Caroline Webb has built her career around understanding how people think and perform at their best. An economist, leadership coach, and former McKinsey partner, she is the bestselling author of How to Have a Good Day, which translated insights from behavioral science into practical tools for making work—and life—better.

Her new book, Leadership Intelligence, turns that lens on what it takes to lead well now, whether you’re running a team or simply trying to make better decisions, give useful feedback, and work effectively with other people. As AI becomes more advanced, Webb argues that human intelligence matters more, not less. Drawing on behavioral and cognitive science and decades of advising leaders, she offers practical strategies for 21 common workplace challenges.

21 Questions with Caroline Webb

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

The many thousands of scientists who did the primary research underpinning each piece of advice I give readers. I had room to cite 300 or so papers directly, but I read easily over a thousand in the process of writing the book. I am in awe of the painstaking work that researchers do, as they go deeper and deeper into understanding the human mind and body.

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

One is that there is such a thing as a “book tour.” My friends have given up asking me when I am going “on tour” — they know by now that you never stop talking about a book, if you’re lucky. You keep going, everywhere, all the time, for as long as anyone will have you.

3. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

Online thrift shopping.

4. Do you read your reviews?

It’s hard not to, because it’s so wonderful to read how your work has helped your readers. In my genre of prescriptive non-fiction, you really want to know that your work has made people’s lives better in some way. But I do it less and less on sites with a known troll problem, because you only have to see one weirdly horrible review to feel bad in ten different ways.

If you’re lucky enough to have a colleague who can read reviews for you, that’s potentially a good middle ground—they can share with you what’s most uplifting and share what’s useful in the rest. That’s what I’m going to do this time around.

5. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

I never really feel like a draft is “finished.” It’s always a work in progress, plus my day job continues to flow around it. But I try to treat myself to an easy couple of days after sending a draft to my editor, and maybe one (1) martini.

6. Kiss, marry, kill: podcasts, newsletters, and speaking gigs.

A little bit of kiss, marry, kill to all three. On balance, I’m really happy that they’re all in my life.

I usually love podcasts because I relish a great conversation, and some hosts are so good that I end up having new thoughts as we’re talking. Some hosts unintentionally make you work really hard through sheer disorganization.

Newsletters make me feel very connected to my network. I always open with a personal story, so I also get to make something useful out of every difficult situation I’ve ever experienced in my life, which is like highly cost-efficient therapy. That said, they take a lot of work, and you don’t get a lot of feedback.

And speaking allows me to dive into a wide range of industries, at least for a short while, and I always find that really fascinating. But you never know how good the hotel room is going to be... so I travel with bulldog clips to close the curtains, and yes, I do jam my own tiny pillow into my carry-on when I can.

7. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

Emailing a draft to myself at the end of each day, even though it’s already backed up in a couple of other ways. It’s actually as much a close-out ritual—I can switch off after I’ve done it.

8. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Saying yes to connection requests on LinkedIn. I didn’t realize authors were supposed to do that!

9. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

My coaching sessions always sharpen my sense of what people really need from me as a writer on leadership and professional effectiveness, and I take close notes on a digital tablet (or on my phone if I’m on the run). I kept coaching clients all the way through my work on Leadership Intelligence, and although that wasn’t always easy to juggle, it was the right thing to do. My coaching made the writing better—and the writing made the coaching better, too, because it helped me get ever crisper on how to communicate the right approach to common management situations.

10. What’s on your nightstand right now?

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, a sunrise wake-up lamp, and a bottle of water. We won’t talk about the mess around those.

11. How did you find your agent?

By asking all my fanciest non-fiction author friends who their favorite agent was. Jim Levine’s name came up again and again.

12. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

I always end up in a tussle with copy-editors about using digits for timings, rather than spelling them out in words (“block time for 25 minutes” versus “block time for twenty-five minutes”). When busy business readers are scanning for advice, I want them to be able to quickly see what they’re supposed to do.

13. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

I use the Freedom platform to block my access to websites and apps when I need to focus. I am not on retainer, although maybe I should let them know that I am a fan!

I’m happy to use ChatGPT or Claude to shorten a piece of text or check my syntax. I never let AI tools write for me because, for me, writing is thinking. Writing prose, taking handwritten notes, diagramming concepts—these are key cognitive techniques that allow me to synthesize vast quantities of scientific research. When someone sends me something that’s been written by AI, it’s usually overwrought and overlong, and although the document looks polished on the surface, the arguments are all too often quite muddled once you really poke them.

14. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

Producers tell me that my singing experience has given me decent breath control when recording my audiobooks. I think it’s as much that as I know about the existence of Throat Coat tea, which many singers use before concerts.

15. How many drafts before you show your editor?

As many as I can write before I hit the deadline I agreed to with the editor. I find deadlines a good forcing mechanism.

16. Can you describe your ideal workday?

I’m a late-night person. So I like a gentle start to the day, with coffee made by my lovely husband, then a walk outdoors (or an inexpert run on the treadmill) while listening to a podcast. Even better if I get to do that walk with a friend or colleague. Formal meetings happen from 11 am onward, and I see clients ideally in the afternoon. My peak writing time is 4 - 8 pm and I typically work until about 8.30 pm. When I need extra time, it’s much smarter for me to work until 11 pm than to get up early. Since this is a version of the Proust questionnaire, I will mention that Proust was even more nocturnal than I am, though left to myself, my body clock easily drifts toward his kind of routine.

17. How does that compare to your actual workday?

Pretty close! I advise people to be proactive about scheduling their time intentionally, so I do have to walk my own talk on this. Sometimes I start meetings earlier, obviously, for example, with the UK and the rest of Europe. But since my twenties, I have found that it’s fine to be clear about my preferences, so long as I’m flexible and keep delivering good work.

18. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

A memoir about being a late-night person, maybe. I apparently have a lot to say about it.

19. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

You think you’re done. But you’re not done. You’re never done.

20. Fill in the blank: In five years, successful authors will be…

Highly intentional about showing that their thinking is fundamentally their own.

21. What is your new book about?

It’s a leadership playbook that helps readers make the most of the human intelligence on their team, across 21 common management situations. I wrote it for leaders of all types, whether they’re formally managing people in a company or just trying to marshal a book group.

It’s got a strong backbone of behavioral and cognitive science, but I designed it to be very practical and easy to use when you have only six minutes to gather yourself before a meeting or a deadline. I hope it helps a lot of people who are trying to get good things done with their teams.

Leave a comment

You can learn more about Caroline’s book here: Leadership Intelligence: Science-Backed Strategies for Mastering 21 Everyday Management Challenges.

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few reader favorites:

• 8 Questions to Ask Before You Sign With a Literary Agent

• Oliver Burkeman Knows You Don’t Have Time (21 Questions)

• How to Get Unstuck and Finish Your Book

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

But wait… what about the slush pile? Tom Clancy’s novel, The Hunt for Red October, was famously plucked out of the slush pile at the Naval Institute Press! Mm, not so much. Tom Clancy contacted the press first, and they invited him to submit his novel directly (even though they had never published fiction before).

So yes, you will almost certainly need an agent. And that brings us to the much less-discussed part of the process: what to do when an agent is interested in you.

At that point, everything changes. You’re no longer emailing agent after agent in a near-endless attempt to get someone to notice you. Suddenly, you’re desirable. And now you have a different question to answer: Do you actually want this person representing your work and, ideally, your career?

The problem is that most writers have spent so long trying to get an agent that they haven’t given much thought to interviewing one. So I asked literary agent Lucinda Halpern, author of Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author, what she thinks writers should be asking when the tables finally turn.

Below are the eight questions she recommends asking a prospective agent.

– Panio Gianopoulos

When an author has the opportunity to speak with an interested agent, many make the mistake of speaking exclusively about their book. It’s natural. But if an agent is considering representing you, this is your opportunity to vet the partnership and determine how thoughtfully they have considered your work—and how this vital relationship will proceed once the initial excitement wears off.

Here are the eight questions I suggest every writer ask a prospective agent:

1. What specifically do you think the project still needs?
   You want evidence that the agent has read closely, researched you, and has a vision beyond “This is great—I can sell it.”

2. How much development would you anticipate, and what would that timeline look like?
   Be wary of both extremes. One week may suggest insufficient thought; several months may suggest a crowded list and a project that will not be prioritized. The person most enthusiastic about you will clear their plate to make the time.

3. What books have you represented that offer relevant experience for mine?
   They need not be identical books, but the agent should be able to thoughtfully explain the parallels if not.

4. Who do you see as the reader, and what kinds of publishers would you approach?
   Listen for specificity. An agent with relationships will have several names at the tip of the tongue.

5. What other commercial opportunities do you see? Are there any rights you would specifically look to protect in a contract?
   A sophisticated agent will be thinking beyond the initial book toward audio, foreign rights, film and television, speaking, brand partnerships—the author’s larger career.

6. What makes a client relationship successful for you—and what tends to make one difficult?
   This will tell you more about expectations, communication, and compatibility than simply asking, “What does the process look like?”

7. Who will be my primary contact?
   Will you work directly with the agent, an associate, or a larger team? None of these models is inherently wrong, but you should understand the relationship you are entering.

8. What happens if the book doesn’t sell immediately?
   Ask how long the agent typically advocates for a project, how the submission strategy might change, and perhaps ask for examples of when the agent either sold to a smaller or alternative press (and why). The agent you want is one who will hustle—and go the distance.

   ---

Lucinda Halpern is a literary agent and the CEO of Lucinda Literary, based in New York. Her classes and coaching programs have been taught to hundreds of writers worldwide, and became the inspiration for her book Get Signed: Find an Agent, Land a Book Deal, and Become a Published Author (Hay House; February 6th, 2024). Learn more at lucindaliterary.com, follow Lucinda Halpern on LinkedIn, or take the quiz: "Are You Ready for a Book Deal?"

Sasha Hamdani, a psychiatrist specializing in ADHD and emotional regulation, has built an audience of more than two million followers across Instagram and TikTok as @thepsychdoctormd by making mental health accessible and engaging. Which is a refreshing change from the people who go viral for eating 10,000 calories in one sitting, doing The Griddy, or cosplaying (though I kinda have a soft spot for Chewbacca Mom. Who hasn’t wanted to wookie out in a Target parking lot?)

Her new book brings that same smart, accessible, and entertaining approach to a subject that is often misunderstood: sensitivity. Too Sensitive explores the science of emotional sensitivity and rejection-sensitive dysphoria, i.e., why some of us experience rejection, criticism, or even subtle shifts in tone so intensely. Hamdani argues that once we understand what’s happening in our brain (and nervous system), we can learn to respond differently, as well as recognize the strengths that come with feeling deeply. As someone who burst into tears at my fifth birthday party because I couldn’t pin the tail on the donkey, I wholeheartedly endorse this sentiment.

In this edition of 21 Questions, Hamdani talks about being vulnerable on the page, why she works in intense bursts, and the little things that help make writing possible.

21 Questions with Dr. Sasha Hamdani

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

My patients. So much of what I write starts with hearing someone describe something they’ve carried for years and realizing, “Wait, THAT HAS A NAME??”

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

That you need to feel inspired to write. Most of writing is sitting down when you have absolutely nothing profound to say and trusting that eventually something useful will come out.

3. Do you read your reviews?

Yes, which is probably a bad idea for someone who just wrote an entire book about rejection sensitivity.

4. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

Close my laptop and try not to look at it for a few days. I need enough distance to forget how brilliant or terrible I thought it was while writing it.

5. Kiss, marry, kill: podcasts, newsletters, and speaking gigs.

Kiss speaking gigs, marry podcasts, kill newsletters. I love my newsletter, but every week it somehow feels like the deadline arrives three days earlier than it should.

6. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

I need the right environment. Always have my big fuzzy cardigan (outside temperature does not matter), a crispy Coke Zero to drink, everything arranged correctly in terms of where my laptop is in relation to my snacks (which vary but are usually either nuts or something else crunchy). Apparently my brain thinks writing requires a small ceremony.

7. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Long-form writing. Social media taught me how to communicate an idea quickly, but writing books taught me how much I love having room to actually explore one.

8. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

Mostly conversations, patients, comments, and things I notice in my own life. I keep a completely chaotic Notes app that makes sense to absolutely no one except me.

9. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

Don’t wait until you feel ready. Most of the best things in my career happened because I said yes before I had completely figured out how I was going to do them.

10. And the worst?

Stay in your lane. Almost everything interesting I’ve done professionally has happened because I didn’t.

11. Whose career do you most admire and why?

I’ve always admired Atul Gawande’s career. He’s a physician who has managed to be a clinician, writer, researcher, and public thinker, and he uses storytelling to make complicated questions about medicine and human behavior feel deeply personal.

12. What’s on your nightstand right now?

An embarrassing number of half-read physical books, my Kindle, water, red light mask, and a picture of a treasure map that my son drew.

13. How did you find your agent?

THIS IS MY FAVORITE STORY. My neighbor is an incredible author (Robert Miner!) and when he moved in I told him how I was discouraged from writing another book. He told me his agent asked about me and set up a meeting between us. I met her once and knew that I needed her to be my agent because that would ensure that I would get a chance to be her friend. She’s the coolest.

14. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

That you have to write every day. I absolutely do not. I tend to write intensely in bursts, which is probably the most ADHD way possible to write a book.

15. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

Being a psychiatrist (is that a skill?). My entire job is listening closely, finding patterns, and taking something complicated and making it understandable. That’s basically writing.

16. How many drafts before you show your editor?

I show my editor my first draft because I have zero filter and I’m usually really excited. That being said, it usually takes upwards of 15 rewrites for it to be usable.

17. Can you describe your ideal workday?

A quiet morning, nowhere to be, seeing a few patients (with enough time to chat!), gym with my husband, a few uninterrupted hours to write or to create educational content online, and then school pick up!

18. How does that compare to your actual workday?

My day never looks like that. I don’t even know what a quiet morning looks like. Especially over Summer.

19. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

Fiction. I would love to write a novel where I could explore psychology and grief without having to explain the lesson at the end of every chapter. I just want people to feel their way through.

20. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

How vulnerable it feels. You can spend years writing something privately, and then one day strangers are allowed to have opinions about it (again, it’s my own fault for writing about rejection)

21. What is your new book about?

Too Sensitive is for people who feel things too quickly, too deeply, and for too long. It looks at the neuroscience of emotional sensitivity and rejection-sensitive dysphoria, especially in ADHD, and gives people practical tools to understand their patterns, regulate their emotions, and stop treating sensitivity like a personal failure.

Leave a comment

You can learn more about Sasha’s book here: Too Sensitive: Rejection, Resilience, and the Science of Feeling Deeply

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few reader favorites:

• How to Get Unstuck and Finish Your Book

• The Courage to Look Foolish: 21 Questions with Cate Hall

• How to Talk About Your Book on Camera (Without Hating Yourself)

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

While I have some strong opinions about AI and writing (I plan to write that essay soon), today, I thought I’d share someone else’s thoughts on the matter. Yes, a guest post! I don’t run them often, but recently I was emailing with Natalie Nixon, author of The Creativity Leap, and I was intrigued by her perspective. So without further ado, here’s Natalie.

At the 2025 Adobe Summit in Las Vegas, CEO Shantanu Narayen made a declaration that is near and dear to my heart: “Creativity is the new productivity!” I loved that pronouncement. That’s partly because it resonated with what was consuming my attention as I prepared to launch my 2025 book, Move. Think. Rest., a fresh and human-centered take on productivity. But I also loved Narayen’s perspective because the notion that creativity is the means to our best productivity serves as a bridge to my newest work, the second edition of my very first book, The Creativity Leap.

In the new Chapter 10, “Algorithms & Awe,” I make the case that if we want AI technology to amplify what makes us uniquely human, then we must take agency to ensure that a dystopian future does not “just happen to us.” To counter that potential outcome, we must consistently ask questions of the technology to ensure ethical and meaningful outcomes.

Increasingly, our productivity feels like it’s gaining a boost from AI. However, that promise of greater efficiency can lead us into the trap of working like an AI-Human-AI sandwich. That is to say, we start with the AI and end with the AI while the human dimension (for example, our curiosity, intuition, and improvisational inclinations) becomes an afterthought.

Instead, we’d be better off working like Human-AI-Human sandwiches, where the AI can help us build on our initial human conception, and then we take the baton to further develop ideas and answers through in-person conversations, collaborations, critical thinking, and pondering.

The foundational principle of The Creativity Leap is that creativity is your ability to toggle between wonder and rigor to solve problems, deliver novel value and discern meaning. Creativity is not a nice-to-have; it’s a critical requirement and strategic capability in a world of burnout, tech FOMO, and morphing rules for work. I make the case that fortifying our minds with awe, wonder, and human consciousness will be increasingly crucial alongside the rigorous critical thinking and experimentation that ultimately amplifies what makes us uniquely human.

Here are five questions I propose we consistently ask in order to build creativity as a strategic capability alongside AI.

1. “But, why…?” Pausing to ask this question is ideal before electing to automate, for example, a workflow. This question requires us to pause and question whether the tech makes sense situationally and contextually. We are often seduced by speed. But if a computerized tool is applied incorrectly, then haven’t we ultimately wasted time?

2. “Is this tool sharpening my thinking, or replacing it?” These days, not only do we need to be concerned with AI slop, but also with brainrot. This sounds harsh, but if we do not exercise critical thinking, mind wandering, and curiosity, well, we stand to lose those tools of human intelligence.

3. “How can AI help people flourish?” Burnout rates are pretty staggering. According to the Anatomy of Work Index, it’s estimated that 71 percent of US workers have experienced burnout. This amounts to a $300 billion cost to businesses (according to the American Institute of Stress) due to resulting absenteeism, turnover, and higher insurance rates. If we fill the saved time with more work, instead of time for creative activity such as problem solving, reframing questions, prototyping, reflection, and daydreaming (yes, daydreaming!), then we will die a slow death at work.

4. “What if…?” This question helps us to use AI as a springboard. And it nicely encapsulates the WonderRigor™ dynamic where wonder is the catalyst and spark to imagine audaciously, and rigor is the tool to help us excavate and go deeper on a particular topic.

5. “At whose expense?” People’s lives, ideas, and experiences make the training data for AI possible. I know this from personal experience as the first edition of The Creativity Leap was included in the class action lawsuit against Anthropic. Ease’s elegance can blind us to the workers and thinkers behind the scenes.

Here’s what we must remember. We are in the midst of a human revolution, not simply a technological one. Algorithms and code are only as good as the questions people pose and probe. What if we are at an inflection point where we can harness technology in ways that amplify what makes us uniquely human? We cannot lose sight of that possibility.

Matt Bloom has spent nearly three decades studying what helps people flourish, particularly those working in demanding helping professions such as medicine, education, and humanitarian work. A psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, his research has drawn on the experiences of more than 10,000 people across 25 countries.

In his newly released book, Lasting Wellbeing, Bloom translates that research into practical ways to cultivate greater tranquility, meaning, and joy. Rather than prescribing a single path, he offers readers a range of evidence-based practices and a framework for figuring out which ones actually work for them.

In this edition of 21 Questions, Bloom reflects on finding his own way as a writer, the pleasures of creative flow, and why sometimes the best thing you can do is go for a walk.

21 Questions with Matt Bloom

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

My wife, Kim, and my brother, Steve. They read draft after draft, gave me great feedback, and were enthusiastic throughout the process. I learned that, for me, writing is a communal experience, and I am grateful to have such wonderful people to work with as I write. I’d also add coffee and lots of music. Both were really important during my writing time.

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

That it’s really hard. At least that’s what the people I know get wrong. It can be tough at times, but when things are flowing, I’m caught up in something bigger than myself. It’s a wonderful experience. I’ve read a lot of books about writing by authors and have learned that I have to find my way of doing it. Fortunately, I have. It took a while, but it was well worth the time trying different approaches.

3. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

Reading books “for inspiration.” I tell myself, “one chapter,” and thirty minutes later I’m still reading. I can get lost in great writing.

4. Do you read your reviews?

Yes, for sure. I have a lot to learn and reviews can be very helpful. Some of them help me see where I can improve (ouch!). And some are really encouraging.

5. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

Crank rock music. Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” U2’s "Where the Streets Have No Name,” and Springsteen’s “Born to Run” are favorites. I listened to those songs when I was in high school, driving around on a warm summer evening. They are still celebrations of life for me.

6. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

Reading my own finished first drafts. I worry that I will be so disappointed I will toss everything. Kim and Steve are my stalwart first draft readers.

7. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Writing books! I thought about it for way too long. My friend and writing coach, Michael McGregor, finally got me going. He told me to write from my head and heart, write what I really cared about. That was the catalyst that finally got me going.

8. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

Hiking. There is an ancient motto, solvitur ambulando, a Latin phrase meaning, “It is solved by walking,” and that really works for me. I take a small notepad and pen to write down ideas. It’s all about physical engagement for me, so I avoid digital ways of recording things.

9. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

“Call yourself a writer!” Again, my writing coach Michael McGregor was the source of this advice. He meant I had to claim that I am a writer. Writing is not just something I do; being a writer is something I am. It’s still hard for me to claim this sometimes, but it’s liberating when I do.

10. And the worst?

Write at the same time of day, for the same amount of time every day. That doesn’t work for me. I do need to write almost every day, but staring at a blank page for several hours is depleting. I tend to write in chunks rather than continuously.

11. Whose career do you most admire and why?

This is a tough one because there are quite a few! I admire Cal Newport and Adam Grant for writing so well for a general audience while also being great scholars. I admire Barbara Brown Taylor for her beautiful nonfiction prose and gracious and generous spirit. And I admire Marilynne Robinson for her wonderful novels and skillful, erudite essays.

12. What’s on your nightstand right now?

Country People by Daniel Mason and my iPad. I always try to fill my head and heart with uplifting things before I sleep, so a really great book and an episode of Ted Lasso or Shrinking are always good choices.

13. How did you find your agent?

I sent proposals to five agents, cold. One told me my book wouldn’t sell, three did not respond. Laurie answered with an enthusiastic email. She is an incredible person and a wonderful agent. I am very fortunate I sent a proposal to her.

14. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

To write every day and at the same time. I had to figure out what worked for me.

15. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

An online thesaurus and dictionary are key for me. Scrivener is the writing platform I use, and it works great for me. I don’t use AI to write or help me write because I want whatever has my name on it to be from me, even if it’s bad. I tried it once and what was produced was very inauthentic.

16. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

Speaking in front of live audiences and leading workshops. I learn so much from the responses, questions, and interactions I have with people during the session and in conversations after it ends. I will accept every speaking invitation I can.

17. How many drafts before you show your editor?

Dozens! One of my worst habits is messing with my writing to the point that I make it worse, so I have had to discipline myself to let my readers tell me when a draft is ready to send. I had a wonderful editorial team at BenBella—Leah Wilson and Clara Tamez were immensely helpful, kind, encouraging—so it was never worrisome to send things to them

18. Can you describe your ideal workday?

Get up by 5 am. Cup of coffee, read poetry and something inspirational. Write for a couple of hours. Work out or go for a hike. Write again for a bit. I also volunteer at local non-profits, so some mornings are occupied with those commitments. Late afternoon, read research or a good book. Then meet Kim for a glass of wine.

19. How does that compare to your actual workday?

Pretty close. Some days I don’t write as much as I hope to, but that’s ok. The writing will flow another day.

20. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

Poetry. I love reading poetry, and wish I was able to write good poems. I cannot.

21. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

How sometimes something seems to be writing through me. The words are coming into my head; I’m not thinking them myself. It was eerie at first, but I can now accept it. It still thrills me when it happens.

Leave a comment

You can learn more about Matt’s book here: Lasting Wellbeing: Science-Based Practices for Tranquility, Authenticity, Meaning, and Joy

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few reader favorites:

• How to Get Unstuck and Finish Your Book

• The Courage to Look Foolish: 21 Questions with Cate Hall

• How to Talk About Your Book on Camera (Without Hating Yourself)

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

Cate Hall has made a habit of ignoring conventional career advice. Before writing You Can Just Do Things, she left an elite legal career for professional poker, co-founded a biotech startup, and later led one of the world’s largest philanthropic foundations. Her newly released book asks what might happen if more of us stopped waiting for permission.

In this edition of 21 Questions, Cate reflects on Substack, sci-fi, and the surprising value of looking foolish.

21 Questions with Cate Hall

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

Substack, and the lovely audience that I’m lucky to have there. The ability to test out ideas in public gave me confidence, helped me refine my thinking, and showed me what wasn’t working. I have so much respect for those who work in a more private fashion, but I need the door open.

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

Related to my previous answer: that being a writer is about being an intellectually gifted individual, laboring privately to produce a perfect tome. Maybe it’s like this for some people. But for me, it’s a much more communal process. It’s about striking a balance between personal authenticity and input from the world. Feedback from my husband, editors, and readers is as helpful as my own taste and life experiences.

3. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

I refuse to accept that crosswords are procrastination. I am training my “verbal IQ.”

4. Do you read your reviews?

I don’t have any reviews yet. As you will find out from my book, I’m a big believer in taking feedback. And so, I plan to read my negative reviews and will attempt to see if there’s useful information in there for me. However, my experience on Twitter has also shown me that communicating in public means being vilified for things you never said, based on a projection of yourself that you have nothing to do with. I accept that this may happen with book reviews as well.

5. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

I try to take time off from a draft if I can. It’s an agonizing process for me; I want it to be perfect right away, and imperfection bugs me as soon as it exists. And yet, I’ve found that the cliché is true—creative solutions arrive in the shower, or in the car, when you’re mostly thinking about other things.

6. Kiss, marry, kill: podcasts, newsletters, and speaking gigs.

Marry: newsletters. People who lament the death of written culture clearly aren’t browsing the best of Substack and other blogging platforms; I’m privileged to be a part of this moment.

Kiss: speaking gigs. Though I’m highly averse to public speaking, because I have a conflicted relationship with attention and dislike my voice, working through that aversion has been thrilling.

Kill: podcasts—we all know they’re mostly entertainment masquerading as education. (Although to be clear I enjoy them, and will still do many promotional podcasts for my book.)

7. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

I am superstitious that putting effort in is rewarded. I am a merciless and thorough editor of myself, and though I think the best material comes from a place of playful openness, it requires work work work to refine.

8. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Writing in public! The benefits are completely unreasonable, and given that they compound over time, I wish I’d started earlier. By the benefits I mean both the exterior benefits (new friends, good networking) and interior benefits (spiritual satisfaction). It feels wonderful to give yourself away.

9. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

Most of my ideas for the book came from wrecking my life a couple of times. I keep track of them from the scars in my memory. I don’t have a formal archival process for ideas. Though I haven’t thought about this before, I think I’m only interested in writing about things that really haunt me. If I have to keep track of it, we’re not hitting the bar.

10. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

If you’re in a position of authority, any feedback you receive on your communication is likely to be true and 10x worse than they say, because they’re being diplomatic. Take it seriously. In general, the greater your responsibilities, the more important it is to get accurate information about how you’re performing, and the less people give it to you. Being a leader has this in common with doing creative work—it’s vital to maintain a personal vision while being absolutely open to input you don’t necessarily want to hear.

11. And the worst?

That I would regret dropping out of big law. I felt relief almost immediately, and I’m so glad that I left just before my salary ballooned to outrageous levels. I have to assume that I’m corruptible by money like anyone else, and so it might’ve been much harder to get out later. I’m so grateful for the wild highs and lows that followed it—my life is a miracle.

12. Whose career do you most admire and why?

My friend Nan Ransohoff, who is working hard for the good of humanity, with a level of ambition that scares even me. Currently, she’s working on an attempt to end viral respiratory infections. It’s funny that this is literally a joke—“What’s next, the cure for the common cold?” She left a very cushy professional career to pursue goals like these, and I expect us all to be better off for it.

13. What’s on your nightstand right now?

Waiting for God by Simone Weil, the ravings of a sensitive mystic; Permutation City by Greg Egan, some dark science fiction; and Confidential by John Nolan, a guide to uncovering business secrets. I’d like to think that if you triangulate these titles, this is actually who I am deep down.

14. How did you find your agent?

She reached out cold after reading some of my Substack writing. Thank you, Lisa!

15. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

The use of adverbs. I write clear declarative prose most of the time, because that’s how I talk. But I’m happy to have a sentence end clunkily. Reading someone who is following all the rules feels like hanging out with someone who’s following all the rules. Why so uptight? Who are you trying to impress?

16. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

I tried to use AI for research for my book. I’m not opposed to it: we all loathe AI slop, but I think it’s theoretically possible for AI to enhance, not replace, human creativity. I created a detailed prompt explaining what I wanted, and really tried to get good results. But it was much less helpful than old-fashioned research! I think AI can’t currently grasp the rich context of an artistic project, and so it can’t make great judgments about what’s relevant. Having given up on this for now, I don’t use tech tools fancier than a keyboard.

17. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

The ability to tolerate embarrassment and misinterpretation. One way for writing to be weak is defensiveness. My writing used to be like this: hedged to prevent any criticism. That also prevents any enjoyment. Now, I understand that strong writing requires leaving space for misinterpretation, and that people will misinterpret the fuck out of you on the internet.

18. How many drafts before you show your editor?

1–20, depending. I really don’t have a fixed process. Most of what I write, I’m working on with my husband, and he’s always my first editor. I just try to make something he can understand, which is a low bar, given that, like all married couples, we have a lot of collective shorthand.

19. Can you describe your ideal workday?

I like to be right at the edge of exhaustion working on something extremely hard. My favorite is when there’s not a lot of task-switching: I get immense pleasure from being able to dig into something high-stakes, like a fundraising document, for several hours. Then I retire to cuddling my cats and husband.

20. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

Science fiction—I think people underestimate the power of fiction to seed the future, and I just love rayguns and antimemes and shit. Someday, I want to create an anthology of utopian sci-fi, because I think we’re undersupplied on good ideas about what a positive technological future could look like. And, from personal experience, people creating transformative technologies are just people, which is to say, inspired by books and movies like anyone else.

21. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

How much I can apparently change people’s lives even with writing I feel is just adequate. Writing isn’t my main focus in life, and on a craft level, what I do is highly imperfect. I guess I’ve been lucky to learn some lessons, and I’m happy that I’m a somewhat capable conduit for those lessons.

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You can learn more about Cate’s book here: You Can Just Do Things: How High-Agency People Get What They Want Out of Life

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Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

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Panio

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Starting a book is easy. The hard part is keeping going. In today’s guest post, book coaches (and authors) Marisa Solis and Elizabeth Dougherty explore three of the biggest reasons that writers stall out, and offer proven, practical ways to get moving again.

This piece is excerpted from The Complete Expert-to-Author Guide: How to Plan, Write, and Publish Your Nonfiction Book by Marisa Solis and Elizabeth Dougherty, published by The Collective Book Studio. I’ve made a few minor edits and added interstitial images.

You can also watch or listen to my Q&A with Marisa and Elizabeth, “Why the Reader Is the Hero of Your Nonfiction Book.”

-Panio Gianopoulos

Writing takes more discipline, effort, and fortitude than most people realize. It can be even harder if you’re less confident in your writing skills. Maybe you struggle with expressing yourself in a language other than your native one, or you still believe you’re a bad writer because a teacher once told you so. For a number of reasons, sustaining your momentum after the initial excitement of getting started can be difficult. It’s all too easy for work to come to a standstill, and for months to go by, despite your best intentions to spend quality time with your keyboard. We understand. Life can get in the way.

In this article, we address the top reasons authors get stuck: procrastination, perfectionism, and impostor syndrome. You’ll add to your arsenal proven strategies—including time management, habit formation, and accountability—to keep your work from stalling and help you bounce back more readily when progress halts.

Common roadblock: procrastination

We’d wager that procrastination is the most common reason books don’t get finished. After all, if you intend to write a book but don’t do it, by definition you’re putting it off; you’re procrastinating. You might tell yourself that you’re just “too busy,” or maybe that you’re waiting for the perfect time to write. And yes, curveballs derail your good intentions and expectations on a daily basis, and excuses can seem so undeniably legitimate when you make them. But can you truly not find fifteen minutes to write?

Procrastination, especially if you’re a perfectionist, often stems from fear, anxiety, or overwhelm. Avoidance feels much easier, at least in the moment. But you’re here to finish your book, so here’s some tough love: When you procrastinate, you choose to procrastinate, according to Neil Fiore, author of The Now Habit. This isn’t because you’re lazy or lack willpower, but because it temporarily helps you cope with fear and pressure. Knowing that you have a choice empowers you to make a different one.

Also understand that procrastination is a self-reinforcing behavior. The more you do it, the more prone you are to continue to do it. Make no mistake about it. The good news is that the adage “success begets success” is true, too—the more you write, the more apt you’ll be to continue to write. The sense of accomplishment that follows taking action feels good, which means you’ll likely want to write the more you do it.

Elizabeth’s history of procrastinating dates back at least to fourth grade, when her teacher, Miss Pike, made her look up the word in the thick, red Merriam-Webster’s dictionary on her desk. Suffice it to say, the definition wasn’t a deterrent. It wasn’t until much later that the work of time-management guru Edwin Bliss inspired two of her favorite, most successful strategies for combating her tendency to put things off until the very last minute: Take one next step, and prioritize tasks that are important but not urgent.

Take one next step

In 1976—decades before David Allen trademarked the phrase “Getting Things Done” and wrote his bestseller of the same name—Edwin Bliss wrote a brief, humble book also called Getting Things Done. Both authors built on ideas from Alan Lakein’s 1973 book How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life.

Elizabeth read Bliss’s book in 2010, and it rocked her world. Bliss advocates for finely slicing and conquering tasks by breaking them down into instantly achievable steps and capitalizing on tidbits of time. Each “one next step” can be as granular as you want. Three next steps might take less than a minute: Sit down, wake up your computer, and open a file. Your next step might be to write one sentence. Once you do one step, you’re very likely to keep going. That one minute in front of the screen magically becomes ten or twenty minutes of writing. That one sentence becomes a paragraph. Paragraphs transform into chapters. To keep her to-do lists from becoming overwhelming, Elizabeth still simply lists one next step per project.

Prioritize tasks that are important but not urgent

Bliss’s book also introduced Elizabeth to what has become known as the Eisenhower matrix, based on President Dwight David Eisenhower’s method of ranking tasks by importance and urgency. Tasks are grouped into quadrants:

• Important and urgent: Do now the most significant tasks with the most rapidly approaching deadlines.

• Important but not urgent: Schedule on a calendar significant tasks that don’t have pressing deadlines.

• Not important but urgent: Delegate time-sensitive tasks that are less significant.

• Not important and not urgent: Eliminate tasks that are insignificant and not time-bound.

Unless you have a publishing deadline that adds front-burner status to the equation, writing a book often falls into the “important but not urgent” quadrant—the quadrant that has a high payoff but is too often overshadowed by anything that’s time-critical. That’s why it’s so easy to spend years “writing a book” and have almost nothing to show for it.

One way to avoid this common pitfall is to schedule time for writing, which we discuss in more detail later.

You’re managing a lot in your life, and, yes, “important and urgent” tasks demand a great deal of time, energy, and attention. But when you ruthlessly evaluate the “importance and urgency” of the multitude of things you do in any given day or week, you may very well discover that “not important” tasks take up more time than you perceived. Actively cull tasks that are urgent but not important, and say no to what’s not urgent and not important. Then devote the time you save to tasks that are important but not urgent—your manuscript, for example.

Don’t wait for the perfect time to write

If you wait for the stars to perfectly align before you write, you’ll never get your manuscript done. You will always find excuses to delay. Instead, accept that the definition of a writer is someone who writes. Not perfectly, but consistently. You need to sit your butt down in a chair (unless you’ve embraced a standing desk, which we’ll allow) and start putting words in a document. You write, and you rewrite. Put it on repeat. Just like athletes and musicians practice, so must you write. The more you do, the easier it gets.

Common roadblock: perfectionism

Writing is an iterative process. It’s not a single perfect take. A first draft is just that, the first of many iterations, but you still have to get it done. Trust us when we say it does not have to be flawless. In fact, it won’t be. Nothing will slow you down faster than trying to write perfect prose at this stage. Yet, with so many authors, a fear of not executing perfectly at every step becomes the reason they stop putting words on the page—or never start in the first place.

Yes, as writers, we may obsess over alluring alliterations and correctly placed modifiers, but these stylistic things do not matter when the premise of your book isn’t finely tuned and it’s taking ten months to write ten thousand words. So here are some tips.

Remember that “some things you just get done”

In addition to being a recovering procrastinator, Elizabeth has had to learn to let go of her very-Virgo tendency toward perfectionism. Now she listens to her mom’s voice in her head saying, “Some things you do, and some things you just get done.” The advice is easier to follow now as an adult than when she was a teenager and her mom insisted that getting sleep was more important than nailing the subjunctive tense in her French homework at midnight.

The first draft of your book will not be perfect. You simply need to get it done. Fais-le, c’est tout!

A corollary: Don’t waste time on lower-priority things, such as transitions between paragraphs. Save that time, focus, and energy for more important things, like finishing a full first draft. You can and will spit-polish every word—but in much later drafts, not now.

Quiet the critic in your head

A common downfall when you’re a perfectionist is listening to that critical voice in your head that insists you must edit and refine whatever you’ve written before moving on—and absolutely before anyone else sees your writing. This inner voice will slow down your thinking (and consequently your writing) and wear down your confidence. You’ll get stuck spinning your wheels very early in the manuscript, maybe never moving beyond the first chapter you write.

But let’s say you do manage to write a complete first draft—and a beautifully crafted one at that. You still need to revise it, and you may need to cut text for reasons such as removing repetition, improving flow, or meeting a word count limit. If you’ve spent hours wordsmithing those sentences, you may be reluctant to make needed cuts. Remind that voice insisting that your writing be flawless that you (or a copy editor) will remedy any blemishes later.

Acknowledging the critical voice and then choosing to move on anyway—a strategy recommended by Shawn Costello Whooley and Holly Yates in The Inner Critic Workbook, which Marisa worked on—can make you feel more empowered. You’ve got this.

Embrace the journey

So now you know that your first draft won’t be perfect, not even close. If you’re a perfectionist, this truth bomb may make you anxious and even give you the heebie-jeebies. Consequently, you may be less willing to give yourself the freedom to get the words down when you suspect (much less expect and accept) that they could be better. Rest assured, the words will get better, but meanwhile, something on the page is better than a blank document. We encourage you to embrace the process of writing—the journey—complete with its bumps and imperfections.

Along these lines, we’re a bit enamored with Carol Dweck’s research on success, particularly her focus on the value of process versus product in achieving goals. If you haven’t already, read her book Mindset. When you focus on the process of improvement, like revising your manuscript, you’re more likely to be intrinsically motivated to persevere, tackle challenges head-on, and not only do the work but enjoy doing it. With this approach, you can recognize that the necessity of revising and improving your manuscript is simply part of the writing process, not a judgment on you or your abilities.

