Month: February 2025

The 70% solution?

‘If you’re roughly 70% happy with a piece of writing you’ve produced, you should publish it.’

Something that sometimes hinders my progress as a writer is this nagging sense that whatever I create must be somehow perfect, and that whatever I’m working on — whether it’s the first draft or the fifteenth — is that maybe I need to remove the comma I inserted last time, or cut a word here or there, or even entire sentences. If I just tweak it a bit, I reason, it will be ready to submit.

(Seems odd to confess this here and now, given my recent post about my tendency to rush to get a story submitted to a publication. (Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself, as Walt Whitman put it.)

A lot of other writers also grapple with their inner perfectionist, so I know I’m not alone.

Anyway, I was heartened to discover a nugget of writing advice to quiet the perfectionist in me.

Continue reading “The 70% solution?”

Friday Five: Q&A with ‘Write It Scared’ podcaster Stacy Frazer

“… fear and uncertainty don’t need to stop us from doing what we dream.”

Stacy Frazer’s Write It Scared is quickly becoming one of my favorite podcasts. And no, the title doesn’t refer to writing in the horror genre. The podcast is about a different type of scared, the type every author confronts: the fear of not being up to the challenge of writing.

“Write It Scared” podcaster Stacy Frazer

With each episode, Stacy helps listeners confront that fear as she covers one (or two) main topics related to writing. She sometimes interviews other writers; sometime she discusses the issues on her own. The episodes are relatively short — usually between 20 or 30 minutes — which means I can listen while running errands, cleaning house, or working out.

Stacy describes herself as “a formerly repressed creative soul turned fiction writer, Author Accelerator certified book coach, and (podcast) host” who strives “to help beginning and struggling commercial fiction writers overcome self-doubt, find joy, and gain clarity and confidence in their process and craft so they finish books they are proud of!”

When not writing, reading, or working with writers, she enjoys crafting with her daughter, hanging out with goats, or walking a trail with her “goofy love-pups.” Read on to learn more about why she created the podcast, her thoughts on writing, and more.

Continue reading “Friday Five: Q&A with ‘Write It Scared’ podcaster Stacy Frazer”