Develop a Daily Writing Practice to Find Your Voice: Interview with Allison Fallon

I listened to Allison Fallon’s The Power of Writing It Down while jogging through my neighborhood. Those weren’t my best runs, because I kept pulling out my phone to thumb-type a great quote before picking up the pace again. And yet they were fantastic runs, because Allison’s words inspired me to re-establish a daily journaling practice. On that first outing—with her voice in my ears—I listened through the first chapters and returned refreshed and motivated. Allison’s invitation to “unlock your brain and reimagine your life” spurred me to set a timer and launch the first 20-minute personal writing session I’d attempted in a long time. I continued the practice the following days and discovered I was indeed “getting limbic,” as Allison calls it—I was slipping past the nagging to-do list items and scheduled tasks to explore feelings, memories, and struggles. Nothing dramatic transpired (yet), but I’ve found myself diving deeper and opening up on the page, in private, before the day presses in. I’m not new to this practice, but I’d fallen out of the habit. I’m so grateful for Allison’s convincing call to return to it and reap the benefits. In this interview, Allison mentions Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages, which reminded me of Writing Down the Bones and Natalie Goldberg’s explanation of freewriting as a way to get to our “first thoughts.” Allison makes a strong case for why and how a private writing practice like that feeds directly into our professional writing, whether through ideas or memories we unearth that can be woven into our work in progress, or through shifts in perspective that add depth and insight to our piece. Will you join me in revisiting this simple but fruitful activity that can enliven and inform your writing pursuits and projects? I predict you’ll begin to see how a daily writing practice will truly unlock your creativity. And please enjoy my discussion with Allison Fallon. Allison is an award-winning author, sought-after public speaker, and nationally recognized writing coach. She has worked with thousands of people to realize their writing potential and become published authors. She’s host of the podcast Find Your Voice, an excellent resource for writers, and author of The Power of Writing It Down: A Simple Habit to Unlock Your Brain and Reimagine Your Life. https://youtu.be/A_qGKJDhUAk Interview Excerpts On Allison’s writing practice: My daily writing practice happens for 30 minutes every morning, and it’s me just sitting down and dumping out my first thoughts of the day. The great thing about this is it’s a beautiful practice for absolutely anyone whether or not you want to be a published author. It can bring so much value and goodness into your life, regardless of what other kind of writing you do. On mimicry as a way to learn writing: There’s something about being able to copy an author that we really admire, appreciate, and adore that helps us get into the groove of finding our own way to say it. On the right to tell your own truth in your own voice: Don’t I have the right to share my own unique experience of what it was like to live in that household? Don’t I have that right as much as he has that right? That’s what it means to find your voice. It’s to be able to stand on both feet, to say, “This is how it was for me.” And even if it was different for you, that doesn’t change the fact that this is what was true for me. On how our brain’s “catalog” stories and we reinforce those stories through repetition: If you have a detail in your life that seems to repeat itself, it’s a hint for you that there’s a story there that you’ve told yourself and it’s been cataloged. And that limbic part of your brain is driving the ship in ways. It’s not that it’s your fault. It’s just you’re helping co-create that reality over and over again. On falling in love with writing instead of pursuing platform: If I could only give one piece of advice, don’t grow your Instagram platform. Go fall in love with the act of writing. Don’t go chase down some big magazine that will publish your work. Go fall in love with the idea of writing stories and I dare you to do that for very long without finding an audience that’s really into what you’re doing. Resources The Power of Writing It Down, by Allison Fallon (link takes you to her website where you can download a free chapter); purchase a copy at your local bookstore or use Bookshop, which supports local bookstores (Bookshop affiliate link for hardback) Find Your Voice: Allison’s coaching business Find Your Voice, the podcast (we refer specifically to the episode titled “Why is writing so hard for me: The Power of Writing It Down, Part 1” with Science Mike, who says our brains are “narrative machines”) Allison on Instagram @allyfallon The Book Idea Primer: Allison is offering my audience a copy of The Book Idea Primer ($199 value, and more info about it HERE), a 5-part workbook that can help a writer hone in on their book idea, choose their best book idea if they have several, and clarify what they’re going to write about before trying to launch into the book-writing process. Reach out to Ashley (ashley AT findyourvoice DOT com) and she will send you a copy when you mention you heard about it from the podcast. Rewrite Your Life by Jennifer Lourey, which Allison mentioned: Bookshop affiliate link, Amazon paperback affiliate link, or Kindle affiliate link Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages” explained HERE. Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way (Bookshop affiliate link for paperback edition) Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones (Bookshop affiliate link for paperback edition) Erik Fisher’s interview with Allison on Beyond the To-Do List, “Allison Fallon on the Power of Writing for Clarity, Confidence and Purpose“ ANN KROEKER, WRITING COACH EPISODE 235 Develop a Daily Writing Habit to Find Your Voice: Interview with Allison Fallon Ann Kroeker (00:03): You’re listening to the Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach podcast, where I’m sharing my best tips and training, skills, and strategies, to coach writers to improve their craft, pursue publishing, and achieve their writing goals. If you are a writer struggling with writer’s block, or you’re trying to find your voice, today’s interview is for you. Today we’re going to hear more about what’s going on inside your brain—and how to unlock it. Today’s guest is Allison Fallon. Allison is an award-winner author, sought-after public speaker, and nationally recognized writing coach. She’s worked with thousands of people to realize their writing potential and become published authors. Allison is the author of The Power of Writing It Down: A Simple Habit to Unlock Your Brain and Reimagine Your Life. Welcome, Allison. Allison Fallon (00:52): Thanks for having me. Ann Kroeker (00:54): Well, I cannot wait to get into your book to get into your deep understanding of the science of how the brain works and how it all connects to the writing life. But before we get too far, I do want to ask you this: I just read your well-crafted bio, and it’s amazing all the ways that you serve writers, but I would love to hear in your own voice—with your own words—a little bit more about how you view who you are and what you do. Allison Fallon (01:19): What a great question. Well, I always say I fell into this work accidentally because I didn’t mean to be working with other writers. I thought I just wanted to be a writer myself and I struggled to own the identity of writer. I remember as young as elementary school and middle school when people would say, what do you want to be when you grow up? I would say, I want to be an author. And I would get the feedback that I think a lot of us get when we talk about wanting to do art as an adult where other adults, well-meaning adults would say you need a backup plan. You know, you need a degree that you can get where you can actually go make some money. Are you going to teach on the side or? You know, just well-meaning adults trying to coax you to think through the challenges of being an adult. Allison Fallon (02:01): I started to really question that instinct to be a writer and think maybe people don’t make money as a writer so maybe I should just think through a different career. So I got on the track of becoming a teacher. I grew up in Oregon and in Oregon, you need a master’s degree to teach at the high s...