If, instead, you focus primarily on the product or current outcome, you’re extrinsically motivated—and more likely to stall out for fear of failure, judge yourself as inadequate, or more easily give up when faced with challenges. The magic happens in the revising, not in getting it right the first time. Instead of aiming to write the perfect book, aim to write consistently and revise thoughtfully. Your final manuscript, a polished diamond, will emerge from this process.

Common roadblock: impostor syndrome

Whereas perfectionism has roots in the fear of being seen as flawed, impostor syndrome has roots in the fear of being seen as a fraud. It’s what stops many writers from being published. According to 2022 data from the Survey Center on American Life, impostor syndrome is felt by roughly half of all adults ages eighteen to forty-nine. And it’s not difficult to imagine that, if you’ve never written a book before, you may be feeling insecure in your ability to pull it off.

This is how we see impostor syndrome affect authors: Like the insect in Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar, it gnaws at your self-worth. First, it chews a hole in what you believe you are capable of—creating a compelling premise, putting together a strong outline, writing an engaging chapter—stuff you have the intellectual and physical capacity for, yet now feel somehow beyond your ability to do. Then, it takes a bite out of what you believe you know—your studies, research, lived experiences—things you’ve been taught or have done for years somehow start to seem invalid or inadequate. Finally, it chomps right through what you believe about yourself—that you’re credible, authoritative, worthy—qualities that are core to your identity suddenly seem untrue.

If you have stalled in your writing, check whether impostor syndrome may be a factor. Do you find yourself second-guessing how to write (your ability) or what to write (your knowledge), or asking yourself, Who do you think you are to be writing? (your identity). Are you deeply concerned that peers may expose you as a fake? Are you worried that you’ll be attacked for writing the “wrong” thing?

Let’s look at some strategies for countering impostor syndrome.

Understand the fear response

Perhaps you didn’t feel like an impostor when you started writing. But then things got challenging, and you started to doubt your ability, your knowledge, and yourself. Maybe negative thoughts flooded your mental space. But consider this: Those thoughts aren’t true; they’re a reaction to your fear of being judged.

What’s true is that your situation is new and scary. Your mind is trying to keep you safe. The negative messages are your brain’s insurance policy against suffering; if it can keep you from the pain of shame, it’s done its job. The critical thoughts will likely continue the more you find success with writing. The best thing to do, according to acceptance and commitment therapy, is to acknowledge each thought and say, “I get it, you’re hoping I’ll stop writing. But what you’re saying isn’t true—it’s just a fear response—and I’m going to keep writing. Bye!”

Act “as if”

We don’t love the “fake it ’til you make it” expression, partly because we want to encourage you to be authentic—for example, by refining your unique voice as an author. So if you lack confidence in your ability to write a book, don’t fake being an author. Instead, as you work toward seeing yourself as one, act “as if.” Psychologist William James first suggested in 1884 that acting as if something is true can help make it happen. In the early twentieth century, psychologist Alfred Adler developed “act as if” as a therapeutic technique. Today, fields as varied as business and the dramatic arts have also embraced this concept. We recommend you do too.

Put the title of your upcoming book in your email signature. Tell friends and colleagues about the book you’re writing. Give webinars or in-person talks. Post about your book on social media. These types of activities can help boost your confidence and build your author platform.

Don’t underestimate the power of simply saying to yourself and others, “I am an author.” Repeat as necessary. In a similar vein, banish the word “trying.” Do not tell people, “I am trying to write a book.” Say instead, “I’m writing a book!”

Amy Sherman, a friend of Elizabeth, left a corporate branding job to become a food writer. How did she make the switch without feeling like an impostor? She simply ordered Moo business cards that listed her title as “food writer” and handed them out. (The original Moo card format stood out for its quirky smaller size and color images.) Her cards also had the URL of her then-nascent, now award-winning cooking blog, Cooking with Amy. She has since published multiple cookbooks.

Be kind to yourself

Imagine you signed on as your BFF’s writing buddy. Things have been going surprisingly well—their outline and first four chapters were, in your opinion, fantastic. You offered constructive feedback, and your friend has been gracious and excited about making revisions. But suddenly your BFF stopped sharing chapters and started making excuses for not writing. When you finally pin your friend down to ask what’s going on, they reply, “I’m not qualified to write this book. No one will read it anyway. I was dumb to believe I could do this.”

What would you say in response?

Take your cue from Kristin Neff, author of Fierce Self-Compassion: Whatever compassion, kindness, inspiration, or advice you’d offer your BFF, say it to yourself. Every time you have doubt, every time you think you’re not worthy enough, say to yourself what you’d say to a friend in the same situation. In fact, say those words to your amazing self right now.

Accountability

While in the end we’re all responsible for our own actions, let’s explore how to enhance accountability when it comes to getting your book done.

Make a schedule and stick to it

Earlier, we talked about how writing a book can fall into the “important but not urgent” quadrant if you don’t have a publishing deadline. We highly recommend creating a schedule that includes specific milestones with deadlines. To set yourself up for success, book time in your calendar and set realistic interim deadlines. Also, take your schedule seriously. It’s so very easy to be “too busy” to write. We challenge you to set daily and weekly goals.

If you have blocks of time, like weekends or early mornings, you can devote to writing, great. But if you don’t, take advantage of smaller nuggets. You might be surprised by what you can achieve in fifteen minutes, especially if you devote that much time every day to writing. This is similar to the Pomodoro Technique—developed by Francesco Cirillo and inspired by a tomato-shaped timer—where you work without distractions (for example, turn off all digital notifications) for twenty-five minutes and then take a five-minute break.

Track your progress

We’re big believers in giving yourself props for what you did accomplish versus beating yourself up over what you didn’t. One way to do this is to document on paper the things you get done. Consider using a wall or desk calendar (along with stickers, as Elizabeth does) to track the time you spend writing and what you accomplish; it’s old-school but a good tactile and visual reminder of your achievements. It can also be a resource to help troubleshoot if you get off-course—you can use it to identify patterns, such as being less productive at certain times of day.

Digital tracking also works. For instance, while we were writing this book, we didn’t delete tasks on our shared to-do list when we finished them. Instead, we put a giant check mark next to each one and moved it to the bottom of the list. It felt terrific to have this visual reminder of just how many tasks we had completed.

Recruit an accountability buddy

Just as we encourage you to consider partnering with a writing buddy, consider finding an accountability buddy to offer you support—your own personal cheerleader. Look for someone you feel comfortable confiding in, who will encourage you to meet deadlines, puzzle through problems, and persevere. Choose a person who has a positive attitude about you accomplishing your goal to write a book and who will give you affirming feedback—preferably someone who knows you well enough to nudge or even push you if needed and not let you get away with making excuses.

A BFF or sibling who understands you deeply can be a good choice. When they say something motivating, put that supportive voice on a playback loop in your head. For example, Elizabeth would replay Marisa saying, “Writing is hard; you can do hard things.”

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Hire a pro

Another way to stay accountable is to hire a book coach. Put simply, sometimes money talks. If you’re paying for a person to create an editorial schedule and hold you to deadlines, you might have a better chance of success. That’s how gym memberships ostensibly work, right? Of course, book coaches are more than glorified schedule setters. They serve as confidants, word wizards, organizational mavens. They challenge you to write the best version of your book, guide you through the process, and hold you to high standards.

Form helpful habits

Sometimes everything you do, or don’t do, boils down to good habits—or a lack thereof. There are a bazillion books on habit formation, and some of them are profoundly helpful. If you feel that you need structure to complete your book, there are many proven strategies that can help you build a consistent, dependable system for writing.

Marisa prefers the habit stacking method, borrowed from S. J. Scott’s book of the same name and popularized in James Clear’s Atomic Habits. Basically, you create a new habit by hitching it to an existing one. So, for example, if you have a cup of tea every morning, you can attach the task of writing to drinking your tea. Ultimately, the writing itself becomes a habit by association.

Of course, no matter how dedicated you are in establishing a habit of working on your manuscript, the process can fall apart if you lose sight of your why. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to reflect back on the reasons you are writing this book in the first place.

Whether you’re writing this book to help people, advance your field, or experience the sheer joy of accomplishment, let that reason motivate you. If procrastination, perfectionism, or impostor syndrome is keeping you up at night, let your why be the reason you get up in the morning. If you didn’t print out “The Premise” homework, shape it into a sign, and post it nearby, consider doing that now to give yourself a visual reminder of your North Star as an author.

Set SMART goals

When setting a goal—whether a writing goal or anything having to do with getting published—it can be helpful to revisit Carol Dweck’s process versus product orientation. You’ll recall that a product goal is what you hope to ultimately achieve, the end result. For example, “publish a book.” The challenge with going all in on a product goal is that the outcome might not be entirely within your control. A publisher might reject your proposal, or another person might come out with a virtually identical manuscript weeks before you’d planned to launch yours.

On the other hand, a process goal is the thing you do to get to the end result. It’s task-oriented—for example, “write thirty minutes a day” or “write 350 words a day.” If you do the work regularly, it becomes a habit, and the outcome gets met naturally over time. Because these are tasks you’ll naturally refine as you repeat them, your work becomes streamlined and more efficient—even enjoyable. Dweck encourages a process orientation, and so do we.

To set an effective process goal, we recommend using the SMART framework, originally developed by George T. Doran in 1981 and slightly massaged over the years:

SPECIFIC: I will write the first half of chapter 3, which explains the first week in my ten-week program.

MEASURABLE: I will spend four hours total writing the first half of chapter 3, which will be about 2,500 words.

ACHIEVABLE: I will write for two hours today and two hours on Thursday.

RELEVANT: Chapter 3 will be my sample chapter, serving as a model to write similar chapters more efficiently.

TIME-SENSITIVE: My writing buddy agreed to review my draft over the weekend, so I need to have the first half completed by Friday.

Surround yourself with inspiration

Sometimes, when you’re feeling stuck, a simple change in your environment might help. Can you optimize your soundscape, for instance? Some authors get energized in a noisy, crowded coffee shop. If you thrive in quietude, noise-canceling headphones might be a nonnegotiable. Or maybe you just need the perfect playlist to get you in the groove. “When I was working on my book, I was productive under the dryer at the salon and getting my car serviced at the dealership,” shared Billye Jones. “I work best in places where I can’t escape.”

Surround yourself with objects that speak to you, if you’d like. Write inspirational messages on sticky notes. Hang artwork. Create an inspiration board with keepsakes like photos, greeting cards, and handwritten notes. Clear away clutter.

The simple task of turning her desk ninety degrees was a game changer for Elizabeth. Her desk now faces glass patio doors overlooking the greenery-filled backyard, rather than a kitchen wall. Marisa prefers olfactory stimulation; she adds several drops of lavender and lemongrass essential oils to an infuser with a one-hour timer and writes until it stops.

The right writing environment may even help you experience flow, the positive mental state where you’re so fully immersed in what you’re doing that it feels effortless, described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his bestseller Flow. If you can get there, there’s nothing like going with the flow.

Take time to celebrate

While a lot of the tips we shared are about overcoming obstacles, we’d also like to remind you to celebrate victories, large and small. Go ahead and reward yourself whenever you sit at your desk and crank out text—especially if you had scheduled it but really did not want to do it. We find celebratory cocktails do the trick, but chocolate also works.

Give yourself a pat on the back when you stop yourself from making excuses or procrastinating. Got positive feedback? Soak it up like a sponge. Heard from a beta reader that your advice changed their life? That’s gold. Silenced that inner voice that drags you down? Awesome. We’re so proud!

Surround yourself with people who believe in you and your book. Share your victories. Say thanks to compliments. You deserve the accolades.

About the Authors

Marisa Solis is a book coach, developmental editor, and cofounder of Book Structure Pros, a boutique editorial services company. Since her start in travel guidebook publishing in 1999, she has worked on more than 500 nonfiction books. Her specialties are self-help and wellness. Marisa lives in Los Angeles.

Elizabeth Dougherty is a book coach, developmental editor, and cofounder of Book Structure Pros. She has worked in publishing since 1988 and was an executive editor at Weldon Owen. Her focus is on parenting, health and wellness, and women’s leadership. Elizabeth holds a master’s from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and lives in Palo Alto, California.

On Wednesday, September 16, I’ll be joined by India Lena González, senior editor at Poets & Writers Magazine, for a candid conversation about what makes a debut nonfiction book, and its author, stand out.

Backstory: I met India at the Whiting Awards lunch a few months ago. When she told me where she worked, I got nostalgic and immediately started reminiscing about how, in my early twenties, I used to pore over the long lists of magazines and writing contests in Poets & Writers Magazine, pen in hand, circling my favorites. (To her credit, she did not walk away).

India oversees the magazine’s New Nonfiction feature, an annual look at some of the year’s best debut memoirs, essay collections, and hybrid nonfiction. This year’s edition follows five writers who took very different paths to their first books.

We’ll talk about why those books caught India’s attention, what editors in general notice when deciding which emerging voices to spotlight, and how new writers can attract the attention of literary publications. We’ll also talk about the magazine’s popular “5 Over 50” series, and what it reveals about breaking through later in life.

Since this is a live Q&A, you’ll have the chance to ask India your own questions. Bring good ones!

