Read more

This matters because writers work so hard to build interest — to get people curious about what they create. Yet, there is this delicate moment when a reader discovers your work, and is curious to dig deeper. And what if what they find is broad, vague, and (dare I say) forgettable? The descriptions of what you write could be about nearly anything, for nearly anyone.

You lose the opportunity you worked so hard to create.

Today I want to talk about the three biggest mistakes I see writers making when talking about what they write. Along the way, I will provide advice for how to nail the messaging, so that it doesn’t feel broad, vague, or forgettable. To where you become that person who feels clarity in your message, where you can dive into specifics, and open up loads of ideas that engage others. Let’s dig in…

If Your Audience is Everyone, How Do You Attract Anyone?

I understand that what you create could potentially engage anyone. That your work is not limited by demographic, interest, or situation. That is what I truly love about writing and art — its ability to connect across any perceived boundary or category.

But my concern is that if you want your message heard, and you begin by trying to engage too broad of an audience, that you may fail anyone. Why? I’ve heard versions of this phrase for decades: “When your work is for everyone, then it is for no one.”

This is not meant to limit potential, your work may eventually reach and engage absolutely everyone. But I encourage you to consider engaging a core audience first — those who will seed word of mouth marketing, and who truly love what you create. Craft a more specific view of your ideal reader.

The person who will sit in the front row at your signings. Who will be first on line to have your book signed. Who will gush to their friends about your work. Who will post reviews about your books. Who will be there when you say, “Hi readers, I was wondering if you could do me a favor for my next book…”

Who is that person most likely to read your book in one sitting? To gush about it to their friends? To post a review without being asked? To not miss the chance to meet you if you hold an author event close to them?

These are your ideal readers, not just a casual reader. Ask yourself, what is it that attracts these ideal readers to the stories you tell, or the work you create? On a deeper level, how does your work tie into themes and experiences that matter to them? Does it validate or challenge? Does it speak to their biggest dreams, or their worst fears?

How to start thinking about your ideal reader so that your messaging attracts them? Fill in the blanks in this sentence:

“My ideal reader obsesses about ___(theme)____ because it reminds them of ____(belief, value, experience)_____. It taps into a needs or desire they have to embrace stories of _____(situation or symbol)____. It explores a deep fear they have, which sometimes keeps them up at night of _______. If they met me at an author signing, this is likely what they would would say: __________.”

What am I not asking about here? Basic demographics. Vague interests. Generic ways to describe the kind of writing readers enjoy. To me, this feels vague: “My ideal reader is a woman 18 to 80 who loves learning, and is engrossed by richly crafted narratives.”

There are many versions of the 'fill-in-the-blanks’ sentence above. And here is one example of how it could be written:

“My ideal reader was drawn to my novels because they obsess about identity — how it changes over time, and if we have any agency in the process. Are we merely the products of how we were raised? They love reading about characters trapped between two worlds, and how harrowing it can feel to reject one identity in order to embrace another — perhaps one that feels more authentic to who they are. My books inspire them to not just root for my protagonist, but reminds them that one is never trapped, even when things seem most dire. Their authentic self can always shine through. If they met me at an author signing, I expect they may first talk about the choice my character had to make at the end of the first book. But after that, I find they often tell me a story from their life, or a friend, who made a polarizing choice to break free from an oppressive situation, and in the process, found who they really are. Sometimes these conversations end up in tears.”

When I work with writers around a book launch, to grow their newsletters, get more speaking engagements, or increase sign ups to events or services they run, we consider what messaging encourages people to take action. To not be mildly interested, but to actually click “buy,” “subscribe,” or “register now.” And to me, it always rests on the very human things. The stuff that touches our hearts and speaks to our biggest desires or fears. Which is to say: don’t be afraid to go deeper.

If You Use Vague Messaging, How Does a Reader Become Deeply Engaged?

