What Readers Actually Want From You (Hint: It’s Not Perfection)| Ep04

The Myth of Multitasking | Ep08

You've been told your whole life that multitasking is a skill — maybe even a superpower. You put it on your resume. You wear your ability to juggle everything as a badge of honor. But what if it's been costing you more than it's giving you? In this episode, I share why multitasking is actually a myth, what it's doing to your writing, and the simple shift that can unlock more focus, more flow, and more finished pages.   In This Episode * Why "multitasking" is really just task-switching — and why it matters * The hidden cost every interruption adds to your creative work * How fragmented attention affects the quality of your writing (not just the quantity) * Why multitasking steals the joy — not just the productivity * What Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of "flow" has to do with your manuscript * Four practical strategies for single-tasking your way to more meaningful pages * The invitation: one protected writing session that might just surprise you   From the Episode "Friend, the well isn't dry. Your attention is just… fractured." "Momentum doesn't come from doing everything at once. It comes from doing the right thing, with your whole attention, over and over again."   Your Invitation This Week Pick one writing session — just one — and protect it completely. Close the tabs. Put your phone in another room or flip it face down. Let the people in your household know you need an uninterrupted window. Then give that session your full, undivided attention. Notice what it feels like. Notice what you produce. That's it. Just that one experiment.   Links & Resources Mentioned 📒 Free ebook: Book Publishing Essentials [https://www.alicecrider.com/first-100-readers1779385225694] A foundational ebook to help you navigate the publishing journey with clarity and confidence. https://www.alicecrider.com/book-publishing-essentials [https://www.alicecrider.com/book-publishing-essentials] 📒 Free Guide: Creating an Ideal Reader Avatar [https://www.alicecrider.com/first-100-readers1779383966188] Reconnect with who you're actually writing for — a beautiful reset when you've gotten tangled up in what everyone wants instead of who really needs your words. https://www.alicecrider.com/reader-avatar [https://www.alicecrider.com/reader-avatar] 📒 Free Download: Your First 100 Readers Roadmap [https://www.alicecrider.com/first100readers032026] A step-by-step path to your first 100 true fans. No ads, no big platform, no guessing. https://www.alicecrider.com/100-readers-032026 [https://www.alicecrider.com/100-readers-032026] 📒 Join The InkWell Collective [https://alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective] — A community of heart-led authors, including regular writing sprints on Zoom. https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective [https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective] 📗 Work with Alice one-on-one: alicecrider.com [https://www.alicecrider.com/home-page202032083212-1] or email admin@alicecrider.com [admin@alicecrider.com] 📗 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow — for further reading, his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience is the source   Enjoyed This Episode? Leave us a comment or review! If this one resonated with you, the kindest thing you can do is leave a review wherever you're listening — it helps other heart-led authors find the show. And if you know a writer who's been living in the chaos of doing-it-all-at-once, send them this episode. It might be just what they need. ⭐ Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts (iOS only) 1. Open the Apple Podcasts app and search for the show. Tap the title to open the main show page. 2. Scroll down to the Ratings & Reviews section and tap the stars to leave your rating. 3. Tap Write a Review, enter your title, comments, and nickname. 4. Tap Send to submit.   *************************** About Your Host Alice Crider is an author coach, book editor, and certified life coach. She has edited hundreds of books and spent decades helping writers move from stuck to published — with their voice, vision, and sanity intact. Her podcast, Your Write Life Coach, exists to give heart-led authors the motivation AND the momentum they need to do the work that matters. Find Alice at alicecrider.com [https://www.alicecrider.com/home-page202032083212-1].

