Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach

Find a Chunk of Writing Time for Your Creative Deep DiveRelease Date: Sep 30, 2026(episode 296)

With a chunk of time you could do a deep dive into your work in progress, immersing yourself in it so your structure takes shape and your chapters emerge. Instead of chipping away at the project in Pocket Sessions, Deep Dives drop us into creative focus and flow where you binge-write, far exceeding your word count goals.

Finding time for a Deep Dive seems impossible, and yet it’s not as outlandish as you might think. In this episode, I...

Are you book-ready? Check the 4PsRelease Date: Sep 22, 2026(episode 295)

If you’ve wondered how ready you are to write a book and pursue publishing, it’s time to determine your readiness with the 4P Diagnostic. Writers who struggle to make progress are almost always stuck in one (or more) of the 4Ps: Pitch, Prose, Platform, or Practice.

Over the years I developed separate programs designed to help writers level up all 4Ps, individual programs that were dedicated to each of the Ps. Addressing these in isolation got great results and I'm really proud of t...

Don’t have blocks of time to write? Pockets work great!Release Date: July 25, 2026(episode 294)

In my last post, I recommended you value yourself and your work enough to stop putting it off. The assignment: figure out where the time goes so you find time to write.

The good news is that even if you only have slivers of time available, a lot of writing rolls onto the page during these “Pocket Sessions.”

This post encourages you with quotes from famous writers who worked during Pocket Sessions and with practi...

”I don’t have time to write”- Ah, where does the time go?Release Date: July 2, 2026(episode 293)

It comes up in nearly every conversation with a writer, whether in a group or one-to-one: “I don’t have time to write.”

Their deep longing to compose thoughtful, focused prose runs up against scrunched schedules that squeeze out creative effort. It seems they have nothing more than cracks or crevices of time to sit at the computer and can’t focus long enough to write what they want to say.

Worse, they gi...

”Oh no! My book was written by someone else!”Release Date: May 17, 2026(episode 292)

Discovering "comps" (comparable books) for your book proposal is discouraging. But this episode gives you the good news: your comps validate reader interest and show your topic is in demand.

Learn how to leverage these existing titles to position your book as "similar, but different." Don't let competition discourage you; rather, embrace it as a sign of reader (and publisher) interest.

Listen or head to https://annkroeker.com/2026/05/27/oh-no-my-book-was-written-by-someone-else/ to read it and access additional related read...

Dear [favorite author]Release Date: April 20, 2026

Use this prompt to write a letter to your favorite author, alive or dead. Listen and you'll hear the letter I wrote (and who I wrote it to). This simple act reveals your creative values as you tell the author what it is you admire about their work.

Listen or head to to read it and access additional related reading: https://annkroeker.com/2026/04/20/dear-favorite-author/

And to get a copy of 52 Creative Writing Prompts, head to annkroeker.com/52prompts.

Are Abandoned Projects a Sign of Creative Weakness?Release Date: March 25, 2026

Writers I work with—and if I’m honest, I myself—launch multiple projects, enthusiastic about every idea. We open a document, give it a working title, tap out a few paragraphs with loads of energy. Like the squirrel, we scamper around the Internet or library doing research, gathering quotes and anecdotes to incorporate into this shiny new work-in-progress.

A few days or weeks later, we abandon it, our sentences as sparse as the squirrel’s twigs up in that tree. The raw mate...

Don’t want to say it yourself? Put a frame around it!Release Date: March 22, 2026

In novels, memoir, nonfiction, and poetry, a narrator can set up the main story so that we have a frame effect. This is, in fact, called the “frame narrative.” The main story, then, becomes “the story within the story.” Learn all about it and study examples in this episode.

The frame narrative sets up the “main” narrative, and provides context and lends plausibility to the story within the story. The nested story likely has a completely different narrator from the frame...

Do you really want to write “quietly”? (It’s an AI favorite)Release Date: February 27, 2026

We all have “pet” words or phrases that slide into our prose like a favorite shoe that’s shaped to our foot and supports our gait—literary techniques that feel like our voice on the page.

Some writers come across more casual, using sentence fragments or words like “ain’t” and “c’mon!” Others turn to ellipses for hesitation and pop a statement (or question) in parentheses for humor.

Guess who’s been paying attention to how we express ourselves?