My biggest fear in how one talks about what they write is that they are too vague. Their descriptions includes lists of words, all with equal weight. There is no priority of what this is and is not, instead it tries to be all things:

“It’s a heartwarming story of love and family, or finding who we are, of becoming the best version of ourselves, and enjoying the journey even amidst challenges. It’s about finding way to thrive, to embrace acceptance, to appreciate the small moments, and understand that happiness is possible, even amidst healing and heartbreak, and where trust is a bond that brings us together, even when other things try to keep us apart. It’s about the magic of coincidence, the imperative to love, the encouragement to go for it, and about trusting what is in your heart.”

Now, every phrase in there is one that is positive, which is why it is so tempting to say, “Ooooh, I like that. That does describe an aspect of my writing.”

But it all feels positive and hopeful, so the author doesn’t see how they are using so many words, and being incredibly vague along the way. They aren’t making polarizing choices to create a priority of how to think about how one can talk about their book.

If I added up all of the phrases in the example above, it comes to 14:

1. love

2. family

3. finding who we are

4. becoming the best version of ourselves,

5. enjoying the journey even amidst challenges

6. finding way to thrive

7. embrace acceptance

8. appreciate the small moments

9. understand that happiness is possible, even amidst healing and heartbreak

10. where trust is a bond that brings us together, even when other things try to keep us apart

11. the magic of coincidence

12. the imperative to love

13. the encouragement to go for it

14. trusting what is in your heart

Is it any wonder that others can’t describe an author’s writing succinctly enough to tell a friend about it? If you want word-of-mouth marketing, write a great book. Then, give people ways to talk about it that are consistent and resonant.

The example above is extreme, and I don’t blame anyone for falling into this trap. But I want to highlight it, because of negative outcomes:

• Always feeling like you are grasping at straws to describe what you write.

• Using way too much creative energy again and again to describe your work from scratch.

• Offloading the work of understanding what you write to the reader.

We live in a world of options and distraction. Being clear about honing the language you use to describe your writing helps cut through that. Vague phrases that sound positive don’t stand out as they once did, especially if you change them all the time. “I write about hope,” or “I write about finding purpose,” could benefit from context. From testing and honing the language that you know grabs a reader’s attention, or speaks to their desires or challenges.

Imagine if you spent years becoming a chef, and your lifelong dream was to open a restaurant that showcases the unique vision you have for your cooking style. Is this how you would design the restaurant?

While there are scenarios, maybe in isolated areas along a highway where after driving for miles, people desperately want any kind of food, this sign and (in my opinion) generic design says nothing to indicate the kind of experience this restaurant offers.

It’s food in a vaguely modern, vaguely neutral, vaguely pleasant setting. Is that enough sometimes? Yep. But does it represent your creative vision? Likely not. Does it empower your ideal readers to spread word of mouth marketing? Definitely not.

When I’m working with a writer, this is something we spend quite a bit of time on, and come back to again and again: how do we work through the best way to describe what they create, why their ideal readers will love it, and do so in a manner that can truly stand out. It is not an easy task.

To do this for yourself, consider it not as a tagline, but a conversation. Brainstorm different ways you imagine what an ideal reader may say to you if they loved your book. What words/phrases would they use? What stories would they tell? This turns the exercise into focusing on human experiences that truly engage, not just keywords that sound nice for a tagline or search engine optimization.

If The Language You Use Keeps Changing, How Does Anyone Know What You are About Or How to Recommend Your Work?

If you have no consistency in how you talk about what you write, why it is engaging, what inspires you, then I worry it all becomes forgettable. Why? Because you are giving your ideal readers too much work to know how to describe what you create.

I know, no one wants to feel like their work is whittled down to a simple repeatable tagline. No one wants to feel like their work is the same as thousands of others in a carefully defined topic or genre. I grew up as an artist and have been around writers and artists my entire life. I get it.

But if you have no consistency in your messaging then you are constantly giving yourself so much work to come up with what you write, reinventing the wheel again and again. This also offloads that work to the reader, where they are left to figure it out. This does a disservice to your goals. You want to make it easy for people to easily understand what you create and why it may be engaging. Where they can readily tell others about it without struggling.

No one wants to be shoved into a box, or feel like they are parroting the same phrases again and again. I’m not asking you to do that. But if you had a consistent way to talk about what you wrote and why, and used that as a solid foundation to work from, could that help you, help your readers, and give you a stable place to expand from?

