10 Years of #amwriting: Looking Back and Moving Forward

After ten years of the #amwriting podcast, KJ, Jess, and Sarina are marking a milestone—and a transition. In this episode, the longtime hosts reflect on what the writing world looked like when the show began and share their best advice for writers trying to do meaningful work. They also pass the microphone to Jennie, who will carry the podcast into its next chapter.

Moving forward, Jennie will keep the show focused on helping writers do their best work and make smart decisions about their writing lives. Expect familiar features and new conversations, including Write Big solo episodes, Book Lab breakdowns of listener submissions, coaching sessions with writers across genres, and Margin Notes exploring the thinking behind creative choices.

The mission remains the same: helping writers play big in their writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most.

#AmWriting is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Transcript

Jennie: [00:00:00] Hi, I’m Jennie Nash and you’re listening to the hashtag am Writing podcast. The place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most.

KJ: Hey everyone. I’m kj and you are listening to the hashtag am Writing podcast, the place where we help writers of all kinds play big in your writing life, love the process, and stick with it long enough to finish what matters most.

So today is a big day. We’re we’re

Jess: big day.

KJ: Yeah. We’re celebrating the 10th year of the hashtag am writing podcast, which I have to say is officially the longest I’ve been able to sustain any job-like thing. Um, and we’re announcing that we’re going in a new direction. So this is really cool. After a decade of talking to y’all, um, Jess and I and then [00:01:00] Sarina, who is at minus a decade. I don’t wanna, um, have decided to step back and hand over the reins to Jennie.

Jess: Yeah

Jennie: It is, it is such a big milestone and such a big deal. And before we. Actually say goodbye to the three of you. I mean, it’s not forever. You’re coming back as guests, all of you, all the time, hopefully.

KJ: Oh, heck yes. Absolutely. You, you, you and I have already planned all the things, so don’t get too excited and, and weepy here folks, but things are just, things are gonna be. New and fresh and more interesting and, uh, more craft filled and more inspirational. When I need inspiration to write, I look for one of our episodes.

That’s Jennie. So I think this is gonna be, this is gonna be great.

Jennie: I think it’s gonna be great too. But before we actually say goodbye, I mean, 10. Is a long time and I thought it would be fun to ask you all what it was like 10 [00:02:00] years ago when you started, and Sarina 10 minus whatever the time is, but what was the writing landscape like as a whole maybe for you, and then all this wisdom, all these years that you’ve shared.

What’s, what’s the thing that sticks in your head the most is what you would want to leave with, with the listeners, what is the your best piece of writing advice from all of this time? So. Jess, why don’t you start? You’re the og.

Jess: Well, I, I definitely wanted to start. For those people who have not been around since the very beginning, you have to understand that it’s really horrifying when people say they go back and like start from the beginning because, um, and we’ll be posting pictures in the show notes.

I have a ton of pictures throughout the years, but we originally, um, we, we would go into this little, I had a tiny, tiny house and we would go into the eve space off of my daughter’s room. And it was raw insulation with a light bulb, and we sat on the floor and it was [00:03:00] like. Maybe at the tallest point, maybe four feet high, so you had to kind of crawl in.

And I have a picture of us, um, podcasting from inside there. And it was, and it was very hot in the summer. It would get very, very hot. My house did not have air conditioning and um. But it was delightful and it was this thing that we had talked about doing for such a long time, and I was so proud of us.

And mainly it was kj. KJ was the one who said, we’re not gonna talk about this anymore, we’re just gonna do it. So she got us into gear and just brought her stuff over to my house in her basket and said, let’s go. Let’s do it. And we bought microphones and everything and it was. It was a big new adventure.

And if you had said, then, how long do you think this is gonna last? I don’t know that I would’ve said 10 years. But there’s, you know, then Sarina came in and, and Sarina has, has been a part of this as a guest since the very beginning too. And a couple of things that I wanted to share were that one time Sarina and KJ and I, uh, were doing a [00:04:00] double, a double header episode and I forgot to hit record for both of them.

And so. We did this incredibly fun, very long episode, broken into two pieces that, um, it went off into the ether and. I did learn from that. And then at the same time, by the time we were sort of on our game enough to be able to really interview people, we went up to Maine to interview Richard Russo and we went to record at his daughter’s wonderful bookstore in Portland, Maine.

And um, I had three modes of recording. I had, um. Two microphones and I had a handheld digital thing that I had on the table between us and, um, mode one failed and mode two failed. And so the only thing we had was, you know, our little digital handheld on the table in between us. So. There’s a lot of stuff like that.

