{"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":"When did you stop writing?","slug":"when-did-you-stop-writing","published_at":"2024-09-25T12:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ann-kroeker-writing-coach-4430/when-did-you-stop-writing","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/ann-kroeker-writing-coach-4430","url":"https://podcast.show/the_writing_life/episode/135927353/","audio_url":"https://media.blubrry.com/the_writing_life/media.blubrry.com/the_writing_life/content.blubrry.com/the_writing_life/Ep274-why-stop-writing-ann-kroeker-podcast.m4a","summary":"Somewhere along the way, you stopped writing. Life got in the way. You lost your confidence. You ran out of time. You ran out of ideas. You hit a huge block you can’t get past. Maybe you thought writing belonged to younger-you, when the stakes were lower and you took more risks. For one reason or another, the words stopped flowing. You set aside your pen. You stopped calling yourself a writer. You scribble in a journal now and then, but nothing beyond that. This happens. One day, you’re an unstoppable force—a creativity marvel, spinning out stories like a professional word-weaver. The next, you’re staring at a blank page, feeling the weight of fear, doubt, and a lack of motivation. You face external hurdles. It doesn’t help that the world seems to conspire against you. Every interruption, every demand on your time, feels like you’re yanked away from your true calling. You wonder if that original spark is gone for good, snuffed out. I’ve been there. When my dad needed loads of caregiving attention, my mind didn’t have space to think creative thoughts, and I had almost no time to sit down and write. I was sitting down for “care meetings,” driving him to urologist appointments, tracking down fax machines to send documents to insurance companies, and dealing with the emotional strain of his increasing dementia and its unpredictable fury. Overwhelmed by the responsibilities and stress, I put all but essential tasks on pause during that era. The few words I eked out felt forced. The spark was gone. Guess what? You’re in good company. Every writer hits this wall at some point. Some swear they don’t, but I would bet my favorite pen that every writer faces moments—sometimes long stretches—when the words just don’t come. If that’s happening to you, don’t see it as a sign that yo…","meta_description":"Somewhere along the way, you stopped writing. Life got in the way. You lost your confidence. You ran out of time. You ran out of ideas. You hit a huge blo…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":null,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ann-kroeker-writing-coach-4430/episodes/when-did-you-stop-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/when-did-you-stop-writing.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}