Diving into Writing: Recent Episodes
Louise Bishop
On this episode of Diving into Writing, Mariëlle and Lucinda work through the Quarterly Planner + Daily Word Count/Hour Tracker Mariëlle created for the show to get them both back on track. You can find the Quarterly Planner + Daily Word Count/Hour Tracker here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lx4nq51BEjaWGcZLoRrzH9erq3KcGh_r/view?usp=sharing Here are some questions to keep in mind as you fill … Continue reading "Episode 120 – Let’s set some (quarterly) goals!"
On this episode of Diving into Writing, Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about values and whether or not it’s important your written work reflects your most inner values. Here are some of the topics that came up: Here’s the exercise from Mariëlle’s 99 Writing Prompts and Journal Exercises: According to Stephen King, ‘serious ideas must always serve … Continue reading "Episode 119 – Bringing Your Values to Your Writing"
During this episode of Diving into Writing, which was recorded at the beginning of July, Mariëlle and Lucinda check in with each other about their goals for the next six months. Here are some of the topics that came up: And here’s a link to the sticky bookmarks Lucinda was gushing over during the episode: https://www.amazon.co.uk/smatime-Bookmark-Self-Stick-Stationery-Annotation/dp/B09FF6KGRY
During this episode of Diving into Writing, Mariëlle and Lucinda update each other on how their writing is going and end up talking about the joy of writing once again. Here are some of the topics that came up:
During this episode of Diving into Writing, Mariëlle – kindly – bitch-slaps Lucinda until they uncover why Lucinda is still struggling to continue writing her next book. Here are some of the topics that came up: Here’s the link to Heartfulness: https://heartfulness.org
During this episode of Diving into Writing, Mariëlle explains what the Akashic Records are and how they can help writers and does an Akashic Records reading for Lucinda to help her through some her writing-related blocks. For those who want to get their own Akashic Records reading, Mariëlle offers a limited number of free readings … Continue reading "Episode 114 – Writing and the Akashic Records"
On this episode of Diving into Writing, Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about their writing journeys and how they kept coming back to it over the years. Here are some of the topics that came up: You can find Lucinda’s dive into fan fiction here: https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Oriceran-Universe-Fans-Write/dp/1642021296 You can find Marielle’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforentrepreneurs
After three weeks of not speaking to each other, Mariëlle and Lucinda catch up on their lives in this episode and talk about the balance between belonging to community and staying true to yourself. Here are some of the topics that came up: You can find Marielle’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforentrepreneurs
In this week’s episode, Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about the many reasons NOT to quit your day job as a writer. Here are some of the topics that came up: You can find Marielle’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforentrepreneurs
In this week’s episode, Mariëlle and Lucinda each have a little vent about how they’ve been doing since the last time they recorded. Here are some of the topics that came up: You can find Marielle’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforentrepreneurs
The topic picked for this week’s episode was ‘fears around being unique’. As you will hear, this turned out to be a particularly hard topic to talk about—both Lucinda and Marielle kept circling the topic, talking about anything and everything related to this particular fear without actually facing the topic directly 😉 You can find … Continue reading "Episode 108 – The one where Lucinda and Mariëlle try to talk about fear"
In this week’s episode, Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about how to keep going when the going gets tough. Here are some of the topics that came up: Lucinda’s been struggling to prioritise her writing time – but talking about it reminded her how much she loves writing, and how much it is a part of … Continue reading "Episode 107 – How to Keep Going"
After pulling the Knight of Swords for this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about steady bravery and what that means for their creative lives. That was the intention, at least. They ended up talking about a LOT more than just that. Here are some of the topics that came up: Tarotly speaking, 2023 is the … Continue reading "Episode 102 – Steady Bravery"
During this first episode of the new year, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about: Some of the things they wish to surrender to over 2023 Mariëlle’s wish to surrender to her creative flow more by creating the necessary space in her usually rigid planning Lucinda’s wish to surrender to the things she has no control over … Continue reading "Episode 101 – Surrender"
During the 100th episode of the podcast, Lucinda and Mariëlle reflect on what they’ve learned about their writerly selfs over the past year and what they want to move towards during 2023. Here are some of the topics that came up: Lucinda becoming more accepting about how she’s forced to keep returning to the drawing … Continue reading "Episode 100 – Learning from the Past"
During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about how embracing your weird is a good thing and how to incorporate it into your writing. Here are some of the topics that came up: How writing to market can seriously limit your inner weirdo from shining through That staying true to yourself is an incredibly hard … Continue reading "Episode 99 – Embracing your Inner Weirdo"
Mariëlle explains the potential use of tarot cards in writing. She describes how to use tarots to identify and deal with blocks to the writing process, as well as, how to use the cards to plot a novel or develop characters. We asked the cards the following questions: What do we need to consider about … Continue reading "Episode 98 – Using Tarot in Writing"
In this episode, we continue the theme of effective goal setting to help you become a successful author.Have your writing plans ever gone off track because of a significant life event? What did you do?Mariëlle and I talk about our experience and what helped. We consider strategies, but first, it’s essential to recognise that a crisis needs attention. Dealing with issues mentally and emotionally can be just as debilitating as a physical injury or disease.
In this episode, we continue setting practical goals that can turn you into a successful author.Be honest about what you want and how much time you have available. It's easy to take on too much. Women especially have to be everything, super-fit, a wonderful mother while holding down a job and running a home.Routine and creating writing habits can go a long way to ensuring you work on your fiction, but life happens. When it does, prioritise and consider the cost of letting some things go. Most people experience stressful times when life is challenging, but think about what else might be happening if this becomes the norm. Where are your boundaries? Can anyone help? Is there anything you could give up?How quickly do you bounce back from disruption?
Whether it's a blank page or the terror of publishing, writing can be scary. At the heart of the problem could be a deep-rooted fear of failure. The effect can stop progress and induce a reluctance to experiment. It can manifests in different ways despite the commonly held belief that it results in paralysis. The truth is that it drives some people to work harder. However, failure as the driving force increases stress, which sucks the joy out of a potentially positive experience.Understanding what drives you places you in control, allowing you to seek a balance that enhances your writing life. Consider a world where failure was feedback and curiosity drives experimentation.How does a fear of failure affect your writing?Are you afraid of failure or afraid of success?Mariëlle mentioned Elizabeth Gilbert in the podcast. The book Big Magic: How to Live a Creative Life and Let Go of Your Fear is widely available.
What are beta readers? Beta readers review finished manuscripts before they’re published and provide the author with feedback from a reader’s point of view. They can answer author questions, such as, which characters are interesting and since beta readers highlight issues writers become blind to during the countless revisions. They can identify where a reader … Continue reading "Episode 53 – The Wonders of Beta Readers"
WHEN WRITING BECOMES ALL BUSINESSWhen should your hobby, writing fact or fiction become a business? This is something that Mariëlle and I explore in this episode.
Every author needs a mailing list, which means sending out regular newsletters but how do you decide what to include? Does your audience want personal facts or an insight into your daily living or should you keep things professional? This is something Marielle and I discuss in episode 51.
In this episode, Mariëlle and I talk about the ways in which we keep writing day after day. We would love to know what works for you.