In this episode of The Writing Coach podcast, writing coach Kevin T. Johns takes a deep dive into the nuances of writing craft, offering practical advice and heartfelt encouragement to aspiring authors.
From tackling writer’s block to cultivating writing habits, Kevin shares personal anecdotes and expert insights to help you navigate the creative process.
Join Kevin as he shares some of the key themes and advice that have emerged from his coaching sessions, including overcoming self-doubt, adding conflict and stakes, and the art of showing versus telling.
Whether you’re a seasoned writer seeking fresh inspiration or a beginner looking to hone your craft, this episode offers a wealth of wisdom and practical guidance to help you on your writing journey.
Listen to the episode or read the transcript below:
The Writing Coach Episode #193 Show Notes
Registration for the March 2024 edition of Story Plan Intensive is now open!
The Writing Coach Episode #192 Transcript
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Hello, beloved listeners, and welcome back to The Writing Coach podcast. It is your host, as always, Writing Coach Kevin T. Johns, here.
This episode is airing on the last weekend of February, and what that means is Story Plan Intensive starts next week. If you aren’t familiar with Story Plan Intensive, it is my four-week email program. Every Monday to Friday, I send you writer’s craft training videos, and on Fridays, you get a creativity-inspiring homework assignment. All of this culminates in the development of a rock-solid outline for your book completed in 30 days or less.
You want to get signed up for Story Plan Intensive regardless of whether you are in the planning stage right now, or maybe you have discovered your way halfway into a book, or even if you’ve finished the first draft but now need to do the analysis that you should have done or could have done before you got started. If that sounds good to you, head on over to www.kevintjohns.com/story-plan-intensive.
Yes, there’s an “intensive” at the end of it. This is an intense program. It cranks up the intensity as the program goes on. You get more and more training week after week. And it is amazing to see the progress that people make over the course of the month. If you want to be vastly ahead of where you are now in your story planning technique, in your craft knowledge, in your understanding of the book you’re about to write or the book you’re currently writing, then get signed up for Story Plan Intensive. Now, this is going to be your last chance for quite a while.
Earlier this week, I did an interview for an upcoming summit on AI for writers. A client of mine just published a book on AI for writers. AI is everywhere. And like I mentioned in a recent episode, there was a time when I thought we would have a choice on whether we could avoid AI or not. But I really think it’s going to become so prevalent, and I also think it’s going to become so darn useful that it is basically going to be impossible to ignore. It’s like that whole typewriter-to-word processor transition. Yeah, you can keep typing on that typewriter, but most of the world is going to make the leap to a computer, and it’s going to be the same thing with AI.
Now, here is an example, in my coaching calls—this is my one-on-one coaching calls, my group coaching calls, my Q&A sessions, and my hot seat sessions—we always record the call so there’s video of the calls so that people can go back and watch them if they missed it or if they wanted to revisit anything. But we also do a transcript so that people can reread the conversation. The tool I use to record our conversations is a tool called Otter. Otter hooks up to Zoom calls and automatically transcribes everything being discussed.
But this is where things get interesting…
Otter has now added an AI function built into its system. I can ask the AI things about my own calls. While I know that there are certain pieces of advice that I go to time and time again and certain aspects of the craft that I have really specific takes on, it’s tough sometimes to narrow down some of the most common things that I talk about or the most common tips that I provide.
What’s really interesting with this AI is I can go to it, and I can say, “Give me all the best writing advice I shared on my coaching calls over the last week,” and it gives me a list of a dozen different pieces of advice that I provided in the last week. In my First Draft group coaching program, I’ve started posting every Sunday just a little list of all the advice I shared that week.
Just recently, I wanted to expand that even further, so I asked the AI—I’ll give you the exact prompt I used—I said, “What are the most common pieces of advice I’ve shared on my coaching calls over the last couple of months?” What it came up with was really interesting because I looked at the list, and I said, “Yep, those are exactly the things that I talked about.”
Here’s the high-level listing of them, and then let’s dig into each one a little bit. These are some of the top topics that I talk about with my clients: overcoming writer’s block and self-doubt, developing writing habits, balancing craft and inspiration, embracing imperfection, pushing through the S curve, using writing partners and community, adding conflict and stakes, showing versus telling, and embracing creativity.
Now, I look at that list, and I say, “Yeah, those are the things that I’m talking about really regularly.” Here’s just a really fascinating example of how AI is helping me understand myself better and helping me understand some of the things that I talk about the most.
I could have scrolled through the last three or four months of coaching call transcripts and looked for the types of advice that I commonly give, but this took 10 seconds to say to it, “Hey, what do I like to talk about?” It is a really useful tool, and I’m going to use that tool to help us share some craft advice on this episode, so let’s dig a little deeper into everything on those lists.
Overcoming Writer’s Block and Self-Doubt
Here’s what the AI tells me about myself: Kevin emphasizes pushing through periods of doubt, difficulty, and waning motivation that all writers face at some point, using the metaphor of hitting a wall while running. He advises writers to break through these walls to reach their full potential, just as runners push through physical exhaustion.
