QWERTY Writing Life Podcast

December 19, 2023

Jumpstart Creativity with Prompts

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith encourage creatives to play this holiday season and jumpstart their creativity with prompts. In this episode of QWERTY Writing Life, they give five types of prompts for creatives and then share examples from their lives of how each can be used. Check out the links referenced in the show: Blog Battle: https://bbprompt.com/ Tales of the Faerie Shepherds (stories by Joy, many inspired by Blog Battle prompts): https://joyerancatore.com/my-writings/tales-of-the-faerie-shepherds/ Reedsy has a weekly writing prompt contest you can have fun with: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/contests/ FOR A BONUS PROMPT AND IMPROMPTU EXAMPLES OF HOW IT’S USED BY BOTH JOY AND MEA: Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

48 min

December 5, 2023

What Will You Sacrifice for Your Art?

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith continue season five’s extra candid format in an episode about sacrifice. They discuss people’s natural aversion to the word as well as the importance of it and how it ties into a creative’s life and art. As with many other introspective topics, asking “What will you sacrifice for your art?” requires a balancing act. Joy and Mea share a few of their tendencies to tip to one extreme or another and some practical steps they have taken or are taking to avoid such imbalance. Throughout the discussion, the authors weave in ways creatives can prepare themselves to answer the question, “What will you sacrifice for your art?” Check out this link referenced in the show: We Can Do Hard Things Podcast with Dr. Brené Brown, Episode 48, “How to Know Ourselves and Be Known by Our People”: https://shows.cadence13.com/podcast/wcdht/episodes/e77b5152-0180-4a59-8540-d8aa59e73c94 Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

64 min

November 21, 2023

Redefining Self Care

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith present perhaps their most candid QWERTY Writing Life episode yet. They don’t have any earth-shattering answers for the questions they pose on the topic of redefining self care. What they do have are honest reflections from their own lives and examples of how to redefine self care, specifically for the creative life. As shared in the show, this is the QWERTY Definition of Self-Care: How we care for ourselves physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually (all the ways that make us human beings) that enables us to pour into the people in our lives and into the responsibilities and opportunities we’ve accepted, without sacrificing personal peace (our own wholeness). Check out the links referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life, Season 5, Episode 5, Interview with a Creative: Creative Place & Purpose with Dan Blank: https://youtu.be/hIvSma0YZXk Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

49 min

November 7, 2023

Interview with a Creative: Dan Blank on Creative Place & Purpose

Dan Blank, founder of WeGrowMedia, visits QWERTY Writing Life and chats with authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith about Creative Place and Purpose. He gives practical tips on how to take overwhelming aspects of the creative life—marketing, author platform, author purpose and mission statements, collaborations and audience—and make them manageable, approachable and even fun. Dan also explains his "human-centered approach to marketing" and shows how it plays out in the lives of authors through real-life examples. Learn more from Dan at these links: Subscribe at Substack for his weekly newsletter that is always packed with inspiration and practical steps you can take to improve your creative life: https://danblank.substack.com/ Visit his website for more on his “human-centered approach to marketing” and his consultations for authors: https://wegrowmedia.com/ Follow him on Instagram or X for daily encouragement: https://www.instagram.com/danblank and https://twitter.com/DanBlank And, of course, get your own copy of his creative life-altering book, Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9780998645216 (Note: This is Joy’s affiliate link for the book on bookshop.org. Thank you for supporting Dan, Joy and independent bookstores!) Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

54 min

October 16, 2023

Where Is Your Art’s Place in the Creative World?

In Season 5, Episode 4 of QWERTY Writing Life, Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith bring back a previous question, with a twist. Where Is Your Art’s Place in the Creative World? Answering where an artist fits in the creative world is one challenge that comes with easy to follow questions. Placing art, though, can be more complicated. Joy and Mea share three perspectives to ease the task and guide fellow creatives. Check out the links referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 3: “Authors & Readers: Let’s Get Together!”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/authors-and-readers-let-s-get-together/ Joanna Penn’s interview with John Truby on The Creative Penn Podcast: https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2022/11/28/anatomy-of-genre/ The Anatomy of Genres: How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works, by John Truby: https://bookshop.org/a/95576/9780374539221 (This is Joy’s affiliate link for the book on bookshop.org, a fantastic online bookseller that gives back to independent bookstores.) More on Carolina’s Legacy Collection—”Southern fiction with Christian roots”—by Joy: https://joyerancatore.com/my-writings/carolinas-legacy-collection/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 2: “Where Is Your Place in the Creative World?”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/where-is-your-place-in-the-creative-world/ Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

39 min

October 2, 2023

Authors and Readers: Let’s Get Together!

