1,061 episodes

Finding the Throughline: Conversations about the Creative Process invites you into the minds of writers and other creatives as they open up about their process, their doubts, and what kinds of changes they’re thinking about making. The questions are mildly invasive, honestly, and the answers are unvarnished…and so refreshing! 
Whether your creative work is writing, painting, making music, parenting, or simply living, Finding the Throughline can help you get—and stay—inspired. Invigorated, even. 
For detailed show notes on each interview, visit katehanley.substack.com. And if you’d like to hear these interviews in one ad-free episode (as opposed to broken up into three shorter episodes with a few ads sprinkled in to keep the lights on), become a paid subscriber once you’re there.
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Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley Kate Hanley

    • Education
    • 4.7 • 102 Ratings

Finding the Throughline: Conversations about the Creative Process invites you into the minds of writers and other creatives as they open up about their process, their doubts, and what kinds of changes they’re thinking about making. The questions are mildly invasive, honestly, and the answers are unvarnished…and so refreshing! 
Whether your creative work is writing, painting, making music, parenting, or simply living, Finding the Throughline can help you get—and stay—inspired. Invigorated, even. 
For detailed show notes on each interview, visit katehanley.substack.com. And if you’d like to hear these interviews in one ad-free episode (as opposed to broken up into three shorter episodes with a few ads sprinkled in to keep the lights on), become a paid subscriber once you’re there.
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    [Antonia Angress, inner stuff]: Throwing away the work that isn’t working + adapting to the public speaking side of being a writer

    [Antonia Angress, inner stuff]: Throwing away the work that isn’t working + adapting to the public speaking side of being a writer

    In this episode I'm talking with Antonia about the squishier side of creativity–the thoughts, ideas, and attitudes that affect your work, even if you're not fully conscious of it, including:
    - The part of the writing process that Antonia relishes
    - The specific point in the book-writing process where Antonia focuses on making her sentences pretty
    - How she only kept “a few paragraphs” from the first draft of her second novel (!!)
    - Adapting to the public speaking portion of being a writer
    - The thing her graduate school professor told her when she was halfway through writing her first novel and having a crisis of confidence
    - The two things that can happen after her inner critic has told her the stuff she’s writing is no good
    - How she views her first novel, looking back
    - The “toxic narrative” about how you have to suffer for your art
    - Continually working to be OK with resting (especially as an about-to-be mother)
    - Antonia’s plug for therapy
    For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
    Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value).
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 19 min
    [Antonia Angress, Practical Matters]: The self-doubt that never goes away, and how to keep writing despite it

    [Antonia Angress, Practical Matters]: The self-doubt that never goes away, and how to keep writing despite it

    This week I am talking to writer Antonia Angress. Antonia is the author of "Sirens & Muses," which starts off as a campus novel set at a New England art school, but then blooms into an exploration of the intersection of home and belonging versus individualism and seeking to stand out, set in the New York City art scene during the Occupy Wall Street era.
    "Sirens & Muses" was named one of the best books of the year by Glamour Magazine and won the Minnesota Book Award, and Antonia was recently named one of the NEA's 2024 Creative Writing Fellows. I loved the book and I love that I get to ask Antonia my list of mildly invasive questions about why and how she does her particular creative work.
    We covered:
    - The advice she gives about the stuff you write that you end up deleting
    - The fact that publishing a book “really doesn’t change your life”
    - The importance of that feeling of being alone with your work
    - The daily writing goal that keeps Antonia going (spoiler: it’s very small)
    - How she manages her ‘internet junk food’ diet
    - The practice that gets her ready to write
    - What motivational phrase is on the Post-It note above her computer
    For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
    Big thanks to our sponsor, AirDoctorPro. Use promo code KATE at airdoctorpro.com to save up to $300 off an air purifier and receive a free 3-year warranty (an $87 value).
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 21 min
    [Daisy Alpert Florin, what’s coming up]: “I really do feel that having done the work of raising kids that now really anything is possible for me.”

    [Daisy Alpert Florin, what’s coming up]: “I really do feel that having done the work of raising kids that now really anything is possible for me.”

