This week Vicky and Joe get extremely confused about what day it is, it being that weird time between Christmas and New Year, and wonder if you’d prefer a podcast about their cottage renovations. Write in! Then they get to the good stuff: Vicky’s top 5 favourite creative writing thingies. They’re fun, they’re useful, and they’ll make you a more joyful writer. Happy new year!
Key Takeaways:
[1:00] Vicky and Joe share their predictions for 2022, including when this episode will come out.
[02:24] Between Christmas and New Year, Vicky will mostly be in her pajamas reading books. What’s on her reading list?
[03:35] Vicky and Joe share updates on Project Dingle. Shout out to Ken for their new door frame!
[04:30] Joe calls Vicky out for choosing the most expensive tiles in the world. Vicky explains herself.
[06:30] Vicky and Joe ask, should they start a Project Dingle podcast?
[06:55] Vicky shares her 5 favorite creative writing exercises!
[07:25] Creative vs technical vs academic. Which kind of writing is boring?
[09:00] There is a lot to be had from noticing the tiny details. Vicky shares how to look closely and some examples on how to incorporate it into writing.
[12:30] Pick an animal or object and write a biography about it. Vicky shares an unusual tip with this one.
[12:50] Vicky also mentions the podcast, Everything is Alive and how interesting interviewing objects can be.
[14:35] Vicky shares an exercise she did for her MA where she wrote an A-G (on the way to Z) of her life digressions and how it helped broaden her thinking.
[16:30] Writers are really great at noticing stuff. Find out how this relates to Vicky’s 4th exercise.
[18:20] Not all writing is actual writing. Vicky shares what you can do to expound on your thinking and exploring to spark an idea.
[20:45] Vicky recommends another book called, The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker, for more ways to spark creativity and discover joy.
[21:17] Vicky’s last exercise focuses on being really specific. She shares what this actually means and some examples.
[24:25] We can’t connect with vagueness, details make people more interested.
[25:30] Vicky is relaunching her 3 month book writing program by the end of January! Find out more through the links below.
[28:00] What’s in store for the next episode? Find out if Joe and Vicky figure out the day of the week for you to tune in to that.
Mentioned in This Episode:
That's What She Said: Tales of Business Success from Women Just like You by Vicky Fraser & Audiobook
Join Vicky's Weird and Wonderful Writing Society
Banish the Blank Page of Doom Fast
Grab Vicky’s Book Template Bundle
Come Join Vicky’s Writing Challenge
Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and Overcast
Email Vicky about 1:1 coaching at: vicky@moxiebooks.co.uk
Download Vicky’s Advent Calendar
Annals of the Western Shore, by Ursula K. Le Guin
The First Woman: Winner of the Jhalak Prize, by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
The Art of Gathering, by Priya Parker
The Art of Noticing, by Rob Walker
Join Vicky and Joe as they talk for 9 whole minutes about pickles, swear at UK politicians, then move onto a brief anecdote about Idi Amin. If you can sit through all that, you'll get a well-organised, valuable, and helpful podcast about how to figure out if your book idea is any good. And we wish you a very merry Christmas, so there's that, too.
Key Takeaways:
[5:55] Hey! Merry Christmas everybody!
[7:00] Vicky and Joe love pickled things during Christmas.
[9:45] Why do people gather? And how do you design a good gathering?
[14:20] How do you know if you have a good book idea?
[16:10] Don’t write 50k words only to realize you have a terrible idea!
[19:15] Vicky offers some questions to ask yourself to help you validate your idea.
[21:00] If there’s lots of information on the topic you’re writing about, that’s a good thing!
[25:00] Do some digging in Amazon. What are people also buying when they’re interested in your topic?
[27:10] Making your whole book a big sales pitch is rude!
[29:15] Have an email newsletter? Which emails get the most replies?
Mentioned in This Episode:
That's What She Said: Tales of Business Success from Women Just like You by Vicky Fraser & Audiobook
Join Vicky's Weird and Wonderful Writing Society
Banish the Blank Page of Doom Fast
Grab Vicky’s Book Template Bundle
Come Join Vicky’s Writing Challenge!
1000 Authors Podcast Episode 228: Research Like A Nerd
Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and Overcast
Email Vicky about 1:1 coaching at: vicky@moxiebooks.co.uk
Download Vicky’s Advent Calendar
Annals of the Western Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
The First Woman: Winner of the Jhalak Prize by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
Vicky and Joe talk about all the water in their house and get far more excited than you probably are about their new loft space. It's so middle-aged it's painful. And then—you'll get a rundown of how long it might take you to write your nonfiction book! No BS, no false promises, no conveniently leaving out details that take bloody ages... just a realistic timeline to aim for. Enjoy!
