The Overlooked Value of Writing a Novel
When writing feels frustrating, overwhelming, or hopeless, it’s usually because we’ve started measuring the worth of our work solely by outcomes—a finished draft, a publishing deal, a yes from an agent. But what if the value of writing a novel goes far beyond what it produces? This week, I’m making the case for the intrinsic gifts that writing gives us, whether or not the story ever finds a reader.
Book Marketing for Authors: Avoiding Scams & What Actually Works with Rob Bignell
You spent years writing your book. The last thing you need is to lose money, time, or hope to a book marketing scam. Author and editor Rob Bignell joins the Write It Scared podcast to break down why authors make such easy targets, how to recognize offers that don’t pass the sniff test, and what legitimate book marketing actually looks like for indie and traditionally published authors alike.
On Book Censorship, Banned Books Week, and What Writers Have to Lose
Who gets to decide what we read—and what writers feel safe putting on the page? I’m weighing in on book bans, the difference between parental curation and collective censorship, and what’s at stake for both writers AND readers.
How to Find and Work with Beta Readers: Everything Fiction Writers Need to Know
There comes a point in working on a novel when you’ve done everything you know how to do. You’ve revised. You’ve edited. You’ve read the damn thing so many times you can practically recite whole sections from memory. And that’s exactly the problem. You’re too close to see what’s working and what isn’t, or to make impactful changes.
Enter the beta reader.
This week on the Write It Scared podcast, I sat down with mystery and thriller author and professional beta reader K.A. Wilde to talk about what beta readers actually do, when to use them, how to find the right ones, what to ask them, and perhaps most importantly, how to sort through their feedback without feeling like you have to change your entire freaking book.
Your Novel Is Too Long … Now What? 3 Steps to Fix a Bloated Manuscript
This one is for all the revisers and drafters who worry about overshooting their genre-recommended word counts. Before you panic, start hacking, or lose hope—read this! I’m breaking down my three-step approach to diagnosing and fixing a bloated manuscript.
We Begin Again: On Writing, Capacity, and Finding My Way Back to the Page
At the end of Season Three of the Write It Scared Podcast, I signed off with a question I couldn't answer: how do you write when you feel numb? A few months later, I’m back—not with a framework or a five-step fix, but with something more honest. A reflection on creative capacity, the seasons of a writing life, and what it actually looks like to find your way back to the page when grief, life, and exhaustion make writing feel impossible.
Are You Stalling With Your Writing, Is Life Just Lifeing…or Is It Both?
Sometimes life really is too full to write. And sometimes fear is hiding behind your very legitimate busyness—disguised as productivity, perfectionism, and one more pass through chapter one. Today, I’m getting honest about the moment I realized fear was making decisions for me, and I'm sharing three questions worth asking yourself when your actions don't line up with what you say you want.
Turning Revision Up to 11: Sara F. Shacter on Resilience, Joy, and the Long Road to Publication
Sara Shacter's debut middle grade novel took 15 years, multiple massive rewrites, a lost agent, and a late-in-the-game discovery that changed everything before it finally became the book it was always meant to be. In this Write It Scared podcast conversation, she shares how she learned to love revision, how consistent feedback on submission finally cracked open the story's missing hook, and why staying connected to joy—not outcomes—is what kept her going.
How Can You Bring More “Play” Into Your Writing Process?
Writing is kind of magical, isn’t it? At least it can be—especially when I remember not to take myself so damn seriously. This week I’m breaking down what play really means in a writing practice, why pressure turns writing into performance, and how lowering your expectations (in the best possible way) might be the key to finding more freedom, curiosity, and joy in your process.
The Fear Doesn’t Go Away After You Publish: A Conversation with MM Romance Author Alex Cross
Publishing a book doesn't make the fear go away. For MM romance author Alex Cross, it amplified it. In this Write It Scared podcast conversation, Alex opens up about writing emotionally messy relationships, losing her creative instincts to reader expectations, and the hard-won realization that trying to please everyone is the fastest way to destroy your creativity. If you've ever wondered what happens to self-doubt after you publish, this one will resonate.