I think this is also the area that can require a lot of bravery for a writer. Where it may take time to hone the language, to find that it begins to engage readers, and where you really dive deep, expanding upon what you create and how you talk about it. Where you eschew trends that give you quick ‘likes’ online, in order to really build a solid foundation for how to describe what you create and why it matters. Where you aren’t just copying a copy of a copy, because that seems like a “best practice,” or you saw someone else go viral with it.

Let’s go back to the example above, of the very vague description of one’s book:

“It’s a heartwarming story of love and family, or finding who we are, of becoming the best version of ourselves, and enjoying the journey even amidst challenges. It’s about finding way to thrive, to embrace acceptance, to appreciate the small moments, and understand that happiness is possible, even amidst healing and heartbreak, and where trust is a bond that brings us together, even when other things try to keep us apart. It’s about the magic of coincidence, the imperative to love, the encouragement to go for it, and about trusting what is in your heart.”

What if a writer describes their book that way on one day, then another day they are talking to a friend who says, “I love stories about commitment and redemption.” The same author would be tempted to say. “Oh, that is what my book is TOTALLY about.” Even though those two words (commitment and redemption) don’t appear at all in the longer description above.

To start, I would encourage you to do this: find three phrases to describe what you write. Just three. Yes, you can brainstorm dozens, even hundreds of possible phrases. But then experiment with them. Whittle them down by saying them aloud, mentioning them in sentences, in your newsletters or social media posts, and by asking friends, librarians, booksellers, and readers.

Over time, you will likely realize that there are a handful of phrases that focus your ideal readers in a manner you hope, and authentically describe what you write and why.

And this will take time. Give yourself grace in the process. If you learn one small thing about your ideal readers each week, that is a massive win. The goal is not to figure this out in an afternoon. Give yourself a season, “By the end of summer, I want to feel more clear about how I describe my writing in a manner that engages my ideal readers.”

I wrote about this topic recently from another angle back in April: When you know how to talk about your writing, everything opens up.

If you want to explore working with me, there are two ways I collaborate with writers and creators:

• One-on-one consulting

• My Creative Shift Mastermind. The next session begins July 6, 2026. Register now!

Recent videos available to my paid Substack subscribers:

• Navigating the next phase of your creative life: Honoring your journey and charting a new path (12 minutes)

• The difficult questions writers face about success: And the inspiring answers...(15 minutes)

• Your creative work is worthy of time and attention: On honoring your creative goals and setting clear boundaries to protect them (9 minutes)

As always, thank you so much for being here with me.

-Dan

Kids of the Week: Picking out books and movies at the library. He’s become obsessed with the movie Spirited Away:

They started reading Harry Potter in school, and he asked for his own copy:

Not sure if this is everywhere or just our town, but “squishies” are all the rage with 3rd graders. His collection:

As always, thank you so much for being here with me.
-Dan

Read more

Today I want to explore a few things:

• Celebrating who you are — right now — as a writer or creator.

• Letting go of creative aspirations that no longer serve you, or which hold you back.

• Remembering what fuels you to create, and returning to that well of inspiration.

To do this honestly, I’m going to go way back. This is me around 1990, in my high school days:

Yes, my hair was longer, ridiculously curly, and cut in what I guess I would call new wave surfer style: short on the sides, long on the top.

It’s fun to see what inspired me at the time: surfing, music, and film. Here is one wall of my bedroom:

Included are album covers from: The Cure (my favorite band at the time), They Might Be Giants, REM, New Order, Batman soundtrack, Dead Milkmen, and the Violent Femmes.

And here is the wall next to it:

On this wall we see: Albert Einstein, Margo Timmins from the Cowboy Junkies, Depeche Mode, Ian McCulloch from Echo & the Bunnymen, Sherilyn Fenn from Twin Peaks, Walt Disney, Johnny Rotten, Winona Ryder, and of course, more of The Cure.