Wednesday, September 16
1:00 p.m. ET
Live and exclusively for paid Author Insider members

Paid and founding members can register for the live Q&A on the Author Insider Events Calendar.

With a full-time job, three kids, and six pets, I’ve never been able to pull off a daily writing routine. Instead, I write on weekends and the occasional free evening but, most of all, while on vacation (ruining the whole take-it-easy ethos of a vacation, but you have to find time somewhere).

Then a few years ago, a writer-friend to whom I’d been complaining about not getting enough writing done challenged me to write every single day for a month. “Just get up early every morning and write for fifteen minutes.”

It seemed worth a shot. So I did it.

Annnnnd it sucked. I was ridiculously groggy and just wanted to go back to sleep. Worse, I knew that there was no more sleep coming my way, because any minute I’d have to get my kids ready for school, and the whole machinery of the day would kick into gear.

So I shelved the idea of a daily writing habit until recently, when I interviewed Ryan Hawk about his new book, The Price of Becoming. Ryan is the host of The Learning Leader Show, one of the world’s most popular business podcasts, where he’s spent the past decade interviewing hundreds of leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, and thinkers about what separates good from great. In The Price of Becoming, he distills those conversations, along with his own experience, into a practical guide to sustained high performance.

In his Author Questionnaire, Ryan explains that he woke up early and wrote every morning for 200 consecutive days. Not only is that a wildly impressive feat, it also reflects the central argument of his book: excellence isn’t built through occasional bursts of inspiration but through thousands of small, consistent actions.

While I'm still allergic to 5:30 a.m. writing sessions, I have to admit that he makes a compelling case.

In today's Author Questionnaire, Ryan discusses the books that shaped him, the habits that sustain him, and what he's learned after interviewing hundreds of high performers.

21 Questions with Ryan Hawk

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

Getting up early and writing every morning for 200 consecutive days.

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

The great ones make it look easy. It’s not.

3. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

Looking at my phone: Instagram, Twitter, TikTok.

4. Do you read your reviews?

Sometimes. I like to see which parts of my books (or my podcast) are resonating most with people. But my dad told me many years ago: “If you do anything of significance, people will write and talk about you. Don’t get too high from their praise or too low from their criticism. Keep working.” That’s helpful to remember.

5. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

Send it to my research assistant.

6. Kiss, marry, kill: podcasts, newsletters, and speaking gigs.

Marry: My podcast, The Learning Leader Show, is my full-time job and my favorite thing to do. I’ve been interviewing leaders and go-getters for over 10 years.

Kiss: Speaking. I love getting up on stages and sharing my message with others— it’s exciting and always a little bit different.

Kill: Nothing! I love newsletters too. Both the one I write every week, Mindful Monday, and the ones I read.

7. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

I write emails to myself on my phone. Some of those stories have made it into my books with very little editing.

8. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

I go on walks. Sometimes with my wife. Sometimes with just my dog. We live near a beautiful park, and it’s helpful for me to be out in nature. I regularly stop and write in the notes app on my phone, or I write an email to myself.

9. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

Do what you say you’re gonna do. Follow through. Follow up.

10. Whose career do you most admire and why?

Morgan Housel and James Clear. Great family men. Incredible writers/thinkers/speakers, and they are genuinely kind and generous people.

11. What’s on your nightstand right now?

A cup of water.

12. How did you find your agent?

Dave Moldawer has helped a lot of my friends with their proposals over the years. I originally hired him to help me with that. We finished the proposal right as he was becoming a book agent with Writers House. It seemed like a natural fit for him to represent me (he knew the book better than anyone). For my first three books (Welcome to Management, The Pursuit of Excellence, The Score That Matters), I worked with Jim Levine. I got introduced to him by friends/authors who had been on my podcast. He was great, too.

13. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

What are the writing rules?

14. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

I work with Claude and ChatGPT. Don’t use the others that much.

15. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

I grew up playing sports. Went to college on a football scholarship. I learned discipline, consistency, preparation, how to bounce back from losing… So much learning from football. That’s helped me a lot as a writer.

16. How many drafts before you show your editor?

Six or seven.

17. Can you describe your ideal workday?

Wake up at 4:30 am. Stretch. Hydrate. Write for 90 minutes. Lift weights at the gym. Run. Read on the elliptical to cool down. Go on a walk with my wife. Have breakfast with my kids. Put my youngest daughter, Charlie, on the bus. Go to my studio. Record a podcast with a leader who’s putting a positive dent in the world. Have lunch with my wife. Meet with my leadership circle in the afternoon. Get Charlie off the bus at 3:58. Go to the pool/swim with family & friends. Go on a walk with my wife after dinner.

17. How does that compare to your actual workday?

I try to do it as much as possible. But sometimes I travel for a speaking gig, or our team is working with our clients in person.

18. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

Probably about sports or movies. I love The Rewatchables. It’s a podcast where Bill Simmons and his co-hosts watch movies and deconstruct them. It’d be fun to do something like that

19. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

It’s still really hard to write good stuff. And the great ones make it look easy. But I think it’s hard for them too… At least that’s what they tell me.

20. Fill in the blank: In five years, successful authors will all be _____.

Writing every day.

21. What is your new book about?

The Price of Becoming is about the compounding practices of high performance. It will help you go to bed a little bit better than you were when you woke up.

Leave a comment

You can learn more about Ryan’s book here: The Price of Becoming

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few reader favorites:

• Video Replay: Why the Reader Is the Hero of Your Nonfiction Book

• What Fatherhood Does to the Brain: 21 Questions with Psychologist Darby Saxbe

• Video Replay: The Myth of the Perfect Writing Routine

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

I dread being on camera. It’s hardly a shocking confession: most writers I know find the experience awkward and embarrassing. And yet, like it or not, being in front of a camera is pretty much unavoidable these days. Whether it’s podcasts, Substack Lives, virtual events, social media, or (rare, but it happens) TV appearances, a basic degree of on-camera skill has become essential for authors.

Unfortunately, most of us were never actually taught how to do it well. Case in point: the last Instagram video I shot took me 22 takes, and when I watched the final version, I ran out of the room clawing at my eyes like Oedipus.

So when the chance came up to interview Kim Rittberg, an award-winning video expert, media coach, and former executive producer at Netflix, People, and Us Weekly, of course I jumped at it.

Kim has spent years helping professionals communicate more clearly and confidently on video, combining deep media experience with practical coaching around presence, messaging, and storytelling. For authors, that means learning how to talk about your work in a way that feels both natural and persuasive, not to mention distinctly your own.

During our lively conversation, we covered a number of topics, including:

• How to sound prepared without sounding rehearsed

• Why to use bullet points instead of a teleprompter

• The difference between “supermodel mode” and “teacher mode”

• How to bring “dinner party energy” to an interview or video

• How to create stronger sound bites for podcasts and social media

• Kim’s four-step routine for calming yourself immediately before recording

Paid and founding members can watch the full conversation and read the edited transcript below:

Read more

When I was in college in the ‘90s, we didn't use the word performative yet, at least not outside of philosophy seminars. Still, that didn’t keep students from performing plenty of intellectual theater. The preferred prop was a copy of Derrida or Foucault tucked under your arm (occasionally paired with a clove cigarette, because nothing says brilliance like puffing on a spice).

Emily Eakin's fascinating debut explains how we got there. A senior editor at The New York Times Book Review, she first fell headlong into the world of French theory as an undergraduate at Harvard in the late 1980s. A blend of memoir, biography, and intellectual history, The Frenchmen: Or, My Life in Theory, tells the story of how a small group of French philosophers came to wield such extraordinary influence over American campuses, and why their ideas still echo through our culture today.

In today’s Author Questionnaire, Emily talks about reading drafts to her dog, defending long sentences, and the one question every great nonfiction book is trying to answer.

21 Questions with Emily Eakin

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

The Rose Main Reading Room at The New York Public Library in Midtown Manhattan. It was impossible to step into the reading room and not feel inspired. For starters, there was the awesome scale and beauty of the space, stretching nearly two city blocks in length and 52 feet high, to a coffered ceiling inlaid with a mural of the heavens. To gaze up at the dazzling blue sky and pink-tinged clouds was to feel the sublime.

Then there were the dozens of other people just like me, spread out along the massive oak tables, heads bent over a book or a laptop, deep into their own research and writing projects.

Plus, the library turned out to have almost every book I needed, even the most obscure French tome.

2. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

Cleaning my desk, then my kitchen, then the entire house. I will literally scrub the walls and window sills before sitting down at my desk. External clutter is a reflection of internal chaos. Clean the house, clean the mind. At least that is what I tell myself.

3. Do you read your reviews?

Why not? I know it’s a brutal world out there.

4. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

Eat a piece of dark chocolate, 70 percent cocoa, minimum.

5. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

Reading work aloud. If it doesn’t sound good when I read it to the dog, I need to press delete and start again.

6. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Meditating. The first sentence of my book came to me while sitting cross-legged and eyes closed on a zafu. If I had started meditating years ago, I might have written more books by now.

7. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

I read a lot of books for my job as an editor at a book review. Whenever I come across a promising idea, I jot it down on my phone and send myself a text.

8. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

According to my brilliant editor, Ann Godoff, every good nonfiction book is trying to answer this question: How to live?

9. And the worst?

“Write what you know.”

10. Whose career do you most admire and why?

The novelist and playwright Ayad Akhtar is a singular genius, endlessly inventive across mediums and genres, delivering books and plays that are at once playful, cerebral, demanding, and unlike anyone else’s. He entertains while making me think.

11. What’s on your nightstand right now?

Galleys of The Radiance, the new novel by Ayad Akhtar, and The Black Shield, a memoir and work of investigative journalism by Wilbert L. Cooper; a reissue of Ordinary People, by Judith Guest; and copies of The Calamity Club, by Katherine Stockett; Language Machines, by Leif Weatherby; and The Children’s Bach, by Helen Garner.

12. How did you find your agent?

He found me.

13. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

Long sentences are invariably off-putting to a reader. Contrary to the advice of Gemini, Google’s AI writing assistant, concision is not always better; sometimes an extra beat of explanation, or even just for improved rhythm, is more effective than efficiency.

14. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

Teaching profile-writing to journalism students taught me the importance of structure. We broke down long-form magazine profiles and diagrammed their structures. Once you have your structure down, the rest really is typing.

15. How many drafts before you show your editor?

One. It takes me so long to get the words down on the page the way I want them to read that by the time I have a draft, I’m ready to share it.

16. Can you describe your ideal workday?

A latte, a Sumo Citrus mandarin, a walk to the river with the dog. At my desk by 10 am.

17. How does that compare to your actual workday?

If I meet two of these four goals, that is a good day.

18. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

I don’t know how to make anything up; if I did, I would write a novel satirizing journalism (my field) in the age of fake news.

19. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

How little you can know about what you will say before you start typing. To put this another way: How much thinking takes place through your fingers never ceases to amaze me.

20. Fill in the blank: In five years, successful authors will all be _____.

Like tech billionaires today: A handful of names will dominate the best-seller lists and the profits, with everyone else vying for crumbs of attention and revenue in their wake.

21. What is your new book about?

Part memoir, part intellectual history, my book chronicles the lives and ideas of the French philosophers who dominated U.S. campuses—and my life—in the 1980s and 1990s.

Leave a comment

You can learn more about Emily’s book here: The Frenchmen: Or, My Life in Theory

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few reader favorites:

• Video Replay: Why the Reader Is the Hero of Your Nonfiction Book

• What Fatherhood Does to the Brain: 21 Questions with Psychologist Darby Saxbe

• Video Replay: The Myth of the Perfect Writing Routine

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

Here’s the scene: You’re a journalist, a professor, or an expert in your field, and you’re writing a nonfiction book. As you work through the latest draft, you keep circling the same fundamental questions: Is my idea original enough? Have I done enough research? Is the structure working? Do I really have the expertise and credibility to write this?

Those are all important questions. But according to book coaches and editors Marisa Solis and Elizabeth Dougherty, coauthors of The Complete Expert-to-Author Guide: Plan, Write, and Publish Your Nonfiction Book, there’s another question that’s just as important, and too often goes unasked:

Who, exactly, is my reader?

After working on more than 600 nonfiction books, they’ve come to believe that many prescriptive nonfiction books go sideways because authors become so focused on what they want to say that they lose sight of who they’re saying it to.

An important caveat: this isn’t true of every kind of nonfiction. Memoir, biography, history, and narrative nonfiction ask something different of the reader. But for books that aim to teach, persuade, or transform, Marisa and Elizabeth argue that the reader isn’t simply the audience—they’re the hero of the story.

It’s a subtle mindset shift, but it has significant consequences. When you begin writing for a specific reader rather than simply about a topic, decisions about structure, voice, anecdotes, chapter organization, and even sentence-level choices become much clearer.

