The Confident Fiction Author

#36: Writing Seasons: How to Balance the Page and the Pile-Up

The Confident Fiction Author

Show Notes

Have you ever hit a stretch where the to-do list takes over, and your writing feels like a distant dream? Or maybe you’ve been deep in a fiction writing groove, but everything else—laundry, emails, life—starts to pile up behind you? In this episode of The Confident Fiction Author podcast, I’m talking about writing seasons—those natural rhythms where either your fiction or your life needs more of your attention. Here’s the key: It’s okay to let one side pile up for a time…as long as you’re ...

More from The Confident Fiction Author

Oct 19, 2026

Over the last couple of weeks, you named what your last 90 days of the year are for, and you learned to read the fear around that goal as a compass. So now you know what matters. Here's the problem with knowing what matters: everything else is still on your calendar. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing The Author's "No" Problem: Why Your One Thing Has No Hours. In this episode, you'll discover: • Why clarity is not space, and the only way creative room ever gets mad...

Oct 12, 2026

If you've named a writing goal for the rest of this year and felt a little knot in your stomach right after, this episode is for you. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing The Two Kinds of Fear Every Author Faces. In this episode, you'll discover: • The two kinds of fear, and why you release one but read the other like a compass • Why I've been scared of writing book six in my Choctaw Tribune series for almost five years • The 27,000 words I had to throw a...

Oct 6, 2026

If you're looking at October through December and already feeling behind, this episode is for you. Novel November and the holidays land back to back, and most of us either plan this quarter like any other and get flattened, or write it off and wait for January. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, in Your Last 90 Days of the Year (Less but Better), I'm sharing how I plan the strangest quarter of the author year, and the one thing my own 90 days are for. In this episode, you'll discove...

Sep 28, 2026

If you rest, take breaks, even take walks, and you still sit down to write feeling like there's nothing in the tank, this episode is for you. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, in Why Authors Need Solitude (and Where to Find It), I'm sharing how solitude isn't about being alone. In this episode, you'll discover: • How solitude differs from rest, downtime, and doing nothing • The solo train ride where nothing happened, and why that was exactly right • Where the quie...

Sep 21, 2026

If you do all of your own writing but you're hearing that half the writing tools you use are "AI," and you've wondered whether that could get your book rejected, this episode is for you. This week on The Confident Fiction Author, I'm sharing Recognition AI vs. Generative AI: What Every Author Needs to Know. In this episode, you'll discover: • The two types of AI—recognition and generative—and why lumping them together causes most of the fear • The three positions a tool can sit...

See all episodes →