The Keep Writing Podcast

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Christianity
**The Keep Writing Podcast**

The author of five books, Nika Maples is a writer, speaker, and lupus and stroke survivor who loves to help Christian writers conquer what’s holding them back so they can finish, publish, and market their amazing books.

Latest Episodes:

74: The Myth of Readiness May 31, 2021

Show notes

You should write before you’re ready.

People think that they are “supposed to feel ready” before they begin a challenge.

That is the Readiness Myth.

It’s a myth because it is through completing a challenge that you become the person who is ready for it.

It’s crazy but true.

The challenge itself makes you into exactly who you thought you were supposed to be before you started.

Readiness comes afterward, not before.

What am I getting at, here?

Well, you’ve been wanting to write a book for a long time. In fact, you have been thinking about it a lot since last year, haven’t you?

So why isn’t it finished twelve months later?

Because you’ve believed the Readiness Myth.

Listen to the full episode to learn more …

The post 74: The Myth of Readiness appeared first on Nika Maples.

73: When You Are Confused May 28, 2021

Show notes

There is a phrase I hear a lot from my book coaching clients. They say, “I am so confused.”

My answer is simple: What if there is no right answer to your question?

See, every writer wants to know “this or that.”

Should I write this topic or that topic first?

Should I use this style or that style?

Should I purchase this writing program or that writing program?

Should I go to this writing conference or that writing conference?

Should I self publish or traditionally publish?

Should I approach this literary agent or that agent?

No wonder new writers feel so confused! There are so many decisions to make. That is why I always say that writers must learn to be very good decision makers.

Here is the VERY BEST advice I can give to any new writer, and this is what I do myself. It is what has taken my career to greater heights and helped me be more productive.

Are you ready?

Just pick one thing.
Make it work.
Don’t switch.

That’s it. When it comes to writing, the RIGHT ANSWER is the one you MAKE RIGHT by making it work. The way you make it work is by deciding to stay at it long enough that it has a CHANCE to work.

Listen to the full episode to learn more …

The post 73: When You Are Confused appeared first on Nika Maples.

72: When You Are Stuck May 26, 2021

Show notes

I love my nieces and their friends.

I pray for them every day, asking the Lord to make them strong-hearted and devoted to Him, free from the bondage of comparison.

Because I know how painful comparison can be.

My guess is that you do too.

Comparison gets us nowhere fast. Because when we are looking to the right and left, we are not looking straight ahead, and when we aren’t looking straight ahead, we will likely run off the road or crash.

So what do we do when we are stuck in comparison?

Listen to the full episode to learn more …

The post 72: When You Are Stuck appeared first on Nika Maples.

71: When You Don’t Have Enough Time May 24, 2021

Show notes

When book coaching clients tell me that they don’t have enough time to write, my answer is simple: What if that is okay?

Let’s get real. On the face of things, we all know we are lying to ourselves a little bit when we say we don’t have enough time. Because time is the only thing that is equal for everyone. God decided to give everyone the same amount within every day. We all get 24 hours to work with. They are like Lego building blocks.

Anyone can make what they want to with their hours.

But I know what my clients are trying to say. They have a lot of things on their to-do list, and once they pencil in the essentials, there isn’t any margin for writing their book.

Listen to the full episode to learn more …

The post 71: When You Don’t Have Enough Time appeared first on Nika Maples.

70: 3 Secrets to Feeling Accepted May 21, 2021

Show notes

Writers, we have to start by asking ourselves whose job it is to love us.

It is not your publisher’s job to love you.

It is not your literary agent’s job to love you.

It is not your reader’s job to love you.

It is not your friends’ job to love you.

It is not your family’s job to love you.

Whaaat?

You may have just balked on the last two. I had you nodding and rolling along, but then then you came to a screeching halt.

Let’s go over what I mean by “job.” A job is something that, if someone doesn’t do it, it won’t get done. Now look back at the last two items on the list and ask yourself some deep questions.

Is it possible that you have given your friends and family a job that is not their job? If they do not love you (in the specific way that you like to experience being loved) is the job not going to be done? Will you not feel loved at all if they don’t do it?

I want to suggest to you that it isyourjob to love you. If you love you, then the job will ALWAYS be done. Loving yourself looks like accepting yourself.

Listen to the rest of this podcast to learn more.

The post 70: 3 Secrets to Feeling Accepted appeared first on Nika Maples.

69: The Hardest Thing About Writing a Book May 19, 2021

Show notes

Most people struggle with indecision. "Deciding" is the hardest thing about writing a book. That is why I have tried to become good at decision-making.

That doesn’t mean that I am a robot, completely controlled by God. But it means that I can be a disciple, who has surrendered control to God. What does that look like in real life?

I make one decision and stick to it. I NEVER second-guess. I never second-guess because I trust that God can make any decision a good decision when it has been surrendered to Him. If Romans 8:28 is true, if “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” then there is no such thing as a bad decision. Because if we make our decisions as well as we know how in the moment, we can trust Him to redeem each one of them.

That means, even the “bad” ones become good in the end.

Listen to the rest of this episode to learn more.

The post 69: The Hardest Thing About Writing a Book appeared first on Nika Maples.

68: What If God Is Inviting You to Play May 17, 2021

Show notes

A lot of writers tell me that God has called them to write, but they feel unworthy. The feeling of unworthiness keeps them stuck, never moving forward.

Here is a new way to think about it. Maybe God is inviting you to come out and play. It has nothing to do with worthiness and everything to do with Who He is.

Listen to the rest of the episode to find out more.

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