Your Writing Routine and Your Personality
There are lots of writing tips out there, but knowing what type of writer you are can help guide your entire writing process.
This is the philosophy of Brooke Adams Law, a book coach and publisher, and our guest on today’s episode!
She created a quiz with the sole purpose of identifying the kind of writing personality you have so that you can optimize your writing routine—whether you write slow, fast, a little at a time, or in big chunks.
Listen to learn:
- The benefits of taking an MFA in writing
- The value of a writing routine that matches your personality type
- How to keep writing motivation up over a long period of time
- The difference between hybrid publishing vs. self-publishing
Your Writing Routine and Your Personality
Here’s a sneak peek of today’s episode:
[06:22] I think I spent probably about two or three years, and I ended up with a full draft, and that's when I was like, “I know that I can make this better.”
[08:10] That book wanted to be birthed, and so it sort of kept calling my name until I listened to it.
[12:11] Yeah, it's interesting. Most people are actually turtles, and then I have kind of a smattering of the other folks.
[13:28] And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the steps, but these people are intuitive, super sensitive, and listening, there's something calling their name.
[16:00] And then she just said, “could I just pay you to do that for me?” And I was like, “yeah, you totally could.” And so I proceeded, having absolutely no idea what I was doing, to kind of walk her through this process.
[20:06] But then when I hold the book in my hands, I'm like, “oh my gosh.” And somebody says to me, “this would not exist without you.” It is just really, really meaningful to me.
[21:56] I think with this book, the new book that I'm working on, the thing that has really kept me going is I keep discovering things about it that I didn't know.
[23:08] I could see the whole thing, where each character was gonna end up. The vision was so exciting that I was just—
Links from today’s episode:
Writing Brave writing routine personality quiz
Your Writing Routine and Your Personality: The Resilient Writers Radio Show – Full Episode Transcript
Intro:
Well, hey there, writer. Welcome to the Resilient Writers Radio Show. I'm your host, Rhonda Douglas, and this is the podcast for writers who want to create and sustain a writing life they love. Because—let's face it—the writing life has its ups and downs, and we wanna not just write, but also to be able to enjoy the process so that we'll spend more time with our butt-in-chair getting those words on the page.
This podcast is for writers who love books, and everything that goes into the making of them. For writers who wanna learn and grow in their craft, and improve their writing skills. Writers who want to finish their books, and get them out into the world so their ideal readers can enjoy them, writers who wanna spend more time in that flow state, writers who want to connect with other writers to celebrate and be in community in this crazy roller coaster ride we call “the writing life.” We are resilient writers. We're writing for the rest of our lives, and we're having a good time doing it. So welcome, writer, I'm so glad you're here. Let's jump right into today's show.
Rhonda Douglas:
Well, hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Resilient Writers Radio Show. Today I am here with Brooke Adams Law, and I'm really excited to introduce you to Brooke. So, Brooke is a novelist, a book coach, and a publisher. She is an award-winning author. Her novel Catch Light won the Fairfield Book Prize and was named a best indie book of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews. She was featured on the Good Morning America blog with that book. And she's worked for a long time with writers who are trying to finish their books. We have a lot in common, except she's raising two small kids and I no longer am. So, Brooke, you are a busy woman.
Brooke Adams Law:
A little bit busy, and also it's really fun <laugh>.
Rhonda:
Yeah. Okay. How old are your kids?
Brooke :
They are about to turn seven and four.
Rhonda:
Okay, yeah. Those are still the very active parenting years. My daughter's 29, it's a whole different ball game. She—<laugh>, yeah. I remember those years, but I also never had two. So, Brooke, you also did your MFA. Where'd you do your MFA?
Brooke :
Yeah, so I did my MFA at Fairfield University, which is in Connecticut. And the ironic thing is, I was living in Long Island at the time, which is in New York, but the MFA program that I did is called a “low-residency” program. So you go up twice a year, we would do kind of a retreat-style, 10 days, we'd do class. And then I would literally, I'd work one-on-one with a professor and I mean, we're talking like, I would mail pages in the mail <laugh>.
Rhonda:
Oh. Back in the day.
Brooke:
And I would've to include, you know, a self address envelope for them to mail me feedback back. But the funny thing is then, much later after I had graduated, I moved to Connecticut and I lived right near Fairfield. So, it was really funny because I went there before I lived nearby <laugh>.
