The Confident Fiction Author

Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
  • 5.0 (12)
  • Fiction
  • Updated Weekly

Hey there my fellow author, I’m Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, an old soul kind of writer living my dream as a full-time author and authorprenuer. But I didn’t start out living a confident creative lifestyle. I struggled with the fears and the mental and emotional barriers that so often plague writers at all stages of their author career. But the truth is that, with the right knowledge, tools, and training, you can overcome those barriers. I’m here to teach you how I’ve developed a lifestyle that’s allowed me to publish 19 books (and counting). Each week as you tune into the Confident Fiction Author podcast, you’ll get clarity on the steps you need to take to advance your writing career. Whether it’s developing your ideal writing routine, tackling new skills like dictating your fiction, or overcoming the obstacles life throws your way, this podcast will help you live a more confident, creative lifestyle.Free resources for you:The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: https://www.fictioncourses.com/toolkitDictation + Scrivener Power Combo: https://www.fictioncourses.com/dictationDictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: https://www.fictioncourses.com/dictation5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: https://www.fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

  1. 5d ago

    #72: The Author's "No" Problem: Why Your One Thing Has No Hours

    Over the last couple of weeks, you named what your last 90 days of the year are for, and you learned to read the fear around that goal as a compass. So now you know what matters. Here's the problem with knowing what matters: everything else is still on your calendar. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing The Author's "No" Problem: Why Your One Thing Has No Hours. In this episode, you'll discover: •  Why clarity is not space, and the only way creative room ever gets made •  The conference I really wanted to say yes to this year, and the one question that made it a clear no •  The third answer most of us forget we have, and why "later" turned my Canada trip into a better trip •  What to do with the shiny new story idea that will show up in the second week of November Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here. *** Free resources for you: The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide 5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

    #72: The Author's "No" Problem: Why Your One Thing Has No Hours

  2. Oct 12

    #71: The Two Kinds of Fear Every Author Faces

    If you've named a writing goal for the rest of this year and felt a little knot in your stomach right after, this episode is for you. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing The Two Kinds of Fear Every Author Faces. In this episode, you'll discover: •  The two kinds of fear, and why you release one but read the other like a compass •  Why I've been scared of writing book six in my Choctaw Tribune series for almost five years •  The 27,000 words I had to throw away, and why that mistake saved a book •  The small daily habit that gets you into your writing whether you feel ready or not •  What to decide now, so you know what to do when you hit a wall in November Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here. And if you want your five minutes of fiction to be as simple as tapping one button and speaking, my app Fictate is designed specifically for fiction authors, with a free trial waiting at fictateapp.com. *** Free resources for you: The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide 5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

    #71: The Two Kinds of Fear Every Author Faces

  3. Oct 6

    #70: Your Last 90 Days of the Year (Less but Better)

    If you're looking at October through December and already feeling behind, this episode is for you. Novel November and the holidays land back to back, and most of us either plan this quarter like any other and get flattened, or write it off and wait for January. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, in Your Last 90 Days of the Year (Less but Better), I'm sharing how I plan the strangest quarter of the author year, and the one thing my own 90 days are for. In this episode, you'll discover: •  Why 90 days is the sweet spot for planning, and why later is where your goals go to die •  The hot tub conversation with my mom that kept this podcast alive, and the right-sized middle it taught me •  The one sentence to write this week •  Why your holidays, rest days, and Sabbaths go on the calendar before your writing does •  Four completely legitimate Novembers, from the full 50,000-word sprint to a month of rest •  The three dates your 90 days need, including a finish line before Christmas By the end, you'll have a plan for the best 90 days of your year, not the most, with your rest built in and your one thing at the center. Read the blog-style version on my Substack here. *** Free resources for you: The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide 5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

    #70: Your Last 90 Days of the Year (Less but Better)

  4. Sep 28

    #69: Why Authors Need Solitude (and Where to Find It)

    If you rest, take breaks, even take walks, and you still sit down to write feeling like there's nothing in the tank, this episode is for you. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, in Why Authors Need Solitude (and Where to Find It), I'm sharing how solitude isn't about being alone. In this episode, you'll discover: •  How solitude differs from rest, downtime, and doing nothing •  The solo train ride where nothing happened, and why that was exactly right •  Where the quiet gaps in your day went, and how to take two of them back By the end, you'll know where to find solitude in the life you already have, and why late September is the time to refill the well before Novel November and the holidays. Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here. *** Free resources for you: The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide 5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

    #69: Why Authors Need Solitude (and Where to Find It)

  5. Sep 21

    #68: Recognition AI vs. Generative AI: What Every Author Needs to Know

    If you do all of your own writing but you're hearing that half the writing tools you use are "AI," and you've wondered whether that could get your book rejected, this episode is for you. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing Recognition AI vs. Generative AI: What Every Author Needs to Know. In this episode, you'll discover: •  The two types of AI—recognition and generative—and why lumping them together causes most of the fear •  The three positions a tool can sit in, and the one question that sorts any of them •  What Amazon actually asks you to disclose, and where dictation, Grammarly, cleanup tools, etc., land •  A practical safeguard if you're on the traditional route and worried about being falsely flagged •  Exactly where my own app sits on these lines, including the data and watermarking questions By the end, you'll be able to sort every tool in your writing process into the right box, and decide what belongs there based on your own publishing goals. Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here. And if you want to dictate your fiction in a tool where all of this is laid out plainly, my app Fictate is designed specifically for fiction authors, with a free trial waiting at fictateapp.com. *** Free resources for you: The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide 5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