There was the moment I got to text KJ and tell her that we were getting David [00:05:00] Sedaris, there was the day she emailed me to tell me that we were getting Anna Quinlan. You know, and I just so many cool things that, um. It makes me so happy that we’ve produced something good out of all of that. And one last thing.

The, the, the thing that I think I’ve learned the most is there is no one right way to do this. That every single time I hear about, like whether it’s the, you have to write, writer write every day, you have to write every day, or you have to write in a certain way, or you have to write in a certain place, or you have to write with the door closed, or you have to write with the door open, all of those things.

Um, none of those are rules. None of them are rules. They’re things that people do and I’m really glad that I’ve had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people about all the different ways they do it.

Jennie: That’s amazing. Um, kj, do you remember this, uh, light bulb and no insulation time?

KJ: Oh yeah. I don’t remember the time you didn’t record particularly just ‘cause it happened more than once. And [00:06:00] the other thing I would throw in is that the more famous, the guest, the. Less interesting. They were, it was almost

KJ: always true.

Jess: It wasn them. It was, yeah. I think we got all jacked up about like, I don’t know. It just,

Jess: I don’t know.

Wasn David Sari’s advice to young writers was the worst.

KJ: Yeah. It advice really was

Jess: anyone has ever given, it

KJ: was,

Jess: yeah, a writer. He said, don’t submit your work. Don’t ask. Don’t try to get you, wait for people to read it. Wait for people to ask you if they can read it.

KJ: Yeah,

Jess: that’s which this, this is,

KJ: this worked for him. He is an NF one and it will not work for you.

Jess: Right. Yeah, I think that

KJ: my favorite, I’m just gonna, I’m just gonna lay it out there. I’m not even gonna put any caveats on that. That won’t work.

Jess It won’t work.

KJ: No. I think it’s always been the most fun when we get in deep into the craft and anytime someone is too practiced with their answers or it’s the same answer they’ve given a million times.

You’re [00:07:00] right. It was cold and it was, um, it just wasn’t good.

Sarina: Yeah. So the more fun people were always the people who were really in it with us.

KJ: Yeah. Yeah.

Jennie: So, Sarina, do you know when you came in, do you know what the, the n minus number is?

Sarina: No, because I was a guest star even before we got out of the, the, um, kgs closet.

It’s true. It’s true.

KJ: One of those not recorded episodes was recorded in the eve space. That’s true. We had, we roped during fairly early.

Jennie: Yeah. In that 10 years, you’ve probably written more. More than, well, how many books have you written in that time? Sarina, I mean,

Sarina: um, 50. At 50 50 ish.

Jennie: That’s crazy. That’s crazy. So what do you know now that you didn’t know then?

Sarina: Oh, so much, so much that, like giving advice, you know, I, I [00:08:00] now feel like less qualified to give advice than I did then, you know how that goes. Like, the job gets harder, not easier. I have a, a good working vocabulary for why, but it doesn’t make me feel like anybody’s, you know, special savior.

Jennie: Yeah. Yeah. What do you remember about starting in and the, the, um, all these episodes? What sticks in your mind as

Sarina: you know? Um, I loved the opportunity to talk to people who I think are fantastic. I also learned that I am not a fantastic interviewer and that, and that, um. That isn’t a skill of mine that I, it’s, there’s so many things, like I’m so busy, I write so many books.

I can’t learn to be the interviewer that you deserve. So I only. Did interviews selectively and sometimes they were just so fun. Like, [00:09:00] um, the, the person who broke broke the mold about the interview being interesting, the more famous they are was Emily Henry. ‘cause she was Oh yeah. She was fun to talk to.

She was just right there with us and, and ready to have a good time and, and so wise and also so, so nice. And that, that’s really great when you can talk to somebody who’s killing it in your own genre and you know, they’re just so wonderful about it. Um, and then, you know, then we had the odd, very sweaty interview where nothing seems to go according to plan.

And I won’t name the author because I do admire this person very much, but they were not. Willing to take any expertise onto themselves. So KJ and I just sweated all the way through this interview trying to get this person to, to tell us

KJ: Say something. Say anything.

Sarina: Yeah. Tell us how you feel, you know?

KJ: Yeah.

Sarina: And it could not be done.

KJ: Nope.

Sarina: So, you know, that one, I, [00:10:00] I will never re-listened to that one, but, um, but I really, what I got out of it, honestly, was spending time with all of you guys, and you teach me things every single day. And another thing about this job is that I find that I have to relearn the best lessons over and over again.

