StoryADay presents: I, WRITER - A Writing Podcast about Building a Successful Writing Practice

Julie Duffy
  • 4.8 (21)
  • Books
  • Biweekly

Welcome to StoryADay Presents: I, WRITER – A Writing Podcast about building a fulfilling writing life. Hosted by author and StoryADay founder Julie Duffy, this show helps writers of all kinds—novelists, short-story authors, poets, or anyone building a creative habit—turn writing into a sustainable, joyful practice. Each episode blends practical writing tips with mindset reframes drawn from the I, WRITER Framework (Imagine, Write, Refine, Improve, Triumph, Engage, Repeat), to help you avoid overwhelm and make more progress, faster. Whether you're drafting your first novel, exploring short fiction, or fighting writer's block, you'll find strategies here to strengthen your writing routine, spark creativity, and keep going. With insights from the popular StoryADay Challenge and years of guiding writers worldwide, Julie shows you how to create momentum, finish projects, and share your work with confidence. Music credit: Alan McPike (http://standardstrax.com)

  1. 10h ago

    Afraid of Looking Foolish? Write Anyway!

    What if the thing standing between you and writing success is your unwillingness to risk looking a little foolish? Can you allow yourself to write something bad? To drop the ball? To make up your own rules? To try something that might not work? To fail in public---or at least in front of yourself? In this episode I make the case for embracing your inner fool. And, since I take metaphors seriously, I donned the greasepaint and grabbed my juggling balls, to illustrate the point! (check out the YouTube video here) (You're welcome.) Underneath all the silliness, there's a serious point: writing challenges like StoryADay aren't valuable because they prove you can be disciplined, perfect or wildly productive for a month. They're valuable because they give you a relative safe space, and limited timeframe in which to practice writing bad first drafts, figuring out how to make writing fit into your life, how to finish imperfect stories...how to drop a ball and pick it back up again. In a challenge like this you get data: about your writing habits, your perfectionism, your favorite kinds of stories, the conditions that help you write. So if you've been thinking about joining a writing challenge like StoryADay, but have been worried about making a fool of yourself...excellent! This may be exactly the experiment you need. Sign up for the challenge: https://storyaday.org/signup TIMESTAMPS 00:00 What if you make a fool of yourself? 01:28 🤡 Foolish Reason #1: Let It Be Bad 04:30 Why messy first drafts matter 07:00 Stop looking backwards while you draft 09:00 Tricks for keeping yourself moving 12:24 🤹 Foolish Reason #2: Make Your Own Rules 15:00 You don't have to write every single day 18:00 Make promises to yourself you can actually keep 20:14 🤹‍♀️ Foolish Reason #3: Practice, Not Perfection 22:00 Put an ending on it — even a bad one 24:00 Leave breadcrumbs for Future You 26:05 🎪 Foolish Reason #4: More Reasons Than I Can Juggle 28:00 Experiment with genres, voices and strange ideas 31:00 Remember how it feels to be a writer who writes 33:30 Get off social media and make something 36:00 The value of deep creative work 38:30 You don't have infinite time 41:45 🃏 Foolish Reason #5: What If You Don't Even Try? 44:00 Failure is data 47:00 Treat your writing life as an experiment 49:00 Join me in the creativity lab WATCH NEXT All right, fool. You've listened to enough writing advice for now. Go drop some balls.  ➡️ Put on one of my Write With Me sessions and spend the next block of time actually writing.

  2. 10h ago ·  Bonus

    You Might Also Like: The Oprah Podcast

    Introducing The Gold Standard for Hosting Any Event with Brilliant Style Guru Colin Cowie from The Oprah Podcast. Follow the show: The Oprah Podcast BUY THE BOOK! The Gold Standard by Colin Cowie https://amzn.to/4hSLdEd Event planner extraordinaire Colin Cowie is here to discuss his book "The Gold Standard: Giving Customers What They Didn’t Know They Wanted." Oprah and Colin have a fun going down memory lane to discuss the countless parties they’ve thrown together including one of their all-time favorites, Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball. They look back on the year-long planning of the historic event that honored the lives of the Black women who paved the way for Oprah’s life and millions of others. They also reminisce about what it was like throwing parties for Oprah’s friends like Sidney Poitier, Quincy Jones and Gayle King. Gayle joins the conversation to talk about her 50th and 70th birthday parties planned by Colin Cowie. Oprah and Colin Cowie both believe when having any type of celebration “love is in the details” which is why his book The Gold Standard is perfect for anyone looking for advice or tips on hosting a party your guests will never forget. 00:00:00 - Welcome Colin Cowie, author of “The Gold Standard” 00:03:15 - Love is in the details 00:04:50 - How do you want people to feel 00:07:30 - The most extravagant thing Oprah has ever done 00:12:20 - Oprah’s never thrown a party for herself 00:13:28 - Gayle King joins 00:14:30 - Post party depression 00:17:20 - Planning the Legend’s who paved the way party 00:19:50 - Gayle’s surprise 70th 00:24:40 - Advice for hosting your own event 00:29:45 - What Oprah’s learned from Colin 00:31:00 - What a well-lived life looks like Follow Oprah Winfrey on Social: https://www.instagram.com/oprahpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/oprahpodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/oprah/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/oprahwinfrey/ DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

