task. Staying focused when life gets crazy is that much harder. In this episode we'll talk about five strategies for finding focus that all happen before you sit down to write. Ezra Klein, "Beyond the 'Matrix' Theory o...
GYWD 25: Showing Up to Write (Why We Don't, How We Can)
June 20, 2023 04:00 - 42 minutes - 28.9 MBHave you ever had one of those periods where you just couldn’t write consistently? Maybe your schedule was too chaotic. Maybe you got super busy at work. Or maybe you found yourself looking at the clock and seeing it was time to write but you wound up finding something else to do? Maybe you were going great guns but then went on vacation and when you came back you found that your momentum was gone and you never got back on track? Or maybe you made plans to get to work early every mor...
GYWD #24: Aligning Your Writer Rhythms with Writing Reality
March 13, 2023 04:00 - 26 minutes - 18 MBDid you ever have a writing project where everything just clicked? I mean, from the beginning when you had the idea to the finished product, everything just went great, and quickly? And on the other hand, did you ever have a writing project that did nothing but give you trouble, from the day you started it until the day you finished it, or just dropped it? I've had my share of both. And lately I've been reflecting on some of the things that determine how things go with my writing pro...
GYWD 23: Tools of the Trade with Scrivener for Dummies Author Gwen Hernandez
January 26, 2022 13:00 - 39 minutes - 27.4 MBIf you write fiction (and even if you don't), my guess is that you use, have used, or are thinking about using Scrivener, one of the most popular writing apps on the planet. If you are thinking about it, or need some help making the most of Scrivener, this week's guest is the person to ask for help. Gwen Hernandez is an engineer turned author. She writes the popular Men of Steele series but she has another claim to fame as well. After a friend told her about this cool new writing a...
GYWD 22: Tools of the Trade with Plottr Founders Cameron Sutter and Ryan Zee
January 17, 2022 17:00 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBWelcome to the Get Your Writing Done podcast, I’m Trevor Thrall, author of The 12 Week Year for Writers. If you enjoy today’s episode, please submit a review wherever you get your podcasts. And for weekly updates on the podcast and other writing resources, you can subscribe to my newsletter at GYWD.com Are you the kind of person who likes to hash out all the details before you start writing? Or are you the kind of person who likes to take an idea, start writing, and see where it goe...
GYWD 21: How the Growth Mindset Can Unlock Your Writing Potential
January 10, 2022 20:00 - 42 minutes - 29.1 MBAre great writers born or made? Is your productivity level something fixed, or can you become a more productive person over time? If you haven’t written a book by age 30, will you ever? Do rejections mean you’re a failure? In this podcast we take another look at the writer’s mindset. Our focus today is the importance of a growth mindset. Research shows that adopting a growth mindset, rather than a fixed mindset, plays a huge role in how people live their lives. Thanks to its impact ...
GYWD 20: Optimizing Epiphanies: Three Steps to Launching Successful Writing Projects
January 03, 2022 20:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBIt’s a new year and for many of us that means it’s time to launch ambitious new writing projects. And that’s great, because the world needs more of what you’re doing. But it turns out that the launch phase is fraught with perils and risks. How many of us have had a blinding epiphany strike while in the shower, only to realize later that the idea wasn’t so brilliant after all? Or have you ever spent a week enthusiastically pursuing a new project only to hit a brick wall and realize th...
GYWD 19: The 13th Week and 2021 in Review
December 27, 2021 21:00 - 36 minutes - 25.3 MBIf you aren’t a 12 Week Year follower, you might be surprised to learn that a key element of the 12 Week Year system is, in fact, a 13th week. The 13th week is dedicated to assessing the previous 12 so that you can look at what went well, what didn’t go so well, and identify lessons learned to help you shape your next 12 Week plan. If you’ve been listening to the podcast for any time, or read the book, you’ll know that I have a low opinion of New Year’s resolutions and annual planni...
GYWD 18: Why Do You Write?
December 20, 2021 22:00 - 44 minutes - 30.9 MBLet me ask you a simple question: Why do you write? This question - so simple and unassuming and yet so profound - is the starting point for our conversation about motivation. We all have good days and bad days. I’m sure we have all experienced some high highs and some low lows. But some people seem to have a higher baseline level of motivation than others. Some people pretty much always seem excited about their work in progress. And other people - don’t. If you’re looking to find your mot...
GYWD 18: Why Do You Write?
