Write-minded: Weekly Inspiration for Writers

Taking Leaps of Faith, featuring Bobi Gentry Goodwin

In today’s episode Brooke Warner interviews Bobi Gentry Goodwin, author of the novel, Revelation, which is forthcoming on the She Writes Press list this November. Bobi is the winner of the She Writes Equality in Publishing scholarship. We’re excited to introduce you to Bobi and her novel, and also to hear about what led her to take this leap of faith, to submit her work—and what it’s mean to her to win. She Writes Press and SparkPress currently have submissions open for this year’s STEP conte...

The Artist and the Destroyer, featuring Brooke Axtell

In today’s episode Brooke and Grant unpack with Brooke Axtell, author of the recently released Beautiful Justice, the ways in which writing can be a salve, an instrument for change, a way to give voice to that which seems unspoken. Brooke Axtell talks about her journey from poetry to prose, her work around gender-based violence, and how writing saved her. A powerful episode to share with anyone who’s looking for the courage to share, to speak up, to be heard.

Breaking the Rules to Serve Your Story, featuring Abigail Thomas

How to Be a Responsible Creator, featuring Daniel José Older

In today’s episode, Grant and Brooke talk with Daniel José Older about why writing “the other” comes with great responsibility, and how we’re likely to “jack it up,” and also why it’s both simple and not simple. This is an important and nuanced topic in the world of book publishing, with layers of power and privilege that all writers would do well to understand. Older is an eloquent messenger, and he shares with us a few of his favorite fundamentals on writing “the other.”

Favorite Writing Books, featuring Grant Faulkner & Brooke Warner

Today’s episode is a Grant and Brooke exclusive. Join the co-hosts of Write-Minded as they share the books about writing that have most inspired them and why. They’ve chosen classics: Annie Lamott’s Bird by Bird and Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life; popular books by giants in their genres: On Writing, by Stephen King and The Art of Memoir, by Mary Karr; and a couple of their personal favorites: Booklife, by Jeff Vandermeer and The Art of Recklessness, by Dean Young. Tune in for an episode ded...

The Power of Owning Your Niche, featuring Ryka Aoki

The idea of narrowing the scope of one’s readership can strike fear into the hearts of writers who fantasize about broad readerships, and their writing being for everyone. But there are amazing rewards that come with understanding your niche, and writing to a specific audience. Brooke and Grant speak with their guest Ryka Aoki about niche writing, micro and small presses, and discovering and carving out a path to a defined readership that’s both supportive and career-propelling.

How to Pursue a Traditional Book Deal, featuring Meredith May

Most authors dream of getting traditionally published, but in today’s publishing climate it’s becoming increasingly difficult for authors to get those deals. In today’s episode Brooke and Grant discuss traditional publishing, The Dream, and rejection. Meredith May, a journalist and sixth-generation beekeeper who has a brand-new memoir out, shares her long journey toward traditional publication—including the many drafts, writing the book proposal, and her eventual meeting of hearts and minds w...

The Art of Writing a Series, featuring Darynda Jones

Join Grant and Brooke as they revisit their New Year’s Resolutions (Grant is on track with posting to Medium once a week and Brooke did indeed finish her book, but otherwise anything else promised has long since been forgotten). This is a springboard to a conversation about series—because writing series is all about buckling down, big time! Best-selling author Darynda Jones, who’s just finished Book 13 in her popular Charley Davidson series and has a new series underway, is the perfect guest ...

How to Carve Your Own Creative Path, featuring Leigh Stein

In this week’s episode, Brooke and Grant tackle one of the problematic effects of building an author platform, which is what happens when you start to feel artistically limited, or creatively hemmed in. Many authors can feel like they’re supposed to be the “poster child” for the stories they want to share. Others experience success in a single genre and discover how difficult it is to try to make the leap into another. With her early success and having forged her way through poetry, memoir, a...