Rhonda:
I did a low-residency too. I love that option. Did you have kids when you did it, or no?
Brooke :
I didn't. So, I had to kinda relearn, a bit, how to write when my kids were born. And also, yeah, the low-residency style works so well when you're working.
Rhonda:
And you gotta work to pay the bills to, you know, be able to do the MFA, ‘cause they don't come cheap either. What made you decide to do an MFA? Like, why did you go that route? Because I know a lot of people—I was just talking to someone the other day who's like, wondering, “should I do that?”
Brooke :
Yeah, this is a great question. So, I got to a point where I had finished a draft of my novel, which would eventually become Catch Light. And I was like, “I know that I can do better, but I have no idea how to make it better.” And this was like, 2011? Or, actually no, it was the fall of 2010. I had just gotten married, and we moved for my husband's job, and I was sort of like, “what am I doing with my life?” And I literally came across… I think it was a Gmail ad for the Fairfield University MFA program, and the residencies were held on this island in the Long Island Sound. And I remember I just looked at the pictures and I was like, “that's where I'm supposed to go.”
I didn't apply anywhere else. I applied for the program in November, for the following June. And the director called me, and he was like, “we have a spot open in December, do you wanna come in December?” And I was like, “I guess I'm doing this.” So for me, it was one of those things where I just followed the breadcrumbs, and it was so clear that was the way that I was supposed to go. And also I always tell people like, don't do it unless <laugh> it's the only breadcrumb.
I think there's a lot of ways to write a book, especially now, I think there's a lot of ways to get better at writing your book without spending $30,000. And also, for me, that was just the way. I think I also knew that I wanted to be an author for my whole career. I knew that I didn't have just one book. That was another reason that I really wanted to do it, as I was like, “this is an investment in my entire career as a writer.” But it was still a big decision, as you know.
Rhonda:
I thought, you know, it's… what I wanted was deadlines and feedback. And as you say, like now, there's so many other ways to get deadlines and feedback. But I feel like I didn't know that then, and I've already done several others, so. But it's an expensive—like, there's still 25 grand sitting on credit cards, to witness having done the MFA. And then you were telling me that your novel took a long time. So, talk about that process, and why it took as long as it did.
Brooke :
Yeah, I love this. So, I first had the idea for this book in 2007, and I spent some time… I think I spent probably about two or three years, and I ended up with a full draft, and that's when I was like, “I know that I can make this better.” I went into the MFA, so overall it took me seven years from the time that I first had the idea until I was like, “it's done.”
And I think there's a lot of reasons for that. I think one reason is I had to become the person who could write the version of the book that I was really proud of, and that took time. I think I was kind of developing as a person, as a writer, as I was writing the book. I think another reason is I didn't have all the skills then that I have now. And so that was also part of it, was sort of like, “ooh, like how do I do this?” And then I think another part that I have just had to come to accept is that I take a really long time to write fiction. So, the book I'm working on now, I've been working on it for almost three years, and it's right there. It's still very much in process. And I have just sort of come to accept, like, my process takes a long time. And also, when it's done, I'm really proud of the result. <laugh>
Rhonda:
Right.
Brooke :
Yeah. I've just sort of been accepting that.
Rhonda:
But you must have been tempted at certain points just to toss it, because it's hard to hold the motivation over such a long period of time. So how did you do that?
Brooke :
Yeah, that's a great question. I think part of it is, I wasn't actively working on the book the whole time, right? So, there was a lot of life happening in between. I got married, I moved a couple, I guess maybe just one time in that period, or actually no, two times. So, you know, there were periods where I would put it away for weeks or months at a time and then... but it would keep calling me.
And it was just sort of like, I think it would not rest until it was done. And so that was also helpful. That book wanted to be birthed, and so it sort of kept calling my name until I listened to it. So, I think sometimes finding that topic that you are going to be willing to live with for many months or years, I think is also—part of the process is finding that thing where you're like, “this is it, and I'm going to be committed to this book.”
Rhonda:
Let's talk a little bit about writing routines in the middle of that. What's your writing routine when you're writing actively on a project? And you've got some advice, I'm sure, for other writers in setting up routines, I know, based on personality. I'd love to talk about that.