    You Might Also Like: The Oprah Podcast

  3. Oct 16

    The antidote to cynicism? Write something (spooky)

    There's a lot going on in the world today. AI, publishing worries, the world…the feeling that writing is somehow not as 'important' as any of that.  Bah! In this episode I make the case that it's absolutely the time you should be writing — not because I can guarantee you publishing deals, awards, cash, or screaming fans, but because the act of creation matters. And then, because it's October, I'm giving you pointers on how to write a spooky story (and no, you don't have to like horror, for, or long, dark staircases.) I'll show you how to take an extremely ordinary premise and make it deeply unsettling, by changing just a few details. In This Episode 00:00 Why "a good idea" can stop you before you start 00:17 October, spooky stories — and why I want you writing 01:03 Why writing still matters when the world feels noisy 03:30 Why external success won't sustain your writing life 07:10 Writing as an antidote to cynicism 10:09 Why finishing stories matters 10:09 StoryADay November is coming 11:30 The trap of waiting for a good idea 13:30 How to turn an ordinary idea into a spooky story 15:30 Use setting, isolation and sensory details 17:00 Make one thing feel slightly wrong 18:00 Repetition, unease and psychological spookiness 19:00 What has your character done to deserve this? 20:00 Your spooky story challenge If you're inspired to write, don't go and try to learn anything else. Instead do this: Put on one of my WRITE WITH ME videos and write: https://youtu.be/2DZ_tFC0nQk?si=RLChBSS292hqA-K9 No teaching, no scrolling, just quiet company while you get your words down. Also mentioned: StoryADay November (sign up here: https://storyaday.org/signup) The Short Story Framework https://storyaday.org/framework StoryADay Writing Prompts

  4. Sep 25

    The Power of Inconvenience: Are Writing Communities A Substitute for...Writing?

    What if the thing you think is supporting your writing is actually stealing your writing time? Online writing communities can be encouraging, funny, useful, and genuinely connecting. They can also become a very convincing substitute for writing. In this episode, I'm talking about why StoryADay has never had the kind of always-on free community that so many writing sites now offer, what I mean by the power of inconvenience, and the question I think every writer should ask about the spaces they spend time in: Does this community send me back to my writing — or keep me scrolling?

  5. Aug 7

    Why Bother Writing...in an age of AI and other upheavals?

    If you're the kind of writer who has trouble staying motivated or completing things, the upheaval and uncertainty in the world (around AI and politics and climate change and economic instability) probably aren't helping. Here's my answer to whether you should bother (spoiler: yes) and the fundamental step you can't skip if you want to stay motivated and keep going on the greatest adventure you could choose: life as a writer. LINKS Watch the video edition: https://youtu.be/RAvJexG1i4I StoryADay Challenge archive: https://storyaday.org/writing-prompt-archive/ SWAGr monthly accountability posts: https://storyaday.org/category/swagr/ 'Define Success' article: https://storyaday.org/how-to-become-a-highly-successful-writer/ The Dream of being a Writer, article: https://storyaday.org/the-dream/ Permission to Write article (and certificate): https://storyaday.org/write-more-permission-to-write/ The I, WRITER Framework for a Successful Productive Writing Life, article: https://storyaday.org/i-writer-framework/ Planning & Tracking Worksheets Bundle: https://storyaday.kit.com/products/story-a-day-planning-tracking-worksheets StoryADay Superstars group: https://storyaday.org/superstars Book a 1:1 Writing Strategy Session with Julie: https://members.storyaday.org/creative-coaching       SWAGr monthly accountability posts

  6. Jun 19

    What's Next?

    A four-week momentum/rescue plan to help keep your writing life progressing outside the bounds of a challenge like StoryADay May.

  7. Jun 12

    The I, WRITER Framework

    How can you be successful as a writer if you don't define success? But how do you define success? In this episode I suggest a definition of seven different writing 'modes' you can build into your success framework.

  8. May 30 ·  Bonus

    Blank Space

    A reminder to mark the end of the StoryADay May challenge, and not to simply keep sprinting.

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About

Welcome to StoryADay Presents: I, WRITER – A Writing Podcast about building a fulfilling writing life. Hosted by author and StoryADay founder Julie Duffy, this show helps writers of all kinds—novelists, short-story authors, poets, or anyone building a creative habit—turn writing into a sustainable, joyful practice. Each episode blends practical writing tips with mindset reframes drawn from the I, WRITER Framework (Imagine, Write, Refine, Improve, Triumph, Engage, Repeat), to help you avoid overwhelm and make more progress, faster. Whether you're drafting your first novel, exploring short fiction, or fighting writer's block, you'll find strategies here to strengthen your writing routine, spark creativity, and keep going. With insights from the popular StoryADay Challenge and years of guiding writers worldwide, Julie shows you how to create momentum, finish projects, and share your work with confidence. Music credit: Alan McPike (http://standardstrax.com)

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