Absolutely spot on. I use that metaphor all the time. Our bodies tell us to give up physical activity long before we actually need to because our bodies are biologically designed to protect us from exhausting ourselves. And so what long-distance runners and ultra-marathon athletes and all of these things know is that it’s a psychological wall. It’s not a physical one. And when you push through that wall, there are tons of reserves of energy. The exact same thing applies to writing. Yes, we all lose motivation. Yes, we all have self-doubt. Yeah, things get difficult sometimes, but if you push through it, you’re going to find a whole reserve of energy and emotion and creativity on the other side of it.
Developing Writing Habits
This one is so crucial. One of the hardest things is to get motivated to write, to get the confidence to write. And so, Kevin, that’s me, frequently encourages writers to build regular writing habits, even starting with small actions to maintain momentum and progress. He shares stories of those who succeed through habits despite adversity.
Yeah, for sure. I mean, a story I love to tell is the one James Clear shared. I don’t know if he shared it in his book or on his website or something. But he talked about interviewing an Olympic weightlifting coach, and he asked that coach, “What separates the gold medal athletes from everyone else?” And the coach said, “Three things: one, just natural biological talent. Some people are just built to be Olympic weightlifters. Two, diet. Some people eat better than others, and they get better performance. But then he said the number one skill that separates gold medal weightlifters from everyone else is the ability to come to practice every day.” And I absolutely think the same thing applies to writing. It’s not about being talented. It’s not about having a great idea. It’s about showing up every day. And so that’s why I love encouraging people to build regular habits because when you build regular habits, you build momentum and progress.
Balancing Craft and Inspiration
Now, this is a tricky one. Many writers fall into the trap of waiting for inspiration to strike before writing, but Kevin advocates for a balance between inspiration and craft, suggesting that inspiration often follows action.
Absolutely. I mean, one of the biggest myths in writing is that you need to be inspired to write. I think that’s a ridiculous notion. I think you need to write to be inspired, so I’m always encouraging writers to take action, to write, to get into the habit, to build the habit, to build the practice because when you do that, inspiration follows. It doesn’t precede it.
Embracing Imperfection
Kevin often reminds writers that perfectionism can be a barrier to progress and encourages them to embrace imperfection, understanding that writing is a messy process.
Yep. Absolutely. You know, we talk about this all the time, it’s so easy to say, “Well, I’m not going to write today because I don’t feel inspired,” or “I’m not going to write today because I’m not feeling confident,” or “I’m not going to write today because I don’t feel like it’s going to be good enough.” But you have to embrace imperfection. You have to understand that it’s a messy process. And when you do that, you allow yourself to get the words down on the page, to edit them, to revise them, to rewrite them, and eventually to make them great.
Pushing Through the S Curve
Kevin advises writers to anticipate and push through the dip in motivation and progress that often comes after the initial excitement of starting a new project.
Yeah, the S curve is a really fascinating aspect of any creative project. You start with a little bit of energy and enthusiasm, and it dips down as things get difficult, but if you push through it, you find a new level of energy and enthusiasm on the other side, so knowing that’s coming can help you be prepared for it.
Using Writing Partners and Community
Kevin highlights the importance of surrounding oneself with supportive writing partners and community members who can provide encouragement, feedback, and accountability.
Absolutely. I mean, this is why I built the community I built. This is why I encourage people to find beta readers and critique partners and writing groups and all of these things because writing is a lonely endeavor. And it’s hard to stay motivated and it’s hard to stay confident if you’re doing it alone.
Adding Conflict and Stakes
Kevin advises writers to continually raise the stakes and introduce conflict to keep readers engaged and drive the story forward.
Yeah, this is one of the things I love to talk about. Conflict is the engine of story. It’s what makes us turn the page. It’s what keeps us engaged. It’s what drives the plot forward. So continually raise the stakes. Continually introduce new conflicts to keep your readers engaged.
Showing versus Telling
Kevin encourages writers to show rather than tell, using vivid language and sensory details to immerse readers in the story world.
Absolutely. This is a fundamental aspect of writing craft. You want to show your readers the story rather than tell them about it. You want to immerse them in the story world. You want to make them feel like they are there with the characters experiencing the events firsthand.
Embracing Creativity
Kevin encourages writers to embrace their unique voices and creative visions, reminding them that there’s no one right way to write a book.
Absolutely. I mean, this is the thing I love to talk about the most. It’s all about embracing your unique voice, your unique vision, and your unique perspective on the world. That’s what makes your writing special. That’s what makes it stand out. So embrace your creativity. Embrace your uniqueness. Embrace your weirdness. That’s what makes you a great writer.
There you have it, some of the top pieces of advice that I share with my coaching clients regularly. What’s really fascinating is that I didn’t have to go through months and months of transcripts to find these. I just asked an AI, and it gave me the answers. Really fascinating stuff, and like I said, I’m going to use that tool that helped us share some craft advice on this episode.
I hope you found this episode helpful and inspiring. If you did, please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It really helps other writers find the show. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you on the next episode of The Writing Coach.