Whose Voice Is on Your Pages? Human vs. AI WritingRelease Date: February 11, 2026

I opened someone's newsletter a few weeks ago touting the “glorious” age of AI and the advantages it provides.

Hm, I thought. AI is fascinating, I guess. Speedy. Clever, in its way. But…glorious?

It’s been studying us. Wouldn’t that suggest anything “glorious” about AI can be attributed in part to what it’s drawn from that which makes us gloriously human? It did, after all, train on our published projects like articles, blog posts, and books (which i...

Self-Publishing vs. Traditional: Janyre Tromp's Real-World Experience with Both (and Clear Favorite)Release Date: December 17, 2025

Award-winning author and editor Janyre Tromp joins us for an in-depth exploration of her deep publishing experience. She’s seen it from all angles, as an editor in traditional publishing houses, and as an author who has seen the pros and cons of both traditional and self-publishing. Janyre breaks down the definitions, differences, and decision-making process for authors as they consider the publishing path that’s right for them.

In this wide-ranging discussion, you'll learn:

What's your role in your reader's lifeRelease Date: December 2, 2025

In this episode, Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach, explores how clarifying your role in a reader’s life transforms your tone, structure, and connection on the page. Using real-world analogies and examples from Anne Bogel, Annie F. Downs, and Lisa TerKeurst, Ann shows how to choose and calibrate a voice readers trust—whether you’re a knowledgeable friend, a teacher, a tower of authority, or a fellow traveler in the field.

In This Episode You’ll Discover:

Why Writers Get Lost in Research (And How to Find Your Way Back)Release Date: October 8, 2025

In this episode, Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach tackles the common "research rabbit hole" problem that plagues nonfiction writers. Learn how to balance thorough research with productive writing, using Isaac Newton's famous quote about "standing on ye sholders of giants" as inspiration for leveraging others' knowledge without getting lost in endless sources.

Start with Your Ideal Audience: Insights from Janyre Tromp

Episode 283 | Release Date: September 24, 2025

In this episode, Ann Kroeker is joined by award-winning author and editor Janyre Tromp for a deep dive into identifying your ideal audience as a writer. Janyre draws on 20+ years of publishing, editing, and marketing experience to explain why targeting the right readers—and understanding their true needs—will transform every stage of your writing process, from drafting to editing to pitching and platform-building. Whether you write fiction, nonfiction, essays, or poetry, this conversation will equip you with actionable strategies, crea...

Don't Wait to Share Your Message

Episode 282 | Release Date: September 10, 2025

In this episode, Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach, explores how we can share our ideas and messages immediately through digital platforms rather than waiting for traditional publishing timelines. Learn why starting small today can make a bigger impact than waiting for the "perfect" long-form project to be complete.

I tend to sprawl—both in my writing and, if you ask my family, on the couch. I start with a plan, but as I write, new ideas branch out in every direction. Before I know it, I’ve lost my way. And yet…while I encourage the power of outlines, I confess that I often prefer finding my way through the sprawl, writing until I experience an epiphany—a moment of convergence that shows me what the piece is…and isn’t. In other words, I write my way to clarity. In Write Your Way Forward (episode 281), I help you see...

If you second-guess yourself each time you send your words into the world, you’re not alone. You’re feeling what writers throughout the ages have felt, because it is a risk each time you click \"publish.\" Even if you’re viewed as an expert or thought leader handing down wisdom, your readers need to know they’re not alone. They need to see that you\'ve struggled and still found a way forward. Whether you\'re a writer who regularly reveals your ongoing messy life or you\'re someone who seems to have “arrived,\" your vulnerable stories offer hope.

An idea pops into your head, so you grab whatever paper product lies nearby and scribble down the thought. Or you come across a quote, story, or stat and realize it connects to your project. Convinced it’s all great material, you jot it down, then stuff the paper into your pocket or purse.

Now you’re ready to write, but you're discovering random Post-Its, index cards, and the backs of envelopes—not to mention pages from notebooks and journals. And you're wondering how these scattered notes and ideas could possibly be organized into a coherent structure for yo...

Find your publishing home without losing your voice: Literary agent Deidra Riggs reveals insider secrets on breaking into publishing while staying true to yourself—especially for women of color and writers with unconventional perspectives.

In this interview (episode 278), you'll discover...

On a chilly December afternoon in 2014, I closed the door to my bedroom, swallowed back nerves—even trembled a little as I held a tiny earpiece as a microphone. Then I cleared my throat and recorded my first podcast episode that lasted all of two minutes.

