Read and Write with Natasha
This podcast discusses writing life, reviews books, and interviews authors and industry professionals.
Read and Write with Natasha
Book Therapy: Navigating the Emotional Journey of Writing
What if becoming a parent actually made you MORE creative, not less?
Writer and "book therapist" Heidi Fiedler discovered something surprising: when life became more demanding after she became a mom, her creative drive didn't disappear. It intensified.
"I had less time, less energy when I became a mom, and yet I wanted to keep writing. It felt more important to me than ever."
In this deeply personal conversation, Heidi reveals why the pressure to write fast is killing our creativity and how embracing the "messy, dreamy early stage" is where the real magic happens.
As someone who coaches writers through the emotional rollercoaster of creating, she knows that your biggest writing challenge isn't finding the perfect plot twist—it's surviving the mental game.
You'll discover:
- Why "slow progress is still progress" (and how to stop comparing yourself to Stephen King)
- Practical techniques for staying connected to your writing when life is chaotic
- The surprising truth about writer's block and what's really happening in your brain
- How to navigate the agent-finding maze without losing your soul
- Whether self-publishing might be your secret weapon
- Why one genuinely moved reader matters more than a thousand followers
Heidi takes us on an unexpected journey through Substack communities, the universal plague of creative doubt, and her game-changing philosophy: focus on the joy of creation, not the outcome of publication.
The most powerful moment? When Heidi shares why sometimes all you need is one reader who truly connects with your work. That single connection can sustain your creative flame through the darkest moments of doubt.
Perfect for writers at any stage, parents juggling creativity with family life, and anyone who's ever wondered if their creative dreams are worth pursuing.
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➡️ P.S.: 📬 If you love the conversations on this podcast, you’ll love my Substack newsletter. I share personal stories, publishing advice, and tools to help you grow as a writer. Subscribe for free or become a paid supporter to access it all.
For me personally, I had less time, less energy when I became a mom, and yet I wanted to keep going. I wanted to keep writing. It felt more important to me than ever. I felt like I was kind of more creatively ambitious, because I didn't. I didn't want to work on anything that didn't feel meaningful to me, and it wasn't like everything had to be serious or like um, super successful. It was more like I don't want to work on something that doesn't feel creatively fulfilling.
Speaker 2:Hi friends, this is Read and Write with Natasha podcast. My name is Natasha Tynes and I'm an author and a journalist. In this channel I talk about the writing life, review books and interview authors. Hope you enjoy the journey. Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of Read and Write with Natasha. I have with me today Heidi Feidler I hope I pronounced it right. It was a writer, editor and creative coach. She dreams up cozy stories for kids and also writes about creativity and motherhood. Heidi lives with her family and her favorite books in Massachusetts. All right, heidi, nice to meet you and thank you for coming on my podcast. We have a lot to talk about writing, motherhood, children's books, all of that. So, heidi, so you are a creative coach. What does that mean?
Speaker 1:I sometimes describe it as therapy for writers, like it's about the emotional side of writing. Or another way to think about it is like it's a chance for us to talk about everything outside of the manuscript. So I had a lot of people hiring me for manuscript critiques and I would like talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript itself. But there's so much that goes into being a writer where you're like making these decisions, you feel very alone. There's a lot of like stress around the publishing process. It's a chance to talk about all of that.
Speaker 1:Sometimes people send me like a bunch of ideas and we just kind of talk through them and figure out like what would make the most sense to work on next. Sometimes we're talking about like should they break up with their agent or should they try a new genre, or is there some way to save this manuscript that they've submitted and gotten a ton of feedback on and still don't know what to do with? So it's like all that kind of like messy, open ended stuff that does not belong in a manuscript critique. Interesting.
Speaker 1:So you're like, you're like the creative or the book therapist, right so kind of yeah, and sometimes it's more like a straightforward coaching, like someone has an idea they need like accountability and check-ins and someone to just sort of read their work more frequently than someone might if they were booking a critique, like at the end of a first draft. But yeah, I think of it more as like all the all the kind of heavy personal parts of being a writer that maybe you don't talk about with your agent or your editor or even like your critique group, because it just feels vulnerable and you kind of wonder are you the only person that is struggling with these things Interesting?
