Parents Who Write

Have you started revising your story only to feel like you're going in circles? Does the revision process feel overwhelming and you don't know what to tackle next?
In today's episode, you are going to learn how you can use different lenses to review your work and how this method can help make the revision process less chaotic.
Tune in to learn 6 different editing lenses for the revision process that you can start using today.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Changing your focus
• Simplifying overwhelm
• 1. Time and location
• 2. Showing emotions
• 3. Character arcs
• 4. Chapter purpose
• 5. Plot
• 6. Mood
• The four stages of the writing process

About Erin:
Erin P.T. Canning has worked for more than 15 years as a magazine and book editor, encouraging each writer’s individual voice and strengthening their writing goals.
She always planned to write a book. Then she had kids. While she focused on them, she stopped writing—for six years. Something deep inside was missing. Depression, anxiety, and anger forced her to search for herself, both for her sake and her family’s.
Despite fearing her skills had atrophied, Erin started writing again. One journal entry led to one blog post that led to her creating her podcast, Parents Who Write. Erin’s current role as a podcaster and writing coach enables her to help others pursue their writing dreams.
Finally, she finished writing her own shitty first draft and will release her first novel in 2023. She earned her MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and she lives with her husband and their two boys in Maryland.
Connect with Erin:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinptcanning
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/erinptcanning
• Facebook group: https://facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite
• Book a free 30-minute consultation call: https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting

Send us a text

Looking for an editor or book coach?
As an indie author, editor, and book coach, I teach authors how to untangle their jumbled ideas and tackle each writing stage one at a time.
With my 20 years’ experience and my master’s in writing, I have a 4-stage process that takes authors from struggling with overwhelm to finishing their manuscripts with confidence and direction in 6 months.
As such, I love spending time with my clients and watching them grow into strong, knowledgeable authors. Read more here, and schedule a call to see if we're a good fit: https://calendly.com/erinptcanning/30min-meeting.

How often do you read romance novels in which mental health issues are a normal part of the main characters?
Joining today’s conversation is Ginny Moore, a romantic historical fiction author, middle school assistant principal, and mother to three kids.
In this episode, you’ll hear Ginny share not only why her postpartum anxiety and depression went undiagnosed for far too long but also how subconsciously funneling her mental health issues into her main characters has helped her to know herself better, heal, and save her marriage.
So tune in to hear more about how Ginny uses romantic historical fiction to push boundaries—both externally among a more formal, ridged society and internally as characters wrestle with their worst sides.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Struggling with depression, anxiety, and ADHD
• Using writing to cope with mental health struggles
• Using two lead characters to reconcile different sides of yourself
• Forcing characters to reckon with their worst sides amid history
• Oxford University’s unwanted, first female students
• How car notes evolved into a full novel
• The non-career goal of one writer
• Finding a great writing buddy
• Sharing your other hobbies with your audience
• Reaching burn out, again
• Favorite books

About Ginny:
Ginny B. Moore was the kid who loved kissing scenes in movies and always rooted for Mulder and Scully to hook up. Her first piece of writing was a horrendous fanfic romance based on The Three Musketeers when she was thirteen years old.
Ginny started reading romance during the pandemic. In an effort to avoid doom-scrolling social media, she decided to put her own stories to paper. She is a middle school assistant principal and has been in education for eighteen years. Most of her writing is done on her phone or in the parking lot of her kids' extracurricular activities.
When she is not writing, Ginny is a slow long-distance runner. She is the mother of three kids, two exceptionally stupid dogs, two codependent cats, and the grandmother to a hermit crab.
Get her books:

• Adding Up to Love: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSB9G8BS
• The Countess and the Casanova: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2N89ZGW

Connect w/ Ginny:

• Website: https://www.ginnymooreauthor.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ginny_moore_writes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GinnyMooreAuthor/

Books discussed during the show:

• Author Sarah MacLean
• Author Tessa Dare
• Thornchapel series by Sierra Simone
• Julius Caesar by William Shakesp

Send us a text

Looking for an editor or book coach?
As an indie author, editor, and book coach, I teach authors how to untangle their jumbled ideas and tackle each writing stage one at a time.
With my 20 years’ experience and my master’s in writing, I have a 4-stage process that takes authors from struggling with overwhelm to finishing their manuscripts with confidence and direction in 6 months.
As such, I love spending time with my clients and watching them grow into strong, knowledgeable authors. Read more here, and schedule a call to see if we're a good fit: https://calendly.com/erinptcanning/30min-meeting.