You Either Win or You Learn: Long-Term Thinking for Heart-Led Authors | Ep07

What if the pressure you feel to make it happen right now is the very thing standing between you and a lasting publishing career?   In this episode, I share one of the most powerful — and most overlooked — strategies in publishing: the shift from short-term thinking to long-term thinking. Through two contrasting author stories, a Nelson Mandela quote that reframes rejection entirely, and three qualities that show up in virtually every author who builds something that lasts, I unpack what it really looks like to play the long game.   This isn't about slowing down. It's about building momentum that actually compounds over time.   Key Takeaways * Short-term thinking shows up as the "now or never" mindset — rushing to publish, skipping craft development, burning bridges over rejection, and ignoring reader feedback. * Long-term thinking means every pitch, every rejection, and every fifteen-minute editor appointment is either a win or a lesson — never a loss. * The three P's of long-term thinking: Patience (with yourself, your craft, and the industry), Persistence (focus on the next right step, don't let rejection derail you), and Positivity (become someone people genuinely want to work with). * Authors who show up to serve — rather than to be seen — are the ones who build relationships that stand the test of time. * The publishing world is smaller than it looks. Editors talk. Agents remember. Who you are in the process matters as much as what you produce.   Authors & Stories Mentioned 📜 Robin Jones Gunn — Author of the Christy Miller series, which has been in print for 37 years. Her publishing journey began not from ambition, but from a desire to serve the young girls in her Sunday school class who couldn't find wholesome books to read.   📜 Kathryn Stockett — Author of The Help, which sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and was adapted into a major motion picture. She submitted her manuscript to at least 50 agents before landing representation. (Writer's Digest has reported the number was closer to 60.)   📜 Joanna Weaver — Author of Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World (over 1 million copies sold) and four additional bestsellers, written over 25 years.   This Week's Invitation   Take one area of your publishing journey where you've been operating from short-term thinking — a pitch you gave up on too fast, a manuscript you shelved after one rejection, a community you stopped showing up in — and look at it with long-term eyes.   Ask yourself: What's the lesson in it? What's still possible if I stay patient and persistent?   Free Resources for You 📒 Free ebook: Book Publishing Essentials [https://www.alicecrider.com/first-100-readers1779385225694] A foundational ebook to help you navigate the publishing journey with clarity and confidence. https://www.alicecrider.com/book-publishing-essentials [https://www.alicecrider.com/book-publishing-essentials] 📒 Free Guide: Creating an Ideal Reader Avatar [https://www.alicecrider.com/first-100-readers1779383966188] Reconnect with who you're actually writing for — a beautiful reset when you've gotten tangled up in what everyone wants instead of who really needs your words. https://www.alicecrider.com/reader-avatar [https://www.alicecrider.com/reader-avatar] 📒 Free Download: Your First 100 Readers Roadmap [https://www.alicecrider.com/first100readers032026] A step-by-step path to your first 100 true fans. No ads, no big platform, no guessing. https://www.alicecrider.com/100-readers-032026 [https://www.alicecrider.com/100-readers-032026] 📒 Join The InkWell Collective [https://alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective] — A community of heart-led authors, including regular writing sprints on Zoom. https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective [https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective] Enjoyed This Episode? Leave us a comment or review! ⭐ Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts (iOS only) 1. Open the Apple Podcasts app and search for the show. Tap the title to open the main show page. 2. Scroll down to the Ratings & Reviews section and tap the stars to leave your rating. 3. Tap Write a Review, enter your title, comments, and nickname. 4. Tap Send to submit.

Keep the Flame - You Don’t Have to Choose Between Your Life and Your Calling | Ep06

You’ve probably said it. Maybe you’ve said it this week: “I just don’t have time to write.” In this episode, I lovingly, firmly push back on that story — because what looks like a time problem is almost always something deeper. Drawing on my own experience building an online course in the margins of a very full life, and honoring the legacy of my friend Beverly — a writer who published four books while living with a debilitating illness — I make the case that protecting your calling isn’t selfish. It’s an act of stewardship. And it starts with one decision: to stop treating your writing like it doesn’t count. What You’ll Hear in This Episode * Why “I don’t have time” is almost never really about time * My personal story of building my first online course in the margins of a full corporate life — and what it cost me, and what it gave me * The story of Beverly: a writer who published four books despite a debilitating illness * Why your calling is not one more demand on your life — it’s what fills you up * What “tending the flame” actually looks like in a busy, full, real life * The voice-to-text trick that keeps your creativity alive even on your most time-starved days * A permission slip exercise you can do right now — yes, even while you’re listening Key Takeaway “You don’t have to choose between your life and your writing. You just have to stop treating your writing like it doesn’t count — and stop treating yourself like you don’t count.” — Alice Crider This Week’s Invitation Pick one flame-tending ritual — just one — and put it on your calendar like an appointment you actually keep. Then tell someone. Accountability is how intentions become action. Some ideas to get you started: 📗 15 minutes at the kitchen table before the house wakes up 📗 A voice memo captured on your lunch break or school pickup run 📗 One paragraph written before bed 📗 A voice-to-text capture of your ideas on the go — then edit it later when you have time to sit Your Permission Slip As I say in this episode: nobody is going to give you permission to protect your calling. You have to give it to yourself. Finish this sentence — out loud if you can: “I give myself full permission to ________.” Write it down. Say it like you mean it. Because you do. Free Resources for You 📒 Free Guide: Creating an Ideal Reader Avatar [https://www.alicecrider.com/first-100-readers1779383966188] Reconnect with who you're actually writing for — a beautiful reset when you've gotten tangled up in what everyone wants instead of who really needs your words. 📒 Free Download: Your First 100 Readers Roadmap [https://www.alicecrider.com/first100readers032026] A step-by-step path to your first 100 true fans. No ads, no big platform, no guessing. 🖊️ Come find your people Longing for a community where authenticity is actually the strategy — not just a pretty word on a website? That’s The InkWell Collective. There’s a seat for you. → https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective [https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective] 🖊️ Go deeper Ready for the work that goes straight to the heart of what’s holding you back? I offer private coaching to help you become the dynamic author you’re meant to be — in your writing, on your platform, and in the way you talk about your work. → alicecrider.com [https://alicecrider.com] Don’t miss what’s next If this resonated, hit subscribe wherever you’re listening. New episodes are on the way. You’ve got a story worth telling and a message to deliver. Keep writing, friend.

