{"podcast":{"title":"Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach","slug":"ann-kroeker-writing-coach-4430","podcast_index_feed_id":4430,"rss_url":"https://feeds.blubrry.com/feeds/the_writing_life.xml","website_url":"https://annkroeker.com/podcasts/","image_url":"https://assets.blubrry.com/coverart/orig/30594-1741888292.jpg","author":"Ann Kroeker","episode_count":290,"summary":"With Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach, you'll gain clarity and overcome hurdles to become a better writer, pursue publishing, and reach your writing goals. Ann provides practical tips and motivation for writers at all stages, keeping most episodes short and focused so writers only need a few minutes to collect ideas, inspiration, resources and recommendations they can apply right away to their work. For additional insight, she incorporates interviews from authors and publishing professionals like Allison Fallon, Ron Friedman, Shawn Smucker, Jennifer Dukes Lee, and Patrice Gopo. Tune in for solutions addressing anything from self-editing and goal-setting solutions to administrative and scheduling challenges. Subscribe for ongoing input for your writing life that's efficient and encouraging. More at annkroeker.com.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-26T20:17:28.258215+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ann-kroeker-writing-coach-4430"},"episode":{"title":"Use what's happened to you, to shape your writing","slug":"use-what-s-happened-to-you-to-shape-your-writing","published_at":"2024-08-16T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ann-kroeker-writing-coach-4430/use-what-s-happened-to-you-to-shape-your-writing","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ann-kroeker-writing-coach-4430","url":"https://podcast.show/the_writing_life/episode/134879018/","audio_url":"https://media.blubrry.com/the_writing_life/media.blubrry.com/the_writing_life/content.blubrry.com/the_writing_life/Ep273-use-what-happened-to-you.mp3","summary":"“A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource,” writer Jorge Luis Borges said in an interview, when asked about his blindness. “All things have been given to us for a purpose,” he continued, “and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.”1 You may be familiar with Kate Bowler’s book Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved, and you might think it would push back against the wording of this sentiment. Everything That Happens Can Shape Your Writing But I take the quote’s overall message to mean we can work with whatever happens, good or bad. In fact, that’s kind of what Kate Bowler has done. Her misfortunes shaped her art. This summer brought our family celebrations, gatherings, challenges, and losses. And they came so fast, I couldn’t find time to document them all. For now, they’re jumbled in my mind and heart. Reflecting on Highs and Lows The Borges quote encourages me to revisit the summer’s ups and downs when life starts to slow…to take my time as I capture the details (and emotions) of the chaos that whizzed past. Will you join me? As you reflect on the past few months—the moments you couldn’t control, the raw material of your life—consider how you can work with all that transpired. Were there adventures? Celebrations? Humiliations? Misfortunes? Embarrassments? From these “resources,” we, as writers, shape: stories that resonate ideas that stick opinions that stir discussions advice that steers decisions revelations that open others to new perspectives We, as word artists, can transform all that happens to us into art. Tr…","meta_description":"“A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource,” writer Jorge Luis Borges said in an int…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":330,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ann-kroeker-writing-coach-4430/episodes/use-what-s-happened-to-you-to-shape-your-writing/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ann-kroeker-writing-coach-4430/use-what-s-happened-to-you-to-shape-your-writing.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}