Speaker 2:And how do you get clients and how do clients find about you and how many people are actually willing to sign up for these kind of services? I'm just curious.
Speaker 1:That's a good question. I think you know there's no like urgency around it. There's no one saying this is something you have to do. But I have all different clients like some are totally new writers that just they've been successful in other parts of their lives and they just want to make progress quickly. So they like working with coaches, like in all different parts of their lives. And then I've had other writers that are more like experienced, award-winning writers but they need someone to talk to. That is not part of their regular world.
Speaker 1:And I think a lot of my clients come to me through word of mouth. I taught editing classes for a really long time, so I think there's sort of a network of editors that are referring people I work with publishers and like those connections with those in-house editors have brought in clients. I'm not someone that like knows how to market in a way that says I'm going to tell you to buy X and so people buy X. I think marketing is like a really long game and I never know exactly where anyone's coming from or when they will come. But it seems to be like it wasn't a service I offered originally. It's something I've offered now that I'm farther into freelance life, and there was demand for something that was not just a critique.
Speaker 2:Interesting. So how does your day to day look like?
Speaker 1:Um, my day to day is very constrained by my son's schedule when he's in school, and usually I spend a couple hours in the morning after I drop him off like taking a walk, tidying up the house, doing life stuff. Then I have a few hours of client work somewhere in there. I try and do a little bit of my own personal projects and then it's time to pick him up again. So usually it does not feel like I have enough time to work, but I've gotten into the rhythm of it over time.
Speaker 2:And you're also a children's writer, correct, children's author. So how many books have you published and where do you get these ideas for writing these books?
Speaker 1:I don't know how many I've published with my name on it maybe eight, ten. Those were like nonfiction books several years ago and I've been working more on fiction picture books in the last few years and for me, I read a lot of picture books. So I'm getting ideas from what I'm reading. I'm getting ideas from my son and daily life. I feel inspired by walks outside and time in nature. I love when I read something, whether it's a picture book or something more for adults, that's surprising and I'm like oh, I didn't even know you could do that. When you write, I tend to get like a lot of feedback that's like, oh, this is really poetic and beautiful and, um, we're not always sure how to sell it because it's so beautiful and poetic, Interesting.
Speaker 2:So the all the books that you published, did you use publishers? Did you or did you self publish how you or did you self-publish how did? What was your publishing journey like? Did you have to find an agent? If you can walk us through your publishing journey, yeah, I've had.
Speaker 1:I'm on my fourth agent, so I've had several agents and I've also done a lot of work for hire projects. So that's when a publisher is kind of commissioning someone to do something. They have an idea and they think we will hire someone to write this book. So a lot of times I'm not pitching the idea, I'm more being hired to execute the idea. But then there are other times where I will create something from scratch and my agent will pitch it and submit it and um, it goes out to the world. But yeah, for for agents in it's um, it's not a straightforward journey by any means.
Speaker 2:So one of the things that people really struggle with, especially aspiring writers, is finding agents right. So how? How did you manage to get all these agents? One of the things that people really struggle with, especially aspiring writers, is finding agents Right. So how, how did you manage to get all these agents? What's your?
Speaker 1:secret. Well, I am a big, a big advocate for not being too precious about the process. I think a lot of writers get kind of hung up on the idea that they're supposed to find the right agent and they're supposed to like comb through like interviews or some little blurb online and find like something that is aligned or makes you think, oh, this is the right person for me, and then you're supposed to reach out to one person at a time and be very I don't know thoughtful and like considered with the process and if that works for you, I think that's great. But I think it makes a lot of writers get stuck where they are like sort of paralyzed and no one feels like a great fit. Or it feels like there's like maybe three people in the world that fit your criteria and they've already said no.
