Shows / The Daily Writer
The Daily Writer
The Daily Writer is a podcast for writers who want to live a more intentional and creative life.Hosted by author and ghostwriter Kent Sanders, each episode offers practical insights, encouragement, and inspiration to help you build a consistent writing habit, overcome creative obstacles, and become the author of your own story.Whether you’re writing a book or trying to make progress on work that matters, The Daily Writer will help you take the next step. Learn more at DailyWriterLife.com.
Episodes
The Daily WriterTaming the Little Distractions
In our quest to make more time to write, we tend to focus on the big distractions. It’s easy to feel like the world is against you as you deal with events…
The Daily WriterWriting is a Blue-Collar Job
A big reason writers seem to struggle is that they perceive writing as a different type of job than it really is. Many writers look at writing as a…
The Daily WriterIs Your Writing Time Gone with the Wind?
In the push and pull of everyday life, each day pretty much seems the same. We go to work, spend time with our families, take care of bills and housework…
The Daily WriterThe Only Thing You Control
Writers are creative by nature, and we like our independence. One of the reasons we do this in the first place is to have control over our creative work. We…
The Daily WriterWhen Are You Going to Write?
We human beings have an amazing capacity for deception. We will go to almost any length to avoid facing the truth or giving a concrete answer to a question…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Storytelling Coach Jim Woods on How to Craft Better Stories
I'm honored to have my good friend, Jim Woods, on the show today to help us develop our storytelling chops. Jim is a novelist, story coach, and editor. He has…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Creating Your Future Vision
We all know time travel isn’t really possible. Or is it? As appealing as it might seem to hop in a DeLorean and travel thirty years into the future, that’s…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Balancing Work, Leisure & Creativity
On this episode, I answer a question sent in by Mark Revisky: “What is the balance between work, leisure, and creative endeavors? Many times my creative work…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Joe Ricci on How to Write a Hallmark Movie
I'm thrilled to bring you this bonus interview with Joe Ricci. We dive into all my geeky questions about story structure and the specifics of writing for the…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Somebody Had to Write It Down
Christmas means many things to many people. Some people look forward to parties and social events. Some people enjoy the lights and holiday displays in stores…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Do You Celebrate Your Wins?
It’s tempting to overlook your wins, especially when it seems like everyone else around you is having more success. On today’s episode, you’ll learn why it’s…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Writing Creative Nonfiction with Christopher Johnston, Journalist & Playwright
When you hear the term "creative writing," what comes to mind? If you're like most people, you probably think of fiction-based writing like novels…
The Daily WriterBest Of: The #1 Writing Lesson from Disney’s Star Wars Trilogy
In 2019, I sat in a darkened theater with my son Ben. We were there to watch a movie I had been anticipating for two years: The Rise of Skywalker. I enjoyed…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Don't Throw Any of Yourself Away
If you spend any time among a group of novelists, you will pretty quickly hear two terms: pantsers and plotters. Pantsers are the ones who prefer to write by…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Jeffrey Shaw: Living the Self-Employed Life
One of the themes of this podcast is “courage.” I want you to consistently do things that scare you. Why? Because when you do things that feel intimidating…
The Daily WriterBest Of: I Don't Know and I Don't Care
There are certain qualities we prize in the writing world. One of them is knowledge. It seems like we should know what we are getting ourselves into, right?…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Stuck in the Twilight Zone
One of the most popular episodes of the original Twilight Zone series is “Time Enough at Last.” Burgess Meredith plays Henry Bemis, a bank teller with thick…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Karen Anderson: What Successful Authors Do Differently
My guest today is Karen Anderson, and she is imminently qualified to talk about what it means to be successful as an author. She is a Strategic Book Coach and…
The Daily WriterBest Of: How to Make Your Creative Work a Priority
It can be hard to stay creative when you’re busy. Today, I’m revisiting an episode from 2019 where I answer a question sent in by Brian Mays about prioritizing…
The Daily WriterBest Of: You Might Just Need a Nap
Are you having trouble writing? Do you feel like you can’t regain your focus? Do you feel short-tempered and irritable? When we feel this way, the first…
The Daily WriterBest Of: Dr. Don Sanders: Analog Tools for Writers
On this episode, we're going old-school and talking about analog tools for writing. It may seem out of touch to be talking about pens, pencils, and notebooks…
The Daily WriterThanksgiving Special: Appreciate This Moment
As writers, we are constantly dreaming about what’s next. The next book. The next conference. The next interview. The next connection. The next source of…
The Daily WriterThe Daily Writer Will Return on January 3rd
On this brief episode, Kent shares an important update about the next few weeks’ worth of episodes. We will return with new episodes on Monday, January 3rd!…
The Daily WriterThe Clock is Always Running
Have you ever held up an hourglass and looked it closely? From a distance, the sand looks as though it was one single element that can snake through the…
The Daily WriterThe Beauty of Having No Opinion
Have you ever noticed that some people have an opinion about literally everything? It’s not hard to find these people. They are all over social media, and…
The Daily WriterWhere Do I Go Now?