Do you keep toying with an idea for a novel, but you’re not even sure what constitutes a chapter?
In today’s episode, you’ll learn not only why we use chapters but also what to include in them, their average length, and different ways to end chapters.
So tune in to find out how to identify the purpose or goal of your chapter and thus what to write next.
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Defining chapter
• Including internal and external conflict
• The average length
• Different ways to end chapters
• Identifying your chapter’s purpose or goal
• A challenge for your chapters
• Know at least this when starting a new chapter

About Erin:
For 15 years, Erin has worked as a magazine and book editor, encouraging each writer’s individual voice and strengthening their writing goals. When she became a parent, she set aside her own writing aspirations to focus on her family. As the years passed, she grew increasingly anxious, depressed, and angry until she realized that she had forgotten who she was beyond being a parent.
Despite fearing her skills had atrophied, Erin started writing again. She first created her blog, Life Beyond Parenting, and then created the Parents Who Write podcast. Erin’s current role as a podcaster and writing coach enables her to help parents pursue their writing dreams.
She earned her MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and she has finished the first draft of a fantasy-romance novel. She lives with her husband and their two young boys in Maryland.
Connect with Erin:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erinptcanning
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/erinptcanning
• Facebook group: https://facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite
• Book a free 30-minute consultation call: https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting

Send us a text

Looking for an editor or book coach?
As an indie author, editor, and book coach, I teach authors how to untangle their jumbled ideas and tackle each writing stage one at a time.
With my 20 years’ experience and my master’s in writing, I have a 4-stage process that takes authors from struggling with overwhelm to finishing their manuscripts with confidence and direction in 6 months.
As such, I love spending time with my clients and watching them grow into strong, knowledgeable authors. Read more here, and schedule a call to see if we're a good fit: https://calendly.com/erinptcanning/30min-meeting.

What makes someone a writer? Do you need to be published or a true storyteller at heart? Or is a love for the written word enough?
Joining today’s conversation is Jennifer Bozarth, a writer searching for a genre and the motivation to prioritize her writing. Erin coaches her on the importance of making time for her own goals and happiness amidst their discussion on what it means to be a writer.
As Jennifer says in this episode, the suffix "-er'' literally means a person or thing that does an action. So, whether you journal every day or have unpublished manuscripts sitting in your drawer, you ARE a writer. And as parents who write, our time is limited, and we must be intentional with how we spend it.
Erin helps Jennifer make a plan for her writing, and her advice can help you too, so tune in!
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Jennifer’s origin as a writer
• Subconscious loss of her own identity
• Getting back into writing
• Writing as a coping mechanism
• Erin coaches Jennifer through imposter syndrome
• What it means to be a writer without a genre
• Finding places to submit your writing
• How a brain dump works
• Prioritizing using the rock, pebble, sand theory
• Consequences of not writing
• Favorite books of Jennifer’s and her family

About Jennifer:
Jennifer Bozarth has been creating stories since the third grade. After she had a family, she put her writing aside for years—until she realized she had lost herself. Writing helped her find herself again. As long as characters are willing to tell her their stories, she's going to keep writing.
Married for 25 years to a man who hates to read but always encourages her writing, she has two grown children—the boy who made her a mom and the girl who added "special needs" to that title. Jennifer also enjoys crocheting and collecting T-rexes.
Connect with Jennifer:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferBozart1
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.bozarth1

Books discussed during the show:

• Rolling in the Deep series by Seanan McGuire
• Newsflesh series by Mira Grant
• More Bears! by Kenn Nesbitt
• The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

Resources mentioned:

• Deadlines for Writers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/242122619564906

Send us a text

Looking for an editor or book coach?
As an indie author, editor, and book coach, I teach authors how to untangle their jumbled ideas and tackle each writing stage one at a time.
With my 20 years’ experience and my master’s in writing, I have a 4-stage process that takes authors from struggling with overwhelm to finishing their manuscripts with confidence and direction in 6 months.
As such, I love spending time with my clients and watching them grow into strong, knowledgeable authors. Read more here, and schedule a call to see if we're a good fit: https://calendly.com/erinptcanning/30min-meeting.

Have you ever started writing a story, and the words rush onto the page. But then you start worrying that your writing or your ideas aren’t good enough.
You start rewriting chapters over and over again. You can’t shake that voice in the back of your head that says you’re doing this wrong. Something isn’t right, but you can’t pinpoint what that is.
Or worse—you scrap the whole project and give up.
In today’s episode, Erin shares how finding the right editor can help you avoid or blow through all of that confusion and doubt. You’ll also learn the major differences between development editors, inline editors, and proofreaders.
Erin also shares when beta readers fall into the picture and what type of feedback to watch out for. You’ll also get the answers to what these editors do, when’s the right time to use their services, how much they cost, and what you should look for in order to find a quality editor.
So stay tuned to find out which editor you might need right now and how you can find your right editor.
Editing w/ Parents Who Write:
Ready to stop circling around your manuscript? As an experienced professional editor, I can help you finish your book with confidence and direction. Learn more by visiting ParentsWhoWrite.com/editing, and book a free 30-minute call with me to discuss what’s right for you.
Connect with Parents Who Write:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parentswhowrite
• Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentswhowrite
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/parentswhowrite
• Book a free 30-minute consultation call to learn about my editing services: https://calendly.com/parentswhowrite/30min-meeting

Resources discussed during the show:

• Reedsy.com

Send us a text

Looking for an editor or book coach?
As an indie author, editor, and book coach, I teach authors how to untangle their jumbled ideas and tackle each writing stage one at a time.
With my 20 years’ experience and my master’s in writing, I have a 4-stage process that takes authors from struggling with overwhelm to finishing their manuscripts with confidence and direction in 6 months.
As such, I love spending time with my clients and watching them grow into strong, knowledgeable authors. Read more here, and schedule a call to see if we're a good fit: https://calendly.com/erinptcanning/30min-meeting.