    #68: Recognition AI vs. Generative AI: What Every Author Needs to Know

  6. Sep 14

    #67: The Week After: Turning What You Learned Into What You Do

    If you came home from a conference, a class, or a bootcamp with pages of notes and a lit-up feeling, and two weeks later nothing about your writing life is actually different, this episode is for you. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing The Week After: Turning What You Learned Into What You Do. In this episode, you'll discover: •  Why the energy you came home with after an event has a shelf life of about a week •  Why your first step should be ridiculously easy (mine was 33 words on an airplane) •  Why the gap between the demo and your first try is not evidence that it won't work for you By the end, you'll have a three-move action step you can do in about ten minutes, and the window to do it in. Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here. And if your one thing is dictation, my app Fictate is designed specifically for dictating fiction authors, with a free trial waiting at fictateapp.com. Your first session can be 33 words. It doesn't have to be impressive. It just has to happen. *** Free resources for you: The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide 5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

    #67: The Week After: Turning What You Learned Into What You Do

  7. Sep 7

    #66: The Five Stages of a Total Draft

    If you can dictate a scene now but a whole book still feels like a different animal —where the outline lives, what happens to all those messy transcripts, when does it become a manuscript?— this episode is for you. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing The Five Stages of a Total Draft, the final letter of my D.R.A.F.T. framework series with T=Total Draft. This is where all of your practice pays off. In this episode, you'll discover: •  Why dictation doesn't remove the long haul of a first draft, and what it changes instead •  The five stages of my Total Draft system, and why workflows fail at the seams between stages, not inside them •  The 30-second startup checklist that protects your whole session •  What a real dictation writing session looks like in a real life, including 350 words in the school pickup line and a full scene in four 10-minute sessions By the end, you'll have the complete loop from outline to manuscript, and all five letters of the framework in hand. Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here. And if you've been listening to this whole series thinking, "I love this, but my tech is still fighting me," my Dictation Bootcamp starts today! We kick off this morning with the pre-party, and the replay is available if you miss it. Training days are Wednesday and Thursday, the masterclass finale is Friday, and you'll have seven days to watch the replays of the entire bootcamp. The whole event is about conquering the tech so you can actually begin dictating your fiction. There's still a little time to grab your seat at fictioncourses.com/dictationbootcamp. I hope to see you in the bootcamp! *** Free resources for you: The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide 5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

    #66: The Five Stages of a Total Draft

  8. Sep 1

    #65: Welcome to the Other Side of the Blank Page

    If you can read a page aloud and ramble through your morning pages, but the thought of making up a scene out loud, in your own voice, makes your brain freeze, this episode is for you. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing Welcome to the Other Side of the Blank Page. We're on week four of my D.R.A.F.T. framework series with F=Fiction, the letter authors tell me they fear the most, and the place where every Fictator gets made. In this episode, you'll discover: •  Why speaking an unpolished story out loud feels so exposing •  The "load before you fire" habit that stops the mid-sentence stall •  My four-sentence paragraph for opening any scene •  What to do when you stall •  Your first full scene exercise, and how bracket notes let you keep going when a character shows up you didn't plan on By the end, you'll have the recipe for your first dictated scene, and full permission for it to be messy. Listen to the episode or read the blog-style version on my Substack here. And if you want to dictate your first scene in a tool designed specifically for fiction authors, my app Fictate is out of beta and open to everyone! Your outline sits right on the screen while you speak, and you can teach it your character names so they come out spelled right. There's a free trial waiting for you at fictateapp.com. Still not dictating yet because the tech is fighting you? My Dictation Bootcamp is where you start! It runs September 8 through 11, and the whole event is about conquering the tech, your built-in tools, the record and transcribe method, and getting everything talking to your writing software. Details at fictioncourses.com/dictationbootcamp. I hope to see you in the bootcamp! *** Free resources for you: The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: fictioncourses.com/toolkit Dictation + Scrivener Power Combo Mini Course: fictioncourses.com/dictation Dictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: fictioncourses.com/dictationguide 5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

    #65: Welcome to the Other Side of the Blank Page
See All (72)

5
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Hey there my fellow author, I’m Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer, an old soul kind of writer living my dream as a full-time author and authorprenuer. But I didn’t start out living a confident creative lifestyle. I struggled with the fears and the mental and emotional barriers that so often plague writers at all stages of their author career. But the truth is that, with the right knowledge, tools, and training, you can overcome those barriers. I’m here to teach you how I’ve developed a lifestyle that’s allowed me to publish 19 books (and counting). Each week as you tune into the Confident Fiction Author podcast, you’ll get clarity on the steps you need to take to advance your writing career. Whether it’s developing your ideal writing routine, tackling new skills like dictating your fiction, or overcoming the obstacles life throws your way, this podcast will help you live a more confident, creative lifestyle.Free resources for you:The Confident Fiction Author Toolkit: https://www.fictioncourses.com/toolkitDictation + Scrivener Power Combo: https://www.fictioncourses.com/dictationDictation for Authors: Tools and Tips of the Trade: https://www.fictioncourses.com/dictation5 Stereotypes to Avoid When Writing about Native Americans: https://www.fictioncourses.com/stereotypes

Information

  • Creator
    Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    72
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
  • Show Website
    The Confident Fiction Author

You Might Also Like