December 20, 2021 22:00 - 44 minutes - 30.9 MBLet me ask you a simple question: Why do you write? This question - so simple and unassuming and yet so profound - is the starting point for our conversation about motivation. We all have good days and bad days. I’m sure we have all experienced some high highs and some low lows. But some people seem to have a higher baseline level of motivation than others. Some people pretty much always seem excited about their work in progress. And other people - don’t. If you’re looking to find ...
GYWD 18: Finding Your Motivation to Write
December 20, 2021 22:00 - 45 minutes - 31.4 MBLet me ask you a simple question: Why do you write? This question - so simple and unassuming and yet so profound - is the starting point for our conversation about motivation. We all have good days and bad days. I’m sure we have all experienced some high highs and some low lows. But some people seem to have a higher baseline level of motivation than others. Some people pretty much always seem excited about their work in progress. And other people - don’t. If you’re looking to find your mot...
GYWD 17: Building Resilience, with Susan Scott
December 14, 2021 17:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBToday I sit down with Susan Scott, counselor, leadership coach, author, and founder of Life Inspired, Inc., a company that provides life design and coaching for leaders and life coaches. Our topic today is resilience. As I discuss in the 12WY for Writers, resilience is a critical element of the writer’s mindset. Every writer - no matter the type or genre, has to deal with rejections, criticism, false starts, and negative reviews that all writers. Without resilience - an ability to c...
GYWD 16: Dealing with Imposter Syndrome
December 06, 2021 21:00 - 39 minutes - 26.8 MBHave you ever been thinking about a writing project but then said, I don’t know everything I need to know about that so I shouldn’t start that project right now, I should wait until I’m more confident about what I know. Or have you ever found yourself in the middle of a manuscript and asked, “Why did I ever think I could do this?” Have you ever sat around a table of your peers and thought, If these people really knew me they wouldn’t think I belong here. If you answered yes to any o...
GYWD 15: How to Survive the Holidays: Writer's Edition
November 29, 2021 14:00 - 35 minutes - 24.5 MBWelcome to the Get Your Writing Done podcast, I’m Trevor Thrall, author of The 12 Week Year for Writers. If you enjoy today’s episode, please submit a review wherever you get your podcasts. And for weekly updates on the podcast and other writing resources, you can subscribe to my newsletter at GYWD.com Ah the holidays, that time of year where everyone’s plans to get things done meet the hard cold reality of holiday parties, endless hours at the shopping mall, and car trips to Grandm...
GYWD 14: Why I Love My Weekly Writing Group
November 22, 2021 17:00 - 45 minutes - 31.2 MBWelcome to the Get Your Writing Done podcast, I’m Trevor Thrall, author of The 12 Week Year for Writers. If you enjoy today’s episode, please submit a review wherever you get your podcasts. And for weekly updates on the podcast and other writing resources, you can subscribe to my newsletter at GYWD.com What if there were a tool that would simultaneously help you be more accountable, give you inspiration and support, give you feedback on your writing, and provide structure to your wr...
GYWD 13: The Quantified Writer? A Healthy Approach to Keeping Score
November 15, 2021 16:00 - 43 minutes - 29.6 MBAre you one of those people who uses a fancy watch or phone to track your blood pressure, heart rate, daily step count, laps swum, miles run, calories consumed, and all that? On the flip side, have you ever decided not to get on the scale after Thanksgiving, or after vacation? Or did you ever do so badly on an exam in college that you didn’t bother going to pick it up from the professor? Measuring things is a double-edged sword. It can be fun to use technology to gain insights in...
GYWD 12: Tools of the Trade, with Max Seeleman from Ulysses
November 08, 2021 19:00 - 32 minutes - 22.3 MBWriters are a particular bunch. We like to have things just right when we get down to business. Some of us have trouble getting anything done if things aren’t just right. For me, writing is easier when I love my set up and have my favorite tools close to hand. I’ll admit it: I’m fussy. I have a favorite pen, a favorite journal, a favorite computer, and a favorite writing app, just for starters. If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent many hours experimenting with all the different ...
GYWD 11: How to Build a Writing Habit
November 01, 2021 14:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MBA lot of folks struggle to write consistently. And there are plenty of reasons for that. But a common denominator of inconsistent writing, whatever the reason, is the fact that for many people writing is simply not a habit. The problem, sadly, is that if someone can’t make a habit of writing consistently, they are unlikely to be very productive and reaching their writing goals will be more difficult. In this week’s episode I share some thoughts about building a writing habit, or as ...
GYWD 10: How I Write, with Sports Writer Brendan Quinn
October 25, 2021 14:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBI’m a big sports fan. I’m also a news junkie. At the intersection of those two things is sports writing. Ever since I was a kid I’ve devoured the sports page before reading anything else in the news. Over time I’ve come to believe that sports is just another lens for understanding ourselves. And that means that we can learn a lot about the world from sports writers. We can also learn a lot from them about great writing. Today, I’m excited to have a phenomenal sports writer join me o...