During our live Author Insider Q&A, we explored how this idea plays out in practice, from book proposals and beta readers to introductions, personal stories, and the surprisingly powerful role of empathy in nonfiction.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• Why the reader—not the author—is the hero of a nonfiction book

• The biggest mistake experts make when writing for a general audience

• How to know whether a personal story belongs in your manuscript

• Why your introduction shouldn’t be about your credentials

• How to use beta readers more effectively

• A simple test for spotting places where you’ve lost sight of your reader

• Why words like should, always, and never can weaken nonfiction

• How planning your manuscript before you write can save months of revision

• What surprised Elizabeth and Marisa most when they became authors themselves

I hope you enjoy the conversation. Thank you, as always, to everyone who joined us live and contributed such thoughtful questions.

For those who’d like to revisit specific sections, or search for a particular topic while working on your own manuscript, the full transcript is available below for paid and founding members.

-Panio Gianopoulos

Full Transcript (Members Only)

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Elite runners know that going all out from the starting line is a great way to lose a race. Yet in the rest of our lives, many of us treat every project like an all-out sprint.

Award-winning science writer Elizabeth Svoboda argues that we’ve forgotten how to pace ourselves. In her new book, The Art of Pacing, she blends research, memoir, and conversations with athletes, psychologists, and entrepreneurs to explore how adjusting our tempo can help us do better work and build more sustainable lives.

In today’s Author Questionnaire, Elizabeth reflects on writing, ambition, and the unhelpful myth behind going 110 percent.

21 Questions with Elizabeth Svoboda

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

The keen and compassionate critical eye of my editor, Kimberly Meilun. After my first editor left her job, I was assigned to Kimberly, and it was the best lottery I ever won.

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

That when writers are churning out books, or getting nationally published, it means they’re making lots of money.

3. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

This is a little embarrassing, but playing old versions of Oregon Trail, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, and other ’80s and ’90s games online. In the midst of global upheaval, these games beam me back to what felt like a simpler, more secure time.

4. Do you read your reviews?

Yes, but only intermittently. I refuse to get locked into a cycle of reloading Goodreads to scan for new feedback! (Not that I’ve ever done that. Ever.)

5. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

Collapse, then probably eat a bunch of gummy worms.

6. Kiss, marry, kill: podcasts, newsletters, and speaking gigs.

Before the publicity cycle for my book started, I would have said “kill” to podcasts. But as I had more and more conversations with podcast hosts, I realized how much fun I was actually having. The hosts have been so engaged and passionate that the shows feel like conversations with your favorite smarter-than-you friend.

Speaking gigs? Kiss—with lots of drama swirling around it, because I get stage jitters but do enjoy sharing talks I’ve worked hard on.

Newsletters are a natural marry, since I feel more comfortable with the written word than I do the spoken one.

7. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Starting more conversations with amazing writers and artists. I was so intimidated, but I’ve found that when you do reach out, many are kind, hilarious, and supportive! Now I hope to meet more of my online friends in real life.

8. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

As a baby science writer, I used to mine press releases on newly published studies for ideas. Now, my ideas are much more likely to grow out of pressing questions I have or topics that obsess me. If I’m that drawn into a particular story or inquiry, I figure other people will be too.

I’m not all that good at keeping track of things in general. I do have a bunch of folders in the bookmarks toolbar of my browser, but I spend a lot more time bookmarking interesting sites than actually going back to them.

9. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

“Write about what you love.”

I know we get told that from grade school on, but so far it’s never steered me wrong.

10. And the worst?

A former Discover magazine editor told me, when my internship ended, that I should look for a job with a small local newspaper covering things like the crime beat. It was tempting to take this person seriously at the time, but I’m glad I didn’t listen.

11. What’s on your nightstand right now?

The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers.

12. How did you find your agent?

She found me after reading a New York Times article I’d written about mental skills training for athletes, and our discussions later became the framework for The Art of Pacing.

13. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

The Strunk and White injunction never to use “the fact that.”

The fact is that sometimes that phrase is useful!

14. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

Otter is invaluable for transcribing audio recordings of interviews—it has saved me hundreds of hours of time and effort.

However, I refuse to allow any AI tool to write stories or other content for me.

15. How many drafts before you show your editor?

I can’t really boil it down to a number because I’m such a chaotic drafter. I tend to edit and revise as I write rather than moving from one finished draft to the next.

16. Can you describe your ideal workday?

Rise early and take public transit to a new destination, preferably one with lots of coffee shops (that have outlets for my laptop). Then get into writing flow for at least a couple of good long stints, punctuated by breaks to walk around, explore, and eat.

17. How does that compare to your actual workday?

In practice, I tend to do my first couple of hours of work in my pajamas: catching up on emails, scrolling my feeds, preparing for any interviews that day, brainstorming, etc.

By the time I break to get presentable for the day, I often have a meeting or phone call coming up, so I may not get to leave the house until much later than I’d hoped!

18. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

Middle-grade or YA fiction, for sure. Books make such an impact on readers at that stage of life—I know they did for me.

19. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

How writing never gets any easier—and that, in fact, it often feels harder the more experienced you get.

I guess it’s because, as you gain knowledge, you gain awareness of the many ways a story can ring hollow or false.

20. Fill in the blank: In five years, successful authors will all be _____.

The ones who lean unapologetically into their humanity, instead of leaning on ChatGPT to boost their efficiency.

21. What is your new book about?

The Art of Pacing is about how to pace yourself more thoughtfully and sustainably in a variety of contexts: at work, in community ventures, on creative projects, and more.

There’s so much surface-level cultural messaging out there about pacing: we often get told to “go 110 percent” without respite, and if that fails, to withdraw or “quiet quit.” My book explores how to navigate the entire pacing spectrum in more incremental ways that support long-term, engaged contribution.

Leave a comment

You can learn more about Elizabeth’s new book here: The Art of Pacing: A Guide to Balancing Short-Term Demands with Long-Term Thriving

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few reader favorites:

• Video Replay: What Is Hybrid Publishing, Really?

• Oliver Burkeman Knows You Don’t Have Time

• Mothers, Daughters, and Deadlines: Memoirist Irena Smith on the invisible threads that shape a life.

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

I hate being in cold water. I have never once been the first person to jump into a swimming pool. In fact, when I’m at the beach, I enter the ocean with such slow, exaggerated, wincing steps that Mr. Bean would roll his bulging eyes and say that I’m overdoing it. And God forbid the temperature of my shower briefly dips below warm—cue the shrieks of agony and betrayal. The prospect of willingly immersing my body in freezing water has never made any sense to me.

Yet there is a subset of people who love being in cold water. Longtime Sports Illustrated writer Chris Ballard has written a fascinating book about them. In The Plunge: Maverick Swimmers, an Unlikely Quest, and the Transformative Power of Cold Water, Chris goes on a three-year journey through the science, history, and community behind this obsession. And though Chris started out as a skeptic, he eventually became such a fan of plunging that he competed in the Ice Swimming World Championships.

In today’s Author Questionnaire, Chris reflects on writing, reporting, and the art of noticing.

21 Questions with Chris Ballard

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

Tilden Park, 2,000 acres of hills and trails near Berkeley. Whenever I got stuck, I’d head up for a hike with our dogs and record voice memos as I went. During editing, I’d bring a backpacking chair, printed-out chapters, and a mug of coffee.

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

That it’s like knitting: you just sit down and do it. Usually, it’s a symphony of false starts, unnecessary tangents, terrible metaphors, and creative procrastination. All writing, as they say, is rewriting.

3. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

Cleaning the house.

4. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

Go far away from a computer. Hike, swim, grab a beer with friends. That window of writerly accomplishment is fleeting; you need to maximize it before the internal editor kicks back in and starts nagging you.

5. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

Starting at the start. I have friends who write the end of their stories first or can begin work on a book with, say, Chapter 5. Not me. Until I have the beginning—whether a lead on a magazine story or the first chapter of a book—the rest doesn’t come, for better or worse.

6. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Investing in Nvidia?

Realistically, swimming. I’ve spent my life pounding my joints into submission—basketball, more basketball, half-marathons, tennis. Swimming has allowed me to exercise more, and enjoy it more, without all the injuries. It’s also a wonderfully meditative activity.

7. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

An old professor of mine had an exercise that I stole and used with my students at the Cal J-School.

Make three columns on a piece of paper. Title one Love, one Hate, and one Fear. Now, free associate and list as many things as you can in each column. Don’t worry about quality. You might love ice cream and your dad. You might hate racism and the Pittsburgh Steelers. You might fear solitude and AI.

The point was that everything on those lists elicits an emotion in you. And if you’re passionate about it, you’re more likely to report the heck out of it, which makes all the difference.

If something appears on two lists—say, you both love and fear your dad—well, then you’ve already got the bedrock of all narrative: conflict.

8. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

“Do the thing that makes you wake up every morning wanting to do that thing.”

That came from S.L. Price, an author friend and colleague at Sports Illustrated. That really matters with a book idea: Is this a topic you’re excited to wake up to every day for the next three or more years?

9. And the worst?

Anything involving the word “content.”

10. Whose career do you most admire and why?

Michael Lewis. He parachutes into these arcane worlds, learns about them, then emerges and explains them to the rest of us through seemingly effortless storytelling.

11. What’s on your nightstand right now?

The Art Thief, by Michael Finkel.

Sometimes a book works not because of what the writer puts in but because of what they leave out. Finkel tells the whole story in 200 pages when it easily could have been 400.

12. How did you find your agent?

The recommendation of a friend.

13. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

Don’t start a sentence with “And.”

Of course, I do it way too much. Thank goodness for editors.

14. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

Reporting: iPhone Voice Memos, TapeACall, Rev (for transcription), and Pilot G-2 gel pens, which aren’t tech at all but to which I’m devoted.

Writing: Scrivener.

15. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

Noticing stuff.

While reporting, I spend a lot of time thinking, “How would I describe this person to someone else in two sentences or less?” Ideally, you’re finding one or two details that help tell a larger story.

For example, I once wrote a magazine story about professional game show contestants and, during lunch with a subject, he ordered milk and drank it with a straw. Immediately, I knew that had to go in the story.

16. How many drafts before you show your editor?

For my actual editor, probably dozens.

Prior to that, I send it to a handful of very gracious, very patient friends whom I trust to be honest and, if necessary, ruthless.

17. Can you describe your ideal workday?

Up with the sun, coffee, quick hot tub and cold plunge, hike with a friend and/or our dogs, three hours of work, exercise, lunch, four hours of work, dinner with the family.

18. How does that compare to your actual workday?

If I’m lucky, that is my actual workday. Most of the time, that flow is interrupted by real-life obligations.

19. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

Reported fiction like Michael Crichton.

Take an interesting idea, weave a rollicking narrative around it, and, if you’re missing a fact, just invent one.

20. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

The writing itself never gets easier, no matter how long you’ve been doing it.

John Irving put it best: “The wonderful and terrifying thing about the first page of paper that awaits the first sentence of your next book is that this clean piece of paper is completely unimpressed by your reputation, or lack thereof…”

21. What is your new book about?

Essentially, it’s Born to Run for cold water.

I started out skeptical of cold plunges and all the hype surrounding them. Then, while reporting this book, one thing led to another, and I somehow ended up on the U.S. National Team, competing at the Ice Swimming World Championships in Italy alongside actual Olympians.

Along the way, I traveled across the globe, interviewed scientists, psychologists, and endurance athletes, and explored why so many people are drawn to deliberate discomfort in an age built around comfort and convenience.

The book is partly an adventure story, partly a deep dive into the science of cold, and partly an attempt to answer a larger question: What happens when we choose to do hard things?

Anything you’d like to ask or crowdsource from fellow authors in the Author Insider community?

I’d love to hear about authors’ favorite places to work outside the home that aren’t coffee shops.

Leave a comment

If you enjoyed Chris’s Q&A, you can learn more about his new book here: The Plunge: Maverick Swimmers, an Unlikely Quest, and the Transformative Power of Cold Water

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few reader favorites:

• How to Stay Creative in a World That Won’t Stop Distracting You: 9 Takeaways from My Conversation with Austin Kleon

• Oliver Burkeman Knows You Don’t Have Time

• How Pain Becomes a Book: 21 Questions with Darcy Steinke

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

Before founding Zynga, Mark Pincus had already started multiple companies. But it was Zynga—the creator of FarmVille, Words with Friends, and other social gaming hits—that made him one of Silicon Valley’s best-known entrepreneurs. His new book, Life at the Speed of Play, distills decades of product-building into a practical framework for turning ideas into products people actually love.

In this installment of 21 Questions, Mark talks about procrastination, AI, and the lessons that only failure seems willing to teach.

21 Questions with Mark Pincus

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

Thirty years of learning and pattern recognition. Most of the lessons were hard-won and were burned into me over my entire career as an entrepreneur, but pretty much all of them were proven or reiterated while building Zynga. Hyperscaling a company—having to grow a company in four years to one billion users and $1 billion in revenue—forces you to learn really fast and doesn’t give you a lot of room to be wrong.

Other lessons, like separating your winning instincts from your losing ideas (which I write about in the book), were burned into me through failures, like the company I founded, Tribe Networks, and other projects. Still other lessons came from individuals. My father taught me to “be a CEO” and to “control my destiny.” Cadir Lee taught me how to understand technology, software, and engineers, and along with Colleen McCreary, taught me how to motivate teams. Coaches like Fred Wilson, Bing Gordon, and Bill Campbell taught me how to believe in and bet on myself—and how to scale.

