Confessions of a Working Writer

You've done it!

You've written the first draft and conquered the blank page! You've taken time away to get some distance and resisted just tinkering with the newborn story until you kill it. And now..…

We're Back!!!

After a weeklong mountain getaway, Matt returns to talk about the most important thing to do before diving into editing that story...getting some distance.

Join us for another Confession …

A special Thanksgiving message from Matt!

Join us for another Confession of a Working Writer

Intro and Outro music courtesy of Georgia Moon (https://www.thegeorgiamoon.com/)

Logo courtesy of Bear Paw Cr…

It's time! We've formed an idea. We've crafted characters, picked a setting, and set up a road map for our story. Now it's time to sit down for the single most terrifying part of creating a story...t…

One of the biggest problems writers deal with when taking an idea from their head and putting it on the page is writing themselves into a corner. You know the feeling. You're working on a story, the …

Matt's back! After a week of battling the flu, we continue our series on how to take an idea and work it into a piece of writing. This week Matt explores developing your setting as a character instea…

Matt's been sick with the flu so we didn't know if this was going to happen. But somehow he managed to rise from the grave long enough to record a fun treat for Halloween - a reading of his most rece…

How do you develop a character? Do you create a "trading card" bio for them including all of those physical details, their favorite foods, and turn ons? Do you define them by important events in thei…

Now that you have an idea you want to write about what do you do with it? Do you sit down and bang out that first draft? Or spend some time setting up an outline? Nope. You should probably sit down a…

"Everyone has one story in them"

But where do you start writing it? How do you take an idea and turn it into a fully formed piece of writing? It's not actually as hard as it seems. That's why Matt's t…

What do we say to writers when they express doubts or fear? Sometimes we say really helpful profound bits of advice from our lives. Occasionally we ask them to tell us more in the hopes that talking …

Why is it so hard to set our priorities? Why do we spend so much more time trying to study algorithms and metrics than actually putting words on the page? Why does being a writer, or just living life…

Challenges are typically seen as an obstacle. Something we need to bash through and conquer. But what if there is something else we can learn from challenges like writer's block? What if they're real…

This week Matt talks about his recent breakdown, where it came from, how it happened, and what he learned in the process. Why? Because it's important for writers and people, in general, to know they …

Money is a common topic for writers. We dream of making it. We often obsess over getting it. And we stress about not making enough of it. Why? Well, part of it is to pay the bills. But the other part…

Just when you think you've answered all the writing questions...they pull you back in.

Recently, someone posed the question "how do writers keep score?" This week, Matt tries to answer that question. …

We all struggle sometimes. Writers are no different, but sometimes we don't talk about it as much as we should. Let's change that. This week Matt talks about his recent loss of faith in writing, how …

This week Matt begins wraps up a two-part episode answering questions from listeners and social media. For this episode, we focus on the business side of writing including types of writing jobs, how …

This week Matt begins the first of a two-part episode answering questions from listeners and social media. For this episode, we focus on creativity and process questions related to inspiration, editi…

One of the biggest myths writers tell themselves is that writing is some sort of solo sport. The writer acts alone with no one helping them in any way, or so some say. But Matt disagrees. Of course, …