Diving into Writing: Recent Episodes
Lucinda Pebre and Mariëlle Smith
Join Lucinda and Mariëlle for their regular podcast, talking about their experience of creativity and writing a novel.
During this episode of Diving into Writing, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about writing as a higher purpose and whether or not they feel guided by powers greater than them in their creative endeavours.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Lucinda feels writing is one of her higher purposes
- Mariëlle sees her writing as part of her higher purpose
- What it can feel like tapping into a higher power as you create, and the difference between tapping into this power unintentionally and intentionally
- How Mariëlle, who’s recently started creating from withing the Akashic Records deliberately, struggles to shake the belief that tapping into that higher power intentionally is a bit like cheating
Mariëlle’s Kickstarter campaign for the expanded anniversary edition of Tarot for Creatives runs until 27 September. You can back the book here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforcreatives?ref=64lrku
On 2 October, Mariëlle organises a free live guided journey into the Akashic Records for those who want to dip their toe in and become acquainted with this metaphysical field. During the meditation, you’ll also be guided to ask your Akashic Records about your creative purpose this lifetime. You can get your free ticket here.
This free guided meditation is also the introduction to Mariëlle’s upcoming Akashic Creative Coaching Meditation Circle, in which she will guide fellow creatives into their own Akashic Records each new moon around a creative topic or challenge. The meditation circle starts 1 November and the first meditation will be on giving yourself full permission to create and clearing any blocks you might have around that.
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have
During this episode of Diving into Writing, Lucinda and Mariëlle focus on what’s keeping them going these days, and why that’s driving them forwards.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- One of the things on Lucinda’s list of things that keep her going is Mariëlle, or, rather, doing the podcast with Mariëlle
- Lucinda has started planning her entire week, not just the work part of her week
- Lucinda has made writing part of her habits again, and will now look for ways to fit it into her other daily habits on days her schedule is a little different than usual
- One of the things that’s keeping Mariëlle going these days is that she’s been feeling like she found her purpose and path
- Mariëlle lets others beta any new work of hers, and that feedback usually propels her forward as well
- Somewhere during the past year, Mariëlle has given herself permission to write the things she wants to write, something that, in hindsight, was holding her back a bit
- Using Kickstarter as a launch platform gives a lot of structure to Mariëlle’s year as well as broadened her horizon about self-publishing
Mariëlle’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign for the expanded anniversary edition of Tarot for Creatives goes live on 10 September. You can follow it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforcreatives?ref=64lrku
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
During this episode of Diving into Writing, Mariëlle talks about the recent changes she made to her process.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- How Mariëlle’s creative work is benefitting from the recent changes she made
- The downsides of moving her non-fiction writing to early morning
- Why Mariëlle no longer seeing her fiction writing as part of her business was a strategic choice
- Whether or not it’ll be easy for Mariëlle to get back to her old rhythm when Tarot for Creatives is finished.
Mariëlle’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign for the expanded anniversary edition of Tarot for Creatives goes live on 10 September. You can follow it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforcreatives?ref=64lrku
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
During this episode of Diving into Writing, Lucinda shares with us how she got back into her daily writing habit after a two-year break from it.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Lucinda explains how she started with a small goal and increased it until she hit her actual goal – an hour of writing every day
- Lucinda shares how she got back into the series she’s been working on for the past two years
- That writing long-hand makes it that much easier for Lucinda to hit her daily target
- How it was embracing the mess that is writing a novel that allowed her to return AND fall back in love with the craft
- How going about her goals without imposing restrictions made it easier, not harder, for Lucinda to achieve her goal
Mariëlle’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign for the expanded anniversary edition of Tarot for Creatives goes live on 10 September. You can follow it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforcreatives?ref=64lrku
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
During this episode of Diving into Writing, Lucinda and Mariëlle reflect on their progress this year and what goals they’ve been hitting (and which not…).
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Both Lucinda and Mariëlle are doing better goal-wise than they thought (which is becoming a bit of a pattern!)