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith tackle a huge topic in this episode of QWERTY Writing Life: bringing Authors and Readers together. They seek to reduce the overwhelm of the topic, though, through a set of six lessons they’ve learned over their years as Creatives. Check out the links referenced in the show as well as a few suggestions for fellow authors seeking to identify their ideal readers: QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 1, “Calibrate Your Creative Purpose”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/calibrate-your-creative-purpose/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 2: “Where Is Your Place in the Creative World?”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/where-is-your-place-in-the-creative-world/ Suggested Resources for Identifying an Ideal Reader: Dan Blank’s book, Be the Gateway: A Practical Guide to Sharing Your Creative Work and Engaging an Audience: https://wegrowmedia.com/bethegateway/ Dan Blank, We Grow Media consulting: https://wegrowmedia.com/work-with-us/ Belinda Griffin, Smart Authors Lab: https://smartauthorslab.com/about-smartauthorslab/ Kimberley Grabas, Your Writer Platform: https://yourwriterplatform.com/about/ Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

30 min

September 18, 2023

Where Is Your Place in the Creative World?

Since childhood, people ask that loaded question: “Where Do I Fit In?” Creatives still ask that question, but with a twist: “Where Is My Place in the Creative World?” Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith have asked the same question, and they’ve developed a three-tiered approach to help Creatives answer where they belong. In this episode, Joy and Mea provide Creatives with 11 questions to answer. These prompts cover the first two tiers of finding your place in the creative world. The third tier—connecting with the right creative audience—will be covered more thoroughly in Episode 3 of Season 5. To answer Where Is Your Place in the Creative World, decide who you are and what you want as a creative by answering these six questions: #1: What are your fundamental standards? What is your code of conduct or the set of standards that guide what and how you create? #2: Why do you have to create? #3: What do you want to create? #4: What are your goals for what you create? #5: What do you want to make people feel? #6: Envision yourself as a successful artist. Who’s around you? Where are you? How are you holding that success—are you headlining conferences as a keynote speaker or touring bookstores and libraries across the country or traveling while you create? Next, look outside yourself to who you want beside you on your creative journey, by answering these five questions: Question #1: Who do you want to support? Question #2: What do you want to promote? Question #3: What support would you like? Question #4: How can you help fellow creatives? How are you willing to do this? Question #5: What safeguards can you put in place to make sure you engage wisely in ways that are best for you and them? Check out the links referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 3, Episode 17, “Fundamental Standards for Creatives”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/fundamental-standards-for-creatives/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 5, Episode 1, “Calibrate Your Creative Purpose”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/calibrate-your-creative-purpose/ Dan Blank’s book, Be the Gateway: https://wegrowmedia.com/bethegateway/ “Writing with Maggie Stiefvater” digital writing course: https://www.etsy.com/listing/806360184/writing-with-maggie-stiefvater-8-hour Learn more about their book on writing critique partners, Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Writer Moms Inc. Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Writermomsinc/ Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi): https://allianceindependentauthors.org/?affid=7767 Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA): https://www.ibpa-online.org/ Rom-Com Author Sharon Peterson: https://sharonmpeterson.com/ Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