It’s fun to compare the room to how it looked a couple years earlier, still decorated in my childhood Star Wars theme:

This was my first car, a 1973 VW Beetle:

It’s fun to see how silly I was at the time:

Here I am with my dad in the backyard:

And really, this is when I became a writer. Here is my favorite class ever: Creative Writing with Ms. Adams. I loooooooooooved this class, and it really opened up something for me that continues to this day. I’m fourth from the left. Ms. Adams is to my right in the white shirt.

At age 5, I began going to art classes, and by high school I was experimenting with photography, poetry, music, and so many other creative areas. I spent years after working on film projects, making pop-up books, creating sculptures, playing in bands, and so much else. I drew a cartoon for my college paper, and became a radio DJ there just as grunge was breaking on college radio, which was an amazing thing to be a part of. I later published my own fanzine where I interviewed dozens of my favorite bands. Along the way, I surrounded myself with creative friends of all types.

I experimented to see where my creative energy could take me, and it was in my twenties that I truly began to focus solely on writing. The centerpiece for me is this weekly email newsletter I’ve written for more than twenty years. What I love most about it is pushing myself creatively, to the point where it scares me. I’m nervous to publish these photos which have sat quietly in albums for decades. I think that is always a good sign — to be a bit more honest, to dig a bit deeper, and simply see where that leads.

For each of us, I think we can reflect on the many phases we have been through. How our creative vision may have remained or shifted. How expectations we have for ourselves may have formed decades ago, and never let go. How that can be like a fire that doesn’t go out — keeping our spirits alive. Or become a reminder that we can’t seem to live up to a long-outdated expectation.

Can you let go of previous expectations you had about what you create or assumptions about what success needs to look like?

Can you give yourself space to explore and grow as the person you are now?

The other day I noticed an open door to another room in the building I work. There was a guy who worked in this space for years, then retired. I remember seeing where his desk and filing cabinets were at the time. And now, they are imprinted on the floor, like a tattoo:

You can see where the furniture was (clean) and where he sat and moved around (discolored.) Even though he no longer occupies this space, there is a shadow of his presence. The thousands of hours he spent in this room, in these exact spots.

The shadows that prove we were here are not just in the dust on the floor, or even the creative work we leave behind. We remain in the stories and ideas we share, and how we connect on a human level with those we meet.

In the past couple of years, there are two themes I keep coming back to in my writing:

• You are a creative force.

• You have agency.

If you feel distant to the creative force you were when younger, I want to remind you that you still are a creative force.

If you worry you have less agency in your creative life today because of how the world has changed, or how much responsibility you have in life, I want to remind you that you still have agency to forge a creative path that is meaningful to you.

If you worry that the world is more complex and crowded than ever, I have empathy for that. This was an interesting video essay I just watched on that topic, which references Cory Doctorow’s now famous phrase: “enshitification.” He came up with the term years ago, and I just realized he recently published a book on the topic. What he describes is why things on the internet have been getting worse, and what we can do about it.

Back in 2013, a random stroke of luck had me eating lunch with Cory Doctorow, Stephanie Anderson, and Rachel Fershleiser in NYC:

It was a conversation centered on books, reading, libraries, interaction, and community.

The lunch was completely unplanned and unbelievably amazing. I had spoken on a panel at a conference with Rachel and Stephanie, and asked if they wanted to skip the conference provided box lunch to get some real food outside the venue. As we were deciding where to go, Cory was near us on the street, so I said something nice to him about his presentation. As we chatted, we invited him to lunch, and were thrilled when he decided to join us.

This moment was such a reminder to be present. To focus on strengthening the connections to those around you. To take risks to make connections with other people.

You do have a choice in this process. I appreciate how talks about AI, and he shared a post this week about how to decide when to use AI, and when to stay human. His conclusion:

“A lot of the problem is going to come down to us... AI is different because the technology is general enough that virtually any cognitive task can be offloaded into it to some degree... But we don’t want to give up everything, and that we mostly don’t know yet, for any specific task, what is important and what is not. Deciding that is going to be a real challenge... The most important thing we can do is keep asking what to hand over and what to keep for ourselves… and not expect anyone, including the AI, to answer that for us.”