- Mariëlle needs to change the way she sets her long-term fiction goals so she stops disappointing herself despite being happy with her practice
- Lucinda needs to stop planning her writing and the rest of her life as if she only has one year left to get it all done
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
During the last couple of episodes, Lucinda and Mariëlle dove into the topic of Future Thinking and how it can benefit our creative lives. During this episode, they reflect on doing this series and what’s been showing up for them lately.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Now Lucinda’s found her passion for writing back, she’s finding it so much easier to sneak in writing wherever she can
- They didn’t talk about Mariëlle’s writing on the show, but she’s happy to inform you that Lucinda’s plan (do 10 minutes of fiction followed by 50 minutes of non-fiction) has been working perfectly for her
- How the vague messages and images Lucinda’s been getting during her mediations all connected once she came across a listing for a piece of agricultural land in her area…
- How manifestation works according to Mariëlle
- What came up for Mariëlle when she did the meditations herself – and how Lucinda nearly reduced her to tears during the sharing
Once Mariëlle gets around to recording these meditations separately, you’ll be able to find them here:
Illuminate | Musings and meditations for the creative soul: https://mariellessmith.substack.com/podcast
Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/mariellessmith@gmail.com
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
Over the next couple of episodes, Lucinda and Mariëlle will be diving into the topic of Future Thinking and how it can benefit our creative lives. During this episode, Mariëlle will guide you into meditation to find out, now you know who you want to be and what you want, how far you truly want to take that.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Lucinda is working with bare minimum and stretch goals for her writing, and she’s smashing them!
- Mariëlle wonders whether to use her morning writing time for her next non-fiction book, and Lucinda uses the opportunity to throw Mariëlle’s own advice back at her again
- After the meditation, Lucinda shares the different visions she received
During the next episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle will reflect on their Future Thinking episodes and wrap the mini-series up.
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
Over the next couple of episodes, Lucinda and Mariëlle will be diving into the topic of Future Thinking and how it can benefit our creative lives. During this episode, Mariëlle will guide you into meditation to find out what you truly want so you can start working towards your truest desire today.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Lucinda is meeting her writing goals, including writing an hour a day when on holiday!
- Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about their vision boards and that it’s not necessarily about achieving what’s on your board but moving towards it
- When Mariëlle mentions it can be hard to get back to writing on Monday because she doesn’t write fiction on weekends, Lucinda throws Mariëlle’s own advice back at her by suggesting she doesn’t have to do the full hour…
- Properly schooled, Mariëlle then commits to at least looking at where she was in the story on Saturdays and Sundays so the story stays fresh in her mind
- After the meditation, Lucinda shares what came up for her during, which felt like the exact opposite of what she’d experienced last time – but was it?
Next episode, Mariëlle will do one final Future Thinking meditation about where you truly want to in the future and how to get there.
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
Over the next couple of episodes, Lucinda and Mariëlle will be diving into the topic of Future Thinking and how it can benefit our creative lives. During this episode, Mariëlle will guide you into meditation to find out who you truly are, and how you can start becoming the truest version of yourself today.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Over the past four weeks, Lucinda has gone from writing 15 minutes a day to 30 minutes!
- Mariëlle is just finishing up her last Kickstarter and is itching to get working on the book for her next Kickstarter
- After the meditation, Lucinda shares what came up for her during, which was NOT what she’d expected
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
Over the next couple of episodes, Lucinda and Mariëlle will be diving into the topic of Future Thinking and how it can benefit our creative lives. During this episode, they ask themselves whether it’s harder for women to see themselves in their full creative potential, and why that might be.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Why we, as women, put pressure on ourselves
- That both Lucinda and Mariëlle are very much still affected by how their mothers behaved as they grew up
- That being non-conformist does not mean you’re immune to external pressures
- That it takes time to unlearn the stories we tell ourselves about what women should and shouldn’t do and want, much to Lucinda’s chagrin
- How important it is to remember that having the freedom to achieve ANYthing does not mean we have to achieve EVERYthing, no matter how much society tries to convince us of this
- That, after this episode, Lucinda is no longer certain dogs are more than cats
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
Over the next couple of episodes, Lucinda and Mariëlle will be diving into the topic of Future Thinking and how it can benefit our creative lives. During this episode, Mariëlle guides Lucinda and their listeners into a guided visualisation that invites one to connect with their future creative selves.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Mariëlle explains why she decided to create a guided visualisation for the episode
- After the guided visualisation, Lucinda shares her experience of it and what came up for her
- Mariëlle reminds everyone – including herself – that it’s not about getting exactly where you are in your future vision; it’s about what having that future vision in front of you drives you to do in the here and now.
