Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

De: Ann Kroeker
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  • Resumen

  • Reach your writing goals (and have fun!) by being more curious, creative, and productive. Ann provides practical tips and motivation for writers at all stages to improve their skills, pursue publishing, and expand their reach. Ann keeps most episodes short and focused so writers only need a few minutes to collect ideas, inspiration, resources and recommendations to apply to their work. She incorporates interviews from publishing professionals and authors like Jane Friedman, Allison Fallon, Ron Friedman, Shawn Smucker, and Jennifer Dukes Lee to bring additional insight. Ann and her guests cover everything from self-editing and goal-setting to administrative and scheduling challenges. Subscribe for ongoing coaching to advance your writing life and career. More at annkroeker.com.
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Episodios
  • When did you stop writing?

    When did you stop writing?
    Sep 25 2024
    Somewhere along the way, you stopped writing. Life got in the way. You lost your confidence. You ran out of time. You ran out of ideas. You hit a huge block you can't get past. Maybe you thought writing belonged to younger-you, when the stakes were lower and you took more risks. For one reason or another, the words stopped flowing. You set aside your pen. You stopped calling yourself a writer. You scribble in a journal now and then, but nothing beyond that. This happens. One day, you’re an unstoppable force—a creativity marvel, spinning out stories like a professional word-weaver. The next, you’re staring at a blank page, feeling the weight of fear, doubt, and a lack of motivation. You face external hurdles. It doesn’t help that the world seems to conspire against you. Every interruption, every demand on your time, feels like you're yanked away from your true calling. You wonder if that original spark is gone for good, snuffed out. I’ve been there. When my dad needed loads of caregiving attention, my mind didn't have space to think creative thoughts, and I had almost no time to sit down and write. I was sitting down for "care meetings," driving him to urologist appointments, tracking down fax machines to send documents to insurance companies, and dealing with the emotional strain of his increasing dementia and its unpredictable fury. Overwhelmed by the responsibilities and stress, I put all but essential tasks on pause during that era. The few words I eked out felt forced. The spark was gone. Guess what? You're in good company. Every writer hits this wall at some point. Some swear they don’t, but I would bet my favorite pen that every writer faces moments—sometimes long stretches—when the words just don’t come. If that’s happening to you, don’t see it as a sign that you’re not cut out for this, or that you’ve lost your gift. It proves you're in good company—it’s a sign you’re human. Indeed, you’re a real writer. Because you're a writer, let's figure out how to get those words in motion again. Write a few minutes a day. Even during the intense caregiving days, I could squeeze in tiny pockets for my work—windows of opportunity between appointments or before bed. It wasn’t much, but it was something. You can write, too. Even a few minutes in a notebook or your phone's Notes app is a start. Get going by getting something down. Get Your 5-Minute Writer Freebie Grab this fillable workbook for ideas to make the most of every writing opportunity. You’ll get: Lists of tiny tasks you can tackle when five minutes opens up so you make progress in your writing (for both fiction and nonfiction writers!) Ideas for where to contain your research, ideas, and drafts Real-life proof from your writing coach that your writing life can expand in tiny openings Write anything. You may have a deadline staring you down or a deep desire to write your memoir. But if your writing’s at a standstill, let yourself write anything—your thoughts, a memory, a description of your surroundings. You need to invite your mind back to the page, so don't add pressure by forcing it to perform an Act of Great Writing. Write a card to a friend or a simple update on social media. Write sloppy. Let go of the need for your writing to be perfect. Produce something purposefully imperfect if you need to, even sloppy. It’s more important to reignite the habit than to stress out trying to write typo-free text without a single sentence fragment. Sneak past your internal Grammar Guard who threatens to bludgeon you with the Chicago Manual of Style. Heck, write sentence fragments on purpose. Slip one in to free you up. You'll feel like a rebel, which might produce the energy you need to fuel your creative fire. Remind yourself WHY. Reconnect with why you started writing in the first place. What drew you to this craft? What did it give you that nothing else could?
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  • Is Substack the Best Platform for Writers? Jane Friedman’s Expert Opinion