When I look back at the photo above of my high school creative writing class, I’m reminded of the best compliment I have ever received in my life. The guy towards the right in the black jacket is named Joe. Towards the end of the year, we each did a big project for creative writing, and our teacher gave us a lot of leeway. I went overboard, creating book made out of sheet metal and wood, with two dozen original black and white photos and a book-length poem. Joe looked through it, and in a really calm voice simply said, “No matter what you do in life, you will be successful.”

His words in that brief moment always stayed with me. He didn’t have to say them, he could have just said “Cool.” But I never forgot how generous he was. Thank you Joe.

And at age 53, I am reminded that this same potential lives in me for anything I choose to create. And in you.

In the comments below: tell me about who you are, who you were, and what you hope for your own creative aspirations.

If you want to explore working with me, there are two ways I collaborate with writers and creators:

• One-on-one consulting

• My Creative Shift Mastermind. The next session begins July 6, 2026. Register now!

Recent videos available to my paid Substack subscribers:

• The difficult questions writers face about success: And the inspiring answers... (15 minutes)

• Your creative work is worthy of time and attention: On honoring your creative goals and setting clear boundaries to protect them (9 minutes)

• Your 2026 social media strategy: Time for a refresh (10 minutes)

As always, thank you so much for being here with me.

-Dan

Kids of the Week: Balloon sword fights:

His latest drawing at his art desk:

As always, thank you so much for being here with me.
-Dan

Read more

I will start with a story I have been think about this week, then share advice that some incredible people have posted recently: , , and , along with some of my own thoughts. I highly recommend you subscribe to each of their newsletters.

Let’s dig in…

Failure, Failure, Failure, Success

If you are of a certain age, you may remember the groundbreaking 1985 music video for the song Take on Me, by A-ha:

The backstory of this song is a wonderful guide as to why writers and creators should never give up, and that how you share your work can be a creative part of engaging your ideal readers.

As a 12 year old, I remember watching this video endlessly on Friday Night Videos and MTV, amazed at how they did it. The song, of course, became one of the anthems of the 1980s. If you haven’t seen it, the video blends sketches with live action in a harrowing 4 minute love story:

Looking back, it would be easily to conclude that things were better all those years ago: record a great song + make a great video = success.

But that wasn’t the case at all.

This song failed again and again and again — for years — before it became a hit. A version of the song was first released in 1981, in an earlier band that featured two members of what would later become A-ha. The band was called Bridges, and the song, Miss Eerie. The lyrics, I believe are completely different:

The song never went anywhere. The next version of the song can be heard in this 1982 demo, this time featuring A-ha singer Morten Harket:

This demo served its purpose, attracting interest to get the band signed. But it is still not nearly as powerful as the final version of the song, and missing the lyrics “take on me” entirely.

But it got the band a record deal, a proper recording in a studio, and even a music video. Finally, we hear the song we all know and love! Um, not quite. This alternate version of the song and video were released in 1984, and flopped:

At the time, their management thought they had the perfect combination: a catchy synth-pop song, with a singer who looked like a movie star. But the song’s production washed out much of what they initially loved about the song.

Someone in the US division of their record label heard the song, and wanted to give it a second chance. So they had the band re-record/remix the song, and did a 2nd release of it in early 1985. This is the version of the song we all know and love.

But that underperformed too.

The label commissioned a new video, inspired by this short film by Michael Patterson, who ended up being involved in the production of A-ha’s video:

Then, finally, later in 1985 with the now-famous video released, and MTV’s influence, the song became a hit, and a classic.

Success can seem so obvious after the fact, but it nearly always has a long journey to get there. What I take from this story is this: believe in your writing. Be the person who champions it and connects it with readers. Celebrate successes and lessons along the way, and keep identifying new ways to bring your work to new readers.

In trying to get this song to reach people, they invested in artistry and expanded what this idea could become.

I’m reminded of my interview with on how hard she works to get her books to continue to sell, you can listen to it here: How to get people to buy your book. I remember Jess telling me something like, “Even if you have sold thousands of books, 99% of the people who may appreciate it have still never heard of it.” That gave her motivation to keep finding new and compelling ways to connect her work to new readers.