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
Over the next couple of episodes, Lucinda and Mariëlle will be diving into the topic of Future Thinking and how it can benefit our creative lives. During this episode, they introduce the topic and discuss what a shift to Future Thinking can do to the way you are in and respond to the world.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- That Lucinda came to Future Thinking through her work with dogs
- How it has changed the way Lucinda responds to her border collie Luca
- That Mariëlle came to something similar through a meditation challenge she did last year
- The difference between thinking about what we need to do from where we are now and from where we will be in the future
Here’s the post Mariëlle mentioned in which she wrote about Justin Michael Williams’s Daily Power Action and meditation challenge: https://mariellessmith.substack.com/p/believe-in-miracles-and-they-might
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talked about their goals for the first quarter and what they’re hoping to move towards in the next.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- The mystery podcast Mariëlle was interviewed for is The Rebel Author Podcast. The episode comes out 10 April 2024.
- That there’s a point to doing these check-ins! Both Lucinda and Mariëlle are doing much better than they thought before hitting the record button.
- Lucinda is working on her writing every day again, for fifteen minutes at least.
- Mariëlle isn’t doing yoga as much as she’d like to, but she is nailing her walking goals each month, and she’s finally established a daily Reiki habit.
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle (reluctantly) discuss the promises they would like to make to their creative selves.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- The difference between promises that feel more ‘meta’ and those that are more practical
- That making promises to yourself is a very personal trajectory: what Mariëlle decided to promise her creative self is something Lucinda has already mastered, and vice versa
- Lucinda promises to show up for her creative self
- Mariëlle promises to show up for the physical body that is her creative self’s current home
Mariëlle’s current Kickstarter runs until the 21st of March, and you can check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/listentoyourheart?ref=35eav2
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about whether or not they’re showing up for their creative selves right now, and, if not, how they can start doing that more
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Lucinda confesses she’s not been showing up for her creative self she’d like to for quite some time now
- Mariëlle, on the other hand, feels like she’s been showing up more for her creative self now than she’s ever done before
- Hearing Mariëlle talk about losing yourself in your writing, Lucinda remembered what that felt like, and it made her determined to keep setting that intention to write every day for herself
- How important it is to know for yourself just how much pressure is ideal for you to keep moving forwards
Mariëlle next Kickstarter goes live on 5 March, and you can follow it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/listentoyourheart?ref=35eav2
You can find Mariëlle’s 52 Weeks of Writing Author Journal and Planner here: https://mswordsmith.nl/journal
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle check in with the goals they set for this quarter and discuss what is and isn’t working for them.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
Lucinda is smashing her non-writing goals, but she needs a new plan for her writing ones
Mariëlle is well on her way to achieving the goals she’s written down at the start of the year
Mariëlle suggests starting small and work up to the habit(s) you hope to create
Both Lucinda and Mariëlle shamelessly plugged the YouTube channel Yoga with Adriene
Mariëlle next Kickstarter goes live on 1 March, and you can follow it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/listentoyourheart?ref=35eav2
What is Diving into Writing?
Diving into Writing is a podcast, brought to you by two indie authors, where we discuss best practices to create a sustainable writing career and encourage fellow writers to listen to what their hearts and souls want them to create.
Who is Diving into Writing for?
Any writer who seeks to honour their creative impulses. We are here to make you feel less alone on this journey and inspire you to stay true to yourself in your life and your creative work.
What are our promises to you?
In sharing our creative experiences with you openly and honestly, we aim to create a safe space where you can be honest about your creative dreams and desires.
Why listen to us?
We look beyond the surface of our writing practice. By diving deeply and reflecting on our own creative struggles and obstacles, we broach topics only some in the writing community are willing or ready to have.
During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle dive deep into the topic of models and the kind of behaviour they themselves would like to model to the world.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Who some of Lucinda’s and Mariëlle’s role models were when they were growing up
- That people are often role models without us consciously realising that’s what they are to us
- That anyone can be a role model, and that it can be as much about what they do with their lives as how they make you feel about yours
- That the behaviour Lucinda wants to model to others is that she follows through with her writing, that is, she gets stuff done and out into the world
- Mariëlle wants to model what it’s like to not be afraid of your own inner power
Here are some of the questions Mariëlle posed that could help you figure out what kind of role model you would like to be:
- Who were your role models as you grew up? If you can’t think of anyone, think about the people who left a positive mark on you. What did they do? How did they make you feel? Are you emulating any of that in your own life?
