Podcast Feed
Panel Discussion with Writers and Pages & Platforms
This year’s summit ends with a candid conversation among four members of the Happily Ever Author Club: Sue Dockstader, Kathryn Brown Ramsperger, Michael Aquino-Dulay, and Dawnielle Jacobson. Host Sue Campbell leads the panel, with developmental editors Anne Holly and Rachelle Ramirez joining in. Listen in as the panelists describe the mindset shifts that kept them writing. The episode closes the summit with a reminder to be patient with yourself and to keep writing anyway.
00:05 Welcome to the final session, plus closing announcements
07:23 Sue: from marketing helper to novelist, and “the story you tell yourself”
12:11 Kathy: why every writer needs support, urgent vs. important, and finishing the first draft
15:36 Michael: breaking out of the perfectionism loop
19:45 Dawnielle: from burnout to a consistent practice and an author platform
26:06 Audience Q&A: turning a draft into a memoir
27:30 How to stop editing while you draft
31:51 Promoting your book when you’re a behind-the-scenes person
36:35 Revising in focused passes, and distilling your story to one through line
41:01 Balancing ambition and deadlines with grace
50:21 How the marketing mindset carries into the rest of life
56:55 Showing two characters’ interiority without head hopping
58:22 Closing thanks and farewell
Ask the Editors with Rachelle Ramirez and Anne Hawley
In this live Q&A, developmental editors Anne Holly and Rachelle Ramirez of Pages & Platforms answer attendees’ writing and editing questions. You can read Rachelle’s post on “What Type of Editor Do You Need?” here: https://www.pagesandplatforms.com/blog/what-type-of-editor-do-you-need Download the Story Types Guide at: https://pagesandplatforms.b-cdn.net/Write%20Anyway%20Summit/WA26/Story-Types-Guide.pdf
00:14 Welcome and housekeeping
05:34 Grammarly vs. ProWritingAid, and drafting in a second language
08:52 How polished your manuscript needs to be for editors and publishers
12:35 Do editing tools use AI?
14:23 Genre specialties and how to find a trusted editor
21:32 Traditional, hybrid, or self-publishing?
23:39 What to do when “nothing happens” in a scene
28:04 Telling agents and publishers about AI-assisted tools
29:44 Using story types for nonfiction
32:29 First vs. third person, and why switching later is hard
36:42 Copyright and sharing drafts with an editor
41:26 How to work through developmental notes
44:20 Opening with a dramatic event vs. the character’s ordinary world
46:48 World-building without losing momentum
49:22 Developmental editing timelines and pricing
53:54 Beta readers vs. “alpha” readers
56:27 Mixing first- and third-person points of view
58:43 Closing comments
Live Author Mindset Coaching #4 with Sue Campbell
Sue Campbell opens the floor for live mindset coaching with writers from the Write Anyway audience. Nearly every session comes back to one idea: the story you tell yourself creates the emotion that drives what you do next. Watching someone else get coached is one of the fastest ways to learn the tools, so listen for the questions and techniques you can try on your own writing.
00:00 Introduction and how the coaching works
03:47 Participant 1: keeping the writing going after returning to a busy day job
20:09 Participant 2: perfectionism slowing down a first draft
34:15 Participant 3: guilt about taking writing time as a parent
43:06 Participant 4: making room to write when other commitments fill the day
51:52 Participant 5: overwhelm while querying and building a platform
1:04:38 Closing comments
Get Your Memoir Unstuck with Rachelle Ramirez
If your memoir has been stuck for years, the problem may be that you haven’t decided what story you’re telling. In this session, developmental editor Rachelle Ramirez uses examples from bestselling memoirs to illustrate how the seven story types apply to the memoir genre. A Q&R session follows the main presentation. Download the Story Types Guide at: https://pagesandplatforms.b-cdn.net/Write%20Anyway%20Summit/WA26/Story-Types-Guide.pdf
00:03 Welcome
03:12 What a memoir is and isn’t: memoir vs. autobiography
13:33 Zero drafts and the six elements of a professional draft
17:19 The seven story types, with example memoirs for each
37:57 One house renovation, four possible story types
40:23 How knowing your story type helps you finish your draft
46:26 Q&A begins
47:37 When your memoir reads like an autobiography
49:07 Writing about real people in your life
54:04 Can you write a memoir without dramatic hardship?
