 Hello, hello, writers! I'm Kristen Kiefer, writer of fantasy fiction and creative writing resources and you are listening to the Well-Stroyed podcast, where I share insights, encouragement and actionable advice designed to help you craft sensational novels and build your best writing life, always in 30 minutes or less, so you can get back to writing, of course. Ready for the show? Let's get talking! Today I want to begin by offering a quick apology. I know that new episodes have been pretty inconsistent here in the new year and that's not something I want to continue doing. As some of you may know, I have been kind of slowly transitioning the way I operate at Well-Stroyed here in the new year. I am, over the course of 2019, working to transition my creative business model from selling digital resources, such as workbooks and video courses, into indie publishing. I'm working on my very first book on writing and I cannot wait to publish and share that with you all this year. But making the time to write that book and making the time to do everything I need to do to prepare for the publishing career I'd like to build has really kind of shaken things up here at Well-Stroyed and I'm still trying to find my footing, so I want to thank you for sticking with me over the past couple weeks where I haven't been quite as present here on the podcast. Last week I did share a new article on the blog, but it did not have a corresponding podcast episode because of the nature of the article. I shared an article called How to Improve Your Editing with Scrivener's Linguistic Focus. If you don't know, Scrivener is a writing program designed specifically for creating long form projects such as novels and research papers and the like, and it is an absolutely fabulous tool that I use every single day of my life. I write all of my blog posts in there, my novels, my non-fiction book, and write down all my ideas so much more. And Scrivener has a lot of really neat tools that aren't really its main features, and so you may not realize that they even exist. And one of those tools, which I recently only discovered in the past few months myself, is Linguistic Focus, which makes so much sense. It's such a fabulous editing tool because it allows you to highlight certain parts of speech in your documents, in your text, so you can specifically call out adverbs or, you know, if you want to strengthen your verb usage or if you want to just read through your dialogue. Linguistic Focus makes that happen. And I thought this was such a cool feature that I knew I had to create a new video lesson and share it in our storytelling with Scrivener course, but I also wanted to go ahead and share that on the blog as well. And so if you head on over to well-storied.com slash articles, you can find that episode, or pardon me, that article on how you can make use of Linguistic Focus if you're a Scrivener user. I also have a lot more in the way of Scrivener tutorials over on the blog. And you can also find information there about our full length storytelling with Scrivener video course. So make sure to go ahead and check that out. I would also like to share before we get started here a bit of exciting news. I am really, really interested in improving the quality of the podcast this year. I've been recognizing, recognizing more and more just how important and how valuable audio is in connecting online. And I'm realizing that even when I'm just sitting down here and reading to the latest article that I wrote for the blog, there's something about voice. There's something about conversation that makes everything more personal. It feels like in some ways that we're sitting down and having a cup of coffee and chatting. And so I really want to give the podcast a lot of attention this year, even as I work on my first book on writing, and I really want to improve the quality of the podcast. So I've taken that first step today after doing some research and I've ordered a brand new mic and pop filter so we can really improve the quality of the podcast's audio because I'm not working with the best mic right now. And you guys deserve better. So hopefully that'll come in soon and we can really begin work on the technical improvement of the podcast. And I'm also excited to improve some ways in the quality of the content as well. So thank you for sticking with me for the past almost two years that the podcast has been live. And yeah, it's time we made some improvements. So thank you for listening along. Now to get into the heart of today's episode. Today's episode of the podcast translates the latest article from the well-stoyed blog into audio titled Eight Things to Consider When Working in a New Creative Medium. You can find the article that is also the episode transcript at well-stoyed.com slash medium. Now let's dive in. Eight things to consider when working in a new creative medium. In February of 2019, I began drafting my very first book on writing called Build Your Best Writing Life. This book presents a roadmap to becoming the writer you long to be. Breaking down how you can forge a healthy creative mindset and writing practice, harness tools for intentional growth, and map your way to the writing life you long to lead. As of writing this, I'm well into the drafting process and cannot wait to share the book with you later this year. Being as I've been writing nonfiction here at well-stoyed for several years, I didn't