The Write Focus

Writer's Block ~ Defeat It! / Storyteller & Story Teacher / 7:48

Many writers—newbies, early wannabees, flash-ins before they flash out—many of these writers never reach the mature writer’s self-analysis stage.

· These writers don’t learn to seek new methods when the story won’t flow.

· They don’t seek solutions to plot conundrums and character rebellions.

· They don’t analyze their writing blocks and seek ways around or over or under or through that writer’s block.

Some mature writers don’t do this, either. They stop and wait. For what? Inspiration? The spark of the start of the way out? They should be scaling the problem or dodging it with another project or tunneling to discover a deeper issue with the story or blasting through the Block with fire and passion for writing.

We don’t want to confront Writer’s Block. We shrink away, frightened by its lingering. The great unmentioned unmentionable seeks to rule us—will we let it?

Not if we have sense. Not if we have a juggernaut of ideas barreling into us, desperate to be released into stories.

Newbie or Mature writer, we do stumble into problems. And then we seek advice from other storytellers.

Let’s look at advice from another Storyteller who is also a Story Teacher.

TIMINGS

·        00:41 Introduction
·        02:10 Wilhelm’s Background
·        03:00 Disruptions
·        07:58 Imposter Syndrome
·        14:15 Slump vs. Block
·        18:15 Silent Partner
·        23:03 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time :: 24:48

LINKS

Video https://youtu.be/JiEu4EtrTYc

Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/writers-block-defeat-it-storyteller-and-story-teacher-ep-748/?token=d8ee4836509dd81d15a58aae5953f42c

SOURCE

Wilhelm, Kate. Storyteller. Northampton, MA: Small Beer Press, 2005. info@smallbeerpress.com

Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle. The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

As a Blast from the Past, our current focus is a series entitled Writer’s Block: Defeat It!, originally airing as “Defeat Writer’s Block” a few years back. Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC73Pe3yKV5HixAUjBNOg47A Select the most recent episode through the URL after the TIMINGS.

The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book.

Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH

Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow

AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

· You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters series.

· Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Listen on your favorite podcast site: from Apple to YouTube, Spotify and Podbean (my favs), Google Play, Amazon Music and Audible, Samsung and Player FM, Deezer and Podcaster, the rivals iHeart and Tune-in, and too many to list.

Here are the easiest. Make us a favorite, and follow along easy-peasy, once a week, while you fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/

YouTube direct link to the Current Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7IZWMlW9kLwMNEkuLMySGnq

Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d

Amazon/Audible https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/062ecc60-d61c-432a-ad99-8234c1044ef1

ListenNotes https://lnns.co/y_Jg5rpaMNo

Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VkZW41Njk1L2ZlZWQueG1s

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Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

MORE ~ Book Available Now.

Welcome to More:

Seasons of the Church.

A Celebration of the Holy Days

of the Church Year

Begin the church year as the Old cycles into the New.

* Begin with Advent’s 4 Sundays, Christmas and Epiphany

with New Year’s Day tucked between, warm and cozy.

* For Deep Winter: Ash Wednesday and Lent’s 5 Sundays.

* As Spring Renews: Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and the Holiest of Holy Days, Easter.

* Spring Warming toward Summer: Bright Week, Ascension, and Pentecost.

What Can You Expect on Each Holy Day?

* Old and New Testament Readings

* Reflection, Memory, or Commentary

* Devotional Prayers Conclude each entry.

If you had a very plain Protestant upbringing, More offers a richer experience of Christianity.

Join me for a bit of More, from Advent to Pentecost.

Available from Worldwide Distributors and Amazon in three formats: Ebook and Paperback

View the Trailer https://youtu.be/qwWY1y-Sr4o

LINKS

Amazon ebook https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HR2XZC4B?th=1

Amazon ppback https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HR33MQ4J?th=1

Amazon audio https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HR69ZGX8?th=1

Audible https://www.audible.com/pd/B0HR6BMZJR

Writer's Block ~ Defeat It! / Stewart on Writing Flow / 7:47

A funny thing happened on the way through entertainment this past weekend.

I read Mary Stewart’s The Stormy Petrel.

That’s not the funny thing.