56:26 When your story seems to fit every story type
58:37 Pairing an external and an internal story type
1:01:52 Publishing memoir pieces on Substack first
1:04:32 Writing as processing, and when it may be too soon
1:12:34 Closing advice: be brave in your first draft
Live Author Mindset Coaching #3 with Sue Campbell
Sue Campbell opens the floor for live mindset coaching with writers from the Write Anyway audience. Nearly every session comes back to one idea: the story you tell yourself creates the emotion that drives what you do next. Watching someone else get coached is one of the fastest ways to learn the tools, so listen for the questions and techniques you can try on your own writing.
00:00 Introduction and how the coaching works
03:59 Participant 1: protecting writing time from interruptions
15:37 Participant 2: building an audience while finishing a memoir
28:37 Participant 3: getting back to the novel after a big life transition
41:08 Participant 4: writing about strongly held views without straining relationships
51:00 Participant 5: staying steady through the agent query process
56:09 Closing comments
ADHD Writers Q&R with Rachelle Ramirez
ADHD can make the usual writing advice feel like fingernails on a chalkboard. In this session, book coach and developmental editor Rachelle Ramirez addresses questions about writing with an ADHD brain. Her main point is that ADHD writers usually don’t lack motivation. What’s hard is getting started. She offers four levers for getting into the work: interest, challenge, novelty, and urgency.
Timestamps
0:00 Welcome
0:55 What ADHD looks like, and whether a diagnosis matters
4:03 It’s not a motivation problem, it’s a starting problem
8:57 The four levers: interest, challenge, novelty, and urgency
15:00 Getting started again after a diagnosis
17:37 Hyperfocus, losing track of time, and “landing rituals”
22:35 Working on more than one project: primary and secondary
28:42 Keeping discovery alive while plotting structure
35:27 When life keeps interrupting: systems that cut down on decisions
44:40 When standard advice doesn’t fit: try it, modify it, or do the opposite
52:44 Stuck on where the story goes, plus the “success log”
58:14 Finding or starting the right writing group
1:02:05 Low time and energy, and learning to say no
1:05:56 Guilt and grief after a late diagnosis
1:18:38 Imposter syndrome
1:22:37 Coming back to writing after burnout
1:25:29 Closing comments
Live Author Mindset Coaching #2 with Sue Campbell
Sue Campbell opens the floor for live mindset coaching with writers from the Write Anyway audience. Nearly every session comes back to one idea: the story you tell yourself creates the emotion that drives what you do next. Watching someone else get coached is one of the fastest ways to learn the tools, so listen for the questions and techniques you can try on your own writing.
00:00 Introduction and how the coaching works
04:03 Participant 1: having plenty of time but still not writing
13:13 Participant 2: finding the story type for a difficult memoir
23:37 Participant 3: untangling an overwhelming unfinished draft
46:25 Participant 4: the pressure of writing your “magnum opus”
53:57 Participant 5: fear that readers aren’t connecting with the work
1:01:38 Closing comments
Pick the Brain of a Bestselling Author with Laura Munson
Bestselling author Laura Munson participates in an open “pick my brain” session where she fields questions on marketing, writing groups, revisions, and more. Her advice comes back to three words: be playful, curious, and kind. Get a free journal writing practice and more from Laura at https://lauramunson.com/resources/
00:33 Welcome and introduction of Laura Munson
05:07 How do you know when a piece is finished?