Speaker 1:I think it's more productive to send your work out to anyone that might be qualified.
Speaker 1:So for me, like I've looked for agents that are going to represent both adult and children's I don't care what their personality looks like or you know what they say online that they're looking for necessarily, if they say they will represent adult and children's, I'll take that as a sign that they might represent my work, and that's, I mean, that's already narrowed the field so much.
Speaker 1:So I also think, like people get so hung up on, like someone will give like a manuscript wishlist where they're saying like, oh, I'm looking for this kind of book, and and then they'll hear later like well, I'll know it when I see it. There's no way anyone could predict exactly what they're looking for. And just because they're looking for this one thing doesn't mean they aren't looking for your thing. So I would cast a really wide net and be patient with the process, expecting that you could query 50 agents, 100 agents, and that doesn't mean doesn't really mean anything about your work. It just means that there's only so many people in the world that can represent the kind of work you do and you need to get your work in front of them. They won't know who you are unless you try, and you don't want to say no to yourself before someone else has said no.
Speaker 1:Let them just either ignore your email or say no and there's no harm that comes from that. I think sometimes too there's like the emotional sting of feeling rejected and I guess there is an element of rejection in there. But I think if you can get yourself to a mental place where you feel like you don't really care, you're not going to take it personally each time you get a no. You will start moving through. Just get to a yes faster.
Speaker 2:So do you think we need an agent now? I mean, there's a lot of the publishing world changed dramatically and a lot of people that I talked to who've been previously traditionally published are moving towards self-publishing for many reasons, like the self-control or the overall control of your product, higher royalties, all of that. So where do you stand when it comes to traditional publishing versus self-publishing?
Speaker 1:I think you definitely need an agent if you are pursuing traditional publishing. There are people that do it without it, but it's so much harder and for me, the way you decide if you want to do traditional publishing or self-publishing is how much do you want to be in charge of distribution and shipping? Because you are probably going to still be responsible for marketing to a large degree even if you are going with traditional publishing. You don't have to sell in person, you don't have to be the sales rep, but there's still a lot that goes into marketing. So I used to say, like are you a person that wants to market, sell and distribute your book? Now I just say are you a person that wants to distribute your book, because there are so many logistics involved with that? If you're a person that's not scared off by that, then I think you can make it work for you and you can feel really pleased with that process. But there are also some people that just they don't need that part of it in their life and they need someone else to handle all the parts that happen after the book is written and produced.
Speaker 1:Have you ever self-published? I have not, but I have been thinking about it more in recent years. It has felt like an option, that there were a lot of reasons I wrote it off, not because I thought it was so like, I thought it was less than, but it was more because it required so much investment upfront. And I think now there are ways to do it with print on demand and, um, I think there are different ways to distribute and get your book into stores than there used to be.
Speaker 1:Um, so I am intrigued by that, but I think it's still um, there's a big learning curve and it's it's still like. I'm trying to think of self-publishing with the mindset of, like people that are producing chapbooks or zines, or like putting on an art show, like it's about getting your work out in the world. It's not necessarily about making a ton of money. It could be if you are fortunate and you have a niche and you have an audience and all that, but if you don't, like, it's still worth getting your work out in the world and saying I wrote a book and I made this.
Speaker 2:I want to ask about audience. What is your way of building an audience for your work or for even an audience for clients? What do you do to build that audience? What are your tactics?
Speaker 1:That's a complicated question. Yeah Well, for readers. I think it's tricky for a lot of children's book writers. You're not going to be marketing directly to your readers. You're probably marketing to teachers, book buyers, maybe librarians, possibly parents. And a lot of what it feels like in the beginning, I think, is that you're marketing to other writers because it's other writers that care about books and you guys kind of cheer each other on, you get to know a community of writers and it feels sometimes like I'm just marketing to other writers. What is the point, except that most of those other writers are also parents, or they know parents, or they're teachers or they're librarians also, and there's actually more crossover than it seems like there is. And the same thing, like when I started writing essays about creativity or motherhood. At first I was thinking like oh, is this a different audience? And like how do I reach this audience and what? How do you even market an essay? What does that mean? And then I realized like the same people that were interested in my work before are still interested in my work. They're multidimensional people, just like I am, and a lot of the things we connected on before are also of interest to them. Like moving forward.
