Episodes
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If you are looking to launch your freelance business in 2025 this episode can help.
Enjoy this replay of one of our most popular episodes from 2023 and we'll be back in a couple of weeks with all new shows to help us with the writing craft and crafting a writing life.
For more on the writing craft and craft a writer's life be sure to subscribe to our Simply Write substack at https://simplywrite.substack.com
Now about the episode:
The end of the year is a good time to make sure you have a healthy business infrastructure, one that supports the writing work you want to do. In this episode we talk about some of the people and processes that can help you create a health shop, so you can publish more.
Follow Polly on Instagram @PollyLCampbell
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Can a typewriter be an antidote to perfectionism? It was for author Woz Flint, author of The Distraction Free First Draft: Unplug, Forget Perfectionism, and Write More Than Ever Using a Typewriter. Flint was gifted a typewriter a decade ago and that ignited her curiosity and opened up a new world of writing and writers, and, typewriter users nationwide. In this episode, she takes us on a deep dive into the world of typewriters and how they help her get her writing done.
For more on Woz Flint and her book go to https://wozflint.com
You can connect with Polly and join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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Episodes manquant?
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We've all heard about the importance of platform and branding, but today we go deeper to talk about shaping the arc of our careers to do work that is not only enjoyable but meaningful. What do you value about writing and what do you want to write next? What have you accomplished, which goals are no longer important? Now is the time to reflect on our work, our goals, and what we want to do with our writing in the months and years ahead so we can be deliberate with our writing and our process to create resonant work and a life that matters. In this episode, we talk about how to do it.
For more about the writing craft and crafting a writer's life, subscribe to Simply Write at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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Award-winning author Carol Hoenig, works on all sides of publishing. She's owned a bookstore, worked at another, and handles publicity and events for other authors. In this episode this publishing professional talks about her writing process--yes, her characters speak to her--why she goes all in to marketing her own books, and the one thing she does at the end of her writing session that makes it easier to begin again the next day.
Find Carol Hoenig and her books including the newest When She Was a Finley at https://carolhoenig.com
For more on the writer's craft and crafting a writer's life, join our Simply Write subscription community at https:simplywrite.substack.com
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Sure gratitude is good for our health, lowering our blood pressure, easing our stress, and improving our moods, but did you know it can also enhance creativity? A regular gratitude practice will not only leave you feeling better but it will also help you be more open to new experiences, expansive in your thoughts, and more optimistic about writing. And that will help you keep going on the tough days.
For more on how gratitude helps writers and the writer's craft and crafting a writer's life, please join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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Author Scott Semegran is a family man with a full-time job, and author who has written nine books, including several award winners, by writing on his lunch break. The author of The Codger and the Sparrow says it's about making the time you have to write, efficient. He uses a spreadsheet to track his work, so he doesn't waste time trying to find his place in the work, he often plays the same music, without lyrics, pours a cup of coffee, and blocks out the time on his lunch break to get the writing done. The habits, he says, help prime his brain to write, helping him to use the time he has efficiently. The practice has helped him produce multiple award-winning stories, and he explains in its episode how awards can help an author.
Find Scott Semegran , author of The Codger and the Sparrow here: https://scottsemegran.com/
Join Polly and the Simply Write community https://simplywrite.substack.com
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Patience is linked to perseverance, well-being, and creativity--all things writers need to successfully write and publish without compromising their mental health. Tune in to learn how you can build your patience levels to keep creating amidst the uncertainty of a writing life.
For more on the the writing craft and crafting a writer's life join Polly and the Simply Write Community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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J.F. Penn, the award-winning author of Blood Vintage and other books and podcaster at The Creative Penn, kicks off Simply Write's third season with a great conversation about "flipping the script" and allowing your creativity and writing to evolve as your interests grow and change. After creating an extensive nonfiction library for writers, J.F. Penn is now focused on writing edgier, darker fiction and nonfiction that explores the psychology of religion and other topics. In this episode she explains how and why she shifted her writing and publishing focus and why she's having so much fun. She also explains why writers shouldn't fear AI but learn how to use those tools to enhance their work.
Learn more about J.F. Penn and find her books at https://JFPenn.com
Connect with Polly and join the Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com
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In nonfiction essays, memoirs, and other forms, you've got to stick to the truth and discover the real-life characters in the story you are telling. But whether that's you, someone you are profiling, or a person in a service piece you encountered, it's up to you to observe their unique behaviors, details, and traits to create layered characters that readers care about and relate to. Characters are what drive the story and connect readers. In this episode, we talk about how to reveal authentic characters in your nonfiction.