At that point a seasoned author, I forgot what it felt like to send something into the world for the first time. I’d done it for decades with my voice on the page or the screen. With a podcast, I was sending my actual voice into the world for the firs...

A few years ago, a client came to me with an idea for a nonfiction book. She was ready to write a draft and send it to a publishing house. What she didn’t realize was that she was working a few steps ahead.

Thankfully, we met early enough in the process that I was able to fill her in on the steps she’d need to take to pursue traditional publishing—allowing her to sidestep a lot of mistakes that would have slowed her down. 

Even though she didn’t need to write the entire ma...

Somewhere along the way, you stopped writing. 

Life got in the way. 

You lost your confidence. You ran out of time. You ran out of ideas. You hit a huge block you can’t get past.

Maybe you thought writing belonged to younger-you, when the stakes were lower and you took more risks.

For one reason or another, the words stopped flowing. You set aside your pen. You stopped calling yourself a writer. You scribble in a journal now and then, but nothing beyond that.

This happens.

One...

Is Substack the best platform for writers? Is it right for you?

In this interview, publishing expert Jane Friedman explores Substack’s social media-like features, blogging-like functionality, podcast-host possibilities…and its implications for writers. From using Substack “Notes” to community cross-promotion, it’s an ecosystem worth understanding.

Substack is more than just newsletters—it’s a blog, social media, podcast host, and email marketing tool all-in-one platform. Perfect for beginners, but should we trust it with all of our content?

Learn the pros and cons of Substack on our latest episode of the “Ann Kroeker, Wri...

“A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource,” writer Jorge Luis Borges said in an interview, when asked about his blindness.

“All things have been given to us for a purpose,” he continued, “and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art.”1

You may be familiar with Kate Bowler’s book Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other...

“The best advice I can give you to help you grow as a writer is to experience life.”

We came to hear about queries and proposals. We wanted to learn how this speaker organized submissions and kept track of contact information.

But at this breakout session at this writers’ conference, she insisted:

“I know you think your writing career is all about composing articles and books, but you have to be able to say something. Both fiction and nonfiction writers need material, so get out there and live life—take risks!”

When I was a child just beginning to speak, my parents drove late into the evening to the rural property they bought. As they drove up the gravel driveway, the sky spread out above us with stars glittering like a million diamonds spread out on a jeweler’s vast black velvet display.

Across the fields, a million lightning bugs hovered in the tall grass, their gleaming bodies flickering on and off.

I pointed at the sky. “’Tars!”

Then I pointed at the field. “Baby ’tars!”

Perhaps I was destined to become a poet from ea...

I made a last-minute decision heading to the most recent writer’s conference I attended. I’d planned to take my classy, professional, sleek gray backpack that I’d purchased to replace the original purple one I mentioned in an earlier episode. 

As I loaded it, I realized that to stay fortified, I needed to carry snacks and lunch each day—maybe even dinner—and it wouldn’t all squeeze into the professional-looking slim gray bag. I needed a bigger backpack. I dug around in my closet and found an older, different, ridiculously large purple backpack that I use for lon...

Are you getting ready to attend a writers’ conference?

Guess what? So am I! And I want to make the most of my time there, so let’s think through what will help with that.

You’re likely going for at least two reasons: to learn and to connect. You might also be going to pitch your project. Let’s prep, plan, and pack to get the most out of this upcoming event, so you’re even better prepared to learn, connect, and pitch.

And given that I work with a lot of published a...

Attending my first writers’ conference proved to be life-changing—or at least career-changing. In the years since, I’ve attended a wide range of writing events, and each one has in some way substantially contributed to my career.

Some deepened my knowledge, others expanded my professional network—most did both.

I can’t imagine where I’d be without them.

Could a writers’ conference be a life-changing/knowledge-deepening/network-expanding opportunity in your future, even this year? If yes, how do you determine the right conference for you?

This post is the first of a sho...

Dear Writer,

It’s easy to freeze up when we’re writing for the faceless masses or the random reader who happens upon our words.

What do we say to all those people? How can we speak with heart to a total stranger?

Next thing you know, we second-guess our ideas, our prose, our very selves. We fade to beige without saying what we really think, without being specific, without our signature wit and whimsy. 

What would that random person who doesn’t even know me think if I crack a joke?<...