And when you are compelled to speak lucidly about your job, you know, a couple of times a month, um, it forces a certain reckoning with your own skill and expertise. Like I might say that I, you know, don’t want to be anybody’s, um, masterclass, but I really do know a lot at this point and, um, every time I talk to you guys and we’d, and we gathered together like this, I always learn something.

Jess: I love, I think Sarina is the most amazing explainer and teacher. And so getting to learn, um, especially, you know, in these [00:11:00] recent, uh, nerd Corner Publishing Nerd Corner episodes, it’s been so cool to just learn from her. It’s really, really fun. And, you know, if, if we take it all the way back, like the first, your first romance novels, you know.

We’re just coming out when we just, when we started this thing. It’s just been such an incredible journey from there to where we are now. The other thing that’s been really cool is that this podcast has made me really accountable to my goals and to, you know, not that. You guys also do that for me. But saying things out loud in front of other people has always been my, the thing that has saved me, whether that’s about my recovery or, um, you know, whatever it is.

Um, people talk to me all the time and say, you know, was it hard to come out publicly about, you know, being an alcoholic? I’m like, absolutely not. It’s what’s kept me sober. And I feel the same way about the writing, that when I talk to, um, the listeners that I, I feel like. Someone may [00:12:00] come along someday and ask how that, uh, that goal of mine is going. And, and I like that.

Jennie: Yeah. That’s so good. Kj, what, what are your best memories and, um, best, best advice that you’ve gotten or, or given?

KJ Well, you know, spend 10 years, so it is a long time ago, but I do remember the time Jess was riding her dinosaur to my house to record and got hit by a snowplow. Mm-hmm. Um, that was, that was good times.

Jess: Yep.

KJ: We have Snow Fred Dinosaurs up here. Yep. In New Hampshire. Um, the Sedaris thing that was, that was just funny and also really cool ‘cause I have such deep admiration for, for him, and I’m quite certain that if somehow he ever heard. I, he would not care. We think that was terrible advice.

Jess: What’s also really was really funny about that one is this is an only David Sedera sort of situation where, oh Lord, he, he has said very specifically that he, during COVID, he refused.

To get Zoom, any [00:13:00] kind of zoom sort of situation. So we had to, we went all the way to Concord to,

KJ: this wasn’t Coco COVID, this was before that. No, no, no. I, I know, but I’m saying like, he has, this is not new information. He has said very publicly that he doesn’t do like

Jess: Oh, yeah. So he wouldn’t even, even let us have somebody bring him a laptop to his apartment.Right. And set it up for us, which we were like, happy to do, but

KJ: Yeah. Yeah. We had to go there.

Jess: So he called and yeah, we went to NHPR in Concord and, uh, our, and our wonderful producer Andrew was. Able to get everything connected for us. Um, but it was one of those moments where, you know, we are constantly talking about how to like bend over backwards to get marketing and get people to listen to what we have to say.

And yet, even though he puts obstacles in the path of people who want to hear what he has to say, they will gladly jump through those hoops, uh, for him.

Jess: Yeah. Crazy. Yeah. I mean, you know, so kind of him to do it.

KJ: Yes. Anyway, I mean, that was super funny

Jess: and, and I am looking at my wall that [00:14:00] has the postcard, the thank you postcard that he sent us.

So when he says he sends thank you notes to everyone, he sends thank you notes to everyone because we got one. And from what I understand, he sends them to every bookseller, every person who drives them everywhere. He sends thank you notes to everyone.

Jennie: Wow. That’s what I think of when I think of you, Jess.mThat’s a thing you do too. You’re so good at that. Well, I, I have to say that I have been a listener for this whole time, and the thing that you all brought was. This authenticity, this sense of what it’s really like to do this work. And you all are writing such different things and so accomplished at those things, and your willingness to kind of just open, open it up and share what that looks like with no, you know, varnish over it or, or you know, polished.

Just like, this is what it’s really like and this is who we are and this is how it happens, and [00:15:00] that the work gets done in such. Messy circumstances and, um, that lesson and, and that generosity of showing people that that’s true. Which kind of goes to what you were saying, Jess, like there is no way, but, but also just doing the work is the way and.

That’s what you have all modeled and continue to model, and obviously,

KJ well, that’s what I want people to take away from this. Mm-hmm. Is listen. Okay. We’re joking that 10 years is a long time and 10 years is a long time. It’s a long time to do anything. But also 10 years ago I had one book to my name. And you’ve never heard of it.