- Why were these people your role model? What is it they did or said that made you look up to them as an example for your own life?
- When you think of the people you’re leaving a mark on yourself, what would you like for them to see?
- Are you currently setting that example and modelling that behaviour?
- If no, what would need to change for you to start setting the example you wish to be in others’ lives?
During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about falling out of love with your craft and ways to get that loving feeling back if you lost it.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- That there’s a difference between falling out of love with a project and falling out of love with the craft (although falling out of love with the craft might just be about a project and not the craft itself)
- That there are different elements to being in love with your writing, and that you might have to look into all of these to figure out why you haven’t been feeling it
If you’ve fallen (somewhat) out of love with our writing, you might want to pick up your journal and sit down with the following questions:
- When you first started writing, why were you called to write?
- When you first started writing, how did it make you feel?
- Do you still feel like that when you write? If not, what has changed?
- If you fell out of love with writing, whether partly or entirely, when did you first notice you lost that loving feeling?
- When did you lose or start losing (some of) that loving feeling?
- What does this tell you?
During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle discuss the past year, how COVID and day job drama upended their goals and their intentions for 2024.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
• What happened to the goals Mariëlle and Lucinda set themselves back in September
• What to do when all goes to shit
• Why it’s so important to consider all aspects of your life when planning your creative goals
• How Mariëlle is looking forward to using her 52 Weeks of Writing Author Journal and Planner again to set flexible goals
• Lucinda’s plan to learn how to plan realistically, especially around the writing and publication of the trilogy she’s been working on
Are you looking for a great way to organise your writing life realistically? Mariëlle’s 52 Weeks of Writing was designed to help you with that. You can find it here: https://mswordsmith.nl/journal
During this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about self-care and why it’s so hard to stick to habits that are supposed to be good for us
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- During her last vacation, Lucinda was reminded how important it is to make space in one’s day to do nothing
- When it comes to things she loves doing, Mariëlle has absolutely no break, so she needs to start scheduling down-time
- While Lucinda is pretty clear on what down-time means for her, Mariëlle will have to figure out what it could look like for her
Being the animal lovers they are, it was a matter of time before Mariëlle and Lucinda ended up talking about animals and how they (don’t) write them into their stories.
Here’s what came up during the episode:
- Because horrid things tend to happen to the animals in the novels Lucinda reads, she doesn’t want to make herself include animals in her own story-telling
- When Mariëlle just started writing, she always forgot to include animals into the story (unless they were relevant to the plot). Now, she always does but only in a way that fits the worlds she’s building.
- Lucinda and Mariëlle realising that their shared love for animals leads Lucinda to NOT wanting to write about them and Mariëlle to DEFINITELY wanting to write about them
- Lucinda and Mariëlle discuss some ways animals can be included into stories without them having to be integral to the plot and in ways that subtly demonstrate their values around animals
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:
- Why Mariëlle and Lucinda are both keen on keeping their day jobs
- Why having and keeping a day job can be beneficial to your writing
- Plenty of known authors had day jobs while already being published, and some continued to keep some sort of day job even after becoming successful
- Many authors have multiple income streams based on their writing, meaning they don’t ‘just write’ the whole day either
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:
- Lucinda has started playing around with her writing again, which has led to new ideas and bursts of inspiration
- Mariëlle’s been feeling overwhelmed for different reasons and she’s still in the ‘no one’s waiting for this’ phase; but, she IS writing daily and she’s – for the first time in her life – set on writing 50k words by the end of Camp NaNoWriMo April
- Both Lucinda and Mariëlle set the intention to keep on having as much fun as they can with whatever they’re working on right now
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 overwhelm and how they (try to) deal with it.
Here are some of the topics that came up:
- The differences between dealing with overwhelm at the day job and in your writing life
- The importance of to-do lists and prioritising the items on said list
- That Lucinda and Mariëlle relate to time differently, and how they both end up overwhelmed by it
- Mariëlle having found her limit when it comes to the length of her to-do lists
- How they both handle wanting to do to much at the same time
- Why it’s necessary to remind yourself why you’ve put an item on your to-do list to begin with
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 Marielle’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforentrepreneurs
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 her
- Mariëlle’s currently in the ‘no one’s waiting for this’ phase of both her novel and non-fiction project, and she realised while recording just how deep-seated her imposter syndrome really is
- That habits can be both a blessing and a curse, and that we need to remain somewhat flexible around them.