10:15 Marketing and publicity: what falls on the author now
15:03 Writing groups, and whether publishing gets you into a “club”
19:09 Too drained to write? Keeping the writer and editor apart
24:08 Building a long career: ego, rejection, and money
30:12 Spiritual themes for teen readers without preaching
37:52 When you’re unmotivated: “low tide” and the companion journal
43:10 When each revision becomes a different story
49:54 Revising without a writing group or critique partners
53:14 Show versus tell, and the “wise narrator” in memoir
57:20 Laura’s free resources and closing comments
Capacity Meter: Find Out Exactly What You’ve Got to Give (So You Can Give It to Your Book) with Jessica Abel
Cartoonist, author, and business coach for creatives Jessica Abel introduces her free Capacity Meter, a quick private tool for seeing how much time and energy you have right now. Capacity combines your calendar with your health, sleep, caregiving, money pressure, and emotional load. Plan around it and you can drop the shame when a plan falls apart. Sue Campbell takes the tool for a live walkthrough, then the audience tries it and brings questions. Get the Capacity Meter at https://jessicaabel.com/capacity-meter/
00:05 Welcome and introduction of Jessica Abel
01:40 What capacity is and why it matters for writers
05:14 Capacity Meter demo: gut read, then the questions (with Sue)
14:08 Reading the results: what the number and the gut-check gap tell you
19:10 Your turn: everyone tries the Capacity Meter
23:20 Live Q&A begins
26:28 Q&A: finishing a book while building an audience (capacity vs. criteria)
31:04 Q&A: very low capacity, and how to get help with little money
38:01 Q&A: high capacity but not getting much done
44:48 Q&A: ADHD, burnout, and building flexible habits
51:29 Q&A: lowering the bar and the two-minute writing habit
55:50 Closing comments and where to get the tool
Can You Edit Your Own Manuscript? with Rachelle Ramirez and Anne Hawley
Can you edit your own novel without hiring an editor? Rachelle Ramirez and Anne Hawley say yes, and this webinar shows you how. They walk through common manuscript problems and a practical tool for each. A Q&A session follows the main presentation. Download the Story Types Guide at: https://pagesandplatforms.b-cdn.net/Write%20Anyway%20Summit/WA26/Story-Types-Guide.pdf
0:06 Welcome and introductions
4:27 Cutting a 230,000-word novel: a real editing story
10:17 The levels of editing
13:49 Problem 1: the seven story types
42:25 Problem 2: pacing and the four-act structure
46:18 Problem 3: what makes a scene work
50:17 Tips for editing your own novel (and hiring an editor)
54:03 Q&A begins
1:02:52 Editing software
1:07:56 AI and authenticity
1:11:05 Yes, you can edit without hiring an editor, plus building your own writing group
1:16:58 When readers misinterpret or “don’t connect” with your work
1:21:27 Scenes versus chapters, and how to find your scenes
1:28:08 Worldview versus validation stories
1:30:12 Closing comments
Live Author Mindset Coaching #1 with Sue Campbell
Sue Campbell opens the floor for live mindset coaching with writers from the Write Anyway audience. Nearly every session comes back to one idea: the story you tell yourself creates the emotion that drives what you do next. Watching someone else get coached is one of the fastest ways to learn the tools, so listen for the questions and techniques you can try on your own writing.
00:19 Introduction and how the coaching works
06:01 Participant 1: taming a first draft that keeps ballooning
13:48 Participant 2: restarting a stalled memoir
23:14 Participant 3: telling real fear from the inner saboteur
34:03 Participant 4: starting projects but never finishing them
47:28 Participant 5: dealing with anxiety and rejection
58:15 Closing comments
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Story Joules: A Seven-Moment Framework to Diagnose and Energize Character-Driven Stories with Jule Kucera
Writer, editor, and educator Jule Kucera introduces her story-structuring method, Story Joules, designed to help writers diagnose why a story feels stuck by focusing on how the protagonist needs to change and where they will feel pressure. She explains a four-quadrant model combining internal stasis/change with external order/chaos, then divides it into eight segments and adds seven key “Joule” moments that supply narrative energy. Using Pride and Prejudice (and briefly Star Wars) as examples, she illustrates the Joules—whiff inciting incident, I gotta go, woe shake up a belief, mindset-shattering midpoint, wham all is lost, return changed, and dig down deeper—showing how Elizabeth Bennet’s arc moves through pressure, collapse, and transformed behavior. Kucera emphasizes connecting to the reader through the protagonist’s heart and points attendees to session resources and a free handbook download.
00:00 Welcome Writers
01:10 Meet Jule Kucera
02:36 Two Questions First
02:56 Story Joules Framework
04:38 Pride and Prejudice Setup
05:29 Quadrant One Whiff
07:23 I Gotta Go Moment
09:47 Quadrant Two Woe
11:48 Midpoint Mirror Moment
13:50 Quadrant Three Wham
16:23 Return Changed
17:40 Quadrant Four Final Test
19:15 Dig Down Deeper
20:44 Heart of the Reader
21:28 Resources and Farewell
Perfectionism and Resistance: How to Use Them to Your Advantage with Trevor Martens
Writing educator and editor Trevor Martens joins Sue at the Write Anyway Summit to discuss how perfectionism derails writers through paralysis, procrastination, and people-pleasing, often showing up as endless revising, over-plotting, or an inability to finish or share work. Martens frames perfectionism as a coping mechanism for uncertainty and fear, promising guaranteed success and external approval but delivering misery, distorted creative “true north,” and avoidance of new writing. He urges writers to recognize the perfectionist voice (often bullying), refocus on authentic self-expression rather than shifting outside opinions, and take action as the antidote to paralysis by writing, sharing, and using feedback to learn. Practical strategies include building supportive community, staying present with the next step, and using four-minute timed quick writes to break inertia. He shares where to find his work and Write Things Community.