Mary Stewart is my all-time favorite author. Wonderful character development, intriguing plots, lovely lyrical writing. She’s a guaranteed satisfying entertainment. My favorite novel of hers is My Brother Michael with This Rough Magic as a close second, and running third is The Moonspinners. (If you’ve seen the old film with Hayley Mills, you’ve seen a tragedy and not Stewart’s story.)

I read The Stormy Petrel years ago. The story didn’t stick then: IDK the reason. I usually reach for something else when I want a delicious read. This past weekend was different.

And now we’re to the funny thing, one of those God winks, preparing the way. The protagonist Rose is a writer. Stewart included several revealing passages about the writer’s life including—get this—Writer’s Block.

Let’s examine what Stewart has to say.

TIMINGS

· 00:40 Introduction
· 02:25 Spark the Start
· 05:00 Revive the Memory of Story
· 07:00 Deep into Flow
· 10:20 Finish that Bit; Don’t just Stop
· 11:17 Unfolding Inspiration
· 13:40 Many Projects
· 18:05 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time:: 19:49

LINKS

Video https://youtu.be/sSXsu6wMiQ4

Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/writers-block-defeat-it-mary-stewart-on-writing-flow-747/?token=2cb5dda3f68d27e067c987dd9360ad62

SOURCE

Stewart, Mary. The Stormy Petrel. New York: Ballantine Books, 1991. https://www.amazon.com/Stormy-Petrel-Mary-Stewart-ebook/dp/B00GVFUEGS

Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle.

The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book.

Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH

Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow

AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

· You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters series.

· Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Here are the easiest. Make us a favorite, and follow along easy-peasy, once a week, while you fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/

YouTube direct link to the Current Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7IZWMlW9kLwMNEkuLMySGnq

Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d

Amazon/Audible https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/062ecc60-d61c-432a-ad99-8234c1044ef1

ListenNotes https://lnns.co/y_Jg5rpaMNo

Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VkZW41Njk1L2ZlZWQueG1s

Tune-In https://tunein.com/podcasts/p1608565/

IHeart Radio https://iheart.com/podcast/90647163

Content copyright is 2020 to 2026, Writers Ink Books.

Writer's Block ~ Defeat It! / Avoid these Mistakes, part B / 7:46

Avoid these Mistakes, part B ~ from Judy Delton

When we’re browsing for information to help our own particular problems, we reach for the weighty titles, the ones that analyze to the nth degree and provide six or seven or thirteen examples. That kind of information scan would miss Judy Delton’s surprisingly valuable little guidebook The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.

My own bookshelf, physical and electronic, is scant on information about Writer’s Block. That doesn’t mean I haven’t suffered from it, the way many writers have. Most of my earlier years when I plunged into Writer’s Block, I denied that I had it. It was the great “unmentioned unmentionable” such as Erle Stanley Gardner must have faced.

I, too, have looked for processes to spin out a plot or delve into characters. I haven’t gone as far as to create a 15-page outline or 7 Plot Wheels. Nor have I looked for a variety of information on Writer’s Block and how to overcome it.

I’ve simply prayed for the opportunities when my writing flows out so easily and hoped, after a stoppage, that I can return to that flowing. I have learned that writing every day prevents Writer’s Block.

If we don’t admit to Writer’s Block, can we overcome it? Most of us think we can, simply by ignoring it, keeping it unmentioned and unacknowledged … at least, that’s what we think.

The real, actual, only thing that we can do to Defeat Writer’s Block

is act upon our Will to Write.

I’m not certain that Judy Delton’s little guidebook can be found in normal book outlets. It’s not from a major publisher although Writer’s Digest Books is certainly well-known. An internet search turns up cached pages offering the book at used book dealers like Thrift Books and ebay, but the first two that I clicked only catalogued the book; it wasn’t in stock.

Anyway, on to part 2 of “Avoid These Mistakes” when attempting to find the impetus to Defeat Writer’s Block.

TIMINGS

· 00:38 Introduction
· 03:07 Delton’s 5^th Mistake to Avoid
· 07:25 Her 21^st Mistake to Avoid
· 10:13 Bridge thru Guidebook / More Advice than on Writer’s Block
· 17:10 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time :: 18:57

SOURCE

Delton, Judy. The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. Writer’s Digest Books, 1985.