Young Adult Fiction and Writing the Book You Would Have Wanted to Read, featuring Lilliam Rivera

In today’s episode, Brooke and Grant speak with YA author Lilliam Rivera about writing contemporary YA, the power of finding your own experience in literature, and why you might be drawn to writing the stories you wish had been available to you when you were young. YA as a genre is exploding, and Rivera discusses why she doesn’t hold back when it comes to what she’s willing to explore in fiction—race, family dynamics, violence, and more. Rivera’s drive and passion will inspire any writer who’...

Finding Your Readers: From NaNoWriMo to Wattpad to Best-selling Author, featuring Taran Matharu

If you’re curious about—or maybe even terrified by—the idea of getting advance readers for your work-in-progress, you’ll want to hear from today’s guest Taran Matharu and listen to his success story. Taran shared his work on WattPad and garnered 3 million reads in less than six months. He shares his story on today’s episode, as well as lots of concrete tips for all you writers out there about how to gain more exposure for your work.

Developing the DIY Mindset Necessary to Self-Publish Well, featuring Sarra Cannon

Whether you’re already an indie author, or thinking about becoming one, this week’s episode is chock-full of encouragement and concrete advice from Sarra Cannon, career author of 25 books. Hear what Sarra thinks are the pros and cons of self-publishing, find out why publishing DIY is so invigorating, and get some insight into the various paths to publishing available to today’s aspiring authors.

The Business of Being a Writer, featuring Jane Friedman

The business of book publishing is one of the most important, albeit less glamorous, parts of becoming an author. This week Brooke and Grant are in conversation with industry expert and veteran Jane Friedman as they cover innovation, publishing trends, the future of book publishing. Jane also offers concrete and sound advice for authors, and busts a few industry myths, too.

Writing About Other People, featuring Kerry Cohen

Writing about other people is scary. You may worry about the fallout—that people you’re writing about will be hurt, angry, that they’ll disown you. You may worry about your parents, your children, your friends. Many writers contemplating memoir go so far as to consider waiting to write their story until some key person is dead, and countless others fret about the legal jeopardy they might subject themselves to just for telling their truth. This episode brings answers and reassurance—and touch...

Public Speaking for Authors, featuring Betsy Graziani Fasbinder

Join Brooke and Grant as they recall some of their early public speaking moments—when Grant remembers being a brash, bold teenager who’d say anything and Brooke recalls forgetting her lines in a Christmas play and saying “oh shit” in front of her entire church congregation. More important to writers in this episode, however, are guest Betsy Graziani Fasbinder’s helpful ideas and encouraging words around public speaking. We’ll explore why all writers should give themselves the gift of public s...

How to Get Out of Your Own Way, featuring Garth Stein

If you believe in the idea that your book knows what it wants to be, or if you’re interested in hearing more about the ways in which this might be true, this episode is for you. Join Brooke and Grant for a conversation about how we’re in relationship with our books—which means we sometimes have to play and dance with them, listen to what they’re telling us, and even take some time apart at times. Guest Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, has some impassioned advice—and a lit...

Healing through Writing, featuring Francesca Lia Block

In this episode, Grant and Brooke explore with guest Francesca Lia Block, author of The Thorn Necklace, how writing is healing and oftentimes therapeutic. Today’s episode is about the feeling side of writing—and how touching into that both unlocks deeper places in a person’s writing and has the ability (at least some of the time) to set writers free from their angst and doubts and any lingering messages that might get lobbed at them by their inner critics. If you’ve ever wondered if writing h...

It’s Never Too Late to Seize Your Creative Destiny, featuring Vanessa Hua

Guest Vanessa Hua shares her circuitous path to literary success, which happened later in life, after a career in journalism and after age forty, and after the birth of her twin boys. In this episode Grant and Brooke explore the many ways writers seize their creative destinies—by following the thread of their curiosity, by taking up hobbies that spur creative endeavors, and by staying open to possibilities. If you feel like your next Big Creative Thing is just over that next hump, or even mor...