Speaker 1:I just did a survey for my newsletter earlier this year and I was I had combined like audiences where before I'd done a lot of teaching to editors I had a lot of editors in my newsletter audience. I had some writers. I assumed I had some parents, I don't know. But I asked, like, which of these things do you identify? And it was obviously, it was like the most obvious answer. It was like we are writers, we want to write picture books, we are also mothers and I was like, oh, that's me too. But it was like I needed to see it in a survey to be like, oh yeah, you can be all those things and it's not. It's actually not that complicated People can handle if you talk about a few different things.
Speaker 2:So you're saying most of your audience are authors who are mothers?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have a lot of writer moms in my audience and a lot of I have a lot of editors that want to be writers. That's like a niche within a niche where, like, if you become a editor, a lot of times it's hard to kind of shake off that editor voice and become a writer, um. And then I have, like, probably, some writers that are not moms but want to become moms one day, or you know, that's not like that wasn't a part of my identity when I started becoming a writer, um, but it's just evolved with me.
Speaker 2:So, looking at your bio and your work, I realized that you focus on something called creative mom writers, or the relationship between motherhood and creativity. What is that exactly? Do you think mothers become more creative when they have kids, or do kids actually kill your creativity? So I'm curious to hear about your approach toward motherhood and creativity.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for me personally, I had less time, less energy when I became a mom, and yet I wanted to keep going. I wanted to keep writing. It felt more important to me than ever. I felt like I was kind of more creatively ambitious, because I didn't. I didn't want to work on anything that didn't feel meaningful to me and it wasn't like everything had to be serious or like super successful. It was more like I don't want to work on something that doesn't feel creatively fulfilling and I think I mean there's so many layers to it.
Speaker 1:I think parents in general are naturally creative.
Speaker 1:They need to be to raise children.
Speaker 1:There's so much improvisation and problem solving that happens in parenting and also the way you play with your children comes through that connection connection. But I also think, like we so often think of our creative practice as something we need to do. It's like a task on our list and it kind of feels heavy. But when you are a mom especially, I think that working on something creative can really be life-giving and energizing and even if it's just like a tiny pocket of your day 10 minutes can really help you feel rejuvenated and also just like more connected to yourself, more empowered with your own vision. That's one of the reasons I like writing is that it makes me feel like I'm the one that gets to decide what these words are. I'm the one that gets to decide what this final piece looks like, and that feels like more important to me than it ever did before, because there's so much of my day to day that is not about my own wants or needs and it's nice that I can come back to over and over.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So I want to go back to you being the book therapist, and what are the things that authors struggle with the most in terms of, like, the friction that they face when they're starting to write, and how do you walk them through it?
Speaker 1:How do you walk them through it? I think one big thing that a lot of people struggle with is it boils down to wanting to go faster or feeling some pressure that they should be efficient at it, and I think this is true for more experienced writers too. Sometimes, even especially, because you feel like I should know what I'm doing, I should be able to just knock this book out. Why is this taking so long? And it was something I really struggled with too, of like feeling, feeling like I didn't want to work on draft six, seven, eight. I wanted to be done, like I just I liked starting new projects, um, and I didn't always like the work that was needed to finish a project, and for me and my clients, I think it helps to take that pressure off and to remember almost everything out in the world has gone through many, many, many, many drafts and there really is no efficient way to write a book.
Speaker 1:Maybe if you're writing like the most straightforward nonfiction book, where you write like an outline and you're just like filling in the pieces, maybe, but I think for a lot of creative writing, the real creative part of it happens in this sort of messy, dreamy early stage and you don't know where the book is going and you are gathering inspiration and you're kind of putting new things together and seeing what sticks.