Recently three people I admire shared some compelling essays about how writers can engage their readership. I want to highlight them below…

“Authors play a bigger role in sales and marketing than most of them realize”

shared this incredible post: What Actually Sells Books. Some highlights:

“…authors don’t always understand how difficult it is to sell books, and many authors believe that getting their book written and published is the hardest and heaviest lift. Of course, it’s not. The hardest and heaviest lift is the sales and marketing, which is driven by many factors.”

“Authors play a bigger role in sales and marketing than most of them realize, or want to. Publishers have (or should have) a role in getting the books out in the world, and many/most have sales and marketing strategies in place, but publishers aren’t always transparent with authors about what they can and can’t do.”

“It’s not the case—and it’s never been the case—that you publish the book and the readers will come. Instead, there are many factors at play that together are combined into some recipe that drives book sales and that make a book “work,” as we say in the industry.”

You can read Brooke’s entire post here, where she shares compelling examples and advice. I encourage you to subscribe to her if you don’t already.

“Three things every author must do”

shared her own reaction to Brooke’s post: 3 Things Every Author Must Do. She offers three primary suggestions:

1. “Authors must know how to pitch their books.”

2. “Authors must know their audience.”

3. “Authors must understand audience development.”

She shared specific advice for each of these, and why each is so important. Her advice is great, and it covers areas that I tend to obsess about.

You can read Kathleen’s entire post here, and I encourage you to subscribe to her if you don’t already.

11 things one author is doing for their 6th book, that they have never done before

shared two posts that outline activities she is doing for the launch of her new novel Alan Opts Out, which is her sixth book. You can read Part 1 and Part 2. Here is the list:

• “I’m not doing an author headshot.”

• “I’m prioritizing teaching over selling.”

• “Avoiding air travel whenever possible.”

• “I’m not doing the personal essay tour of duty.”

• “I’m actively decreasing my follower count on Instagram.”

• “I’ve abandoned the idea (and pressure) of selling my next book on a partial before ALAN OPTS OUT hits bookstands.”

• “When it comes to self-promotion, I’m going to bat for all my books, not just for my new novel.”

• “I’m outsourcing #Booktok content to a professional.”

• “I’m not choosing exhaustion.”

• “I’m watchdogging my writing time like my life depends on it.”

• “I’m choosing one thing I want for my new book that is possible to achieve.”

You can read both posts here and here, and I highly recommend you subscribe to Courtney if you don’t already.

Show Up, and Never Give Up

I was chatting with my friend this week, and she shared something intriguing. Her new book, Draw Your Adventures, was recently featured in the New York Times and Condé Nast Traveler:

Amazing, right? So how many additional books do you think would have sold because of these media mentions?

While we don’t know exact numbers, based on the data she has, she is estimating around 150 additional books sold. I mean, even if we simply double that to account for sales that can’t easily be tracked, let’s say 300 books — is that higher or lower than you expected?

What I consider is this: it would be easy for someone to justify, “I’m not marketing my own book, not doing a newsletter, not seeking out podcast appearances, not doing social media. I’m seeking out big wins from established media — THAT is how my book will reach the masses.”

And if that is your choice, I 100% support it. We each get to choose our own path.

But what I consider is if this lines up to your expectations. And even more than that: can this experience be easily replicated? Meaning: how likely are you to get two media mentions like this again, how soon, and how frequently?

Of course, having the book featured in these publications will have a long tail effect that is impossible to measure. That it put the book on the radar of someone who won’t buy it for six months, or who will recommend it to a friend to buy, or will simply make people aware of Sam’s work, and they will buy a different book of hers.

The benefits are myriad, and Sam is of course, soooooo grateful.

It also makes me wonder how much of Sam’s efforts to share on Instagram and Substack (subscribe to her!) are part of what may have encouraged a publication to feature her book. Sam shows up every day with her art and writing, shares her process on Instagram, and so much else in her newsletter. She does lots of online and in-person events, plus so much else.

It’s easy for me to see how passionate she is about her work, and how she provides her ideal readers so many ways into it.

This makes me consider the advice of Brooke, Kathleen, and Courtney above, and how they are each recommending sustainable ways to help ensure you can reach your readers over time, and feel a sense of agency in the process.