Let’s look at the pros and cons of using writing prompts to decide if we’re fostering creativity or frittering away time.

I remember the pleasure of writing about ladybugs for my high school freshman English class based on the prompt written on the board.1

And then there was the book I found a year or so at the library: Write to Discover Yourself. The author suggested we “portrait” the important people in our lives.2 I wrote pages and pages about my dad based on that prompt.

Prompts continued to play a big role...

Children gaze at a vast blank wall and see opportunity—inspired, they grab a permanent marker and scrawl across the surface in loopy circles and jaggedy lines without hesitation. 

Why, then, do we adults stare at the blank page—not unlike a blank wall—and freeze up? Instead of scribbling out ideas that fill the white screen, we writers often come up empty, the blank page producing a blank mind.

We get too far ahead of ourselves, thinking about readers before we’ve written a single word, afraid of what they’ll think. Or we second-gues...

When I was visiting my grandmother one summer afternoon, she pulled out a letter I sent her.

“This is good,” she said.

“Really?”

She pointed at the paragraphs and said the ideas were well organized, my writing flowed well, and I included lots of details. “It was interesting to read,” she said.

Then she looked up at me and smiled. “Maybe we have another writer in the family?”

Did I gasp? Her words certainly sent a jolt through me. Did she know how badly I wanted to write? Could she have known h...

Just as musicians credit their musical influences, writers, too, have literary inspirations who help them discover and shape their unique voice.

At a White House event for poets in 2011, Billy Collins said to students about finding your voice:

You’re searching for the poets who make you jealous…you’re looking to get influenced by people who make you furiously jealous…And then copy them.1

Billy himself was influenced by the work of Wallace Stevens—I suppose he would say he was furiously jealous of him.

Author Sha...

On a sunny spring day, I sat with seven homeschoolers on a stretch of grass for a creative writing session. The older kids started to fidget before we even started.

“What are we doing out here?”

“We’re going to see what’s around us.”

A fifth grader pointed with his pen. “I see sky, clouds, cars, building. Done.” The others laughed.

“We’re going to be quiet and listen, too,” I added.

“I hear birds. Done.” More chuckles.

“Before we write,” I began, “Let’s look at the sky. What color is it?”

Jennifer Dukes Lee ​invites you to transform into a better writer​ through “beautifully ruthless self-discovery.”

It starts in the pages of your journal.

In a recent interview, she delves into the therapeutic benefits of daily gratitude journaling and its potential to rewire our brains. By writing down things we’re grateful for, our minds seek out the positive.

Jennifer recommends guided journals when we’re stymied by writer’s block. The blank page of a traditional journal can overwhelm us. What should we say? Where should we start?

Guided journals aren’t blank pages—th...

During the early years of parenthood, I wasted a lot of time feeling sorry for myself.

Why can’t I have my own dedicated writing space? Why can’t I have blocks of uninterrupted time?

The overwhelming demands of being a stay-at-home mom almost shut down my creativity. In time, thank heavens, I stopped griping and started looking for solutions.

My idea? Instead of waiting for the perfect conditions, I snatched time.

I wrote when the kids were napping.

I wrote late at n...

Nearly everyone who writes personal stories in any form has agonized over how much to share.

Will writing about an issue from childhood break Mom’s heart?

Should I change the name of a high school teacher? The next-door neighbor? The dog? The children?

Are the hyacinths blooming by the mailbox worth mentioning?

We write.

We worry.

Is this naval gazing or vulnerability?

Will people feel I’m airing the dirty laundry or sharing my own struggles so others might find healing?

As writers, we spend countless hours crafting and refining our work to perfection. We labor over word choices, sentence structure, and the perfect flow.

Despite our best efforts—even after a pass through Grammarly—typos slip through. We tend to spot them in other people’s projects, even if we miss them in our own.

How do you react when you spot a typo in someone else’s writing? Do you assume they’re unprofessional and lose faith in them?

Or do you extend grace and understand that mistakes happen?

One time...

Years ago, one of my clients updated me on her publishing journey. She turned in her manuscript on deadline, so that was a huge relief.

Then her editor asked for one last piece she’d put off.

“Ann, it took me two full weeks to track down everything for my endnotes. Two weeks!”

This first-time author knew the editor would ask for endnotes, but she had not kept track of them as she wrote.

When words were flowing—forming chapters, shaping ideas—she didn’t want to lose momentum...