Speaker 1:And if you try to force that stage to like hurry up and like take shape so you can just get your book done, you lose so much of the original work that you can bring to this project and your final product.
Speaker 1:Maybe it comes out faster, but it is not better and it it also does not make you enjoy the process anymore, which I think the more you can enjoy actually spending time writing, the more you'll write and also the more you're going to be able to come back to it when life is bumpy and busy and intense. It's a lot of times the people that I work with you know we're putting pressure on ourselves to keep writing no matter what, even when life is like just so overwhelming, and that's just not realistic and it's also not needed. I think when you give yourself permission to take real breaks and then go back to it, but also just not rushing to the finish line, you you will create something that surprises you and feels truly creative and exciting and makes you want to keep going and going so because there's it's interesting what you said about people wanting to rush it, cause there's a lot of kind of pressure for you to keep producing as an author.
Speaker 2:And then, and even you look at people like Stephen King or Brandon Sanderson, and these people are like writing machines. They, they, like one book after the other, I mean, and some people see them as their idols. And to think of somebody like Stephen King, who I don't know, one book a year, sometimes two books a year are the same with Brandon Sanderson. Do you think this is confusing aspiring authors, that they think this is the pace that they should follow?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I mean probably the same as, like you know, following like a fitness instructor who looks amazing, like their whole day is working out and like getting a perfect smoothie, and you know, they have their lives set up to be as healthy and as strong as possible, which is amazing for them, but most of us do not have that privilege to do that. That doesn't mean we shouldn't take our 20-minute walk or like, enjoy taking the 20-minute walk. It just means we shouldn't compare ourselves to that uh, outcome. And I think I don't know, you know every detail of their lives, but I'm guessing that those authors have been working at that pace since they were young and they have infrastructure built into their lives that allows them to spend huge portions of their day doing that. Um, and we, most of us don't, and that's okay.
Speaker 1:That doesn't mean you can't make progress. Slow progress is still progress. And also another thing I like to remind myself is that they they talk about I think it's Cal Newport's deep workbook, but he talks about like there's a limit to how much real work anyone's going to get done in a day. So if you have two hours, that's okay. That's still quite a bit of time to make actual progress on your project and your job is not to just churn stuff out, especially in the age of AI, like that can happen, like you as a human being do not need to be the one to just churn content out, but if you are writing something unique that no one else can write in the world, like that's going to take time, it just will.
Speaker 2:Interesting. Do you believe in writer's block?
Speaker 1:Like are you thinking like a block that would last like a really long time? I think lots of people probably feel it like a little resistance and a little like what am I doing, like almost every time they sit down, being blocked for like months or years. I think that's probably like you're getting in your head about it and there are ways to kind of unlock that. But I think one of those ways is knowing like almost everyone feels that little like when they sit down and are like okay let's do this.
Speaker 2:So what would you tell your client if they tell you like I cannot write, I'm like blocked. Every time I look at my computer, I just stare at it. What would you tell them?
Speaker 1:The first thing I would say is probably stay away from your computer. If you want, you could get a notebook and like write way less than you think is writing. Like write one word down, write a list of words that kind of relate to your topic, um journal about your book or your project. Think about, like, how would you describe it to a friend, or what kind of thoughts and feelings do you want to leave with the reader?
Speaker 1:Um, you can also do voice memos or like actually just talking with a friend, a writer friend, talking it through, like all of that I think can be really productive. I think when you sit down at your computer it's so tempting to suddenly be in revision mode, even though you're like not even close to revision revising, like it's easy to be like, oh, I'm just going to back up and like tinker with that word, and that is like that is going to lock you into feeling stressed and like there's there's no way you're going to figure this out. I personally like to stay in my notebook as long as possible and just give myself permission to write down anything that may or may not even be connected to my idea, and then trust that I will sort it out later.
Speaker 2:So would you tell them to dedicate a time every day, or would you tell them just write when the inspiration strikes?