If you want to explore working with me, there are two ways I collaborate with writers and creators:

• One-on-one consulting

• My Creative Shift Mastermind

Recent videos available to my paid Substack subscribers:

• Your creative work is worthy of time and attention: On honoring your creative goals and setting clear boundaries to protect them (9 minutes)

• Your 2026 social media strategy: Time for a refresh (10 minutes)

• You are the best advocate for your writing: Show people what you’ve got, with passion and joy (10 minutes)

As always, thank you so much for being here with me.
-Dan

Kids of the Week: Our younger son redid his desk as an artist’s desk, and has been drawing for an hour every night before bed:

A work in progress:

Drawing his dream house:

Read more

How do you want to feel on September 1st, as it relates to your creative goals? What would love to have accomplished or learned before the summer is over? How do you want to feel on December 31st?

This can align to many areas of your creative life: writing, publishing & sharing, audience growth & engagement, as well as business/revenue goals that relate to your creative work.

These are my concerns of skipping a mid-year check in:

• Life is busy, it’s not hard to forget entirely about mid or long term goals because we are so busy reacting to the external needs of others.

• Focusing so much on daily responsibilities and routines can have us lose sight of our larger creative goals.

• Assuming we will have more time/attention/energy/resources later on. We just happen to be in a busy season now, but are certain that we won’t be so busy in the future.

• Missing out on small incremental growth and progress because we are delaying for the “right time,” which rarely comes.

• Not recognizing and celebrating the progress we have made, and using that motivation to encourage sustained growth.

Today I want to walk you through how to do a mid-year creative check in, to ensure you feel 100% aligned with your creative intentions. I would love if you shared with me in the comments:

1. How are you doing so far this year with your creative goals?

2. How can I help? What topics would you like to see me cover in his newsletter?

Let’s dig in…

Create or Revisit Your Clarity Cards

Clarity Cards are a simple 5-step process to find more time and energy to make writing a priority in your life. I first created this more than 15 years ago, and have taken thousands of writers and artists through the process.

Clarity Cards are the foundation for setting milestones and goals that will truly move your creative work forward. Most writers I speak to struggle to find the time and energy to write amidst so many other responsibilities and distractions. Clarity Cards solves that.

The result of Clarity Cards is to provide you with a clear sense of what to focus on first, and how it will lead you to the milestones and goals that matter most to you. What you will end up with is a pyramid of 10 prioritized cards that will help you feel focused and make clear decisions to find more time and energy to write and share your work.

At the end of the 5-step process, they look like this:

It is 100% free, you can download the entire process in this 10-page PDF:

If you have done Clarity Cards in the past, I suggestion revisit them. I find this process is useful when you do it once a year, or even once a quarter.

You can also view this hourlong workshop where I walk through the Clarity Card process and show examples:

Make Tiny Changes That Lead to Big Growth

So much of this work is about challenging our own assumptions and being brave enough to prioritize goals that others may not yet see the value in. These may be aspirations that you will not receive immediate validation on.

When someone you love (or even mildly like) asks for something, it’s easy to justify their request as a priority. You are fulfilling their need, perhaps feeling a deeper sense of connection to them, and living up to your own values.

For example: “Jen asked for help with the bake sale, and even though I have three other volunteering projects, two young kids, a full-time job, am helping my parents move, and am prepping for my own knee surgery, I may be seen as a self-involved person if I didn’t help with the bake sale. But, I’m the kind of person I want my friends to be able to count on. I’m saying yes to helping with the bake sale, and I’ll just work on my novel when things calm down. Now, where is that recipe for cupcakes?”

I imagine we have all been here at many times in our lives. Where we put our creative goals to the side because — someone, somewhere — could use assistance with something. To turn them down would fill us with guilt, so we set put their mildest calls for help ahead of our biggest creative goals.

A mid-year check-in and Clarity Cards are meant to help you consider how you will end this year with a sense of deep fulfillment. Will some of those cards include important responsibilities and aspect of who you are outside of your creative work? Definitely! But could one card include your writing or creative goals? Possibly, if you want.

