EPISODE 3: Navigating the Writing Journey: Overcoming Challenges and Tools for Success with Stacey Swann
In this episode, we dive into Stacey Swann's journey as a writer, from her experience in writing programs to her path to publication. Join us as Stacey shares what she wishes she knew earlier in her writing life, how she managed to persevere through tough writing moments, and the promise she made to herself to finish her book. Stacey also discusses with Zahie the valuable insights she gained from investing in coaching – including the power of conversational hypnosis and mental rehearsal tools – and how she is working on taking the shame out of not writing. Lastly, don’t miss out on the technique she reveals that you can implement right away to enhance your own writing journey.
Stacey Swann's debut novel Olympus Texas was a Good Morning America Book club selection, an Indie next pick and was long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Stacey Swann holds an MFA from Texas State University and was a Stegner fellow at Stanford University.
We talk about:
[2:00] Stacey's experience in writing programs
[3:35] Community, feedback, and exposure to other styles of writing
[5:40] How Stacey’s experience of editing for private clients and teaching workshops informs her writing
[8:50] The path to finishing her book
[11:30] How to keep going when the writing gets tough
[14:00] The promise that removed pressure
[15:00] Stacey's path to publication
[24:15] Stacey's key takeaways from investing in coaching
[25:55] Conversational hypnosis and mental rehearsal tools
[27:45] What Stacey wishes she knew earlier on in her writing life
[30:35] Taking the shame out of not writing
[31:10] One technique to implement right away
Don’t forget to download my free workbook! And learn more about Stacey Swann’s books and publications on her website.
About Zahie
(BTW, IT’S PRONOUNCED ZA-HEE-YAH)
Zahie El Kouri (Za-hee-yah) is a writer and Certified Martha Beck Wayfinder Life Coach. She specializes in helping ambitious women align their time, talents, and energy to write their books. She also helps men and women write their own definitions of success by imagining and prototyping different lives and careers using the Designing Your Life framework. Zahie has a B.A. in Literary Studies from Williams College, a J.D. from Cornell Law School, and an M.F.A. from New School University. She has taught creative, expository, and persuasive writing at the University of North Florida, Florida Coastal School of Law, Santa Clara Law School, the University of Oregon School of Law, and the Stanford Technical Communications Program. Her work has appeared in Mizna, Dinarzad’s Children: an Anthology of Arab-American literature, Ars Medica: A Journal of Medicine, the Arts, and Humanities, Memoir Journal, Brain, Child: the Magazine for Thinking Mothers, and The Manifest-Station. She is the author of two non-fiction books and is currently writing a novel about a family of Arab-Americans who start passing as white after 9/11.
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