Feeling called to write? Why you should answer ☎️
Today's guest is national bestselling novelist Chelsea Bieker.
Every writer has a story only they can tell.
It’s a simple but profound truth: No one can tell your story the way you can. Still, it’s easy to let outside distractions creep in and cloud that truth. The deluge of conflicting writing advice online, fears about the publishing process, and nagging self-doubt all can make you question the inner voice that’s calling you to write.
You might worry that your writing isn’t strong enough or that your story can’t compete with the countless others vying for readers’ attention. But here’s the thing: writing isn’t about comparison or perfection. It’s a personal, artistic act, and it’s about honoring your perspective and the value it brings to the world.
Trust yourself and your gifts.
If you feel pulled to tell a story, don’t ignore that calling. Trust yourself and your inner voice. Focus on honing your craft, set aside the noise of writing “rules” and industry pressures, and build a creative practice that feels true to you. At the end of the day, what matters most is showing up for your story and telling it with authenticity and heart.
In today’s interview, national bestselling novelist Chelsea Bieker talks about tuning out the noise of the industry, why authors should heed the call to write, and trusting yourself to tell your story only you can tell.
OUR SPECIAL GUEST TODAY IS…
Chelsea Bieker
National Bestselling Novelist
Chelsea’s latest novel, MADWOMAN, is available now!
What is the most memorable writing tip or technique that you have heard, and how did it influence your process?
Every so often someone comes along and speaks the words your soul needs to hear. When I was a baby writer at MacDowell writing my first book, a woman who would become one of my best friends made a comment to me that changed me foundationally. (It's T Kira Madden for anyone wondering.) I was in her cabin, and we were exchanging the intense stories of our lives and she said I should write my story. I remember saying, "yeah, but plenty of people have had it worse than me." And she said, "but no one will tell it the way you can."
This was not obvious to me at that time in my life. I was twenty-six and still working through a ton of "stuff," and hearing this crystalized something for me and gave me permission to write the things I really needed to and share them. It's not a measurement of suffering or whose story is most difficult or whose survival is most heroic. It's simply that the way we tell a story is unique to us, and worthy of telling. She's right. No one can tell the story the way I can, just as no one can tell the story the way she can, and every other writer.
Imagining you have nothing to offer because of your own projections that are most likely false is ultimately depriving people of the healing or joy they might find in your particular work. I really believe that our desires and callings are leading us to our purpose, and we need to heed those calls. If you desire to write, or make art, you better listen.
I love the May Sarton quote: "The gift turned inward, unable to be given, becomes a heavy burden, even sometimes a kind of poison. It is as though the flow of life were backed up." It's very easy to spot people whose gift has turned inward and become poison. I don't think it's ever too late though. My grandmother was a prolific and amazingly talented painter and famously said, "Real life doesn't begin until 40." That was around the time she started painting. I love thinking of her proclaiming that and leaning into her art despite the calls of motherhood and domestic life.
What is one thing you wish you had known about the publishing process before going through it yourself?
This may not be directly addressing your question, but I do want to note that there's more noise about the industry than ever before. There's whole enterprises devoted to helping you write the perfect query letter, and while I appreciate the resource in theory, I think I worry too many writers are outwardly focused when what they need to be doing is writing great books and understanding that just because you finished a novel draft, it does not mean it is ready to be sent to twenty agents.
I think there's something getting lost in the mix and I'm not sure I really know what it is, but I worry that there's been a reversal in some way where writers are not the taste makers anymore, but they should be. The artists need to be creating the scene. But there's such emphasis on being reviewed and all the outward aspects of this game. I don't know how helpful it is. You can have the most beautiful perfected query letter but if the book isn't good...I don't know. I think you really have to cut the noise the best you can to the last possible moment, and of course educate yourself about your career wisely, but not get too wrapped up in the internet clutter about it all. I see way too many Substacks bemoaning the same things. I just would rather put my energy into writing really good books, squirreling away and getting super good at my craft and doing my emotional work to clear the way for that work, and then trusting that I will make wise decisions around the career parts because I'm so in step and unwavering about what I want.
That's not to say I haven't made plenty of missteps. You learn as you go, and we all will have a unique path. I've learned so much from navigating the industry and watching my friends do the same. My biggest advice would be to get your trusted readers and stick together. I've been with my writing group for years. Four of us that truly have each other’s back in a very deep way. I think you need that, those core people you can really share with, and then the rest of the energy needs to go to the work. I trust my writing group to be honest with me, to trust my impulse, to ask the right questions, and to support me in the hard moments, of which are inevitable, but maybe most important of all is that we truly celebrate one another. There is no competitiveness because each of us has elevated to the point of total trust in each other and ourselves, and a rising tide lifts all boats.
How do you balance finding time to write and managing other obligations and responsibilities?
I am very, very clear that being a writer is my purpose on this earth, and so anything that doesn't ultimately align with that will have to be edited. I'm big on taking frequent inventory and editing what isn't working. This is a process without a lot of perfection involved. Sometimes I don't know that something isn't aligned until I'm literally doing that thing and then I know. They key is paying attention and making edits before things get out of control. Everything will want to come in and stomp on your writing time. The only question is will you let it? And I think that question has everything to do with self trust. If I don't trust myself and my callings then I will easily let things impede. If I do trust them and that trust is unshakable, then I can say no to things, I can be boundaried in the way writers must be. I can be patient knowing my efforts are never wasted.