imagine that diving into my first full-length nonfiction project would be that big of a leap. Turns out I was wrong. Oh, so terribly wrong. And that's exactly why I want to share the hard lessons I've learned about working in a new creative medium here with you today. How I Approached My First Nonfiction Book I've been interested in writing a book on writing for several years, though it wasn't until the end of 2018 that I really felt I'd developed the writing chops to do the project justice. Knowing that the only thing holding me back was the fear of the unknown, I made it a goal to write and publish my first nonfiction book in 2019. In January, I wrapped up a few creative loose ends and began contemplating which of my many nonfiction book ideas would be best to explore as my debut. I'm by no means a writing expert and didn't want to present myself as one. Some of my ideas were better saved for when I had more experience under my belt, but working to build my best writing life? That's all I've been doing for the past seven years. By the beginning of February, I'd put together an outline for the book, announced this undertaking to my newsletter subscribers, and began drafting in the confidence that if I could write blog posts that resonated with readers, I could certainly write chapters that did the same. As it happens, blog posts and book chapters aren't nearly so synonymous as I'd imagined, at least for this project. Over the coming weeks, I struggled hard to find my creative footing. Each day felt like a lifetime as I spent hours writing and deleting words in an effort to hit my drafting stride. The more I struggled, the more inadequate I felt, the more defeated. Still, I kept pushing forward, and in time, I realized that I had taken several early missteps that had resulted in all the frustration I was currently battling. After course correcting for these missteps, I'm happy to report that I've now hit my stride in the drafting process, and should have a finished first draft in the next three to five weeks or so. Today I'd like to help you avoid as many of the growing pains involved in working in a new creative medium as possible. Here are eight lessons from working in a new creative medium. Whether you're preparing to write your first novel or short story, screenplay or video game script, or something else entirely, working in a new creative medium can prove an intimidating process. To better prepare, here are the eight lessons I learned from what I did write and what I wish I knew before diving into my first non-fiction book on writing. Lesson number one, define your motivation for pursuing this project. If you chase every exciting idea that comes your way, you'll never finish a project. Instead of diving straight into this new creative medium, take the time to define why you want to pursue this project. What purpose will it serve in your creative journey or career? I wanted to write a non-fiction book because it's long been my goal to transition my creative business model from primarily digital resources such as our workbooks and scrivener tutorial course to indie publishing. The why behind this goal therefore was simple. I've long dreamed of writing books for a living. Lesson number two, choose an idea that matches your skill level and experience. You're interested in working in a new creative medium, but which idea will you pursue? If you have several in mind, take care to choose the one that best aligns with your skills and experience. Working in a new creative medium will always be a challenge. Don't overwhelm yourself by choosing an idea that's too far out of your comfort zone. I chose to write a book on building your best writing life because that's exactly what I've been doing these past seven years. In working to become the writer I long to be, I've revolutionized my mindset, established a consistent creative practice, leveled up my skills, and created a plan for achieving my personal definition of writing success. Lesson number three, find comparable published projects and study them before getting started. There are most likely creative projects similar to your own already on the market. Take the time to seek out these books, plays, or video games, etc. and to study them. In doing so, you'll learn how other creatives approached the project, gain insights on how you can complete your own, and learn more about your target audience. These comparable titles will also prove handy when you get around to marketing your book. It didn't occur to me to read comparable titles prior to drafting build your best writing life, and I wish it had. I'm now juggling drafting and research, which is fun, but tricky. Comparable titles for my book include the successful author mindset by Joanna Penn, fearless writing by William Kenner, and the writer's process by Anne Janzer. Lesson number four, compile a list of research topics and study up. No matter the creative medium you're pursuing, chances are that you'll need to do a bit of research to flush out your project. I highly recommend seeking out appropriate research resources and diving in before you begin drafting. The more you know about your project, the less intimidating the drafting process will be. In Build Your Best Writing Life, I'm exploring topics such as time management, habit formation, creative mindset, goal setting, and more, which has led me to bring home impressive stacks of research books from the library