Brooke :
Oh, yeah. So, I have a quiz on my website, which is about discovering your writing routine personality. And I will say another thing that the quiz sort of tries to get at, is what season of life are you in? Right? The writing process that I had before I had children is very different than the one that I have now. I used to be able to get up, go for a walk, sit down and write for an hour without talking to another human, and that was fantastic for me. And it is just not remotely feasible <laugh> at this stage of my life. Part of it has been being willing to be flexible and to create something that works right in the season of life that you're in based on your commitments and family life and all the other things.
But yes, so my quiz kind of walks people through, you know, there's four personality types. One is the “turtle,” which is what I am. I like to write a little bit every day. And I find, especially when I'm writing fiction, if I'm not in the book every day or almost every day, it's hard for me to kind of hold the thread. For me right now, in this season of my life, my goal is 200 words a day, four or five days a week. And it's like these little bite-sized pieces. And also, I keep the momentum really well that way. Other folks who are my clients are what I call a “sprinter.” So a sprinter is like, I like to sit down, three hours, one day a week, and do a whole chunk. Or some people will schedule a whole day once a month. They like to do a long chunk less often.
I also have folks who are what I call an “appointment keeper,” which is like, either you meet somebody on Zoom or in person, for a regular appointment, and you show up for that appointment and kind of have that writing time with somebody else. Or, I also have folks who are like, “I'm just gonna put it on my calendar.” And at the beginning of the month, they'll literally be like, “what's my work schedule? What's on my calendar? When am I gonna do my writing time?” And they just sort of schedule it, and then they actually show up for it. So, you know, it depends on if you need accountability or not. And then the last segment of folks are what I call a “wild card,” which is, they like to keep their process and their routine really fresh.
So, it looks different, kind of, week to week, month to month. And it sort of flows with when they feel inspired or when they have ideas, they get like a download. I have people put structures in place where there’s space for that time, right? For example, I had a client who—we would meet once a month and talk about her book, and she always had amazing ideas. And so she would block off like two hours after our appointment. And so she would get that. We would have a conversation and then she would write for two hours immediately afterwards. And I have other folks who are a little bit more fluid, but they're able to figure out like, “oh, if I go to this yoga class, a lot of times I have ideas, or if I go on a hike,” right? And so then they kind of loosely schedule writing time after those activities.
Rhonda:
Right. So, do you have a sense, like, on the back end of this quiz, can you tell where most people fall, or the majority of people, or, you know, the ratios?
Brooke :
Yeah, it's interesting. Most people are actually turtles, and then I have kind of a smattering of the other folks. I would say probably about 40 or 50% are turtles. And then I have maybe like 10, 15, 20% are the others.
Rhonda:
Wow. Okay. That surprises me. I would've thought there'd be more sprinters that… I used to refer to it as “bingers” <laugh>. I was always binge writing my way through something. That's really cool. All right. So where can people go to take that quiz?
Brooke :
You can go to my website. Wearewritingbrave.com, and the quiz is right on the homepage.
Rhonda:
Okay. Why that, why “writing brave”?
Brooke :
This idea came to me of like, what my work, not just as a writer, but also as a writing coach, is really about. And it came to me that all the folks that I work with were really kind of interested in this process of going deep, listening to the story that wanted to be told, kind of channelling the book that wanted to be written through them, right? So not so much like, “oh, I'm gonna follow…” like, there are plenty of places that have like a formula for a book or, you know, 12 steps. And the people that come to me are like, “nope, that's not for me.”
And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the steps, but these people are intuitive, super sensitive, and listening, there's something calling their name. And I was seeing the courage that it took for them to not have 12 steps, and just sort of wade into the writing process with some of these intuitive tools. And then, to be able to be surprised by their own work and have it go in a different direction than they were expecting. And I just kept thinking, “it is so brave to have to go in and listen and then follow where the book is leading you.” And so that's where the name of my company came from.
Rhonda:
We are writing brave, wearewritingbrave.com if you wanna do that quiz. Find out what personality you are to help you set up your writing routine. So Brooke, you ended up starting a publishing company, how did that all come about? Tell me a little bit about that, and I'm interested in the origins of it and why you decided to do it.
Brooke :
Yeah, this is a great question. One of my early book clients… I had a business before this, where I was copywriting for folks and I was working with a lot of entrepreneurs. I worked with a lot of life coaches. And as I was sort of pivoting, one of my copywriting clients who, I had written her website, I had written kind of a free lead magnet for her and all these kinds of things, I told her that I was book coaching and she was like, “oh my gosh, I have a book in me.” She wrote this book called Not Alone: A Parent's Handbook to Navigating Mental Illness. And it's all about her experience with her daughter, who I think was 17 at the time, and basically went through a period of psychosis, and it took them a really long time to get a diagnosis.