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Ghostwriter Maggie Mills has written books for celebrities, athletes, preachers, and scores of other people who have overcome challenges, built businesses, survived mental illness, and have other incredible stories to tell. She's driven by curiosity, the desire to tell interesting stories, and make a living. In this far-reaching episode, she fills us in on the nuts and bolts that she uses to fulfill all of those things through her work as an in-demand ghostwriter. And she offers tips for how we can do it too.
Find Maggie Mills at maggiemills.com and don't forget to say Simply Write w/Polly Campbell sent you.
And join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com and become a paid subscriber to access our upcoming popup class Master the Techniques of Writing Better Nonfiction, on Oct. 25 at 10 a.m.
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Rough drafts can help us clarify our ideas and structure, build momentum, expand our creative process, and develop new and innovative ideas in our work, but only if we can allow ourselves to abandon the drive for perfection and write freely. In this episode I share some ways to do it and why we must give ourselves permission to write trash. Only then, do we have the materials on the page that we need to create art.
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Veronica Llorca Smith, author of The Lemon Tree Mindset talks about how to grow your writer's brand and business so you can amplify your voice, build your ecosystem, and build your reach. This is a way not only to reach more readers but also to develop a platform that will help you create more publication opportunities. To start developing your writer's brand, consider what you want to be known for and listen to this podcast. You aren't selling only your book or newsletter, you are also selling yourself. An authentic brand helps you do that. Listen to this episode to learn how to start.
Contact Veronica Llorca Smith and learn more about The Lemon Tree Mindset here: https://veronicallorcasmith.com
Join Polly and the Simply Write community at https:simplywrite.substack.com where paid subscribers get full articles and archives, access to pop-up classes at discounted rates
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Creating a sustainable writing practice is as much about mindset as it is about marketing and craft. Beat yourself up and you're likely to experience creative blocks and even more self-doubt. Self-compassion is actually a way through those blocks and bad feelings. In today's episode, I'll explain why it's so helpful to writers and how you can develop your own more self-compassionate approach. It won't make you soft, it will make you better.
For more, join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com for early-bird class discounts, feedback on your work, and essays, and encouragement.
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Michael Hearns, an author, retired police, detective, and undercover agent who investigated drug cartels, money laundering networks, homicides, and other crimes in the shadows of sunny South Florida talks about the real-life details he writes into his detective fiction so that his novels feel authentic. He calls this genre of gritty realism Dark Tropics and says writing characters with emotional depth and getting the details accurate from street names to menu items are essential to respecting the readers and keeping them engaged.
Find more about Michael at MichaelHearns.com
Join our Simply Write community, at https://simplywrite.substack.com, for more on the writing craft and crafting a writer's life.
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Whether you want to publish a novel or nonfiction book, essay, or article, you will need a query letter to sell your idea and yourself to agents and editors. In this episode, we cover the things that need to be in that letter as well as a couple of tips that can help you sell your work.
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Dianne Pearce loves reading so much that it seems natural that she would become a writer and publisher. Now as the founder of Current Words, an indie publisher, she has some suggestions for authors to keep in mind if they truly want to publish and release their work.
For more on Dianne Pearce and Current Words, https://currentwords.com
For more on the writing craft and crafting a writer's life, join our Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com.
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This episode ran our first season, but writers and rejection will always be an issue. Rejection can be a painful part of the job. But, when we learn to accept and manage rejection we can use it as a motivational tool to keep writing.
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Award-winning romance writer Susan Carlisle dictates 1500 to 2000 a day on her phone to quickly get the first draft out. Then she spends most of her time in revisions and editing. That process helps her publish multiple books a year.
What does it take to write compelling romance novels? Carlisle says there are some common tropes, and she wants to leave readers with a feel-good ending, but the "trope is the umbrella of the story, but that's not the part that makes a story work," Carlisle says. Readers must be invested in the characters, intrigued by the setting, and propelled forward by everything that happens along the way.
Listen for more on Carlisle's writing process and why she says she's in the "feel-good" business.
Go to https://susancarlisle.com for more on Carlisle and her books.
Join the Simply Write community, https://simplywrite.substack.com, for more on the writing craft and crafting a writer's life.
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Being a writer requires more than putting words on a page. It's a whole mindset. You have to believe you can do it and then give yourself permission to go after it and write consistently. I remember the first moment I called myself a write without any other qualifiers. It was awkward, embarrassing and life-changing.
In this episode, I'll explain why the declaration was so important and why I think calling yourself a writer is essential to becoming one.
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Book coach and author Caroline Donahue explains how we can manage our fears and even use it to build excitement and energy around our writing process. In this enlightening interview the author of three books including her newest, Writing through Fear: A Story Arcana Guide, Donahue says we can make fear an ally in our writing.
For more on Caroline Donahue and her work go to https://www.carolinedonahue.com.
And join our Simply Write community on Substack for plenty more on the writing craft and crafting a writer's life at https://simplywrite.substack.com/
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