Clarity Cards aren’t just meant to be a feel-good exercise, they are meant to be a tool that helps you define your intentions for the week, organize your calendar, and consider where you put your time and energy.

Are there very simple changes you can make to your routine? Or new habits to start? For instance, perhaps you want to start writing again after a long break, and you remember how years ago, you had a wonderful writing practice of 45 minutes per day. But now, you are overwhelmed by life and time is short. Consider if it is possible to develop a three minute writing practice to start. Not as an end goal, but as a way to get some words down on paper, and to fill your mind with ideas that your writing explores. Over a couple of weeks, could you possibly double that to six minutes?

Recently, author, poet, and essayist reflected on her own experiences using Clarity Cards":

“What I like about Dan’s exercise is that it asks you really commit in a visual way to what your top priorities are, instead of just listing all the things you want to work on. The exercise of figuring out what item is at the top of my pyramid truly was clarifying… My most recent round showed me that some of the things I’ve been worrying about and putting work into . . . do not really matter to me that much.”

Her posts are also worth checking out.

A Personal Check-In

As I considered all of this for myself, I’m reflecting on some intentions I have for this year:

1. I want to be writing more. While I do write and publish a 1,500-2,500 word essay each week, I also want to revisit the next book (or two) that I’m working on and re-establish my writing routine for them.

2. I’ve written previously (here and here) about my goal of watching more movies this year. I just finished my 125th film so far in 2026. The routine I have set has brought more relaxation and joy to my life, so I’m just noting that this process is working as intended. Somehow, watching nearly a movie a day has become a consistent part of my life, and I love it.

3. A year ago, I made a radical shift to my health routines, changing what I eat and when, and upping my workout from once a week to six days a week. On the one-year anniversary of this, I did an assessment of progress and goals, and made adjustments to my meal plan, and doubled my daily workout to around 60 minutes a day, most days. I have never felt healthier, and I’m grateful for that.

4. Our older son is 15, and we are increasingly aware that we have another two years of him living at home full-time. I have been considering experiences we want to have as a family, before he goes to college. That said, so many friends with older kids have expressed to me how wonderful the years are once they go to college and beyond. So I’m not freaking out about this, just trying to be mindful of how special this time is.

Please share with me in the comments:

1. How are you doing so far this year with your creative goals?

2. How can I help? What topics would you like to see me cover in his newsletter?

If you want to explore working with me, there are two ways I collaborate with writers and creators:

• One-on-one consulting

• My Creative Shift Mastermind

Recent videos available to my paid Substack subscribers:

• Your 2026 social media strategy: Time for a refresh (10 minutes)

• You are the best advocate for your writing: Show people what you’ve got, with passion and joy (10 minutes)

• How to develop a literacy of your ideal readers: Knowing what engages your ideal readers may be easier than you think (14 minutes)

As always, thank you so much for being here with me.

-Dan

Kids of the Week: he started Tae Kwon Do lessons!

Deciding if this is the next song he wants to learn to play:

As always, thank you for being here with me.
-Dan

Read more

• There is a treadmill of content creation that they have to get on.

• The things that work are the things they don’t want to do.

• The algorithm has overtaken so much of what they see when they browse social media, and why …

Read more

Read more

• Publishing a book, and beyond a couple of social media posts about it, they share nothing else. They may justify, …

Read more

As always, thank you for being here with me.
-Dan

Read more

The goal? To understand your ideal readers as real human beings. To know what engages them, where they congregate, the communi…

Read more

A…

Read more

You are not a laggard.

You aren’t doing it wrong.

You aren’t less qualified than everyone else.

You didn’t start too late.

You will not embarrass yourself if you try. Or try again. Or try harder. Or try differently.

Your progress isn’t slower than everyone else.

You are not wildly off course.

When it comes to your writing a…

Read more

…

Read more

If you hope people read what you write, buy your books, subscribe to yo…

Read more

Thank you for being here with me.
-Dan

Read more

Suddenly, so many things become possible:

• Conversations with potential readers open up

• Connections with like-minded people are forged

• Their sense of public identity feels grounded

• They…

Read more