LINKS

Video https://youtu.be/-UJTODFC6fY

Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/writers-block-defeat-it-avoid-these-mistakes-part-b-746/?token=11c480eb572e0734b9ab0c6e18034120

Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle.

The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book.

Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH

Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow

AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

· You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters series.

· Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Here are the easiest. Make us a favorite, and follow along easy-peasy, once a week, while you fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/

YouTube direct link to the Current Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7IZWMlW9kLwMNEkuLMySGnq

Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d

Amazon/Audible https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/062ecc60-d61c-432a-ad99-8234c1044ef1

ListenNotes https://lnns.co/y_Jg5rpaMNo

Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VkZW41Njk1L2ZlZWQueG1s

Tune-In https://tunein.com/podcasts/p1608565/

IHeart Radio https://iheart.com/podcast/90647163

Writer's Block ~ Defeat It! / Avoid these Mistakes, part A / 7:45

Writers read. In reading we are voracious consumers of anything that catches our eye.

We may also be hoarders, little dragons perched on a Keep-Forever Book Stack, surrounded by a myriad of smaller To-Be-Read stacks:

This Stack First,
This Stack Second,
This Later,
Helpful Stuff,
I Wanna Read But Not Now,
Maybe Later,
I Dunno,

and more. When we climb down from our hoard, we may stop and investigate those TBR stacks and do a little re-organizing.

And thus I found an unexpected gem which says a lot about Defeating Writer’s Block (literally and figuratively). The book is Judy Delton’s The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.

The help from this book will take two episodes to analyze!

TIMINGS

· 00:40 Introduction
· 04:30 Avoid Mistake #1
· 11:45 Avoid Mistake #2
· 18:35 Wilhelm’s Law of Ideas
· 21:00 Avoid Mistake #3
· 24:52 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time :: 26:38

LINKS

Video https://youtu.be/_Q6FD-rYFho

Audio https://eden5695.podbean.com/e/writers-block-defeat-it-avoid-these-mistakes-part-a-745/?token=8046080af27c1374e9838d9e391c9127

SOURCE

Delton, Judy. The 29 Most Common Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. Writer’s Digest Books, 1985.

Licensed Music with the content is “Simple Acoustic Guitar” from the creator Apple Hill Studios, available on Audio Jungle.

The music is licensed for podcast and YouTube. Music for the opening and closing segments are in the narration, also licensed from Audio Jungle for the purpose of podcast and YouTube.

All short videos with the video are from Pexels.com, a site that offers free short videos, some with sound (turned off for this posting).

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

The original series is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook. Use these links to purchase the original book.

Amazon, Kindle, and Audible https://www.amazon.com/Defeat-Writers-Block-M-Lee/dp/B0D7QSV3MH

Books2Read Worldwide https://books2read.com/u/3112ow

AudioBook Now https://www.audiobooksnow.com/audiobook/defeat-writers-block/10295605/?msclkid=53302f8cda3f16b4c8e045b1ae0d96ed

Support the podcast with a cup of coffee at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/winkbooksr

· You can find workbooks and templates at Buy Me a Coffee. Available is the Enter the Writing Business Workbook and templates from the Discovering Characters series.

· Also available: worksheet templates and a video trailer script for Discovering Your Author Brand.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

Here are the easiest. Make us a favorite, and follow along easy-peasy, once a week, while you fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

My favorite podcast is Podbean. https://eden5695.podbean.com/

YouTube direct link to the Current Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7IZWMlW9kLwMNEkuLMySGnq

Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-write-focus/id1546738740%20

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4fMwknmfJhkJxQvaaLQ3Gm?si=ffeb71ed17c3409d

Amazon/Audible https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/062ecc60-d61c-432a-ad99-8234c1044ef1

ListenNotes https://lnns.co/y_Jg5rpaMNo

Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL2VkZW41Njk1L2ZlZWQueG1s

Tune-In https://tunein.com/podcasts/p1608565/

IHeart Radio https://iheart.com/podcast/90647163