Speaker 1:If dedicating a time every day works for you, I think that's great. I have not found that to work for my schedule, but I would encourage people to look for opportunities, like I do a lot of my writing in the car while I'm waiting for my son, or like 10 minutes before I have to leave the house. How do you do that? Do you? I'll just have my notebook with me, or even like in my phone, I'll write in the reminders app and then I'll transfer it later. For me, a lot of it is like mentally staying with the project wherever I am and then writing it in my phone, writing in my notebook, writing it on Post-it and bringing it all together when I can sit down at my computer or actually put it into order. But getting that idea down and kind of staying in touch with the project helps me.
Speaker 2:What are you working on these days?
Speaker 1:That's a really good question. I have a new picture book idea that I'm working on, I'm taking notes on it and have a bunch of essays that I would like to um draft. I've I've already started thinking ahead to the summer when my son will be out of school, and so I've got like goals where I'm like I want to get this at least to this point, and then during the summer I can send things out or revise or whatever. But at least getting like the shape of things down would be really good.
Speaker 2:What about, in terms of your the business side of writing, like your coaching? Do you have any programs coming up? Do you have? What do you?
Speaker 1:Well, I don't know if this counts as a coaching program, but on Substack, I have a Substack called Nebula Notebook. I am hosting a book club inspired by Oliver Berkman's work. I don't know if you've read 4,000 Weeks and Meditations for Mortals. The people that love his work really love his work.
Speaker 2:Oh, really Interesting, Okay.
Speaker 1:It's also extremely relevant to creatives. Interesting, okay, it's also extremely relevant to creatives. I've been reading through each chapter, sort of with that lens of how does this apply to writing or to creativity and so on. Subsect, we're having a private little group where I'll post something. There's some questions, some journal prompts, and it's open to all creatives that are feeling drawn to its work and you know you can read along. I think that would be fun, but also like you can just read the post and respond to the questions. You don't have to be like super caught up on the books, but yeah, if you're at all an Oliver Bergman fan, I would check it out because it's been like really fun to connect with other fans too. Check it out because it's been like really fun to connect with other fans too. The people that are into that way of thinking are like philosophical and chatty and friendly, and it's been a really good group.
Speaker 2:I want to ask you about substack and writing. Uh, so where do you see substack evolving? Do you see it as a place where right or writers should be? Like I'm on substack and I I love being there, but, like as an author who wants to publish books, get a, build an audience, how do you crack the substack code? Because sometimes you post and you get crickets. Sometimes I mean it's I don't know. If I want to ask you how do do you crack the code? What would? How did you crack the code?
Speaker 1:Well, I had a mail chimp list for a really long time and I started writing about creativity and motherhood. I had a book that was going out on submission and, like another friend, that who who had written a nonfiction book, was like I kind of think Substack's the place to be for writers. You should try it. So I first joined Substack, kind of lurking and just kind of getting a feel for the culture and like what are people talking about? How do people like trade notes and that kind of thing. And then I found that there's actually Um. And then I I found that there's actually um, there's a lot of moms on Substack. I actually wrote a post. Why are all the writer moms on Substack? Um, and there's a lot of literary conversations and also fun stuff like you know more, more of like me kind of conversations. You might have other places.
Speaker 1:My experience has been very positive in that like I always think of if you want to think of it as marketing or like building your business, as like joining new circles. So like I might have a circle of people that are editor friends. I might have a circle of people that are children's book writer friends. I might have a circle of people that are mom friends. I might have a circle of people that are children's book writer friends. I might have a circle of people that are mom friends. I might have a circle of people that are business people that I know in other industries. Substack was a whole other circle for me. I felt like I got a new boost in my audience. There's really great discovery with the way they promote your newsletter to other people. I've gained more people in the newsletter list than I had like any other year since having a newsletter, so it's been really great how many subscribers do you have.
Speaker 2:If you don't mind me asking, I have about 2,000, I think, oh, that's good, that's pretty good. Do you have other newsletters or only subscribers?
