Fall back in love with your writing

Have you ever found yourself lost in the book world, yearning to reconnect with your first love—writing? I'm Jenna Lee, your guide through the thicket of 'shoulds' and trending demands, taking you back to the heart and soul of storytelling in this episode of the Daring Author Podcast. 

It's time to unearth the golden nuggets buried within your life experiences and let them infuse your narratives with authenticity. Whether you're tangled in the web of writer's block or simply seeking a spark to relight your creative flame, join me for a conversation that promises to remind you why you started writing in the first place.

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Transcript

Jenna Lee: 0:08

Welcome to the Daring Author Podcast, the show that takes you behind the scenes of building a successful author business, bringing you inspiring interviews and information on writing and marketing ideas for your book so that you can build an easeful, empowering and profitable author business. I'm your host, jenna Lee, owner of the Daring Press, a virtual marketing and support agency where we help indie authors who are ready to take their author business to the next level with more ease, growth and time. You can find the episode show notes and a bunch of marketing resources at thedaringpresscom. Let's become daring authors by diving into today's episode. If you are struggling to write right now, stay tuned, because today's episode I am going to have a little riff and just let it flow in terms of getting back to the love of writing.

Jenna Lee: 1:07

There is so much noise out there saying you should do this, you should do that and far out, like it is a lot. It is a lot and I really wanted you to go back to why, why are you writing Like? Go back to the love of writing. Like. You know that, those feelings of like writing what, whatever it is that you are drawn to, I went down a path of you know writing stuff that like, oh, we need to write to market, and that's a new thing. And you get lost in this like cycle of writing all this stuff that you should be writing or that's popular, and all of that stuff. When why can't we just follow those nudges and follow? You know, we go through a lot of shit in our life. We go through so much experiences so that we can add those into our stories and tell those stories. And you know, things that we witness in our life, things that we are really drawn to talk about, like they are the things and they are the golden nuggets that we should be writing about. And I'm going to use that word should. I don't even know why. I just said that because I hate that word. But I really want you to go back to the passion of writing and you know, figure out what it is that you want to write and, like I can say from the beginning of my writing journey, no-transcript there of like one thing to another. But I think we go through that and I, you know, when I speak to a lot of authors, um, and you know, hear that, hear their journey, and it's like finding, you know, writing all different genres until you find what really lights you up. And this could change throughout your author journey and you know it might change from you're liking to write this type of thing to now liking this other genre.

Jenna Lee: 3:13

But I think the main point here is really looking at what lights you up, what you consume in your everyday life, like for for me, for example, like I am like a true crime junkie in the sense of I absolutely love consuming all things true crime as well as not true crime. So, like you know, my all-time favorite show that I absolutely love I used to watch it with my dad growing up is cold case. So I think for me it's always been about like solving the case and those solved murders as well as murders that are still, you know, unsolved and you've got to try and figure it out. But the mystery behind that and I consume that so much in like in terms of TV series, movies, I absolutely love thrillers, as well as listening to it on podcasts and everything that I am consuming in that way. And now I'm writing a series that does have those elements in there. It's a murder mystery, it's really it's contemporary romance but like it's got that murder mystery element to it. And my all-time favorite tv show is Pretty Little Liars and I've re-watched this series, like I don't even know like 20, 30 times, like at least seriously, I just watched it on. There's like five seasons in this particular show and I've re-watched it, start to finish. Every time I finish it I started again. It's one of those ones that I can just have on and just consume it all the time. But now I'm writing a series that has those elements in there and like, oh my god, the difference that that makes.

Jenna Lee: 4:56

Like sometimes when you go into writing a book and you love it at the start but you get to that midpoint and it's like, yeah, trying to push shit, you know that, saying trying to push it up a hill or whatever it is like you get to this point and it's like, oh, like it gets boring or you just get stuck and it could be in the first book, the second book, whatever, if you're doing a series. But this um book that I'm writing at the moment and after hitting burnout last year, near the end of last year and just writing last year, really writing to market and writing so many books, and just it got to that point where it was like so hard to finish books and I was just like I do not want to feel like this again. I do not want to feel like that force to writing the books. And it's like now this year, I've come to the realization that I'm going to be only releasing one, maybe two, possibly two. I know I'm going to be releasing one, but two books, compared to last year's nine books like that's a big thing, that's a big hit for me to that overachiever, to be like it's okay.