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

Writing a book is the ultimate long-form medium. It’s about unapologetically telling something in your own voice and going deep on your stories, without worrying about perfect editing, wording, or how much airtime you’re taking up.

One surprising lesson I learned was that the more fun I had talking about—and then writing about—something, the more fun it was going to be to read.

3. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

I have what I call a “lazy on-ramp to curiosity.” I am a deeply curious person, but I have extreme ADHD, and I procrastinate about getting started. I need something that forces me to focus—a catalyst—but once I get into it, I’m deep in it.

Katie, my chief of staff, would add, “There is no better example than chapter four, roadmapping. Our coauthor, Carlye, and I forced Mark to sit down and write it one Tuesday under threat of a deadline the next day. He shocked us all and typed it out in one sitting!”

4. Do you read your reviews?

Yes. I solicited early feedback and received incredible direction from friends and fellow founders. Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup (and now Incorruptible), told me to go deeper on my stories. Fred Wilson was also most interested in the stories. My best friend, Gary Leff, read the book four times and seemed to know my voice better than I did.

Mostly, I like to read reactions on X, where I can reply to what people say because I like to be part of the conversation.

5. Kiss, marry, kill: podcasts, newsletters, and speaking gigs.

Marry podcasts. I love long-form podcasts, both being on them and listening to them.

I’d kiss speaking gigs—but only if they’re informal conversations with multiple people.

Kill newsletters. I never read them.

6. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

I write in a journal I call the Book of Life in the exact same way every year, both the timing and the process. I always have to do it the same way I did when I started in 1994.

7. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

There are so many! I wish I had learned music and to play guitar. I write in the book that I regret not dedicating one of my “lost years” to it because I’d still be playing today and thanking my past self.

8. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

I get ideas as I wander through the world. I don’t keep track of them—the good ones come to the surface.

The best ideas keep coming back, almost to haunt me. Over time, I’ve learned that when that happens, there’s an instinct driving it that’s usually right.

9. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

The best professional advice I’ve gotten came from Bing Gordon, who was channeling Jeff Bezos, whom he worked with on the Amazon board.

The advice was consistently inspiring, and there were so many facets of it. I immediately acted on whatever Bing told me: never have one-on-ones, train your own “tech assistants” (people who can channel you when you’re not in the room), and remember that it’s more important to be right than to be liked.

10. And the worst?

The worst advice I got came from my VC board members at Support.com and Tribe. In both cases, they wanted me to hire a “scalable CEO.”

Every time I’ve been told to hire a scalable CEO, it’s been the worst advice imaginable. It created a death—or near-death—experience for my company.

11. Whose career do you most admire and why?

Elon, by far, because he’s done it all. He embodies the full definition of a founder: someone who looks for the biggest problems in the world and attacks them within the bounds of physics (and maybe capital).

He’s willing to sacrifice everything—from his ego to his capital to his sleep—in service of his ideas. When everyone is betting against him, he stays calm, convicted, and deep in the details rather than focusing on pleasing investors. And he’s been right.

12. What’s on your nightstand right now?

About five Dragon Masters books that we’re reading to our four-year-old, Enzo, plus a milk bottle and pacifier for our baby, Chia.

13. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

I learned through writing this book that I enjoy imperfections. I don’t care if I use bad grammar if it’s the way I naturally communicate.

My favorite example is that I like referring to people by their first names, like Elon or Reid. It was a constant battle with my editors, but I enjoyed saying, “I don’t care.”

14. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

GPT and Claude are amazing brainstorming partners. I have active conversations with them while I walk around. I have agents work on ideas for me overnight, researching different ideas and playing out debates.

I actively ignore vibe-coding tools. I tried some, like Claude Code, and didn’t think they were ready for prime time.

15. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

For me, talking rather than writing first was the most helpful way to get ideas onto the page.

16. How many drafts before you show your editor?

My co-author, Carlye, would say tens—or even a hundred! It took a couple of years of drafts before we both thought the content was good enough to show our editor.

In the end, we cut 80 percent of what we wrote.

17. Can you describe your ideal workday?

My ideal workday is one that doesn’t feel like work—it feels like play.

It has zero minutes of managing people, because I think every day you manage is a day of work. The bulk of it would be spent with amazingly creative, productive product teams iterating on live ideas in front of users.

18. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

I really want to write a Black Mirror episode – I have an idea about a society where people from the past are born into a distant future.

19. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

How long it took to write something good—and how hard and introspective the process was.

At times, it really felt like therapy.

20. What is your new book about?

Life at the Speed of Play is about the product mindset—a playbook for how to approach life and how to build winning products. It’s a guide for anyone with an idea they want to bring to life.

It will massively improve your odds of success because it reduces the likelihood that you’ll fail for the wrong reasons. The book goes deep on the strategies I’ve used to rapidly iterate, test, and build products, as well as how to manage and scale a company once you achieve product-market fit.

21. Anything you’d like to ask or crowdsource from fellow authors in the Author Insider community?

I’m excited to be part of this broader ongoing conversation around writing, and I’m curious about how writers get better at the craft of product-making.

What’s the last idea you built? What did you learn?

Leave a comment

If you enjoyed Mark’s Q&A, you can learn more about his new book here: Life at the Speed of Play.

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few reader favorites:

• From Unknown to Bestseller: Susan Cain’s ‘Quiet’ Revolution

• 10 Provocations from Seth Godin That Every Writer Needs to Hear

• A Step-by-Step Guide to Launching Your Book

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

For decades, conversations about parenting have focused primarily on mothers. But according to psychologist Darby Saxbe, we’ve been overlooking one of the most interesting transformations in family life: what happens when men become fathers.

A professor of psychology at the University of Southern California, Saxbe has spent more than twenty years studying how relationships shape our brains, bodies, and behavior. In her new book, Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men’s Lives, she draws on research from around the world to explore a deceptively simple idea: Great fathers are made, not born.

The book argues that fatherhood is less an instinct than a process. Time spent caring for children can reshape men’s brains, alter their hormones, strengthen family bonds, and even influence long-term health. Along the way, Saxbe challenges long-held assumptions about gender, parenting, and what fathers are capable of becoming.

In this installment of 21 Questions, Saxbe discusses academic writing, internet procrastination, and why she’d happily trade psychology for a locked-room murder mystery (at least for one book).

21 Questions with Darby Saxbe

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

Plenty of help, starting with my own dad.

I got interested in fatherhood because of my own dad’s transformation during my childhood. He went from a typical checked-out 1980s dad to a hands-on primary parent after my parents got divorced. But I didn’t actually get to conduct the fatherhood research in my book until I got the support of my university and external grant funders, who gave me the space and resources to collect my data. My graduate students led many of the projects described in the book.

When it came to writing the actual book, I wouldn’t have finished a single chapter without the support of my husband and kids. I spent about a year being even more distracted and preoccupied than usual, and they tolerated my absences with good humor.

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

People think writers can naturally put elegant sentences together and write succinct, compelling prose right off the bat. They should see my shaggy, incoherent drafts, which are full of sentences like “WRITE CONCLUSION” and “Say something funny here.” The work of writing is really in the editing.

3. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

Snacking is probably number one. Surfing the internet is a close second. Unfortunately, that second habit means I get sucked into arguing about politics and culture online far too frequently. I’ve had some very stern talks with myself about this behavior because I often end up in circular arguments that leave everyone frustrated.

4. Do you read your reviews?

Definitely! I’m not made of stone.

Getting ready to release a book is a little bit like having a new baby and then asking everyone to rate its cuteness. On the one hand, I’m desperate for people to see and admire my new baby. On the other hand, I’m incredibly protective of it and sensitive to any critique.

5. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

Walk around the block.

6. Kiss, marry, kill: podcasts, newsletters, and speaking gigs.

I’m going to sound like an overachiever because I actually like all three.

I’ll marry newsletters because I’ve gotten a lot out of writing regularly on Substack this past year. It’s been a fun escape from my usual academic writing, and I’ve been able to connect with other writers on the platform. It’s time-consuming, but I find it rewarding.

I’ll kiss speaking gigs because I like getting paid to talk about my work, travel, and meet new people.

I will reluctantly kill podcasts. I enjoy doing podcasts when the host is smart and well prepared, but it can be a grind when the host clearly hasn’t read your work and asks the same generic questions you’ve gotten a dozen times.

I’ve also heard that podcasts can sometimes cannibalize a book’s success because listeners get the gist of a book and feel they don’t need to buy it. I worry about that occasionally when I’m talking about my own book. I don’t want to give all the interesting parts away.

7. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Probably started a Substack. I’d have so many more subscribers than I do now! Also, I should have gotten a message to Biden telling him not to run for reelection after his first term.

8. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

My best ideas pop up when I’m away from my computer—on a walk, at the gym, lying in bed in the middle of the night, or in the shower.

I have a giant Word document saved on my desktop that contains about a decade’s worth of ideas. Most are bad, but every so often I stumble onto a good one.

9. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

I asked my graduate school mentor when would be the best time to have kids. She said, “You can’t really optimize that. You just have to do it, and you’ll make it work.” She was right.

10. Whose career do you most admire and why?

Sarah Hrdy, the anthropologist who wrote Mother Nature, Mothers and Others, and, most recently, Father Time. She had a serious academic career, but she has also written engaging books that translate her ideas for the public. And in her spare time, she manages an operational walnut farm.

11. What’s on your nightstand right now?

An alarm clock with a very annoying beep and a toppling stack of books that I’m slowly working my way through, including Elizabeth Preston’s A Creature’s Guide to Caring, Maggie Smith’s You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Lena Dunham’s Famesick, Angela Garbes’s Essential Labor, and Tana French’s The Keeper.

12. How did you find your agent?

I got lucky: One of the graduate students in my lab got engaged partway through graduate school, and her fiancé (now husband) had recently started his career as a literary agent. I mentioned in a lab meeting that I was working on a book idea. She connected us for an informational call, and he introduced me to one of his colleagues. The two of them ended up representing me together.

13. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

Don’t take your laptop to the beach or the pool. I’ve done both.

14. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

I don’t use AI for writing, because writing is how I think and solve problems. I often find that I don’t really understand a concept until I’ve explained it in writing. I worry that a shortcut would also short-circuit my thinking.

I also don’t use AI for research, because I’d rather go straight to primary sources.

But now that I’m in book-promotion mode and trying to be more active on social media, I’ve been using it to help design carousels and write scripts for reels that translate ideas from the book. It’s good at summarizing a lot of information concisely. It’s also very handy for writing code for statistical analysis.

15. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

Being a mom has taught me how to work more efficiently and take the long view. I don’t know if I would have had the persistence to write a whole book if I hadn’t survived parenting during a pandemic, stealing little chunks of the day whenever I could be productive. It taught me not to overthink and to take advantage of small windows of opportunity.

16. Can you describe your ideal workday?

I love writing in coffee shops, and I also like working outside on nice days. I’m fortunate to live in Los Angeles, where there are plenty of cafés with outdoor seating.

On an ideal workday, I’d get to an exercise class in the morning, make it all the way through my inbox in an hour, and then camp out at a café with a shaded patio where I could enjoy a tasty lunch, a tall iced coffee, and an uninterrupted block of writing time.

17. How does that compare to your actual workday?

During the academic year, I might get one or two of those glorious café days a week. The rest of the time I’m on campus or in Zoom meetings. My summer schedule loosens up a bit and gives me more flexibility. The problem is that then it’s too hot to work outside.

18. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

I love classic locked-room murder mysteries in the Agatha Christie vein and have long dreamed of writing a detective novel. Murder in the Laboratory? Murder in the MRI Suite?

19. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

When I’m not writing, I feel antsy to get back to it and eager to find more writing time. But as soon as I have a nice big block of writing time, I immediately fritter some of it away surfing the internet. The minute I sit down to write, I want to be doing absolutely anything else. Over the years, I’ve figured out how to work through that resistance and fight my tendency to procrastinate.

20. Fill in the blank: In five years, successful authors will all be _____.

I’d like to fill in the blank with the word human. In fact, I expect we’ll treasure our humanness more than ever in the age of frighteningly competent AI. But I’m not sure I can fill in that blank with total confidence. It’s too soon to say.

21. What is your next book about?

I’ve been working on a book called Underparenting for the last few years. It’s about how to make parenting less stressful by challenging the assumptions behind intensive parenting and examining how culture and the built environment contribute to parental anxiety.

Leave a comment

If you enjoyed Darby’s Q&A, you can learn more about her new book here: Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men’s Lives.

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few reader favorites:

• From Unknown to Bestseller: Susan Cain’s ‘Quiet’ Revolution

• 10 Provocations from Seth Godin That Every Writer Needs to Hear

• A Step-by-Step Guide to Launching Your Book

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

Brad Gooch is a poet, novelist, memoirist, and biographer whose subjects have ranged from Keith Haring and Flannery O’Connor to Frank O’Hara and the spiritual landscape of America itself.

His newest book, Good Morning Moon: A Snapshot of an American Family, turns the lens inward. Part memoir and part family story, it traces an unexpected journey from the downtown New York of the 1970s and ’80s to marriage, parenthood, and family life in the 2020s, a transformation that sometimes leaves even the author wondering, “How did I get here?”

