writer – Andrew Careaga

Let’s have fun with it

Writing should not be drudgery

Sometimes, we writers take ourselves too seriously. We’re so busy writing and revising, polishing our jewels of poetry and prose to a high gloss, obsessively monitoring book sales or social media likes, and fretting over audience reaction — will anyone read it? will it even get accepted? — that we forget to enjoy the exciting, invigorating process of the creative act.

We would do well to heed the guidance of Sgt. Hulka from the comedy Stripes and “lighten up, Francis.”

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Maybe I’m just giving myself a pep talk here. Maybe no on else takes themselves so seriously. Or maybe you’ve got those worrisome thoughts of perfectionism crawling around in the back of your mind like a cluster of spiders (I envision the daddy long legs variety: creepy but ultimately harmless).

Thoughts on copywork

And my brief experiment with this process.

There’s this guy who used to be a dentist, but now he’s a marketing copywriter. His weekly newsletter for other marketing writers offers some good tips for, I think, just about any kind of writer.

A couple of months ago, this former dentist — Kieran Drew is his name — wrote about how copywork can help writers get better at the craft.

“Copywork,” he writes, “is where you copy, by hand, great writing.”

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.

‘Shoveling sand into a box’

Jordan Peele and Shannon Hale on writing the first draft

Update: the quote attributed to Jordan Peele has often been attributed to another writer, Shannon Hale. I’ve amended the original post to reflect this other source.

A good friend (and friend of this blog) recently forwarded a newsletter from the Gotham Writers Workshop that included a quote from the brilliant comedian, actor, filmmaker, and writer Jordan Peele. (Note: since posting this and sharing on social media, I’ve learned the quote is also often attributed to author Shannon Hale. My apologies to Ms. Hale if I’ve attributed it to the wrong person.) This quote captures beautifully the messy process of creating a first draft. It’s so good, I need to share it with you all. And as I plow forward on my writing projects in 2025, I’m going to make this statement my mantra.

When I can’t write…

… at least I can blog.

There are days when the writing just zips along. The hours devoted to crafting little fictions breeze by.

Then there are the days when writing is a slog, or when life’s many interruptions cut into writing time.