Jenna Lee: 6:07

But I have to step back to that and right now, like coming from out of burnout and really into this new space of how I'm doing things, and for me it's really about falling back in love with that writing and get you know, writing this series, that I'm absolutely loving this and I know that. I think you know the writing is what you really, really love. When you it's like all consuming, you cannot stop thinking about it. Everything you know. You're dreaming about it. You're sitting on the couch playing out the scenes and I know a lot of writers work like this and I do too Like I'll. I have to play out the scene in my head and lot of writers work like this and I do too like I'll. I have to play out the scene in my head and like visualize it and then I'll write it out and like that's happening so much I'm like not getting. I think I've got stuck a couple of times but like worked through it with my writing coach and like lately it's just been so easeful and flow.

Jenna Lee: 7:03

And the reason I'm telling you all of this and the reason like that I'm so worked up about it is just going back to what you know, what you love, what you experience like. What is it in your books that has people coming back? What can you talk about all of the time? And for me, like mental health is a huge thing for me and you know things that I went through as a teenager and it's always in most of my books it has played out, the one, the books that like especially own a special place in my heart. Like there is something that I have gone through that has been intertwined into that and you know, I think with your brand, it's like finding what makes you unique to that. What do you know, what have you been through, what do you consume every single day, and like putting that into your book and creating your masterpiece.

Jenna Lee: 7:55

And I do believe, like for every writer, you know we write so many books and we're like, oh, this is going to be the one, this is going to be the one. And I think you just don't know. You don't know what's going to hit the bestseller list anymore. It's too hard. Like it is so unpredictable. If you look at the top 10 bestsellers, like it's in every different genre you you have like a dark romance, you'll have a rom-com, you'll have a thriller, you'll have a mystery. Like it is so versatile. And I really think that best-selling books are like those all-consuming books that the author puts out there, that they like just consumes them, and you can tell when you read those books that they've put so much in it. And I'm not saying that everyone doesn't put that into every book. But you know those books that are just like, yeah, you know you're like I've just got this feeling about this and like it's, it's gonna, it's gonna happen one day.

Jenna Lee: 8:52

We've all got a bestselling series in in us and I do believe that 120% like I have on my goal list like to write a, you know, a bestselling series that's like really huge. And I don't know when, I don't know how, I don't know what. I just know that I would do that one day and I've got to hold on to that and I hold on to that vision. I and I'm in that, doing energy. You know I am devoted to it, I am aligned and I'm taking inspired action every single day and working on my craft. So, whatever this episode is I don't even know how to describe it it but it is like a pep talk from me to you and just really talking out how I'm feeling at the moment and that bringing that passion back for my writing and just trying new things. Like I don't know if this is going to be a good series, but I'm absolutely loving it. Like and I have got a really good feeling and you know I just I am really loving it and for me that's all that matters.

Jenna Lee: 9:53

Like I think for me it's that we always race to the end line with finishing a book, that we sometimes miss the actual process of it and it takes a long time to write our books right. Like it takes, whether you can do it in a month, whether it takes you six months to a year to five years, whatever it is, it is a process and I think we miss that journey along the way of really just like enjoying every moment of it, like how fucking cool is it that you can take this story from your head, create these characters, create these scenes, create these acts, create like the whole structure of a book and then publish it, like, let's go back to that. Let's go back to that feeling of being so super proud of us, no matter the outcome. No matter the outcome and I know you're probably screaming at me that you know, if this is your full-time job and you've got to make the ends meet and you've got like, and I know that and I, I, I hate that we have to feel like that. I really just want everyone to be feeling just enjoying that process and without that pressure of the end result, of the sales, of the success, like, yeah, it's fuck that shit. Like honestly, sorry for swearing, but this is my podcast and I can do whatever I want with it. So that is my pep talk today.

Jenna Lee: 11:18

Whatever you take out of this, yeah, I just hope it re-inspires you and enjoy the process. Write what you love, write what you know, write what you experience and just enjoy every single bloody moment of it. And that is it. Mic, drop out, I am out of here. But yeah, seriously, if you do have any takeaways, or if you've got any comments or want to chat about this, like, honestly, reach out to me, because this is what I'm feeling at the moment and I really want you to enjoy the whole process of writing your book and your story. Thanks for listening to the Daring Author podcast. If you love this episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review, and if you are ready to grow your author business with the support of the Daring Press book in your free discovery call today before places fill up. We'll see you in the next Daring episode.