In this special bonus episode of ‘So You Want to Be a Writer,' Valerie is joined by her original podcast co-host Allison Tait in a live-streamed event celebrating 20 years of the Australian Writer Centre. Together, they discuss important topics for all writers – including goal-setting, overcoming writing obstacles, and structuring one's writing career. They also reflect on their own writing journeys, give writing tips, and offer valuable advice on managing impostor syndrome, planning writing schedules, understanding genre requirements and MORE!
You can listen to the episode below, on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or add the podcast RSS feed manually to your favourite podcast app.
00:00 Welcome
02:24 Reunion with original co-host A.L.Tait.
08:55 Writing Roadmap: Setting Goals and Overcoming Obstacles
19:00 Giving yourself writing rewards
21:44 Overcoming common obstacles
26:46 The importance of discipline in writing
31:04 Networking and community in writing
34:41 Understanding your genre
37:15 The role of revision in writing
41:54 Flexibility and pivoting in writing
48:48 Q&A session
52:53 Final thoughts
Links mentioned in this episode
Writer in residence: Al Tait
Allison Tait (A.L. Tait) is the internationally published bestselling author of middle-grade adventure series The Mapmaker Chronicles, the Ateban Cipher novels, and the Maven & Reeve Mysteries.
A multi-genre writer, creative writing teacher and speaker with many years’ experience in magazines, newspapers and online publishing, Allison is co-host of the top-rating ‘Your Kid’s Next Read' podcast and former co-host of the ‘So You Want To Be A Writer' podcast.
She lives on the south coast of NSW (Australia) with her family.
Follow Al on Twitter and Instagram.
This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre and our course Creative Writing 1.
Find out more about your host, Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo on Twitter and @valeriekhoo on Instagram).




