Maybe you’ve thought about doing the ultimate deep-dive into storytelling, which is writing your OWN story by creating a memoir. My guest today is here to give us guidance on writing a compelling memoir.

Her name is Alice Sullivan, and she is a ghostwriter, collaborator, and 11-time New York Times bestselling editor. A natural-born storyteller, she’s written 54 books and edited over 1,300 titles. She specializes in nonfiction, specifically memoir, self-help, and personal growth.

Alice helps clients identify their goals and messages while creating engaging content to connect with their target markets. Her favorite projects are those that challenge her point of view and expand her knowledge.

A couple of months ago, I mentioned here on the podcast that I was working on my father’s Vietnam memoir. This was my opportunity to ask Alice everything I wanted to know about memoirs, and she did not disappoint!

In this interview, we discuss topics like how to find the narrative thread or theme in a story, how to figure out the structure of a memoir, where to begin and end a memoir, how to structure a chapter and the transitions between chapters, and some of Alice’s favorite authors.

You can check out the books Alice has ghostwritten and connect with her using the links below:

Missileman: The Secret Life of Cold War Engineer Wallace Clauson by John Clauson

The Rise: An Unforgettable Journey of Self-Love, Forgiveness, and Transformation by Danette May

The Leader Within Us: Mindset, Principles, and Tools for a Life By Design by Warren Rustand

7 Days of Christmas: A Season of Generosity by Jen Hatmaker

Follow Alice on Instagram

Connect with Alice on LinkedIn

The post Ghostwriter Alice Sullivan on Writing a Compelling Memoir appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

I’m excited today to feature a conversation with my good friend Phyllis Jenkins, who is here to help authors get a handle on how to put together a powerful live event that can impact lives.

Phyllis is a Transformational Coach, business mentor, host of PowerLift Stories Podcast, and Founder of the Powerful Journey Organization where she’s on a mission to mobilize 100,000 women to ‘Tell Their Stories and Write Their Books.’

Phyllis is also the author of several books. Her most recent one is Telling Our Stories: An Anthology of Faith, Volume 1.

Phyllis empowers and equips women to turn their Life-Challenges into Life-Changing Messages. She provides several platforms for them to Stand-Up, Step-Out and Share their messages with courage and clarity. Phyllis gives back to the community by awarding two annual educational scholarships: one to single moms of special needs children and the other to graduating high school seniors.

In this conversation, Phyllis shares why you should consider creating a live event, what makes an event successful, the process for creating an event, and much more.

You can learn more about Phyllis through the links below!

Telling Our Stories: An Anthology of Faith, Volume 1 by Phyllis Jenkins

Annual Powerful Journey Women’s Conferences

Connect with Phyllis on Facebook

Follow Phyllis on Instagram

Connect with Phyllis on LinkedIn

The post From the Shelf to the Stage: Hosting a Powerful Live Event (with Phyllis Jenkins) appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

We writers love to create stories. And why not? There is something fun about creating a fantasy world, living in it for a while, and inviting others to join us there.

Sometimes these fantasies bleed over into the real world, where we don’t quite live in reality.

Here is one of the fantasies we love: We sit down to write, and all of a sudden, we feel magically inspired with an endless supply of motivation and great ideas.

But it doesn’t always work that way. Most of the time, we sit down to write and don’t feel the creative juices flow immediately. Then we assume we’re not talented or creative.

On our worst days, we even start to wonder if we should be writing in the first place.

Stephen King gave us some incredible wisdom when he said, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

Inspiration doesn’t usually come on the front end of writing. Instead, we have to sit down and get to work. After we have done some writing, the muse will show up and give us the inspiration to keep going.

In other words, you have to put some gas in the tank before you can go anywhere.

Inspiration is like the feather from the beginning shot of Forrest Gump. It’s a fickle thing that is blown in by the wind. It comes and goes as it pleases. You can’t rely on it because it’s so unpredictable.

Here is a better system: Commit to doing the work and let inspiration come when it will. It’s what all true professionals do.

The post Commit to Doing the Work appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

Terry is an award-winning author who has written four novels. The most recent one completed a trilogy, which was a pretty amazing accomplishment in itself. Terry is also an editor, and, in fact, edited a book I ghostwrote for a client last year, and he did an amazing job.

Terry has a background in the US Navy, and also with NASA as a project manager. Based on his experience in project management, Terry saw how his experience in that field could bring order out of creative chaos in his own writing life. He strongly believes that leadership principles can be taught through story, which is what we’re here to talk about today.

Since this interview, Terry has released an amazing book, Project Management for Writers, which will teach you how to get organized as a writer.

In this conversation, Terry shares how he explores leadership through his novels, as well as his process for crafting a story. He also talks about writing habits, the writing tools he uses, and much more.

You can connect with Terry at his website, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Make sure to also check out his books on Amazon via his author page.

The post Terry Stafford: Leadership Through Storytelling appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

I’m honored to have my good friend, Jim Woods, on the show today to help us develop our storytelling chops. Jim is a novelist, story coach, and editor. He has worked with many authors over the years, including some whose books have been on the New York Times bestseller list.

Jim is the host of the Finish Your Book Podcast. He is also the founder of Storycrafting, a coaching service that helps you craft your story.

Storytelling is one of my favorite topics, so we had a lot of fun in this interview geeking out over stories. Jim walks us through several questions such as these:

• What’s the simplest way to create a story?
• What separates a great story from a pretty good story?
• How can you fix your story?
• How can you build a solid writing habit?

You can find Jim at his Storycrafting site, his personal website, or on Facebook. Make sure to also check out his Write Your Book Podcast.

***

If you enjoyed this episode, we would be grateful if you leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more people discover the show, and the more people listen, the more we can invest into it and improve the show.

Sign up for the Daily Writer email: DailyWriterLife.com

Follow Kent Sanders:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/kent.sanders

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kentsanders

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kentsanders

The post Storytelling Coach Jim Woods on How to Craft Better Stories appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.