over the past few weeks. Titles on my shelf now include Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, Off the Clock by Laura Vanderkam, and Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday, among others. Lesson number five, get to know your creative medium before getting started. If you're planning to do more than simply dabble in this new creative medium, you'd be wise to avoid my mistake and study up on the craft before getting started. Every medium has its structures and guidelines, and it's better to know and maybe break these with intention than to not have a clue what you're doing at all. I personally devoured How to Write Nonfiction by Joanna Penn in the early weeks of drafting, which led me to revise and restructure my outline to much better effect. I'm now working through similar resources and can't begin to explain how much confidence I've gained in my ability to create this project. Lesson number six, develop at least a rough outline for your project. Some writers simply aren't outliners, so I won't tell you that outlining is essential to success. When working in a new creative medium, however, I would recommend sketching at least a rough outline before getting started. New mediums can be intimidating. The more you know before diving in, the less you'll stumble along the way. Even a few simple bullet points can make a world of difference, giving you a creative destination to aim for. I created an outline before I began drafting Build Your Best Writing Life, mapping out the three major sections of the book and writing down a few bullet points for each chapter. I've since revised this outline after learning more about writing How to Nonfiction, and I refer to my outline every single time I sit down to write. Lesson number seven, consider your writing voice and stay true to it. If you're writing in a very different creative medium or style than your usual, then your writing voice may very well change for the project at hand. But if you've completed a similar project before, such as writing blog posts on the same topic as your new nonfiction book, I'd encourage you to stay true to your voice. I personally love reading snarky self-help books and attempted to adopt that same tone when I first began drafting. I even originally announced the title of the book as, This Book Won't Make You a Better Writer, emulating the snarky tone of books such as, You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero and Damn Fine Story by Chuck Wendig. It was only after weeks of enduring a drafting process that felt like pulling teeth that I realized I wasn't playing to my strengths. Writing with the same empathy and vulnerability I'd developed here at WellStoried. As soon as I began writing in my own voice, I stopped struggling to pen every last word. I found my stride. Lesson number eight, adopt an attitude of humility. No matter how well you prepare to work in a new creative medium, there's going to be a learning curve. It's not wrong to approach your new project with confidence. It's not wrong to approach your new project with confidence. But let that confidence stem from the knowledge that you are capable of weathering the obstacles and frustrations you'll find in bringing your new project to life. Approach the blank page with humility and accept that you are bound to experience setbacks. Take missteps and feel a bit as though you're floundering. It's okay. You are as good a writer as you work to be. You only need to put in the work to see your project through. I'm no more than two months into my journey in writing Build Your Best Writing Life, and already I've learned so much. Still, I know there are many more lessons to learn on the horizon as I work to create a professionally self-published book and begin pursuing indie publishing as a full-time career. As always, I plan to share all of this with you. Already I have a few new articles in mind, but if you'd like to follow along with the everyday process of bringing this book to life, I'm inviting you up close and personal over on Patreon, a platform for supporting your favorite creators for as little as $1 a month. On Patreon, I'm sharing weekly book progress reports and snippets from the book, as well as voicemails, and soon I'll also be sharing indie publishing insights. You can access all of this and more for less than the price of a fancy coffee each month. Though I'll also be sharing a few public posts and updates in our Well-Storied newsletter if you're interested but aren't able to contribute at this time. All Patreon support will go directly toward helping me produce the very best version of Build Your Best Writing Life, and in thanks, patrons will receive a free copy of the book and other goodies when published later this year. If you'd like to learn more and come join the party, you can head on over to Patreon.com slash Well-Storied. That's P-A-T-R-E-O-N dot com slash Well-Storied. Thank you so much for your support, friends. Now, let's get to bringing our new creative projects to life, shall we? Thank you as always, writers, for listening in to today's episode of the podcast. I hope you enjoyed it and because I had a little spiel at the end of this episode, we'll keep this outro pretty short. Thank you, thank you, thank you for listening in and I hope you're looking forward to all the improvements to come to the Well-Storied podcast here in 2019. Until next time, very happy writing.