Feed your story, even when you're not writing 🍎

Today's guest is author Erin Cotter.

Every writer’s process is a balance.

Between finishing that first draft and managing life’s obligations, writing demands flexibility and self-compassion. Some days, the words flow effortlessly. On others, simply showing up is an achievement. Ultimately, the creative journey is unpredictable, often requiring patience and a willingness to adapt.

Creativity rarely follows a schedule.

Progress isn’t about hitting a daily word count or adhering to rigid plans—it’s about staying engaged with your story in meaningful ways. For some, that might mean dictating dialogue during a commute or journaling through a tough scene. Whatever the method, and whatever the outcome, the goal remains the same: to keep the story alive and begging for your attention.

In today’s interview, author Erin Cotter shares how she embraces uneven strides, the tricks that keep her writing, and why leaving room for discovery ensures the magic of writing never fades.

---

OUR SPECIAL GUEST TODAY IS…

Erin Cotter

Author

Erin’s latest novel, A TRAITOROUS HEART, is available now!

Set in the scandalous French court, this bisexual The Three Musketeers by way of Bridgerton and F.T. Lukens follows a noblewoman who finds herself under the dangerous and watchful eye of the Parisian royalty when she falls in love with the handsome king who is betrothed to her former lover.

Find Erin on Instagram @erinseaotter for book updates, behind-the-scenes insights, and more!

What is one thing you wish you had known about the publishing process before going through it yourself?

I wish I had known how many mind tricks I’d have to play on myself to keep writing! I’m sure I’m not the only writer who occasionally likes the idea of writing more than doing the work itself. If I’m struggling to get my words in, I’ll do word sprints, change my font, pretend I’m writing someone’s else’s book, start dictating my book into my notes app on a walk, etc. And I’ll never hesitate to use my very favorite trick—taking a break and coming back to the keyboard minutes (or days!) later.

Bonus second answer—now that I’m writing full time, I’ve found that I really miss having a reason to leave the house. Leaving the house gave me a time stamp on when I needed to get things done by, and a day job built that in that deadline when I had one. I’ve since joined a very cheap gym with classes, and I’ll use the class time as the deadline on my tasks for the day.

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

Create a logline/pitch/query letter for your book before you start drafting it. I’d heard this advice over and over, and for a long time it felt like pandering at best and disingenuous at worst. It felt like I was being encouraged to reduce my big, beautiful idea to a handful of key words most likely to catch someone’s eye. But then, there I was, lost in pantsing my way through a new project, out of my usual tools to help me stay focused, so I decided to give this a shot.

And. . . it worked! Writing a quick pitch helped me re-identify what the conflict and stakes in my book were and I was able to keep drafting. I really didn’t expect writing marketing copy to unstick me, but it did, and it’s a technique I’ll still use when I get really hit a wall.

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

So I know “write every day” gets a lot of push back (for extremely valid reasons!) so I’m cautiously going to be That Person and say writing every day is good, actually. Okay wait, put down the pitch forks! When I say write every day what I mean is think about your story every day whether you’re able to write or not. Spend time with it, feed it little crumbs, even if you can’t get any words down, to keep it alive and screaming for your attention. Have an idea for a scene but you’re commuting? Use the voice-to-text function in the notes app to get it down. See a weird looking bird? What would your protagonist think about it? Wait, would your protagonist even notice it? Little thought exercises like these count as writing because it’s you exploring your story and its world. In my experience, it’s easier to stay writing when I stay thinking about my ideas.

How do you balance finding time to write and managing other obligations and responsibilities?

I feel there’s never a glamorous answer to this question because managing time is inherently unglamorous. Answers to this question also have the fun effect of making people feel in inadequate (because one writer swears by their planner, but unfortunately, you want to set every planner you see on fire) or suspicious (beware the married parent who says it’s just as easy as closing a door and typing away for an hour; sounds to me like a big unacknowledged part of their time management strategy is outsourcing childcare or household labor) or somewhere in between.

All this to say—I think we end up with a lot of negative feelings when it comes to time management and writing, so I recommend staying kind to yourself instead of practicing new time management techniques. The easiest way to be kind to yourself is to stay flexible with your daily or weekly writing goals and don’t let one measure of progress become your only target for success. Let’s say you manage to write a thousand words a day for a week; you’re flying, it feels amazing. And then. . . BAM! There’s a big project due in your day job, and it’s all hands-on deck. It would be easy to feel guilty for not being able to write a thousand words for a day, and then one day becomes three, and now you’re beating yourself up over it and wondering if you really can finish your draft. Don’t let uneven progress get you down—progress is still progress. Success in balancing writing with life might need to look different every week, and that’s okay and normal.

How do you personally get over writer's block?

I have a few different techniques. One of my favorites is to simply jump to the very next scene with nothing but a “TK finish up here” between the two. 99% of the time, it turns out the scene I was stuck on didn’t need to be there at all in the next draft. I use a “TK” to mark this stuck moment to myself so I can control and find all the TKs in my manuscript when I’m ready to circle back to them.

Another go-to (and often I’ll use it with the TK method) is to stop writing the scene and start journaling my thoughts and feelings about it. Why do I think I’m stuck? What do I think is tripping me up, and how am I feeling about it? Journaling mid-scene almost always reveals that I’m unsure something that happened earlier in the story, and I might need to go back and address that before I can unlock the scene I’m currently stuck in. I’ll be honest with you—switching to journaling has never, ever failed to cure me of writer’s block, even if it reveals something unpleasant. (Ie, like I thought maybe the hero’s love confession was the problem, but it turns out the problem is his entire character arc.) Journaling forces me to stop and take a step back before I start yanking my hair out. And before you ask, OF COURSE I count this journaling as part of my work count for the session! I highly recommend you do as well, to boost the ol’ ego!

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

I’m a plotter, but I’ve pantsed before. It was the only way I could motivate myself to finish a book when I was starting out! If I stopped writing to plot too much, I would get bogged down with “what ifs” and indecision and my motivation would dwindle. The more experienced I got, the more I became a plotter for a few different reasons.

One, after your first book deal, a lot of traditional publishers will make an offer on a book proposal rather than a full manuscript. Usually the proposal includes the first fifty-ish pages and a synopsis of a book’s entire plot. When my publisher bought my second book, only those first fifty pages were written so it was up to me to write the rest! The synopsis I already had was an invaluable outline when I started writing. The second reason was time management related. Trying to plot out an entire book before I started writing it let me know if I had a book-length idea, or if I needed to come up with more story or move forward a different concept.

Before I start drafting now, I’ll always have a synopsis with me, and I’ll expand that synopsis into a detailed outline before I write. This doesn’t mean I don’t get stuck anymore, or everything feels dead and wooden because I’ve already imagined it. On the contrary, as I’m drafting, I’ll usually find ways to change my story to make it even stronger; things I never would’ve stumbled upon if I hadn’t been drafting. Creating an outline and then leaving it behind for something new that excites me and feels just so right is one of the most magical parts of writing for me!

---

Looking for more writing and publishing tips?

I’ve got you!

❌ 9 Mistakes You're Probably Making in the First 10 Pages (YouTube)

💪 A simple but powerful template to define your story’s core (X/Twitter)

📑 First drafts are meant to be messy (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! 🤯