00:00 Trevor Martens 2026 DESCRIPT
00:15 Welcome and Bio
01:15 How Perfectionism Shows Up
04:45 Perfectionism as Coping
07:18 External Approval Trap
10:52 Agent Feedback Example
12:25 What Perfectionism Delivers
14:36 Breaking the Paralysis
18:03 Trust Feedback Loops
19:33 Process Over Product
20:50 Stay Present to Create
23:39 Experiment Past Perfection
25:27 Perfection as a Signal
27:49 Authentic Work Mindset
28:49 Four Minute Quick Writes
29:48 Find Trevor Online
Too Good to Be True: Publishing Scams in 2026 with Patricia Marshall
Patricia Marshall, owner of Luminare Press, explains the growing urgency of author scams that are increasingly convincing due to AI, and shares tools she uses to investigate suspicious offers. She describes common patterns: cold outreach by email/phone using flattering book descriptions, name-dropping recognizable entities (Amazon, Goodreads, major publishers), delaying mention of money, then escalating fees after an initial payment. She highlights post-publishing republishing/cover-redesign schemes and marketing scams, walking through real examples impersonating Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, including red flags like Gmail addresses, newly registered lookalike domains verified via WHOIS, and AI-style “strings of three” descriptors. She recommends checking Writer Beware, Writer’s Weekly, and the Alliance of Independent Authors, and recounts royalty/tax scams posing as Amazon and fraudulent high-value contract offers with confidentiality pressure.
00:00 Welcome And Mission
01:43 How Author Scams Hook You
04:23 Post Publishing Republish Trap
06:10 Screen Share Email Examples
06:22 Penguin Random House Impersonation
08:29 Tools To Verify Legitimacy
13:47 Simon And Schuster AI Scam
17:12 Insider Media Marketing Pitch
19:40 Royalty And Tax Extortion Scam
22:23 Fake Contract Big Advance Offer
24:33 Final Tips And Resources
Building a Writing Practice: Purpose, Joy, Micro-Practices, and Habit Science with Matt Trinetti & Lindsey Trout Hughes
Matt (London Writer’s Salon co-founder) and Lindsey lead a workshop on building or reigniting a joyful, sustainable writing practice. They define a writing practice as a regular, intentional commitment that prioritizes process over product, is personalized and sustaining, and is supported by habits (the “roots”) even when routines break. Participants reflect on what they hope to gain, why they write, and what a joyful writing life looks like, with examples of varied practices from writers like Julia Cameron, Ray Bradbury, Toni Morrison, Natalie Goldberg, and Virginia Woolf. Through a guided visualization of a “dream writing day,” attendees identify small changes and next steps. They choose a micro-practice and use Atomic Habits’ four laws—make it obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying—plus tips like scheduling, accountability, planning for resistance, and regular adjustment.
00:00 Welcome and Overview
01:32 Set Your Intentions
03:32 Define Writing Practice
07:06 Writers and Their Routines
10:14 Find Your Why
11:45 Center Joy in Writing
15:45 Dream Writing Day Visualization
19:40 Bridge Dream to Reality
21:38 Choose Your Micropractice
27:46 Habit Science Framework
31:41 Four Laws in Action
36:03 Stay Consistent and Next Steps
38:43 Closing Inspiration
Finishing and Marketing Your Memoir: Context, Habit, and Beating Perfectionism with Marion Roach Smith
CONTENT WARNING: This conversation includes a brief discussion of suicide.
Sue interviews memoir teacher and author Marion Roach Smith about obstacles that keep writers from finishing and marketing memoirs. Smith emphasizes the need for context and answering “Why this writer? Why now?”, not simply recounting events. She addresses worries about family members’ differing versions, urging writers to focus on their subjective slice of the story. Practical strategies include habituating writing with set page or word counts and building life around sacred writing time without burnout, while respecting memoir as serious work. Smith teaches memoir as argument-driven rather than autobiography, rooted in what the writer learned, often found in small moments. She discusses writing as processing grief and sharing humanity, with examples like an op-ed influencing suicide-prevention policy. Finally, she warns perfectionism kills creativity, advocates a “vomit draft,” many revisions, and ultimately shipping the work.
