11 min
Podcast Ep. 1: Welcome to Imperfection The Writers' Haven Podcast
-
- Personal Journals
Hi there, and WELCOME to The Writers’ Haven Podcast. I’m Christine Wolf.It’s January 31st, 2022, and this is my very first podcast episode on Substack. Whether you’re a writer, a subscriber, or just curious about what this is, I’m really glad you’re here.And, as you can hear, so far, this podcast is little more than skin and bones. In time, that’ll change, and as I’ve learned through writing — be it blogging, personal essays, magazine articles, newspaper columns, or books — we all start with absolutely nothing except the thoughts in our heads and the initial words to describe them.Therefore, I’m launching this podcast with nothing more than my thoughts and my words. For now, there’s no music. There’s no proprietary intro or outtro. There’s no script. There’s no podcast guest (although I can’t wait for you to hear who we have lined up, including new and established authors and publishing industry professionals). And, though you’re not hearing anything but my voice in this first episode, what I AM offering to you, by way of example, I hope, are the following three things:• 1. The COURAGE to start something absolutely from scratch.• 2. The INSPIRATION to step out of your comfort zone.• 3. My HOPE that you, too, will consider sharing yourself as a creative human being, even if things aren’t perfect, even if your ducks aren’t all in a row, and even if you feel like you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.
Think about this. NONE of us has a script for living life. NONE of our lives are perfect. NONE of us has all of our ducks in a row. And, especially as writers, if we allow ourselves some grace as we consider stepping into unfamiliar spaces, it’s absolutely remarkable what can happen. What happens is, we BEGIN.
And sure… We may falter. We will likely revise. We may even delete things entirely. But we may also surprise ourselves. We may build endurance. We may discover sides to ourselves we didn’t know existed. We may even unearth hidden gems that would have remained in the dark had we not tried.
And so, for this first episode of Writers’ Haven the Podcast, I invite you to consider taking one step today out of your comfort zone, and creating something completely from scratch. Is there a piece you’ve considered writing? Is there a project you’ve put away and want to dust off? Is there a publication you’ve dreamed of writing for, but don’t know where to begin? Do you have endless thoughts and insecurity swirling in your head about what you “might” write, but you don’t have a gameplan or the confidence to move forward? If so, I and many others, completely understand.Let me point to this podcast as a perfect example of how to do what you think you can’t.
I’ve wanted to podcast for a long time now, and I even tried my hand at one a few years ago, and recorded 5 episodes, all of which were poorly produced (by ME). They were really pretty awful. If you want a good laugh, Google The Christine Wolf Podcast and I’m sure you can find some of the episodes. My intentions were all there, but my skill level and experience with podcasting just absolutely sucked. It still does…but I’m trying.
And I’m here again, starting fresh, with a stronger focus on who my ideal audience is and what I’d like to talk about.
What I want to do with this podcast is build a community of writers of all levels of experience to gather, listen, share, commiserate, and ultimately lift each other up.
I want to understand how the best writers approach their work, and how they struggle.
I want to hear the questions new writers have, and reassure them that this journey is completely worth it.
I want to create a safe and welcoming space for writers everwhere, examining our real lives and sharing them through essays, interviews, tips, and always with raw vulnerability.And so, the best way I can think to kick off this first episode, is to read an essay I first wrote in October of 2016. I was
Hi there, and WELCOME to The Writers’ Haven Podcast. I’m Christine Wolf.It’s January 31st, 2022, and this is my very first podcast episode on Substack. Whether you’re a writer, a subscriber, or just curious about what this is, I’m really glad you’re here.And, as you can hear, so far, this podcast is little more than skin and bones. In time, that’ll change, and as I’ve learned through writing — be it blogging, personal essays, magazine articles, newspaper columns, or books — we all start with absolutely nothing except the thoughts in our heads and the initial words to describe them.Therefore, I’m launching this podcast with nothing more than my thoughts and my words. For now, there’s no music. There’s no proprietary intro or outtro. There’s no script. There’s no podcast guest (although I can’t wait for you to hear who we have lined up, including new and established authors and publishing industry professionals). And, though you’re not hearing anything but my voice in this first episode, what I AM offering to you, by way of example, I hope, are the following three things:• 1. The COURAGE to start something absolutely from scratch.• 2. The INSPIRATION to step out of your comfort zone.• 3. My HOPE that you, too, will consider sharing yourself as a creative human being, even if things aren’t perfect, even if your ducks aren’t all in a row, and even if you feel like you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.
Think about this. NONE of us has a script for living life. NONE of our lives are perfect. NONE of us has all of our ducks in a row. And, especially as writers, if we allow ourselves some grace as we consider stepping into unfamiliar spaces, it’s absolutely remarkable what can happen. What happens is, we BEGIN.
And sure… We may falter. We will likely revise. We may even delete things entirely. But we may also surprise ourselves. We may build endurance. We may discover sides to ourselves we didn’t know existed. We may even unearth hidden gems that would have remained in the dark had we not tried.
And so, for this first episode of Writers’ Haven the Podcast, I invite you to consider taking one step today out of your comfort zone, and creating something completely from scratch. Is there a piece you’ve considered writing? Is there a project you’ve put away and want to dust off? Is there a publication you’ve dreamed of writing for, but don’t know where to begin? Do you have endless thoughts and insecurity swirling in your head about what you “might” write, but you don’t have a gameplan or the confidence to move forward? If so, I and many others, completely understand.Let me point to this podcast as a perfect example of how to do what you think you can’t.
I’ve wanted to podcast for a long time now, and I even tried my hand at one a few years ago, and recorded 5 episodes, all of which were poorly produced (by ME). They were really pretty awful. If you want a good laugh, Google The Christine Wolf Podcast and I’m sure you can find some of the episodes. My intentions were all there, but my skill level and experience with podcasting just absolutely sucked. It still does…but I’m trying.
And I’m here again, starting fresh, with a stronger focus on who my ideal audience is and what I’d like to talk about.
What I want to do with this podcast is build a community of writers of all levels of experience to gather, listen, share, commiserate, and ultimately lift each other up.
I want to understand how the best writers approach their work, and how they struggle.
I want to hear the questions new writers have, and reassure them that this journey is completely worth it.
I want to create a safe and welcoming space for writers everwhere, examining our real lives and sharing them through essays, interviews, tips, and always with raw vulnerability.And so, the best way I can think to kick off this first episode, is to read an essay I first wrote in October of 2016. I was
11 min