Parents Who Write

Many writers dream of publication, but you can’t fine tune your piece of writing, let alone pitch it to the right publisher, until you have a finished writing that draft.
If only 5% of writers finish their first draft, how can you set yourself up for success to ensure you’re part of that group?
In today’s episode, Erin is sharing how she finished her first draft in 2022! Her biggest piece of advice is to understand how you personally can motivate yourself, because we all have those moments when we lose steam, even when writing a story we’re excited about.
Erin also covers the topics of positive reinforcement and creating a rewards system, tracking progress, and sharing your wins. Tune in for all this and more to finish that first draft!
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 discovery 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.

Did you know that you don’t have to sit down and write a story from beginning to end? You can start with an idea for a specific storyline or scene, skip the exposition, and get right to the good stuff.
Writing like this will fuel your creativity. But how do you avoid a jumbled mess?
In today’s episode, you’ll learn the advantages of using Google Docs to craft your story whenever you get inspired to write.
With specific examples, Erin highlights the built-in features in Google Docs and Word that will help you organize your ideas and make it easy to jump from chapter to chapter or scene to scene.
You’ll also get easy instructions for formatting Word documents, which will make prepping for submission a painless process. Tune in to get started!
Watch the full video tutorial via YouTube: https://youtu.be/qjbMeZBrrOA

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Discovering the benefits of writing with Google Docs
• Naming your documents for easy filing and version control
• Styling your text to create an automatic outline
• Navigating to specific chapters and scenes
• Using key words to identify the focus of your chapters at glance
• Incorporating unwritten scenes as placeholders
• Changing the default fonts for styles
• Formatting documents in Word

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.

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.

Have you ever wondered about audiobook opportunities for authors?
In this episode, we explore the booming audiobook market and its potential benefits for authors. You’ll learn about the pros and cons of creating audiobooks, including pricing considerations, narration options, and distribution channels.
But wait, there's more!
We'll also address some key questions to help you decide if audiobooks are a good fit for you at this stage in your writing journey.
Tune in and discover if there's an audiobook waiting to be brought to life from your written work!
Topics discussed in this episode:

• Market trends
• When to consider audiobooks
• Pricing your audiobooks
• Narration options
• Tools for self-narration
• Distribution
• Audiobook cover art
• Is this right for you?
• Narration tips
• Example narration speed
• Cleaning up narration

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.
Resources discussed during the show:

• Dynamic microphone: https://a.co/d/aYOnbZy
• Descript: https://www.descript.com/
• BookFunnel: https://bookfunnel.com/

Books discussed during the show:

• Promises and Possibilities: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/j5f6y5ub4u

Connect with Parents Who Write:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parentswhowrite
• Book a free 30-minute consultation call to learn about my editing services: 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 does editing a book and parenting have in common? A ton, actually!
As an editor, your job is to excavate through what you are given and pull out the best from the author. Same goes with good parenting. Your job is to direct your children, but allow them to have their voice heard where they can still shine.
Your writing and editing skills crossover with parenting more than you would think. You can use the concepts and skills you’ve refined over time to not only guide your children, but to advocate for them as well. Whether that be writing to your local school board or having challenging conversations with policy makers to create positive change in your community.
Having children doesn’t mean you need to stop writing or using your skills. If anything, you can elevate your abilities by having children by getting creative with how you use your skills.
Not to mention, kids’ imaginations are endless, so if you’re ever stuck on a story plot, you can always turn to your little ones for some brilliant inspiration.
Joining us on today’s episode is Emily Popek, a journalist, school communications professional, and mom of one pre-teen. Emily joins us to discuss how parenting and writing can intertwine, as well as how parenting has changed over the years, and how to reframe struggles in parenting and writing into opportunities, and much more!
This is an enlightening conversation with so many nuggets of wisdom that you don’t want to miss.
Tune in to learn more!
Topics discussed in this episode:

• How children are great resources of inspiration
• The concept of a “throwaway book”
• Why Emily started writing a newsletter
• The importance of removing the idea of perfection when writing
• The camaraderie in the writing community
• The direction Emily wants to see her newsletter go
• Struggles in parenting in today’s society
• Just because parenting is hard doesn’t mean it is being done the wrong way
• The power in having challenging conversations in your local communities
• How strong communication skills can make an impact
• How and why Emily became a journalist
• Writing the elusive headline and catchy hooks
• Erin’s joy of editing
• Importance of finding an editor that allows you to showcase your voice
• The crossover between editing and parenting

About Emily:

Emily Popek is a journalist and school communications professional. Her newsletter about the intersections of parenting and education is at thinkofthechildren.substack.com. Emily and her husband are both graduates of Bennington College; they live in upstate New York with their 10-year-old daughter.

Get her newsletter:

• Think of the Children, https://thinkofthechildren.substack.com/

Connect with Emily:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyPopek
• FB page: https://

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.