She was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and is now doing really well. But my client was like, “I wanna write this book for parents who are going through this because there's not a lot of resources, and the resources that are out there are just really depressing and dark stories.”
And she was like, “I needed to kind of walk people through like what they could do to support themselves and their child going through this.” So in any case, we worked together on writing that book, and she was like, “okay, I'm gonna self-publish. So like, ooh, what do I do?” And I remember I was literally like, “oh, well you're just gonna get a copy editor, and then you're gonna hire a graphic designer, and then you're gonna…” I basically named 10 steps, and she was like, “ugh—”
Rhonda:
Overwhelm. Overwhelm.
Brooke :
Yeah. And then she just said, “could I just pay you to do that for me?” And I was like, “yeah, you totally could.” And so I proceeded, having absolutely no idea what I was doing, to kind of walk her through this process. I was like, “oh, this is what hybrid publishing basically is.” I was very upfront with her. I was basically like, “I'm gonna charge you a really low rate because I'm learning this process and that's sort of what you'll get out of it, is a very discounted rate.”
And we walked through and published her book. And now, we are about to come out with our fourth book. It's called Writing Brave Press. I actually work—a lot of folks are coaches, or have a business, and then also we're about to do a book that's very different, which is—the author is a physician, she's an oncologist.
The first time we talked she said, “I've been writing down for 15 years, quotes that my patients say to me, that just stop me short in the exam room. Do you think we could make a book of this?” She sent over the quotes to me, and I was like, “yeah, I think this is a book.” That one is like a hardcover, gift-style book, and it has illustrations. It's sort of like, I've got these two groups of clients which are entrepreneurs or people who have a book for their business, and then for this other client, she really said to me, “you know, publishing this book would just be a lifelong dream come true. And also a promise kept,” she said, “I've been promising my patients for 15 years that I would publish their words.” So, that's sort of how her book came about.
Rhonda:
Wow. Okay. And so, for those who aren't aware, what is the difference between self-publishing and hybrid publishing?
Brooke :
Yeah, so, they're very similar, and hybrid publishing essentially is, you are paying a professional team to produce your book. You are paying somebody like my company, Writing Brave Press, to handle all the details for you. We project manage the book. We have a graphic designer, we have a copy editor, right? We kind of walk through, we purchase the ISBNs, and we register your copyright. We kind of do all that stuff.
Rhonda:
The metadata.
Brooke :
Exactly.
Rhonda:
All the fun stuff.
Brooke :
So, what I say to people is, with self-publishing versus hybrid publishing, you can either invest your time. With self-publishing, you're investing your own time in learning the process and figuring out how to do it, or you can pay somebody else to do it, so you don't have to spend all the time doing it. And I will say too that there's kind of two camps of hybrid publishers. Some use a print on-demand company like Ingram Spark or Amazon KDP, which is what self-publishing authors are using. And others will do a print run where you're printing a whole bunch of books and then warehousing them, and all that stuff.
I've done both, and there's pros and cons to both of them, but the other thing that's important to know is with hybrid publishing, at least with most hybrid publishers, including mine, you as the author retain the rights to the book as you would if you were self-publishing. And also with my company, you also keep all of the profits, as you would with self-publishing. So you pay a flat fee for us to produce the book, then you're truly—
Rhonda:
Paying for services, basically.
Brooke :
Exactly. We don't take our royalty. Some hybrid publishers do. But normally you would receive a higher royalty if you're hybrid publishing than with a traditional house.
Rhonda:
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Wow. Okay. That sounds rewarding. You know, the ability to work all the way through with a client on a book, and then see it out in the world.
Brooke :
And it is, I think, sometimes on those days where I'm getting calls, and the printer's like, “we need another file again!” And I'm like, “oh my gosh, why am I doing this?” But then when I hold the book in my hands, I'm like, “oh my gosh.” And somebody says to me, “this would not exist without you.” It is just really, really meaningful to me.
Rhonda:
And you're still getting your own work done in there. You're still getting your 200 words a day. Is that why you keep the numbers relatively low, like 200 words? It feels so doable. Is that why you keep it low? ‘Cause you have so much else going on with kids and business and the whole thing?