The Heroine/Hero’s Journey—The Most Epic of All Storylines, featuring Laura Lentz

Everyone is on a hero or a heroine’s journey. The trick is to see your own journey objectively enough to find your way into and through it, and also to claim your own hero or heroine’s journey as such, which can be difficult if you are still wrestling with which story or stories are yours to tell. In this episode, Brooke and Grant examine this journey from various angles and genres, and delve into the nuances of the journey with their guest, Laura Lentz, whose new workbook on this very topic,...

How to Be Selfish and Finish What You Start, featuring Claire Dederer

Guest Claire Dederer’s 2017 Paris Review Essay, “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?” inspired today’s episode about selfishness, and the ways in which we’re often culturally conditioned to feel badly about carving out time for our creative pursuits. Brooke and Grant explore their feelings around selfishness, sharing some of their individual struggles to strike that all-elusive balance, and explore the various ways in which selfishness can be a force for good when it comes to creativ...

Writerly Resolutions

Catch up with co-hosts Brooke and Grant for this special episode focused on Writerly Resolutions. No guest this week, just Brooke and Grant talking about resolutions—what works and what doesn’t, why most resolutions fail, and why you’re actually awesome if you have the same resolutions year after year. This episode includes lots of good resolution ideas for writers, too, including a writing action from each of the hosts.

Following Your Calling, Even When It Comes at a Cost, featuring Jessica Valenti

Many writers write because they have to. Today’s guest, Jessica Valenti, is one of them. Brooke and Grant talk about pursuing passions, your calling, your purpose—even if and when that might come at a cost. While most writers won’t face the kinds of threats Jessica has faced for her outspokenness, most writers are vulnerable to criticism. This episode encourages writers to persevere, and offers inspiration and tips for staying connected to purpose.

Writing and Activism—Where the Pen Meets a Cause, featuring Daisy Hernández

In this episode, Brooke and Grant examine activism and writing, and consider the various ways in which the very act of writing is activism—even if writers might call it something else. Guest Daisy Hernández shares her experience writing and creating in various forms—books, articles, radio spots, and more—and talks about how urgency shapes what she chooses to take on in her own activist writing. Tune in to discover the ways in which you might be an activist without even realizing it.

Crossing Borders, featuring Mitali Perkins

Grant and Brooke explore the many ways in which writers might cross borders—geographically, creatively, in their life experiences. Guest Mitali Perkins speaks to the experience of crossing borders in life and in fiction, and has inspiring words for listeners about following their inner compass when it comes to writing. This episode touches upon how we use our life experience in our writing, the value of being authentic to yourself and your readers, and reading as another vehicle for crossing ...

Writers Don’t Let Writers Write Alone, featuring Deborah Siegel

Write-Minded is the product of two writing communities coming together to support a podcast for writers about writing—and Deborah Siegel, one of She Writes’ founders, speaks to the power of community and why writers don’t let writers write alone. This episode, the final one in the NaNoWriMo line-up, celebrates community, and Grant, Brooke, and Deborah talk about why writing is better, more productive, and more rewarding when it’s not a solitary pursuit.

NaNo Rebels: A Walk on the Nonfiction Side, featuring Cami Ostman

In this episode, Brooke and Grant honor NaNoWriMo rebels as they botch the NaNo acronym and explore with their guest, Cami Ostman, some of the many ways writers and writing communities come together to have fun and write in November. Brooke talks about being a NaNo Rebel herself as she pushes through her nonfiction book about women and writing, and Grant talks about the NaNo stance on rebels—which is that NaNo welcomes all of you with open arms. After all, it’s all about the writing!

NaNoWriMo Guidance: Getting Through the “Muddy Middle,” featuring Gennifer Albin

The Muddy Middle is inevitable when you’re writing a book—that place all writers get to when the newness of their writing endeavor begins to wane, and the project isn’t feeling so exciting anymore. In this episode Grant commits to trying to make better use of the nooks and crannies of his life, writing even when he has just a ten-minute window, and Brooke confesses that one of her downfalls is needing the conditions to write to be just so. Guest Gennifer Albin, veteran NaNoWriMo writer, has s...