In this edition of 21 Questions, Gooch reflects on memoir, biography, literary obsessions, and the surprises that can emerge over the course of a writing life.

21 Questions with Brad Gooch

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

Living in the 1980s East Village a few degrees of separation away from Keith Haring, the biographical subject of Radiant. (Well, I could have written it but from another p.o.v.)

2. What’s the thing most people get wrong about being a writer?

That you can do it anywhere. “Bring your laptop and finish your book here. We’re having a house party. We’ll set you up on the outdoor deck with a cold drink and let you be.”

3. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

Instagram.

4. Do you read your reviews?

I skim them. If I come across some warm adjectives, I go back and read more closely.

5. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

Draft of what? For me, unfortunately, every sentence is a draft. I’m a major tinkerer. Word processing has only slowed me down as it’s easier to try out even more variations.

6. Kiss, marry, kill: podcasts, newsletters, and speaking gigs.

I get flak for not listening to podcasts. They’re like radio, right? I still don’t know where to find them. And I can’t think of a single newsletter. Since speaking gigs have turned mostly into live onstage conversations, I’m much happier. I used to treat them as one-act, one-person standup monologues rewritten for each event. It’s nicer to have a partner—hopefully a lively, wordy one—up there on stage blowing in the wind along with you.

7. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

I prefer writing paragraphs as perfect boxes with no spillover of words into a widow word or phrase onto an extra line. If I add a few new words in the text, creating an untidy last line, I feel a need to rewrite other parts until the perfect box is restored. I don’t carry this mania over into the publishing, so only an alert editor might detect my psychosis.

8. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Recording on Voice Memo on my iPhone rather than on my 1980s-style Sony cassette recorder, which is nicely retro but clunky, and its cassettes are more difficult to restock.

9. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

I try not to find new ideas but to stick to old ideas, at least for biographies. I rely on hunches I’ve had for a subject for at least a decade and have kept coming back to—Frank O’Hara; Flannery O’Connor; Keith Haring. Biographies are so time and labor-intensive that you don’t want to discover midway that you’re bored or repelled by your choice.

10. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

When I was at Columbia College and upset by not receiving a writing prize whose name I have forgotten, my “Imaginative Writing” instructor, the poet Kenneth Koch, said to me, with his murmur of a stammer, “M-M-Mister Gooch, you rely too much on authority.”

11. And the worst?

When I was a nascent writer with no agent, a friend offered to show some of my writing to a friend of his, a well-known literary agent. She advised me to read more Henry James.

12. What’s on your nightstand right now?

When All the Men Wore Hats, Susan Cheever; City Boy, Edmund White; The School of Night, Karl Ove Knausgaard; New York City’s Best Public Schools and The Manhattan Guide to Private Schools and Selective Public Schools.

13. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

Only write a memoir if you’re a celebrity.

14. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

Perhaps the original AI tool was the Thesaurus. If I’m worrying over a dull word or a repetitious word, I no longer stop myself from checking an online Merriam-Webster or WordHippo. Yet most often, the word I finally land on appears on none of their lists of dozens of synonyms. In my experience, lots of AI tools are likewise iffy buzzkills.

15. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

Introversion.

16. Can you describe your ideal workday?

My ideal day would be keeping banker’s hours, 9 am to 3 pm, writing in a cork-lined studio.

17. How does that compare to your actual workday?

Pretty closely. My writing studio is not cork-lined but it’s quiet and off-site, a two-block walk from my home. Two days a week I do escape to a trainer at a gym six blocks away.

18. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

A book for a musical by Stephen Sondheim.

19. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

I’m always surprised—at book signings or teaching a writing seminar—how many young people still aspire to be writers.

20. Fill in the blank: In five years, successful authors will all be ___.

Unable to stop writing.

21. What is your new book about?

It’s a memoir about a gay guy from the 1970s (me) who wakes up in the 2020s to find that he is married (to a man) and has two young kids. Often, above my head, hovers the thought balloon, “How did I get here?” This book attempts to answer that question.

Leave a comment

If you enjoyed Brad’s Q&A, you can learn more about his new book here: Good Morning Moon: A Snapshot of an American Family.

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few recent reader favorites:

• How to Stay Creative in a World That Won’t Stop Distracting You: Q&A with Austin Kleon

• Somehow, This is Working: 21 Questions with Jenny Lawson a.k.a The Bloggess

• The New Rules of Book Publicity

Until next time,
Panio

Author Insider is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Subscribe now

That’s why I’m excited to welcome Ari Gersen, owner of Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine, for an upcoming Author Insider Q&A.

Join us on Wednesday, June 24th, at 1 p.m. ET.

Longfellow Books has been serving Portland’s literary community for nearly 25 years, and Ari has had a front-row seat to the way readers browse, buy, recommend, and fall in love with books.

Personally, I’ve known Ari since the late ’90s when we both landed our first jobs in publishing at Crown. I was in editorial, he was in publicity, and we’ve been friends ever since.

We’ll talk about what makes readers pick up one book and pass over another, what booksellers notice that authors often miss, what makes an author event work, and whatever questions you bring to the conversation.

RSVP here → What Bookstores Can Teach Authors About Readers

I hope to see you there,
Panio

P.S. This is a paid-member event, so if you’d like to join us live, you’ll need an active paid or founding membership.

Upgrade my subscription

Coming Up Next

Thursday, June 18th at 4 p.m. ET
Why the Reader Is the Most Important Character in a Nonfiction Book

Why do so many smart, knowledgeable people struggle to write a nonfiction book they’re happy with? Elizabeth Dougherty and Marisa Solis—book coaches, editors, and coauthors of The Complete Expert-to-Author Guide—join me to discuss a simple but powerful idea: the reader isn’t just your audience—it’s the most important character in your book.

RSVP here → Your Book Has a Main Character. It’s Probably Not You.

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And yet, the longer I’ve worked with authors, the more I’ve come to believe that writing and fitness have a lot in common. Both pursuits force us to wrestle with the same questions: How do you stay consistent when life keeps interrupting your plans? How do you keep going when motivation disappears? How do you avoid letting perfectionism become an excuse for inaction?

Those questions are at the heart of Steve Kamb’s work. Steve is the founder of Nerd Fitness and the author of the upcoming book How to Try Again: An Approachable Guide to Navigating Chaos and Making Change That Sticks. While much of his career has focused on health and fitness, the deeper subject has always been behavior change: how we follow through on difficult things, recover from setbacks, and avoid becoming our own worst enemies.

Which is why my recent Author Insider conversation with Steve proved remarkably relevant to writers. During our hour-long Q&A, we discussed a number of topics, including:

• Why most productivity advice breaks down for writers and creative people

• How to experiment with your writing routine instead of judging yourself for not having the “right” one

• Why all-or-nothing thinking so often turns into “all, then nothing”

• How to give your inner critic less voting power

• Why missing a day should be treated more like missing a shower than ruining your life

• How procrastination can sometimes be useful information

For those of you who couldn’t attend live, I’ve included the video replay in this post. I’ll also share the full transcript soon for those who’d like to revisit specific sections or reference Steve’s advice in more detail.

I hope you enjoy our conversation and find something useful in it, whether you’re working on a proposal, drafting a book, trying to revive a creative routine, or simply attempting to be a little less brutal to yourself along the way.

Here’s a link if you’d like to learn more about Steve’s new book, How to Try Again.

Thank you, as always, to everyone who joined live and contributed such thoughtful questions.

Until next time,

Panio Gianopoulos

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few recent reader favorites:

• How to Stay Creative in a World That Won’t Stop Distracting You: Q&A with Austin Kleon

• Somehow, This is Working: 21 Questions with Jenny Lawson a.k.a The Bloggess

• The New Rules of Book Publicity

Millions of people know Eva zu Beck as a YouTube adventurer and National Geographic TV host who documents life far beyond the beaten path. But seven years ago, she was living a very different life, one that looked successful from the outside but felt increasingly wrong on the inside.

Her new memoir, The Wilder Way, traces the journey that followed. From solo horseback riding in Mongolia to getting stuck on an island in Yemen during the COVID lockdown, the book chronicles a decade of adventures, and the personal transformation that accompanied them.

In this edition of 21 Questions, Eva reflects on freedom, focus, and why waiting until you’re ready may be the worst advice of all.

21 Questions with Eva zu Beck

1. I couldn’t have written my last book without…

Running off to the Arctic Circle in the winter to tear myself away from all distractions, human and otherwise. I needed total silence and singular focus (and little reason to go outside) in order to actually write this book.

2. What’s your most common form of procrastination?

Playing with my dog. Scrolling. Reading other people’s books.

3. Do you read your reviews?

Absolutely not. I’m at peace with the fact that not everyone will like me or my work, but I also don’t want to spend my precious mental resources obsessing over what people think of me. Besides… even the absolute best books ever written have one-star reviews!

4. What’s the first thing you do after you finish a draft?

Go for a very, very long run.

5. What’s a writing habit you’re embarrassingly superstitious about?

I never write in blue ink. If I’m writing something—anything—by hand, it needs to be in black ink. Always. Blue ink makes me feel like I’m writing a draft, while black ink makes me feel like I’m writing something of substance.

6. What’s something you wish you’d started doing five years ago?

Dedicating more time every day to being bored and letting my thoughts wander.

7. Where do you find new ideas, and how do you keep track of them?

I love going for long nature walks and trail runs. Good ideas tend to pop into my head whenever I’m outside, and I’ll capture them via long, rambling voice notes.

8. What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve ever received?

Once upon a time, I was very concerned with what people on the internet thought about me, and a single negative comment could send me into a spiral of self-doubt. That’s when a friend told me that I need to actively choose to focus on the creative energy I put out into the world, as opposed to absorbing the negativity.

9. And the worst?

“Wait until you’re ready.” This is terrible advice, because you may never feel ready, and you may always feel like an impostor. Some of my biggest achievements have come from saying “yes” to projects that I did not feel ready for in the slightest. The beauty of life is, whenever you take on something new, you learn and grow as you go along.

10. What’s on your nightstand right now?

About ten books, my phone (sadly), and all kinds of natural oil concoctions for my body, face, and hair. Living in a shepherd’s hut in the mountains, you need to find little ways to take care of yourself!

11. How did you find your agent?

They noticed my work on social media and reached out to me, suggesting I should write a book about my adventures!

12. What’s a writing rule you’ve happily broken?

I always thought that books should be written in a linear way: you start at the beginning. When I sat down to write my memoir, starting at the beginning felt too overwhelming, so I simply started in the middle and eventually returned to write the first chapters later on.

13. What tech tools (AI included) do you actually use—and which ones do you actively ignore?

Most of my first book took shape in Google Docs, which made reviewing and commenting quite easy for my editor and me. I also used online tools to transcribe my voice note into actual written content. As for tools I would not use—that would have to be AI tools like ChatGPT. I just believe that Large Language Models do not have a place in human writing.

14. What’s the best non-writing skill that’s helped your writing career?

My delusional optimism: a skill I’ve been cultivating for years, like a muscle. It helps me believe that what I write about matters.

15. How many drafts before you show your editor?

Probably two.

16. Can you describe your ideal workday?

Sit down to write with a big cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Write for a few hours. Then, shut down the laptop and head out for a long walk or run with my dog. In the afternoon, work on my social media, read, recalibrate.

17. How does that compare to your actual workday?

My “main” job as a travel and adventure filmmaker means I’m often on the road, without any semblance of a routine. Every day looks different, and it’s hard to focus on any one thing for more than an hour at a time. This is why, when I wrote my first book, I escaped to the Arctic Circle for three months to get away from all those distractions. It worked well, so I’ll be doing something similar for my next book(s)!

18. If you could write one book in a totally different genre than you usually do, which would it be?

I feel like I would first need to run out of real-world stories in order to even consider fiction writing.

19. What’s something about the writing life that still surprises you?

Just how difficult it can be for the human brain to focus for a few hours at a time, and just how good it feels when you manage to achieve this state.

20. Fill in the blank: In five years, successful authors will all be _____.

…able to prove somehow that their book was not written with the use of AI.

21. What is your new book about?

The Wilder Way is a book about freedom and living authentically, told through the prism of my travels and adventures over the last decade. From solo horseback riding in Mongolia to getting stuck on an island in Yemen during the COVID lockdown, this is a real journey into some of the world’s most remote cultures and places… And the story of how I became a more feral, free, true version of myself along the way.

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If you enjoyed Eva’s Q&A, you can learn more about her new book here: The Wilder Way

More from Author Insider

Author Insider is where writers get the real story of publishing—thoughtful conversations with industry insiders and bestselling authors, clear-eyed analysis of where the market is headed, and practical strategies for building a sustainable writing career. Whether you’re just starting out or several books in, the goal is the same: helping you make smarter decisions about your work.

If you’re new to Author Insider, here are a few recent reader favorites:

• How to Stay Creative in a World That Won’t Stop Distracting You: Q&A with Austin Kleon

• Somehow, This is Working: 21 Questions with Jenny Lawson a.k.a The Bloggess

• The New Rules of Book Publicity

Until next time,
Panio

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