What's one writing "rule" or commonly followed piece of advice that you decidedly break?
I love this question. I think I try to approach everything I do from a place of authenticity. I know that the way I connect with readers has to be on my own terms and has to be done in the way only I can do or else it drains me deeply of creative energy I need for writing, and also is meaningless to my audience. As I was gearing up to put Madwoman out, I considered doing some of the typical Instagram posts (day in the life, desk tour, etc.), and ultimately making those videos didn't feel like me. Not that they can't be awesome to do for someone else, I just could sense that I needed to dig into what excited me, or my promotion and way of connection would never be effective.
I started a Substack because I realized that I craved a way to talk in more depth about the things I really care about, and truly offer something into the void. I've had the Substack for a year now, and it's been a really freeing experience because there's no gatekeeper I have to answer to, it's just me and what I want to say, and a group of really amazing, engaged readers.
I came to peace a long time ago with this idea that even if you are only engaging with ten people, that's actually quite a lot of people. Imagine ten people around your table. That's a full table! Each of those people really, really matters. And so while of course I always want more subscribers and want to reach as many readers as possible, I also can be at peace with slowly growing an audience and really valuing the people who are there. The nature of being online skews our perception of numbers. Like if you were suddenly talking to a crowd of ten thousand people in real life! That's sort of wild. So, a couple thousand people subscribing or following is actually a really special thing, and it's important to remember that. I am a firm believer that if you are making work that is genuine to you, then you can't go wrong, and the right people will find you. You can't try to do something like someone else. We can be inspired by others, of course, but we have to tap into our own instincts most of all.
How do you personally get over writer's block?
I do not experience writer's block in the traditional sense and never have. I know it can seem infuriating and maybe triggering to say that, but I want to be honest in hopes it will expand someone else to realize that writing does not have to be the hard slog we're told it is. That's a story someone told and it caught on because being a tortured writer who talks about the perils of writing is easier than actually sitting down and facing yourself and writing the story you need to write. Be in control of your own stories about yourself! Writing is literally the only place I am completely free and so I revere it as a spiritual act. I de-center myself in the creating knowing that I am listening, I am paying attention, I am receiving and I am dictating. My only job is to get out of the way.
Now, practically, sure, I will come up to places in my manuscript that feel slow moving, or I know I'm not on the right track or I just run out of things I want to happen next. That's my cue to put it aside and get into my body, mediate, do a visualization, go for a walk, read something aligned with my work, watch a film. It's not being stuck though. I love the idea that we need to roll the ball forward a little each day. As long as I've touched the work in some way, even just by thinking about it in an intentional way, that's progress. There are some seasons where I'm writing more than others and that's okay. If you build that trust up then you know you aren't stuck, you're gathering, but I think for a lot of writers that's dangerous. It's simpler to just think, "how will I move this ball forward today?"
Are you a plotter or a pantser? What's your personal drafting process like?
A pantser for sure. I value style a lot and voice reigns supreme for me. So I usually start with a voice and follow that. I also really love plot. I sort of bristle when people are like. “Plot doesn't matter!” What do you mean, plot doesn't matter? Are you telling a story or not? If you are, that's plot, a sequence of interrelated events. If you're following desire, you are creating a plot, a set of circumstances that will ultimately change and transform. So I love thinking about creating a plot that will offer my characters the best, most dramatic stage for their personal transformations and desires and inquiries and heartbreaks and elations to play out.
So I follow voice, but eventually, especially writing suspense, there comes a point where I have to sit down and look at what I've made and engineer the structure and think about what's being revealed when, and how to keep a reader on the line and guessing. I always want my reader to be swept away by the beauty of my writing and also asking, “What's going to happen!?”
Something really concrete I do is identify my "container" early on—essentially, the governing principle of the story by way of a defined time frame. In Godshot it was a nine-month pregnancy. I knew the story would be over at the end of the nine months. With Madwoman, I knew she had the summer to figure things out. The book I'm writing now takes place over the month of October and ends on Halloween. In this way, I have formed a container for the story that holds the present timeline. Of course I swoop in and out of the past and the story covers a lot more than one month, but everything is hanging on that one-month line. I really love that. I think if you don't have a container you can meander forever. I may not know what happens at the end, or how exactly things come together, but it gives me a target to write toward. Tom Perotta has a great essay on this here.
Looking for more writing and publishing tips?
I’ve got you!
📚 Your Complete Guide to Publishing a Book in 2025 (YouTube)
🛟 7 querying hacks that will save you time & energy (X/Twitter)
☠️ The common plot mistakes I see as a developmental editor (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! 🤯
I loved having this conversation, thank you so much, Alyssa!
Man, just came here to say how good it was to read this. I share a lot of the same thoughts as Chelsea and often find those thoughts are not the norm. Good to hear someone else with a similar mindset is so successful. Thanks to you both!