Episodes
-
Success is a Letdown
Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a real writer, but not a real therapist. Want my advice on something? You can write to me anonymously here. If you want to book one-on-one coaching with me, you can do that here: https://calendly.com/sonalchampsee/writertherapy...
-
Extras: News and Stories
This is a long-overdue Extras column. I have a bunch of news to cover, a little bit of preachy writing to explain my absence earlier this year, and some fun stories about my writing life. News * If you’re in Toronto on October 7th, I’ll be joining Jill Yonit Goldberg as her guest at Queen Books…
more -
Writing and Depression
Writing and Depression When depression steals from your writing and writing adds to your depression. Follow Matthew J. Trafford on Instagram, you can also check out his YouTube Channel, Fairy Godfather knits Previous posts referenced in this episode include one on writing routines, one on writing...
-
Querying a short story collection
Querying A Short Story Collection How do you write a synopsis for a short story collection? Do you have to summarize every story, or can you get away with summarizing a few? What makes a collection a collection anyway? A previous Writer Therapy on publishing short story collections can be found...
-
Dealing with Envy
Dealing with envy What to you do when it feels like everyone around you is succeeding and you're not? How to you build writing community when you're consumed with envy? Kareem Abdul Jabbar's substack post can be found here. Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a…
more -
Introducing Writer Therapy - The Podcast
Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a real writer, but not a real therapist. Want my advice on something? You can write to me anonymously here. Subscribe to the newsletter (like the podcast, but written) to add your own comments and commentary, and also to let me...
-
Do I have to write short fiction?
Do I have to write short fiction? What do you do when all the advice about publishing a novel talks about publishing short fiction first, but you hate short fiction? Do you really need to write it if you want to be a novelist? The newsletter for this episode links to a past columns. Why does...
-
Literary Citizenship for Distractible Introverts
For some of us, part of the appeal of writing is that it is solitary, but there comes a point when we need to engage with the people of it all. And now social media too? What's a writer to do? I wrote a little bit about literary community before. Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers.…
more -
Perfectionists Don't Sleep
Every writer gets stuck, but what do you do when you’re beating yourself up for getting stuck? Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a real writer, but not a real therapist. Want my advice on something? You can write to me anonymously here. Subscribe to the…
more -
We Don't Talk About Covid
Writing about the Covid-19 Pandemic when no one wants to hear it. The original newsletter contained a link to an article about how Smartphones would have ruined famous movie plots. Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a real writer, but not a real therapist. Want my...
-
Freedom through Constraint
How do you get deeper and wilder in your writing? What happens when freewriting covers a lot of ground, but all of it is surface-level? The book on from poetry is In Fine Form Stanley Fish’s “How to Write a Sentence and Read One Too” is available from many independent bookstores. George Saunders’...
-
Fifty Years of Fear
Fifty Years of Fear What do you do when you didn’t get started until later in life? How do you get over the grief of wasted time, and the fear that you’ve left it too late? Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a real writer, but not a real therapist. Want my advice…
more -
Christmas is a part-time job
When you work full-time, have three kids and are also a writer, how do you find a way to keep writing when the holidays hit and make things impossible? Mohammad Hussain’s excellent Twitter (X) thread can be found here. Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a real...
-
Love and Novels: after the break up
When you’ve been writing a novel with the support of the love of your life, what do you with your half-finished novel after the breakup? Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a real writer, but not a real therapist. Want my advice on something? You can write to me...
-
Is this story worth writing?
Is this story worth writing? What do you do when you're at a crossroads with a story? When you've done all you can do but you don't know why it's not working? How do you know it's worth writing? Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a real writer, but not a real...
-
Why does <Insert Highly Regarded Writer>’s work suck?
What Does (Insert Highly Regarded Writer)'s Work Suck? How do you become a better writer when you're not sure what good writing is? When you read books that are widely lauded but you don't understand them? Are you just not good enough? Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal...
-
A Giraffe Among Horses
A Giraffe Among Horses What do you do when your work is good, but still no one wants to publish it? When the things you love as a writer are not the things anyone else seems to understand, much less enjoy? How do you make the dream of being a writer come true when no one seems to get your…
more -
To MFA or not to MFA
To MFA or not to MFA To MFA or not to MFA, that is the question. No one needs an MFA to be a writer, but should you do one? Is MFA trauma a thing? Are there other ways to create a writing community of craft nerds? The Guy in Your MFA Twitter account is no longer being updated, but you can find it...
-
Only the Lonely
July 2022 - Only The Lonely, What do you do when you are a somewhat experienced writer, but can't find a writing partner or a writing group? When you've grown past "any feedback is valuable feedback" into needing something more insightful, but can't find it? When it seems like everyone else has a...
-
Introducing Writer Therapy
Introducing Writer Therapy: Like Dear Abby, but for writers. By Sonal Champsee, a real writer, but not a real therapist. My favourite part of teaching has always been discussing process and mindset, so at long last, I bring you Writer Therapy: a monthly advice column for writers, now delivered as…
more -
Writer Therapy: Rainbow Sparkles and Unicorn Fairies
Rainbow Sparkles and Uniform Fairies - a Writer Therapy prequel What do you do when you're stuck and wallowing in post-draft despair? What if this draft was your thesis from an expensive MFA program that is such a mess that you don't have the heart to revise it? What if the mess of this draft...
-
Publish your damn work
Publish Your Damn Work - a Writer Therapy prequel A post from my now-defunct blog that belongs in Writer Therapy. So many writers I've met are so hesitant about sending work out for publication, and so many of them are wonderful writers whose stories need telling and it drives me up the wall. And...