33 min

September 4, 2023

Calibrate Your Creative Purpose

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith have been prepping for a life-changing literary submission. As part of that, they must submit an Artist’s Statement. Neither of them was sure what that was, but after a bit of research, they discovered they’ve been crafting theirs for the past several years. Listen in as they take this discovery and share how their statements have developed organically over their time as evolving creatives. In reference to their creative purposes, Joy and Mea explain how those important foundational details have adapted over time as they’ve grown as authors. You will hear four practical steps to intentionally calibrate your creative purpose. The QWERTYs look forward to hearing about your implementation of these tips. Check out the links referenced in the show: QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 1, Episode 35, “Goal Planning with 2020 Vision, Part 1”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/goal-planning-with-2020-vision-part-i-template-for-goal-setting/ QWERTY Writing Life Podcast, Season 3, Episode 17, “Fundamental Standards for Creatives”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/fundamental-standards-for-creatives/ Dan Blank’s book, Be the Gateway: https://wegrowmedia.com/bethegateway/ Subscribe to Dan Blank’s weekly newsletter, packed with great information and encouragement for creatives: https://wegrowmedia.com/contact-us/ Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

24 min

May 23, 2023

Reflections on Season Four of QWL

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith reflect on the fourth season of QWERTY Writing Life and celebrate the highlights while announcing plans for the future. Tune in for opportunities to weigh in on upcoming creative opportunities and a challenge to help you plan your next steps. Check out the book and the previous episodes referenced in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 7, “Artist as a Work in Progress”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/artist-as-a-work-in-progress/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episodes 11 and 12: “Creativity: Are You Sitting or Steeping?” https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creativity-are-you-sitting-or-steeping-part-1/ https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creativity-are-you-sitting-or-steeping-part-2/ Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

36 min

May 8, 2023

Reflecting on a Creative Project

Season Four of QWERTY Writing Life has been full of productivity, surprises and lessons learned. Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith reflect on the season and the projects they have managed along the way. Tune in for thoughts on embracing the finiteness of time and the depth we add to our creative selves when we simply live life and much more. The QWERTY Challenge is geared toward helping you celebrate your creative accomplishments. Check out the book and the previous episodes referenced in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 13, “When Your Pivot Needs to Pivot”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/when-your-pivot-needs-to-pivot/ QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 14, “Creatively Redeeming a Time Gap”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creatively-redeeming-a-time-gap/ Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

24 min

April 18, 2023

Creative Momentum: Returning to a Project

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith got together in person to complete the project they’ve been working on throughout Season Four. Tune in to hear how it went and what else the duo accomplished while they were together. As usual, the QWERTYs have insights and tips to share through this candid chat from their creative lives. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers QWERTY Writing Life, Season 4, Episode 14, “Creatively Redeeming a Time Gap”: https://qwertywritinglife.podbean.com/e/creatively-redeeming-a-time-gap/ Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

20 min

April 4, 2023

Getting Creative with Perspectives

Authors Joy E. Rancatore and Mea Smith understand what it’s like to feel stuck or uncertain in the creative process. They propose we all approach our creative endeavors from a new perspective, every now and then. Tune in for six distinct creative perspectives, complete with examples from various mediums. Accept the QWERTY Challenge to share your own examples, as well as other perspectives you’ve utilized. Check out these links mentioned in the show: Finders Keepers: A Practical Approach to Find and Keep Your Writing Critique Partner: https://www.logosandmythospress.com/finders-keepers Mea’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/measmithwrites/ Every Good Thing by Joy: https://joyerancatore.com/every-good-thing/ Subscribe to the QWERTY’s monthly newsletter (be sure to click the box next to “opt in to receive news and updates” and check your spam for the confirmation email): https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z9f1z5 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/qwertywritinglife Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/qwertywritinglife/ Intro music created and performed by Brent Smith. Continue this week’s chat via email at qwertywritinglife [at] gmail [dot] com. For more information about the QWERTYs, the show and their writing craft book series, head over to https://qwertywritinglife.com. Subscribe in your favorite podcast portal. Or, if you’d rather see their grinning faces, ring the bell on their YouTube channel. Please share our podcast with your friends, too! For more about Mea and her writing, visit storyswell.net. Joy and her details can be found at joyerancatore.com.

33 min

QWERTY Writing Life Podcast

About QWERTY Writing Life Podcast

Episodes

Interview with a Creative: Mea Smith: Creativity and Our Worth

The Importance of Motivation in Creativity

Motivation to Move

Benefits of Writing Across Formats

Balancing Vulnerability and Memories in Art

How Do We Add to the Great Conversation?

Why Should We Care About the Great Conversation?

What is the Great Conversation?

2023