[Paulette Perhach, practical matters]: Setting deadlines for yourself that you’ll actually honor + continuing to dream bigger as a writer Ep 1158

Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley

My guest this week is award-winning journalist and author, Paulette Perhach. Paulett’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, and Slate, among other places, and she’s written two essays that have gone viral, including “A Story of a Fuck-Off Fund,” which was included in the anthology Freshman Year of Life.

Paulette helps others make their way as writers, with her book about writing, called Welcome to the Writer’s Life; her five-time-a-week virtual writing salon that’s called A Very Important Meeting; various online writing classes; and as a one-on-one writing coach.

Fun fact, Paulette keeps a running list of her rejections NOT receive her MFA from Iowa, Columbia or Syracuse.

We covered:

- Balancing being a writing teacher and coach with also being a working writer

- The writer’s software she created as a direct response to having ADHD

- How joining the Peace Corps shaped her as a writer

- Continuing to dream bigger

- What it’s like to have an essay go viral

- The software she developed to help writers get organized

- Her tips and tricks for making sure you do your writing–and more importantly, finish your writing

- How she outsmarts her fear

- The importance of tracking your writing metrics

- The trick to setting deadlines for yourself that you’ll actually honor

- Why Paulette might be the next Weird Al

- The writer’s conference Paulette never misses (I had never heard of it! Meet you there?)

- A rundown of all the writing tools she uses, from software to notebooks

Connect with Paulette at pauletteperhach.com or on Instagram @paulettejperhach.

For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.

Thank you for listening!

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