Writing Middle Grade Historical Fiction: Shafaq Khan on Craft, Revision, and Persistence
Author Shafaq Khan joins me to talk about the long road from idea to publication for her debut middle grade historical fiction novel, Zania: Lost and Found. We discussed the challenge of balancing historical context with a fast-paced adventure story for kids, and what it means to keep writing through years of uncertainty and revision.
This conversation was a beautiful (and needed) reminder that books are often built slowly, imperfectly, and through tremendous persistence.
Sometimes Walking Away From A Story Is What Fixes It With Author Andromeda Romano-Lax
What if setting your draft aside isn't failure—it's part of the process? Author Andromeda Romano-Lax spent two years away from her thriller before a breakthrough on a plane to Utah revealed exactly what the story needed. In this Write It Scared podcast recap, she explores why stepping away, thinking deeply, and letting a story compost can sometimes be the very thing that unlocks it.
How to Normalize Self-Doubt and Lean Into Writing Courage
Self-doubt isn't a sign that you're not cut out for writing—it's a sign that you're doing something that matters. The goal was never to eliminate fear. It's to keep writing anyway. Writing coach Stacy Frazer shares four practical ways to move forward when doubt shows up, and why the bravest thing a writer can do is take the next step without having it all figured out first.
Fear, Growth, and Writing Anyway: What AK Nevermore Learned Publishing 30+ Books
What does it look like to build a prolific writing career without a perfect process, without waiting for fear to disappear, and without trying to become a different kind of writer than you already are? AK Nevermore—author of 30+ published projects across dark romance, urban fantasy, dystopian fiction, and more—returns to the Write It Scared podcast to share what two years of relentless growth have taught her about doubt, process, and doing the scary thing anyway.
How to Make Better Decisions about Your Author Career with Becca Syme
There's no shortage of advice telling writers what they should be doing to build an author career—newsletters, social media, ads, audio, direct sales, and Kickstarter. But what if most of that advice doesn't apply to where you are right now? Author Success Coach Becca Syme joins the Write It Scared podcast to cut through the noise with one of the most clarifying frameworks for writers: the five phases of an author's career, and why making the right decision at the wrong phase can set you back more than doing nothing at all.
Remember Why You Started: Emy McGuire on Writing Through Doubt
Emy McGuire knew she wanted to be a published author at nine years old. By eighteen, she felt like a failure. Before her debut thriller No One Aboard, she wrote six full novels that never sold—and at one point, walked away from writing entirely to sail across the Atlantic and study marine biology. What brought her back, and what it took to finally publish, is a story every writer navigating doubt, burnout, and self-imposed pressure needs to hear.
Celebrating Episode 100 of the Write It Scared Podcast!
Episode 100! 100 conversations with writers, about writing, for writers. We’re celebrating this week—and announcing something new and a chance to win a free editorial assessment and book coaching session!
How to Start Writing Again When You Feel Stuck or Frozen: 5 Steps That Work
Feeling frozen with your writing—but it's not writer's block and it's not burnout? You're still connected to the story, still thinking about it, still caring. And yet, when it comes time to sit down and write, something in you just doesn't move? I’ve worked with a lot of writers in exactly this spot, and here are five steps I’ve found that work to get unstuck and back to the page.
How to Write Horror That Truly Unsettles with Author Nicole M. Wolverton
Horror isn't about shock value—it's about forcing readers to confront what scares them and imagine who they might become on the other side. In this conversation with horror author and educator Nicole M. Wolverton, we explore what makes horror fiction psychologically powerful, why deeply unsettling beats terrifying every time, and how writing from your own fear creates the kind of authenticity that stays with readers long after the last page.
When You Don’t Know What Happens Next in Your Story, Try This
Stuck in your draft and have no idea what happens next? Before you invent a new plot twist or force a scene that doesn't fit, try looking backward. The next moment in your story is almost always hiding in what just happened. Once you know how to find it, writer's block starts to lose its grip. Here's a simple framework to get your story moving again.