    Is Substack the Best Platform for Writers? Jane Friedman’s Expert Opinion
    Sep 11 2024
    Is Substack the best platform for writers? Is it right for you? In this interview, publishing expert Jane Friedman explores Substack's social media-like features, blogging-like functionality, podcast-host possibilities...and its implications for writers. From using Substack "Notes" to community cross-promotion, it's an ecosystem worth understanding. Substack is more than just newsletters—it's a blog, social media, podcast host, and email marketing tool all-in-one platform. Perfect for beginners, but should we trust it with all of our content? Learn the pros and cons of Substack on our latest episode of the "Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach" podcast after skimming the show notes and summary below. But first... Meet Jane Friedman: Jane Friedman has 25 years of experience in book publishing, with expertise in business strategy for authors and publishers. She’s the co-founder and editor of The Hot Sheet, a paid newsletter about the book publishing industry with over 2,500 subscribers, and has previously worked for Writer’s Digest and the Virginia Quarterly Review. In 2023, Jane was awarded Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World. Jane's website, janefriedman.com, offers a wealth of resources for authors. She writes many of the articles herself and also features guest writers who are experts in various aspects of writing and publishing. You may have followed some of the many links I've shared in my own newsletter, as Jane's content and curation of expert input consistently provides top-notch education and encouragement for writers across genres. Jane’s most recent book is The Business of Being a Writer (sponsored post/affiliate link to Amazon) (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. And a new edition is to be released in Spring 2025. Jane is everywhere. She’s been in The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, Wired, BBC, The Guardian, CBC, The Washington Post, Fox News, USA Today, and NPR. And now she’s here on the "Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach" podcast, discussing Substack for writers. https://youtu.be/JP2EuDDDGRI Mentioned in the show (it's a lot!): Read Jane’s thorough and thoughtful analysis of Substack from March 2024: https://janefriedman.com/substack-is-both-great-and-terrible-for-authors/ Sign up for Jane's free newsletter, Electric Speed, or see if The Hot Sheet, her paid newsletter for publishing professionals, is right for you. Leigh Stein (switched from offering a free MailChimp newsletter to offering a paid Substack): the website signup page: https://www.leighstein.com/newsletter | direct link to “Attention Economy” substack: https://leighstein.substack.com/ Ann mentions paying for George Saunders’ “Story Club” substack: https://georgesaunders.substack.com/ And paying for Jeannette Ouellette’s “Writing in the Dark” substack: https://writinginthedark.substack.com/ Article in The Verge about the Substack controversy about Nazis using the platform: https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/8/24030756/substack-nazi-newsletter-content-moderation Alternatives to Substack include Beehiiv https://www.beehiiv.com/ and Ghost. https://ghost.org/ All the Substack newsletters Jane subscribes to here: https://substack.com/@janefriedman/reads Courtney Maum’s “Before and After the Book Deal” https://courtneymaum.substack.com/ Elle Griffin’s “Elysian Press” (Jane warned that her decision to unsubscribe from all substacks and only use the app means she’s encouraging others to do the same and will lose all of her own subscribers): https://www.elysian.press/ Dr. Jen Gunter’s “The Vajenda”: https://vajenda.substack.com/ Peter Schoppert’s “AI and Copyright” substack: https://aicopyright.substack.com/ Benedict Evans’ tech analysis newsletter on his own solution (possibly MailChimp with Memberful, a WordPress plugin to manage the subscription version): https://www.ben-evans.com/newsletter
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  • Use what’s happened to you, to shape your writing

    Use what’s happened to you, to shape your writing
    Aug 16 2024
    “A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource," writer Jorge Luis Borges said in an interview, when asked about his blindness. "All things have been given to us for a purpose," he continued, "and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.”1 You may be familiar with Kate Bowler’s book Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved, and you might think it would push back against the wording of this sentiment. Everything That Happens Can Shape Your Writing But I take the quote’s overall message to mean we can work with whatever happens, good or bad. In fact, that’s kind of what Kate Bowler has done. Her misfortunes shaped her art. This summer brought our family celebrations, gatherings, challenges, and losses. And they came so fast, I couldn’t find time to document them all. For now, they’re jumbled in my mind and heart. Reflecting on Highs and Lows The Borges quote encourages me to revisit the summer’s ups and downs when life starts to slow...to take my time as I capture the details (and emotions) of the chaos that whizzed past. Will you join me? As you reflect on the past few months—the moments you couldn’t control, the raw material of your life—consider how you can work with all that transpired. Were there adventures? Celebrations? Humiliations? Misfortunes? Embarrassments? From these "resources," we, as writers, shape: stories that resonate ideas that stick opinions that stir discussions advice that steers decisions revelations that open others to new perspectives We, as word artists, can transform all that happens to us into art. Transform Experience into Creative Expression As you reflect on the past few months—the moments you couldn’t control, the raw material of your life—consider how you can work with it. Explore your journal notes, expand on fleeting thoughts, and, with your creative flair, discover the meaning and purpose within those experiences. Whether they become part of a poem, essay, book, or blog post, see their purpose. "Remember," writes Anne Lamott in Bird by Bird. "that you own what happened to you."2 Every event, episode, and experience contributes to your becoming who you are as a creative human. Every hardship, misfortune, humiliation, joy, success, and celebration is a resource waiting to be shaped into art. A Prompt to Capture Life’s “Raw Material” Use this prompt to tap into the raw material of your life: Something significant that happened to me is ______________________. This is what happened: ________________________. Use vivid language and specific details as you recall the facts. What did you see, hear, or notice? Here's how it shaped and changed me: _____________________. How did this experience shift your perspective, behavior, or beliefs? What did you learn about yourself or the world? This is how I connect it with how it made me feel, deep down: _________________. What emotions did it stir? Did those feelings evolve over time? Here's how I can use the experience in my creative life: __________________________. Could it inspire a story, poem, or essay? What universal themes does it touch on? Your Creative Prerogative The details may stay in your personal journal while the experience finds its way into your body of work in more subtle ways. Your experience and insights may simply inform your work, your style, your ideas without being your work. Or you may write it "slant," relying on metaphor to hint at its impact. It's your creative prerogative to shape it as you wish. Because the experience shapes you, but you shape it, as well. Resources What Lies Beneath the Surface of Your Life?
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    6 m
Arte Marketing Historia y Crítica Literaria Economía Éxito Personal
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I find this podcast series to be indispensable to writers and aspiring writers. Topics change each time so there is broad coverage of relevant advice and help. True to the title, Ann Kroeker is the definition of writing coach.

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