Faith It ’Til You Make It: The Blind Spot Between You and Your Calling | Ep05

What if the wall between you and the work you were made to do isn’t your writing, your marketing, or your platform at all — but something much closer to home? In this episode, I get honest about what this show is not about (writing tips, marketing hacks, the usual strategies) and what it’s really for: calling you up to your highest self-expression. I share my story of chasing my dream of becoming an editor, the fake-it-til-you-make-it season that nearly got me fired, and how almost losing that job became the catalyst that revealed the blind spots I’d built without even knowing it. Because here’s the hard-and-hopeful truth for heart-led authors: that glass ceiling? You put it there. And the moment a blind spot is revealed for what it is, it can disappear — leaving wide-open space you never dared to dream of. In this episode * Why the wall you’re fighting almost never lives where you think it does * The difference between striving harder and getting aligned — and why alignment is what actually creates momentum * How my near-firing became the turning point toward coaching, freedom, and her calling * Three honest invitations to move you forward this week (not a method — just truth) The three invitations 1. Name your heart’s desire — if time and money were no object and you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you want? Don’t edit it. Just name it. 2. Step into it — picture who you get to become when that dream is fulfilled, then do the one thing that person would do this week. 3. Faith it ’til you make it — not fake it. Stop speaking against your dream and start standing in agreement with who you’re becoming. Faith isn’t denying reality; it’s trusting that the promise is greater than your present circumstances. “They were never the ones who hustled the hardest. They were the ones who got aligned — aligned with their calling, their voice, their truth. And alignment creates unstoppable momentum.” Free Resources for You 📒 Free Guide: Creating an Ideal Reader Avatar [https://www.alicecrider.com/first-100-readers1779383966188] Reconnect with who you're actually writing for — a beautiful reset when you've gotten tangled up in what everyone wants instead of who really needs your words. 📒 Free Download: Your First 100 Readers Roadmap [https://www.alicecrider.com/first100readers032026] A step-by-step path to your first 100 true fans. No ads, no big platform, no guessing. Come find your people Longing for a community where authenticity is actually the strategy — not just a pretty word on a website? That’s The InkWell Collective. There’s a seat for you. → https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective [https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective] Go deeper Ready for the work that goes straight to the heart of what’s holding you back? I offer private coaching to help you become the dynamic author you’re meant to be — in your writing, on your platform, and in the way you talk about your work. → alicecrider.com [https://alicecrider.com] Don’t miss what’s next If this resonated, hit subscribe wherever you’re listening. New episodes are on the way. You’ve got a story worth telling and a message to deliver. Keep writing, friend.

What Readers Actually Want From You (Hint: It’s Not Perfection)| Ep04

You’ve poured yourself into your writing. You’ve revised, wrestled, and stayed up too late getting it right. And still — crickets. Polite nods. A readership that doesn’t quite connect the way you hoped. Here’s what I’ve noticed after working with writers and manuscripts for years: most of the time, the gap isn’t about the quality of the writing. It’s about whether the writing is speaking to what the reader actually feels. In this episode, I talk about felt needs — what they are, why they matter, and how learning to enter through your reader’s door changes everything about how you write and how deeply you connect. In This Episode * What a felt need really is — and why writing to it is the difference between prose that lands and prose that doesn’t * The pattern I keep seeing in gifted writers who aren’t yet connecting with their readers * Why readers don’t need you to be perfect — they need you to be real * Three things that work, every time: get curious about your reader’s interior world, be real before you are right, and lead them somewhere * The story of an author who transformed my life — by basically telling me I was the problem A Line Worth Sitting With “The writers who connect most deeply are not the ones with the most polished prose. They’re the ones with the most honest hearts.” This Week’s Invitation Think about your current project — your book, your blog, whatever you’re working on right now. Ask yourself honestly: “Am I entering through my reader’s door? Am I focusing on their felt need, or am I coming from mine?” You don’t have to rewrite anything today. Just sit with the question. Links & Resources 📒 Free Guide: ⁠Creating an Ideal Reader Avatar⁠ [https://www.alicecrider.com/reader-avatar] 📒 Free download: ⁠⁠Your First 100 Readers Roadmap⁠⁠ [https://www.alicecrider.com/first100readers032026] 📒 Work with Me — If you’re realizing there’s a gap between what you’re writing and what your reader needs, Alice’s coaching helps you find the blind spots keeping you from the bigger picture: alicecrider.com [https://alicecrider.com] 💠 The InkWell Collective [https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective] — A community of heart-led authors committed to writing with honesty and intention. Authenticity isn’t just a word there — it’s how members show up for each other and for their readers https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective [https://www.alicecrider.com/inkwellcollective] ************************************* Enjoying the Podcast? If this episode meant something to you, would you share it with a writer friend who needs to hear it? Think of someone who’s been pouring their heart into their writing and wondering why it’s not landing. Send it their way. And if you have a minute, leaving a review helps more heart-led authors find their way here. I’m genuinely grateful for every single one. ************************************* About Your Write Life Coach Your Write Life Coach is hosted by Alice Crider — author coach, book editor, and certified life coach. Alice has worked with hundreds of authors and manuscripts over the years, and she brings that perspective to every episode: not as the expert with all the answers, but as someone who has witnessed the full arc of the writing journey and knows what it looks like from the inside. New episodes drop every Monday. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss one. Keep writing. Keep showing up. Your story matters. Your message can change lives.