00:00 Welcome and Bio
01:07 Why This Story Now
02:54 Family Truths and Time
03:41 Daily Writing Habit
05:32 Memoir as Argument
06:52 Build Life Around Writing
08:43 Live Like a Writer
13:03 Small Moments Matter
15:56 Stories That Change Policy
19:51 Perfectionism and Vomit Draft
21:10 Drafts Process and Shipping
24:12 Where to Find Marion
24:53 Final Thanks and Goodbye
Writing WITH Your Brain with Kit Caelsto
Kit Calesto (The Author Yogi) introduces the concept of the “creative nervous system” for authors, especially those who are neurodivergent or managing mental health concerns, with the goal of helping them stop feeling broken and avoid burnout from “writing against” their minds. Calesto shares their background as a multi-genre author with 200+ human-written works, a registered yoga and certified meditation teacher, and a late-diagnosed multiply neurodivergent writer. They explain basic nervous system functions (sympathetic vs. parasympathetic) and define the creative nervous system as the physical nervous system plus inspiration, influenced by neurotype, overwhelm, trauma, and publishing experiences. Practical guidance includes tracking writing patterns, experimenting, practicing radical acceptance, questioning one-size-fits-all author advice, and using regulation tools (e.g., breathwork, movement, stimming, rest) to become receptive to inspiration. They invite viewers to take a free creative nervous system quiz and learn more at autheryogi.com.
00:00 Welcome and Purpose
02:02 Meet Kit Calesto
03:28 Sacrifice and Creativity
05:43 Nervous System Basics
07:42 Defining Creative Nervous System
09:51 Neurodivergent Spectrum
13:01 Write With Your Brain
17:20 Tracking Your Patterns
19:53 Regulate Your Nervous System
24:15 Quiz and Final Encouragement
Showing up Messy with Kimberly Kessler
Sue interviews editor, writer, and book coach Kimberly Kessler about overcoming perfectionism by showing up “messy,” trusting that storytelling is a human birthright, and separating perceiving/creating from judging/editing. Kessler uses metaphors like open-mic comedy to normalize practice, mistakes, and iteration, arguing that trying to be efficient can block creativity and that messiness is often more efficient in the long run. They discuss mindset as the main obstacle, building an internal relationship with the “inner eight-year-old” writer to rely less on external validation, and returning to the original “seed” of an idea to unfreeze progress. Kessler shares her P.E.P. Talk tool—Premise, Ending, Point—usable for novels or individual scenes, available as a free, “pretty” download with accompanying audio at kimberleykessler.com.
00:00 Welcome and Intro
01:40 Marker
01:40 Feeling Too Messy
02:12 Story Is Your Birthright
04:26 Lower the Bar
05:18 Open Mic Mindset
07:15 Craft vs Mindset
08:12 Perceive Before You Judge
11:00 Write Naked and Brave
12:34 Reparent Your Inner Writer
15:29 Where Ideas Begin
17:49 Write From Feeling
18:41 Iterate Into The Heart
20:03 Embodiment Over Perfection
20:15 Zero Draft Permission
21:03 Stop Self Criticism
23:14 Messy Beats Efficient
24:57 Story As Relationship
25:51 PEP Talk Framework
27:24 Premise Ending Point
30:54 PEP Talk Download
32:03 Closing Thanks Goodbye
From Resistance to Action: The Tools for Writers with Jamie Rose
Sue Campbell interviews former actress turned author and coach Jamie Rose, author of Facing Madame X, about resuming creative work after unexpected disruptions such as caregiving, illness, grief, and injury. Rose shares how caring for her mother with bladder cancer halted her book but ultimately enriched it, and how committing to a daily minimum (20 minutes) kept her connected to the “sacred” writing process even on the day she euthanized her cat. She explains Phil Stutz’s “plane of will” (small daily commitments that build self-trust) and “string of pearls” (each day’s effort counts equally, focusing on identity and process rather than results). They discuss “Part X/Madame X” resistance, perfectionism, and writing without inspiration, and Rose leads the “reversal of desire” tool to move through fear by embracing discomfort.
00:00 Welcome Back Jamie
01:35 When Life Derails Writing
02:23 Caretaking And Creative Timing
04:19 Sacred Daily Commitment
07:41 Plane Of Will Explained
11:52 Start Small Beat Perfectionism
12:39 Meet Part X Resistance
16:02 String Of Pearls Mindset
17:57 Inspiration Versus Discipline
19:56 Writing Is Never Perfect
22:33 Why Writers Keep Going
25:40 Tools To Fight Resistance
29:15 Reversal Of Desire Exercise
32:21 Keep The Fire Burning
33:01 Final Thanks And Resources