You can find Marielle’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mswordsmith/tarotforentrepreneurs
In this week’s episode, Marielle talks about the epiphany she had after recording the last episode, and how that epiphany is already changing how she’s going about collaborating.
In this week’s episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about their experiences (and fears!) around collaborating with others.
Here are some of the topics that came up:
- Mariëlle’s fears around collaboration and where she thinks these may be coming from
- That Lucinda has been very ‘lucky’ in her picking of collaborators because she’s never had a bad experience
- Collaborating with friends
- The importance of making sure you gel with someone before you start collaborating
- Why making up contracts, even when collaborating with a friend, can be highly useful
- That, sometimes, you just have to take the chance and see where you end up
During the recording, Mariëlle kept feeling she was talking in circles, but right after we stopped recording, she had a major revelation about her current fear around collaboration and where it came from exactly! It goes to show that, sometimes, you just need to talk through something, prod at it from different angles, to arrive at that vital aha! moment
In this week’s episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about being stuck and how they get out of it.
Here are some of the topics that came up:
- Before you act on your being stuck, it’s always good to try to figure out WHY it is you’re stuck—how did you get here?
- That while Mariëlle’s writing lots these days, and is definitely not stuck on her current project, she has to admit she’s actually a little stuck on her other project, which is why she put it in a drawer for now and allows herself to focus on her current WIP
- When Lucinda gets stuck, she steps away from the computer and allows herself to get messy by writing long-hand, which activates a different part of the brain than typing on a keyboard does
- That, when all else fails, a new notebook might do the trick, since the breath of fresh air that new notebooks bring along might help you in finding a different perspective (in case you needed another excuse to get yourself a new notebook )
In this week’s episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about levelling up as a writer, and whether or not they’re ready for that.
Here are some of the topics that came up:
- Lately, Lucinda’s focus has been less on the writing and more on other aspects of her life, and that’s OK.
- After recognising and then working through some deep-seated patterns in her life, Mariëlle feels about ready to seriously level up and do the things she knows she’s here to do.
- That you can’t see your writing life as separate from the rest of your life, and that what happens regarding the one automatically affects the other.
- How, in Lucinda’s case, her personal transformation might very well affect her writing in the long run.
- That not all things might happen for a reason, but that doesn’t mean we cannot give them at least some level of purpose after the fact.
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 year of the Chariot, which means it’s the perfect year to move forwards with your goal.
- How the Knight of Swords fits the Chariot perfectly, since they both warn against pushing forward too hard and ending up burned out and hurt.
- What bravery means exactly, and that it can mean something different for everyone.
- Whether we need that nasty little voice in side our heads to get us moving or whether there’s another reason for ‘lazy’ or avoidant behaviour.
- Where Lucinda’s fear around social media might be coming from.
- Why learning how to properly rest terrifies Mariëlle like nothing else.
Mariëlle also promised to dig up a link to Derek Murphy’s talk on how to create an author brand, which he gave in Edinburgh, but it’s unfortunately not available online.
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 to begin with
- How being in survival mode affects one’s creativity
- Taking the easy road over taking the hard road, and whether that has everything to do with perspective
- That going with the flow sounds easier than it is
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 board each time she thinks she figured out her ideal system for writing.
- Lucinda’s realisation that she wants to stop looking for shortcuts in life.
- That this is the perfect time of year to reflect on what shortcuts we’ve been trying to take this year and why.
- How Lucinda learned to take her time when it comes to writing, which takes the pressure off.
- Mariëlle realising that, if she doesn’t make space for her creative energy to flow, she becomes like a pressure cooker ready to blow.
- Mariëlle trying to balance her regained trust that her creativity will always come back—if with a vengeance—with her intention to build in more space for that creativity to keep flowing all year round.
- How what we go through on a personal level has a profound impact on our creativity, since both are located in the second chakra, our emotional well.
For our first episode of the new year, we will be talking about what we would like to (try to) surrender to during 2023. What are some of the things you’d like to surrender to in the year to come?