GYWD 9: Why Grit Makes Great Writers
October 19, 2021 00:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBIs there a writer alive who hasn’t wondered at some if they would ever be able to finish a book or some other writing project? Maybe it was your first book and you didn’t know if you had it in you. Maybe it was your tenth book that you wrote while raising three kids and wrangling wild mustangs for a living. Or maybe it’s the book you’re working on right now and you’re stuck, and you’re not sure how to get unstuck. What is the secret to finishing those books? Writing takes all kinds ...
GYWD 8: Juggling Multiple Writing Projects
October 10, 2021 21:00 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MBThere are two kinds of people in the world. The first kind are those folks who are always working on exactly one project at a time, giving it their full and undivided attention. And then there are writers. I am not sure exactly what it is, but it seems like the overwhelming majority of writers - both fiction and nonfiction - tend to be juggling more than one project at a time. From an execution and productivity standpoint, this is not optimal. But no matter how many times you tell a...
GYWD 7: Why Is Finishing Things So Hard?
October 05, 2021 13:00 - 55 minutes - 38 MBAre you sitting on a work in progress that has been on your desk for a long time? Do you find yourself starting new writing projects before you’ve finished the current project? We all have trouble finishing our writing sometimes. Writing is hard, and it’s a lot easier to start things than to finish them. But there are a host of challenges specific to finishing a piece of writing. Today we’re going to talk about some of the most common finishing struggles, why they occur, and what you...
GYWD 6: How Two Non-Writers Wrote a New York Times Bestseller
September 27, 2021 14:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MBHave you ever thought about writing a book but weren’t sure you could? Or should? Today’s episode tells the story of what happened when two guys who don’t think of themselves as writers decide to write a book? Today I interview my good friend Michael Lennington, co-creator of The 12 Week Year system and co-author with Brian Moran of the New York Times bestselling book, The 12 Week Year. You’ll hear Mike talk about how he and Brian came up with the idea to write The 12 Week Year and ...
GYWD 5: Finding the "Write" Balance
September 20, 2021 23:00 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MBToday we’re going to tackle the question of how to find the right balance between work, life, writing, and whatever else it is you’re getting up to these days. This is an age old question and a lot of people have spilled a lot of ink on it. There’s a very good reason for that: balance is something you never stop needing to think about. It is an omnipresent challenge of life, one that none of us can escape. You might even say that the key to living your best life requires having a goo...
GYWD 4: The Evolution of a Writer
September 13, 2021 14:00 - 25 minutes - 17.7 MBIn last week’s podcast we talked about the importance of having a clear and compelling vision for your writing. But it can be difficult to craft that vision when you’re just starting out and maybe you haven’t written anything yet, or when you don’t feel like you can really call yourself a writer because it isn’t your day job. And when that’s the case, the journey to becoming comfortable thinking of yourself as a writer can take some serious effort - not only plenty of writing, but al...
GYWD 3: The "Vision Thing"
September 06, 2021 14:00 - 42 minutes - 29.3 MBDo you get up every day excited about what you’re doing? Are you learning and growing and moving toward your goals? Do you know who you want to be and what you want to be doing ten or fifteen years from now? Do you have a clear sense of where writing fits into your ideal life of the future? Or how writing will help you get wherever it is you’re trying to go? This week’s podcast tackles the “vision thing.” As followers of the 12 Week Year know, the first step of implementing the syst...
GYWD 2: What Is the 12 Week Year for Writers?
August 28, 2021 13:00 - 34 minutes - 23.6 MBWriters face all kinds of challenges trying to get their writing done. Have you ever felt overwhelmed at the start of a project? Suffered from an inability to motivate yourself? Felt like you just weren't using your writing time very efficiently? The bad news is that these challenges will never go away. The good news, as productive writers have discovered, is that with a good writing system you can overcome these challenges. In today's episode I provide an in-depth look at the 12...
GYWD 1: The Back to School Crunch - Making Time to Write When Life Gets Busy
August 20, 2021 14:00 - 34 minutes - 23.6 MBThe school year is right around the corner, and for many of us that means life is about to get crazier and there will be less time for writing. But it's not just the back to school crunch. No matter who you are or what you do, you have to cope with times when things just get really busy. And that means that every writer has to have an answer to the question: How do you get your writing done when life gets busy? In this episode I share four strategies that have helped me navigate the...