Have you ever felt stuck by writer’s block? If so, you’re in good company. That’s exactly the state the members of the legendary rock group Guns N’ Roses found…
The Daily WriterHow to Recognize a Good Idea
One of the perennial questions writers ask is, “Where do you get good ideas?” It’s a fair question because all of us have struggled with finding good ones for…
The Daily WriterDiscovery Comes During Writing, Not Before
In the fiction-writing community, there are two terms thrown around quite a bit: plotters and pantsers. Plotters are writers who know the whole plot of the…
The Daily WriterCuriosity Resurrected the Cat
You’ve heard the saying “curiosity killed the cat.” The phrase has been around in some form or another for hundreds of years and is meant to be a warning to…
The Daily WriterIt's Your Choice
Everything in life is a choice. It’s up to you. It’s all your choice. We live in a beautiful time where anything is possible. Writers a hundred years ago would…
The Daily WriterBecome a Person of Interest
In the law-enforcement community, a person of interest is a phrase used to describe someone who may be involved in an ongoing investigation or connected with a…
The Daily WriterLynn Smargis: How to Repurpose Your Content Into a Book
I’m excited to feature a conversation from this past in the Daily Writer Community. My friend Lynn Smargis is a freelance writer in the area of health and…
The Daily WriterGo Ahead, Cross the Streams
When it comes to curiosity, most people don’t cross the streams. They keep their reservoirs of knowledge separate from one another. History, religion, arts…
The Daily WriterWhen was the Last Time You Were Astonished?
We live in a world where miraculous things happen every day. Of course, most of these things don’t seem miraculous to us. They seem ordinary. But it all…
The Daily WriterWhat Should You Write About? Try This.
Everyone feels writer’s block sometimes. The next time you aren’t sure what to write about, try combining two things you love. Author Dan Miller writes…
The Daily WriterInspiration is a Shy Fellow
We’ve all heard it before (and probably said it): “I’m just not feeling inspired today.” There might be a hundred reasons why we don’t feel inspired, but there…
The Daily WriterIt’s Hard to Be God
Whatever you think about the origins of the universe, one thing seems certain: the universe started as a kind of blank slate that is now filled with stars…
The Daily WriterIt's Business, Not Personal
One of the most important concepts that every writer today must embrace is the idea of a “personal brand business.” But what does it mean to have a personal…
The Daily WriterJody Skinner: Creating Beautiful Formatting for Your Book
Book formatting is one of the last things authors think about when creating their book. However, it's absolutely vital since that's where readers spend all…
The Daily WriterThe Imagineering Mindset
In their fantastic little book The Imagineering Way, the Disney Imagineers said, “Every new project at Imagineering starts with the assumption that it will be…
The Daily WriterWriting is Not the Center
What is the core value of your life? What is the “center”? What sits in the center of the room for you? If it is your writing, then other people’s reactions…
The Daily WriterMost of Your Words Are Coal, Not Diamonds
When we are in love with our writing, it’s hard to edit. It’s hard to take constructive criticism. It’s hard to be objective because we are in love with our…
The Daily WriterWriting for the Right Reasons
Sometimes we make a false distinction between writing for money and writing for pleasure. Both goals can be valid and important. What ties them together is…
The Daily WriterThe One Year to Live Test
We all know that perfectionism can be debilitating. It can rob you of the joy of writing and cause you to waste endless amounts of time fidgeting with your…
The Daily WriterDaily Writer on What It Means to Be an "A+" Writer
On this episode, I'm thrilled to be joined by one of my best friends in the world, Jared Odle. He's a missionary, copywriter, and an all-around fantastic guy…
The Daily WriterCarolyn Roark: What Do You Want Your Book to Do for You?
As writers, we spend loads of time worrying about the details of writing: getting the words done, editing, publishing, and so many other things. Sometimes it's…
The Daily WriterYou Can Always Fill the Glass
Writers are people who create things. We can literally create books, articles, speeches, podcasts, or stories out of thin air. It’s what we do. Why, then, do…
The Daily WriterIt's Time to Let Go of Some Books
In your writing life, you will find that it’s easy to let go of some things, and much harder to let go of others. One of the items it’s difficult to let go of…
The Daily WriterResting: Create Space in Your Life
Over the past six days, we have been through a key cycle in the creative life of a writer: preparing, planting, watering, pruning, harvesting, and celebrating…
The Daily WriterCelebrating: Enjoy Your Success
Over the last few days, we have been talking about developing a growth-oriented mindset. After you have prepared by tilling the soil of your mind, planted by…
The Daily WriterHarvesting: Producing the Words
Harvesting as a concept couldn’t be any simpler. You simply go to the field, get the crop, and bring it to the barn for processing. In writing terms, it means…
The Daily WriterHow to Be a 10-Year "Overnight Success"
Ever since I went full-time in my ghostwriting business this past summer, I've had a lot of conversations about how that happened. People have been very…
The Daily WriterW. Terry Whalin: How to Write Book Proposals That Sell
Today I'm thrilled to dive into a topic that is often ignored among writers, but it's critical to get it right if you want to be successful … and particularly…
The Daily WriterPruning: Eliminate A Few Activities
As you continue to grow in your writing skills, your connections, and your influence, you will have more and more opportunities. This is both a good and bad…
The Daily WriterWatering: Read Books for Nourishment
As we talked about yesterday, you need to have a system where you can plant or store all the thoughts, information, and ideas you will use as raw material for…
The Daily WriterPlanting: Keep Track of Your Ideas
If we look at growth as a natural byproduct of good habits we practice on a regular basis, the first habit is preparing the soil of your mind. The second one…
The Daily WriterPreparing: Till the Soil of Your Mind
Everyone who has ever planted anything knows that you can’t just throw seeds on the ground. You must prepare the soil. Otherwise, the soil won’t be ready to…
The Daily WriterTwo Mindsets: Which One Do You Have?
In her landmark book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Dr. Carol Dweck argues that your mindset, far more than your talents or abilities, is responsible…
The Daily Writer5 Steps to Building an Amazing Non-Fiction Book Outline
Today I want to explore a topic that a lot of people ask me about. It's also a topic that, when you give it the attention it deserves, will transform your…
The Daily WriterCathy Davis: How Someone Decides to Buy Your Book
It seems like such a simple question, but the answers are more profound than you realize: What is the thinking process a person goes through when they are…