Embracing your creative rhythm 🥁

Today's guest is author Erika Swyler.

The writing process is rarely linear.

Creativity doesn’t always happen at the keyboard; thinking, reading other works, and even stepping away from a project can be just as valuable as the moments spent physically drafting. What’s important is finding what rejuvenates and inspires you—and leaning into it.

Every writer’s process is unique, and uniquely messy.

Whether it’s by ruthlessly trimming the excess to find the story’s heart or embracing playfulness to break through blocks, every writer develops their own approach. Reframing what it means to “practice writing” can preserve the joy of the work and keep creativity alive. Embrace experimentation, let go of perfection, and allow your approach to grow alongside your story.

In today’s interview, author Erika Swyler explains how she balances flexibility with discipline, why she embraces non-linear drafting, and the advice that taught her to cut to the heart of her work.

---

OUR SPECIAL GUEST TODAY IS…

Erika Swyler

Nationally Bestselling Author

Erika’s latest novel, WE LIVED ON THE HORIZON, is available now!

What is the most memorable writing tip or technique that you have heard, and how did it influence your process?

That old editing trick of “half as long” has stuck with me since I first heard it—likely in the film adaptation of A River Runs Through It. When I was a kid, my dad would help me edit essays, and always pushed for shorter, more directness, more clarity, often literally half as long. I’m verbose, so this harsh editing technique is helpful. I’ll write it fast and sloppy, then cut until I find the core. Overall that trick has made me less precious about words in the sense that every word can and should go until it proves itself essential.

What's one writing "rule" or commonly followed piece of advice that you decidedly break?

Write every day. I can’t write every day; not when I need to think. Do I read every day? Absolutely. Do I think about a project every day? Without fail. But to stare at the blank page for hours when it’s clear that I need to be doing something else takes the love out the work. I’ve reframed what I think of as my writing practice. There’s thinking and reading, then there’s time at the keyboard. Making a habit is good, but if the habit kills the joy, it’s time to let it go.

How do you personally get over writer's block?

Blocks are natural, but it’s helpful for me to think of them as pauses. When I write, I move around a lot, I change the spaces I write in and hop from project to project. I think trying to preserve a sense of play about the work is helpful. It’s also good for me to approach it from a physical angle. I think of being stuck as being like a cramp—I’ve got to stretch. Sometimes that’s going to look like focusing on an entirely different activity, like sketching, for days at a time. Sometimes that’s turning to a different project. I try to hold on to the knowledge that I will come back to the project, I just need to work another muscle group.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? What's your personal drafting process like?

I’m somewhere in between. I’m a non-linear writer, so a strict outline is impossible for me to follow. I do like to know three points in a story before I really dive in, one in each third of the novel. As drafting goes on, those things move around as the structure demands. My process is long and chaotic. I do a lot by hand, some by typewriter, some on the computer, and collect it all in a big messy document. I go through many drafts before even thinking of showing anyone. I might keep only ten percent of a first draft, and slowly increase that percentage as drafts pile up. I tend to keep chapters in a document as separate sections that I can slide around to figure out structure and pacing as I go. That last beat of a novel sometimes winds up as the first. I’m open to wild revisions and experimentation, because that’s both the fun part of the work and the place where I have the most power over the experience of it. Eventually the shape and words lock into place and feel right.

How did you get your literary agent? What was the querying process like for you?

I did a lot of old-fashioned querying by mail when it was still a thing, and email submission forms. Back then it was standard practice to search through big guidebooks of agents, agencies and markets. I focused on agents who represented what I wrote and seemed new enough to be building their lists, yet established enough that we wouldn’t both be learning on the fly. I queried for about a year or longer and only got one bite, which turned into a pass. It’s brutal. Every rejection feels personal, though it isn’t, and most queries don’t get beyond sitting in someone’s inbox—there are just too many.

During that time, I was aggressively submitting short fiction, and eventually Michelle Brower reached out to me after reading and liking a short story. She’d been on my query list. We hit it off and I loved her suggestions. It’s been a creative partnership from there. My best thought on querying is that agents are seeking writers just as much as writers are seeking agents, and they’re looking for ways to see your work first. Publishing work was my most direct route to being agented and selling a novel.

---

Looking for more writing and publishing tips?

I’ve got you!

🏆 Top Trending Book Genres for 2025 (YouTube)

✍️ Picking the perfect title (X/Twitter)

📚 4 publishing predictions this year (Reels)

Follow me on X/Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok for daily bite-sized tips. 🍪

Want the whole meal? Check out my full library of 300+ in-depth writing and publishing lessons on YouTube. That’s 40+ hours of totally free content waiting for you! 🤯