Speaker 1:No. So I canceled the MailChimp because at a certain point, once you have so many people, you start paying too much on MailChimp to send out a newsletter. That seems silly. So I've. Actually, this was like a great milestone to me, as I started making as much on Substack as I was paying to my MailChimp. And so now, instead of paying MailChimp, I'm making the money, which felt I mean it's not a lot, but it still felt good.
Speaker 1:You have paid subscribers, right A few. I think I have maybe 20 paid subscribers. That's good. That's good. I only have four. It feels exciting and like when I think about like oh, how can I just do more of what's working. It feels like Substack's working. So I'm still figuring it out. I don't have some grand plan and I don't think anyone could predict you do X, y and Z and then you will produce this result. It's still very much growing and changing and there's a lot out of your control, but I think there's a lot of writers on there and it's really helpful to know other writers. It's helpful to know writers outside of your genre and to get inspired by them. It's a lively community. I've tried Blue Sky and I just like so far have not been able to get into it, so I'm liking it so far.
Speaker 2:Good. So before we conclude, and since you're the book therapist, what are your top tips for therapy? When people come to you and tell you, like you know I can't write, you know I doubt myself, you know, like, what are your top tips that you give your patients?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I mean, the biggest takeaway I want people to know is you're not alone. Like so many people struggle with this. I struggle with this. I've been doing this for 20 years and it's still hard, and there is nothing you can tell me that is going to make me think you're a bad person or you're a bad writer, like. I think there's just a lot of shame and baggage that comes from trying to do something that is so undervalued and so invisible, and the publishing industry is, like, not transparent. There's so many layers to it that are out of your control. It is a recipe for making you feel kind of crazy and just frustrated and wanting to give up. I know so many writers that want to give up, like which is just that always kills me, because these are really talented people. These are people that have a lot of success, like they're the people that other people would look up to, and it still feels really hard for them.
Speaker 2:So I think Do you know how many times I wanted to give up? So many times, which is that's why I laugh when you mention it. Like I said, I'm going to quit writing, maybe at least 100 times, but I get back to it because there's, it's what I love. I cannot let go of it. You miss it.
Speaker 1:And like I think it's really good to take that break and realize you miss it.
Speaker 1:And I am often trying to encourage people to create a writing practice they love and that they want to return to and that they feel really proud of what they're doing, but also that they enjoy and then try to just forget about the publishing process.
Speaker 1:Like I can, I can give you you know professional advice on that, but there's just so much that is going to be out of your control. You have to make peace with the part that comes before that and then let go, because you will make yourself just want to walk away if you focus on the publishing part of it. But the writing part of it is really important and life-giving and people need to put their work out in the world. There's so much value to and like hearing someone like saw your work and was really moved by it and it's. It doesn't need to be a thousand people, it needs to be like one person that just wrote to you and said like hey, that actually stuck with me and I thought it was beautiful and thanks for saying something, something I didn't know how to say that that can keep you going.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, fascinating. So how do people find you? Like, if I'm looking for a book therapist, where can I find you? Your website, like where are you? Where do you hang out the most?
Speaker 1:Yes, I am at helloheidifeedlercom, that's F-I-E-D-L-E-R, and I'm at Instagram at Heidi Fiedler and on Substack. I think you could search Heidi Fiedler. But you can also search for Nebula Notebook and that's where the Oliver Berkman Book Club is, if you want to join it. It's called 4,000 Ideas.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, I oh okay, I will have to read the book first. I think I have it here somewhere, but I collect books more than I read them. But anyway, this has been a wonderful idea. I really enjoyed it and I'm really inspired now and I hope anyone who's listening and watching you know get the same inspiration that I got. And for people who are listening or watching, thank you for joining us for another episode of Read and Write with Natasha and until we meet again, thank you for tuning in to Read and Write with Natasha. I'm your host, natasha Tynes. If today's episode inspired you in any way, please take the time to review the podcast. Remember to subscribe and share this podcast with fellow book lovers. Until next time, happy reading, happy writing.