It was called Reading with Babies, toddlers, and Twos, and it got me all my other jobs. Jess had no books to her name. Mm-hmm. 10 years ago, Sarina Couple not, you know, just, just, just barely getting started. Jennie actually had a ton of books to her name, but that’s, you know, that’s a different story. So here we were.

10 years ago sat down and said, [00:16:00] we are gonna do these things. And we did not all, I mean, it wasn’t, nobody came and asked us for it. All of David Saris. Um, nobody had, none of us had instant success. You know, no one called up and said, Hey, can I do this? And like immediately got articles in the New Yorker or whatever.

Uh, publishers were not banging down our doors. We. We were banging down theirs and we were all very determined to, um, to make this a professional endeavor. The, the podcast and the writing and the books and all of it. And so I guess what I’m saying is I don’t know where you are listener, but wherever you wanna be in 10 years.

Uh, you know, maybe you won’t get exactly there. I wouldn’t say any of us has gotten exactly there ‘cause we’re not done. But still, we came a long way in 10 years and I would like to see other people, [00:17:00] um, sit down and actually do the thing so you can go to the place.

Jess: That’s been one of the big joys, I think, also of this podcast is seeing other people’s work happen.

Like hearing from listeners that, oh my gosh, I hadn’t started my book. I was trying to get motivated to start my book, and then I created this proposal and now the book is coming out, and that’s, I, I, I just, I can’t, I can hardly wrap my brain around that. Um, it’s been a really amazing progression and the, the group of people that have sort of coalesced around listening to this podcast and getting in, in touch, some of them have become friends and that’s been really amazing too.

Sarina: I hope what some people will take away from this, um, is that very few people who do what we do are truly trained for it. You know, I don’t have an MFAI don’t KJ and just don’t have journalism degrees. They have law degrees instead. But, um, you can, you can [00:18:00] do this on the job training. That’s what we did.

That’s what you listened to us do. And I’m reminded of that, um, quote by El Doctoral. You know, writing a book is like driving at night with the headlights on. You can. You can’t see the whole distance, um, but you can still get to your destination. And there was this Time when KJ and I were debating this quote on this podcast and KJ said, yeah, but the last time we went driving at night, we almost hit a bunny.

And it was true. And I think that what might be the, one of the times I laughed the hardest on this podcast.

Jess: You know, it’s also interesting, I was thinking that, um, you know how I said that there isn’t one way to do things, and even the way that we do things has evolved over time and like Sarina has learned how to, has become a coffee shop writer and has learned how to write in other places.

And I’ve learned how to write in other places and I never used to be able to do that. Um, [00:19:00] so how we get the work done really has. Uh, evolved with the needs of what’s going on around us and what our career needs from us, and, and that’s been really pleasant. Pleasant to watch too.

Jennie: Well, it’s been an honor to listen to you all and to be, uh, working alongside you.

And I am, I’m thrilled to be carrying the show forward. I have lots of big ideas to bring to these episodes To continue to center the writer and the writing and getting the work done in authentic conversations about what it takes, both from a craft perspective and a mindset perspective. So I’ll be reaching out soon for submissions to book Lab because that’s gonna continue with a twist and I will be letting you know about what’s coming. Um, for sure. New episodes with our producer Andrew, who’s stepped out from behind the mic, um, as you heard last week. And I’ll be continuing to coach him forward, which will be really [00:20:00] fun. So lots of good stuff coming and I appreciate your ongoing support and I appreciate.

Getting you to stand on the shoulders of these three incredible writers and entrepreneurs and thinkers and friends, and, um, thank you all.

KJ Thank you. I’m just so glad. Thank you guys to see this, uh, keep going and to become a little bit more of a passenger. I have very much been the driver for the past few years.

Um, Jess had her turn in the, in the driving seat and Sarina said from day one, no, no,

I am buddy, humble guest. So, um, I’m so thrilled that you’re taking over and I am excited to listen when I am not part of it, and to also continue to be part of it. Yay. Thank you guys.

Jennie: Thank you all so, so much.

Hey, why don’t you, uh, why don’t you take us out?

KJ No, no. Jess has to take us out. It’s cool. That’s the tradition.

Jess: Alright. And actually coming up with our, this little bit of the show happened in the eve space, so [00:21:00] it’s a very. Yeah, that’s a sentimental phrase for me too. So until next week, everyone, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.

Jess: The hashtag am writing podcast. Is produced by Andrew Perilla. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output because everyone deserves to be paid for their work.

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