Key Takeaways:
[4:35] Joe fell through the ceiling at the Dingle! Ouch!
[9:00] How long will it take to write a nonfiction book?
[11:10] If you write everyday…well Vicky did some math calculations for you!
[15:25] Where do you start when it comes to writing your book?
[17:10] If you want to write the best possible book in the world, you need to be able to know what the opposition’s points are.
[20:00] Sometimes writing involves just starting out at a window.
[21:50] Your book is now ready for editing! In an ideal world, it’ll take about four months to get to this point.
[24:15] Remember to grab yourself a set of beta readers to help you refine your book!
[26:05] Vicky estimates it’ll take about 29 weeks to get yourself your very own book!
[27:25] Grab Vicky’s free advent calendar! Link in the show notes.
Mentioned in This Episode:
That's What She Said: Tales of Business Success from Women Just like You by Vicky Fraser & Audiobook
Join Vicky's Weird and Wonderful Writing Society
Banish the Blank Page of Doom Fast
Grab Vicky’s Book Template Bundle
Come Join Vicky’s Writing Challenge!
Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and Overcast
Email Vicky about 1:1 coaching at: vicky@moxiebooks.co.uk
Download Vicky’s Advent Calendar
Thud! Novel by Terry Pratchett
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
Annals of the Western Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
This week, in homage to all the intrepid writers embarking on a big project right now, we're revisiting research. It's a crucial activity—but it's also a handy procrastination tool. So this week, tune in and travel back in time to August 2020 when your intrepid hosts got their nerd on and talked about how to research efficiently, effectively, and without disappearing down an internet wormhole of fascinating but ultimately useless information. Join us to find out how to cut your research (and writing) time dramatically without doing a half-arsed job of it.
Key Takeaways:
[2:50] How do you avoid going down a research blackhole?
[3:55] Get your big idea down on paper first.
[5:45] Make a note to yourself on things you need to research further.
[7:25] Use your books before you use Google.
[10:05] Joe offers Google tips and tricks to help you find what you want!
[13:55] Use your browser in offline mode!
[14:45] Give yourself a time limit for your research.
[17:35] Please leave a review and Vicky and Joe would love to read it outloud on the show!
Mentioned in This Episode:
That's What She Said: Tales of Business Success from Women Just like You by Vicky Fraser & Audiobook
Join Vicky's Weird and Wonderful Writing Society
Banish the Blank Page of Doom Fast
Grab Vicky’s Book Template Bundle
Come Join Vicky’s Writing Challenge!
Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and Overcast
Email Vicky about 1:1 coaching at: vicky@moxiebooks.co.uk
Download Vicky’s Advent Calendar
Vicky and Joe talk about Storm Arwen, being cold, and Joe’s absolute refusal to indulge Vicky’s Wispa Gold habit. Which leads into this week’s topic: writing habits! What is a habit? How do they work? Why do we have them? And how can we develop good habits that enable us to write a book? Tune in, chill out, enjoy.
Key Takeaways:
[2:10] Vicky has new hair! Woohoo!
[5:30] Joe has a secret power - he can write haikus. Who knew!
[7:25] Vicky introduces the topic of bad habits and why it’s important.
[8:15] What are habits?
[9:40] Why do people get addicted to smoking and drugs? What does that have to do with habits?
[10:55] Can you form a habit of doing something you don’t find to be fun?
[11:10] Vicky shares how she got into the habit of running.
[12:30] Vicky shares her references from two books: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and Atomic Habits by James Clear and what she has learned from them.
[13:35] People have natural gifts but habits make the difference.
[14:20] Habit stacking: what is that and why is it important?
[19:35] Vicky has made something fun for the listeners and it’s for free! Find out towards the end of this episode.
Mentioned in This Episode:
That's What She Said: Tales of Business Success from Women Just like You by Vicky Fraser & Audiobook
Join Vicky's Weird and Wonderful Writing Society
Banish the Blank Page of Doom Fast
Grab Vicky’s Book Template Bundle
Come Join Vicky’s Writing Challenge!
Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and Overcast
Email Vicky about 1:1 coaching at: vicky@moxiebooks.co.uk