Moleskine PRO Planner 2023: https://www.moleskine.com/en-gr/shop/planners/pro-collection/pro-planner-2023-black-8056598851038.html
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 journey—but so worth it
- Our characters need their quirks to stand out and be likeable, so why not embrace our own?
- That indie-publishing should mean freedom, yet there’s an awful lot of talk about what one should and shouldn’t do
- That there are better ways to make money, easier day jobs, than not writing what you love
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"
During this episode, Lucinda asks Mariëlle all about her upcoming Kickstarter campaign. Here are some of the topics that came up: What Kickstarter is and how it can work for writers (fiction and non-fiction) For whom Kickstarter is, potentially, a great platform to sell books and find a new audience The risks involved in using … Continue reading "Episode 94 – Kickstart Your Writing"
In this episode Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about the Fear of Missing Out FOMO. The decision to attend a writing conference is not always as easy as it seems. Mariëlle and Lucinda share their experiences and challenges of whether or not to attend conferences.
In this episode Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about what qualities makes writing meaningful.
In this episode, Lucinda and Mariëlle talk about: How Mariëlle figured out what kept her back from plotting her next writing project. How both Lucinda’s and Mariëlle’s creativity shuts down when they start telling themselves ‘This is how it SHOULD be done.’ Making the two parts of your brain cooperate and tricking your fear into … Continue reading "Episode 90 – Overcoming Writing Struggles"
This episode is all about a struggle the hosts share. What happens when you fail to do well at the one thing you have a reputation for being good at? Consider the stories we tell ourselves and no matter how positive and uplifting, what are the dangers? How can the story be manipulated to produce … Continue reading "Episode 89 – When you fail to do well at what you are normally good at."
Anxiety and depression are all too common. Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about their own difficulties, and the challenges that brings to their writing.
In this episode, Mariëlle and Lucinda continue the theme of self-sabotage as they share their experience of writing through distractions.
The most powerful writing comes from the subconscious part of the brain we access when we shut down the inner critic and just let the words come. Fear of judgement will shut that part down, and we must learn to let it go. How? With lots of self-awareness and work, of course. Grab your journal … Continue reading "Episode 85 – Writing with the Inner Critic"
“I think new writers are too worried that it has all been said before. Sure it has. But not by you.” Asha Dornfest Do you continue to write a book if someone has already written something similar? In this episode Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about what is unique about their writing. Think of a story … Continue reading "Episode 81 – It’s all been said before, but that’s okay"
During this episode, Mariëlle and Lucinda discuss what came up for them during the third part of the exercise. What better beliefs have they created? And can they improve on them together? “I deserve to achieve financial success and respect for my writing.” Lucinda Pebre.
During this episode, Mariëlle and Lucinda discuss what came up for them during the second part of the exercise. They ask: Where do our limiting beliefs come from? How have they served us? Who would you be without these beliefs? Step 3 – Creating new beliefs about writing Of all the beliefs about writing you … Continue reading "Episode 78 – Understanding our Limiting Beliefs"
Episode 76 introduces a series about self-sabotage, which appears to plague most humans. It has many faces, and Mariëlle and Lucinda share theirs in the following episodes. First, they take a closer look at their limiting beliefs. What do they mean to the individual? How do they impact writing lives? “Our deepest fear is not … Continue reading "Episode 76 – Introduction to Self-Sabotage"
Mariëlle and Lucinda needed a second episode to continue the theme of boundaries and recognise their importance in establishing a healthy writing practice. In this episode, they consider what distracted them in the previous week as they reflect on improving their response in the future.
Boundaries are essential in all aspects of personal and professional relationships. Without them or when people cross them, it can make us feel unsafe or angry.
Firm personal boundaries are an expression of self-love as they communicate our expectations to ourselves and others. However, there are dangers if they become too fixed. We want or need to do things beyond writing, commitments to family, work, or even hobbies, and need to find a way for the boundaries in different aspects of our lives to work together.
Writing practice needs healthy boundaries so the people around us can know and respect our routines. Honour your boundaries. Make it easier for your family and friends to recognise that you value your writing by committing time and energy to the practice.
EXERCISE
Prentice Hemphill said, “Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.”
Write this quote out and place it where you can see it.
In this episode, Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about establishing boundaries that allow them to write regularly.
Boundaries are not fixed and need to adapt and change, sometimes becoming the new normal. Boundaries are more membrane-like than a drawbridge where aspects of life can pass through while others need keeping out. Only you can decide what to allow inside and what to push out.