Brooke :
Yeah, I have so much else going on. And also, for whatever reason, my fiction comes through very slowly. It just does. Recently I was writing an essay, and I sat down and I wrote like 1500 words in, I don't know, 10 or 15 minutes, and it just came really fast. And for whatever reason, my fiction, it is just like, I get a little window of it at a time. I think if I had more time and space it might come through more. But because there's a lot going on, I keep it really low.
Rhonda:
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And what are the tactics, I guess, or techniques that you use to stay with it? You know, because I would think… I'm a different writer. I'm more of a sprinter in your world. I do a couple of hours and then a couple of hours. How do you stay with it over such a long period of time, and kind of keep the picture of the book in your head? Like, tell me a little bit more about your process when you're laying down, you know, 800 to a thousand words a week, and so the book could take you a year, year and a half.
Brooke :
Years <laugh>. Yeah. I think with this book, the new book that I'm working on, the thing that has really kept me going is I keep discovering things about it that I didn't know. And that feels really exciting to me. I'm a very intuitive writer. I have tried to plan ahead, and then nothing I plan kind of comes to fruition. I sort of follow where it goes.
And then… I just had an instance where, I have a new writing partner, and we met, and I gave her two different versions of my first chapter. And she really liked the newer version that I had done, and I was basically like, “oh my gosh, if I go in this new direction,” you know, it would change almost every page of the book. And I basically would be starting a new draft from the beginning, and I was like, “do I really wanna do this?”
I was driving home from our meeting, and I turned on the music that I listen to when I'm writing, and I was just driving, and all of a sudden I could see the entire book from start to finish. And like, all the things that were gonna stay the same, all the things that were gonna be different, I could see the entire climax, which I had been really wrestling with for a long time. I could see the whole thing, where each character was gonna end up. The vision was so exciting that I was just—
Rhonda:
You have to like, stop, put on the brakes, pull off to the side of the road, write it all down <laugh>.
Brooke :
Yeah! So I got where I was going and I hand wrote like 11 pages of notes and that turned into the outline. Which, I had been wanting to write a proper outline for like, a year or two years, and I could finally see the entire thing. I think for me, it's sort of that process of discovery just feels so much more exciting than anything I could think of with my conscious brain, that that's sort of what keeps me going.
Rhonda:
Okay. All right. So you don't lose interest partway-through and wanna go off on a new shiny idea? You don't have shiny idea syndrome?
Brooke :
I have had shiny idea syndrome in the past. I have started other books, and then been like, “oh, but now I have this other idea.” And then what I realized is, I get shiny idea syndrome when the book I'm working on is at kind of a pivotal place. And that's usually for me, is that it's really messy. I don't know what it's about. I feel like I can't see it, and I'm just like, “what is happening?”
And what I've found is if I stay in that place—I actually teach this tool in my mastermind, I call it toggling—I toggle between the big picture, like, I sort of revisit the outline and the plan that I do have, which is very loose. And then I'll go in and write a few chapters, and then I pull back. And if I keep going in and out of the big picture and then the closeup picture, eventually I find my way through that messy patch. And if I stick with it, I always get really excited again. So it sort of goes through, it ebbs and flows, but if I hang in there…
Rhonda:
Yeah, so you're at that stage where you know yourself well enough to know that if you're experiencing some kind of shiny new idea, it's probably your brain just fleeing the uncertainty of the current draft.
Brooke :
Absolutely.
Rhonda:
Awesome. Great. Brooke, it was so nice talking to you. I know we're gonna stay connected. I'm really, really excited about this quiz. So, wearewritingbrave.com, and people can just get an understanding of how their personality might guide their writing routine. I think that's really exciting. So wearewritingbrave.com, head there to do Brooke’s quiz. And Brooke, I'm hoping we're gonna stay connected and talk to you soon.
Brooke :
Absolutely. Thank you.
Rhonda:
Thank you.
Outro:
Thanks so much for hanging out with me today and for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of the Resilient Writers Radio Show. While you're here, I would really appreciate it if you'd consider leaving a rating and review of the show. You can do that in whatever app you're using to listen to the show right now, and it just takes a few minutes. Your ratings and reviews tell the podcast algorithm gods that “yes, this is a great show. Definitely recommend it to other writers.” And that will help us reach new listeners who might need a boost in their writing lives today as well. So please take a moment and leave a review. I'd really appreciate it, and I promise to read every single one. Thank you so much.
