writing advice – Page 3 – Jeffe Kennedy Blog

First Cup of Coffee – October 16, 2023

Jeffe Kennedy / October 16, 2023 / Blog, Podcast

Why being selfish is good, refilling the well, and other thoughts on the variety of people who listen to this podcast, why Cats & New Mexico Weather is a thing. Re-reading DEERSKIN and realizing not everything must move the plot forward.

First Cup of Coffee – September 4, 2023

Jeffe Kennedy / September 4, 2023 / Blog, Podcast

About “rules” – on publishing and on creating worlds and magic systems – and how to know when to ignore what other people have to say. Also, the perils of being clever: just… don’t.

First Cup of Coffee – August 7, 2023

Jeffe Kennedy / August 7, 2023 / Blog, Podcast

My bizarre story about mistaken identity and the revelation it gave me on how we talk to each other and – most importantly – how writers communicate with agents. Also, highly recommend the Willamette Writers Conference!

First Cup of Coffee – June 9, 2023

Jeffe Kennedy / June 9, 2023 / Blog, Podcast

A round-up of what I’ve been reading lately, including several excursions from my normal reading. I’m thinking about female/femme narratives and how we center those (or don’t) in terms of stories about men.

First Cup of Coffee – May 8, 2023

Jeffe Kennedy / May 8, 2023 / Blog, Podcast

A bit of advice on how Patreon works, about my meeting with Graphic Audio and how fantasy words like “Cosmere” become part of the industry lingo, and some <> thoughts on the medical establishment and obesity.

One Piece of Advice for Aspiring Authors

Jeffe Kennedy / April 26, 2023 / Blog, Podcast

Just in case anyone missed the news: ROGUE FAMILIAR is now out and available in ebook and print from all of your favorite retailers! The audiobook is coming, but probably won’t be out for a few weeks. Because I ran late on this book, I lost my time slot with my narrator, the fabulous Deborah Balm. She has the manuscript, but has not yet started recording. I’ll keep you all updated on that!

This week at the SFF Seven, we’re offering one piece of advice for aspiring writers.

It’s funny because we were just discussing my favorite piece of advice for ALL writers on my mentoring and coaching Discord. This is shaping up to be a really fun community of authors at all levels. You can get there by joining my Patreon. At any rate, in the General Writing Advice channel of the most basic Patreon level – Community Member – one of the gals said that this piece of advice is “one of my favorite Jeffe Mantras.” I love that! We may even make a special emoji to denote this mantra, as it’s a recurring point of discussion.

So, what is it?

Figure out what your process is and own it.

See, the point is that every single creator has the0ir own creative process. It’s as individual as retinal patterns. While it can be helpful to take classes on writing processes and techniques, to learn from other authors, in the end we all find that our process is unique to us. I’ve seen SO MANY writers struggle to change their process and try to “make it be” something or other, to no avail. The whole point of learning various techniques is to triangulate on what works for you. It can be a long and iterative process, but that’s the “magic formula.” Figure out what your process is and own it. Don’t try to make your process be something other than what it is, even if you are occasionally frustrated by it. (I often am by mine!)

Like learning to love yourself, learn to embrace your process. Own it. It’s yours.