Anger can signify that someone is attempting to compromise one of your boundaries and demonstrates why it is vital to be conscious about where your boundaries lie. A strong sense of self-awareness supports conscious choice rather than mindless reaction.
EXERCISES
Boundaries are vital for any writer, but no writer is an island. We all have things we have or want to do beyond our writing.
Set your timer to ten minutes, grab your journal or open a new document on your computer, and make a list. What have you allowed to distract you from writing over the past week? Month? Year?
Take a good look at last week’s list of things you’ve allowed to distract you from writing. Of all the distractions you’ve written down, which are perfectly acceptable to you? Which aren’t?
Now write a new list only containing the distractions you’re more than willing to accommodate in your life. Pin it to the wall or keep it in another place where you get to see it regularly.
In this episode, Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about fitting writing into their lives. They identify areas that they have consciously and unconsciously given up to write fiction.
There might be obvious areas. Perhaps you spend too much time on social media or watching TV, but sometimes it’s about spending less time with family and friends. It might even involve changing your job alterations to a lifestyle. Whatever it is, it is worth spending some time identifying what you want and what you are prepared to sacrifice.
What have you given up to dedicate yourself to your writing?
What will you give up?
Virginia Woolf noted, many people who write want to do nothing else.
What are the most disagreeable aspects of being a writer for you? Are you passionate enough to endure these in the long term?
Imagine dedication as a gauge. If you are honest with yourself, how do you score?
What would dedication to your writing look like for you?
Before measuring your dedication, you need to know precisely what you want from your writing.
It could be putting a couple of hours a week aside to clear your head and write. It could be buying a writing course AND setting aside time to practise what you learnt.
If you’re crazy, maybe you’ll pack in work for a year, move into a caravan in the corner of a field and spend every day for a whole year reading about writing, practising, getting it wrong and trying again.
Choose what you want and dedicate some time and effort to take the actions required to achieve it. The hardest part is making up your mind if this is a ‘want to’ or a ‘going to.’
What might help?
• Connecting with fellow writers for accountability, community and encouragement to keep going.
• Daily writing sessions to get unblocked and make progress on your writing projects.
• Attending events in person and online.
• Reading fiction and writing craft books.
In this episode, Mariëlle and Lucinda talk about dedicating themselves to writing. Many people struggle to find the time and commitment to write a novel but knowing where you are and where you are going improves your chance of success.
It is vital to discover what is realistically achievable so you don’t constantly feel you are failing or if you are, you can identify what needs to change. A part of this is knowing and setting your priorities to ensure you are in the right place and heading in the right direction. Boundaries protect your time from other commitments, enabling you to write. However, first, you need to be honest with yourself. Try these exercises.
List your priorities. You might be surprised by what comes ahead of writing.
Rank those priorities in order of importance, with one the most important. You can have as many as you can fit in your life.
Can you identify anything that you have given up to fit writing into your life?
Dedicating yourself to writing or a writing career starts with goals. Those goals might include publishing a novel, entering competition or just finishing a piece of work.
In order to move forward, you will probably experience a mindset shift. It might be moving from writing as a hobby to writing as a career or perhaps you aren’t there yet. Maybe you never will be.
Sometimes, it is because something triggers a change. We talk about how sharing our writing with someone else causes us to grow and move up a level.
Dedicating yourself to writing is a choice. Perhaps like me you decide that you want others to read what you have written. Accepting and making use of critiques is a skill. To find out more join us for this new series.
What does it mean to you to become a dedicated writer?
When did you decide to dedicate yourself to writing?
“Research shows that perfectionism hampers success” (Brene Brown).
Perfectionism can show up in many aspects of your life. It can stop a writer from getting past the first page or prevent them from pressing publish.
In this episode, Mariëlle and I talk about overcoming our tendencies to lean towards perfectionism.
In striving to be perfect, we focus on the wrong things. This has never been more obvious than when writing a novel. Some people become stuck on rewriting the same line over and over, and for others, it’s the need for just one more draft.
Perfectionism can even stop you from setting specific goals because of the fear that you can never achieve what you want, and if you do manage to set a goal, it can keep you perfecting the detail instead of moving forwards to the finish line.
Do you feel that perfectionism gets in the way of your success?
In what way does perfectionism stop you from achieving your goals?