    In this final part of my interview with Daisy Alpert Florin, author of My Last Innocent Year, we peek at what’s coming around the bend for her and I get her answers to my fast five questions.
    We talked about:
    The mega pop star who makes Daisy “want to get back to the page”
    Daisy’s role models who show her how to “just keep getting up and keep going”
    The benefits of being a mom to teenagers
    The song by said mega pop star that gets Daisy riled up (in a good way)
    The hardest question of them all–what meal would you have if someone said they’d make or order anything you want (it involves lots and lots of grease)
    For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
    Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 14 min
    [Daisy Alpert Florin, inner stuff]: “Cloaking yourself” in fiction + getting over the idea that you don’t have the right pedigree

    [Daisy Alpert Florin, inner stuff]: “Cloaking yourself” in fiction + getting over the idea that you don’t have the right pedigree

    In today’s portion of my interview with Daisy Alpert Florin, author of My Last Innocent Year, we talk about the mindset side of creating. (Honestly, these are always my favorite episodes!)
    We covered:
    How you can “cloak” your story by writing fiction–incorporating the feelings of things you’ve experienced if not the exact experiences themselves
    Worrying that people are sick of hearing you talk
    Getting over the voice that says “you don’t have the proper training to write a novel”
    What’s on the inspirational Post-It note that Daisy keeps above her monitor
    How it’s never too to be a debut author
    Daisy’s “buoyancy” about the future now that her kids are teens and hard work of early parenting is behind her
    The collective disillusions Daisy would like to evaporate
    For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
    Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 21 min
    [Daisy Alpert Florin, practical matters]: “Writing in to the abyss,” setting “super low goals” + finding your rhythm

    [Daisy Alpert Florin, practical matters]: “Writing in to the abyss,” setting “super low goals” + finding your rhythm

    Daisy Alpert Florin, author of a book I truly adored, My Last Innocent Year, about a young woman in her last year of college, which is recently out in paperbook and–hot tip–would make an excellent book group pick.
    My Last Innocent Year was a New York Times Book Reviews Editor's Choice and Good Morning America called it one of those stories that stays with you.
    I've had the pleasure of being on a writing retreat with Daisy and getting to know her both in person and on the page.And I am very excited to plumb the depths of her personal through line with you here today.
    In this episode on the practical matters that inform her writing, we cover:
    How she doesn’t tick the boxes of a ‘typical’ novelist’s path–majored in history, didn’t get an MFA, etc.
    How Daisy feels about publishing her first novel at age 50 (hint: The movie Daisy watched for fun that gave her ideas for her current book
    How writing a novel is like riding a horse
    How she stays in the world of the novel so that her subconscious can be working things out even when she’s sleeping, showering or driving her car
    How she captures the ideas she has when she’s sleeping, showering, or driving her car
    For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
    Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 18 min
    [Nada Samih-Rotondo, part 3]: The joy of going down a research wormhole, a preview of her second memoir ) + matcha latte mustaches

    [Nada Samih-Rotondo, part 3]: The joy of going down a research wormhole, a preview of her second memoir ) + matcha latte mustaches

    A preview of her second memoir, which has a central theme of earthquakes, both the geological variety and the personal kind (it sounds amazing I cannot wait)
    The allure of folk tales and fairy tales
    The joy of going down a research wormhole
    Nada’s current wormholes–turtle migration, and early African-American history in Rhode Island
    Getting over the very human desire for external validation
    Nada’s beautiful vision of a free Palestine
    The YA novels Nada can’t put down
    Oat milk matcha lattes (and why Nada hope they give her a green mustache at the coffeeshop)
    The perfection of a Sunday morning and navigating the kitchen when you’re the only parent home
    Nada’s favorite Palestinian dish (come to full show notes on Substack for a link)

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

    Big thanks to our sponsor, AquaTru.com. Use promo code KATE to save 20% off a reverse osmosis water filter and support this podcast!
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    • 20 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
102 Ratings

102 Ratings

Mins18 ,

My creativity boost

Listening to Kate and her guests have become a creativity ritual for me. 3 times a week, I know I’ll be getting my creativity boost with the thought provoking questions and the down to earth honest answers. Thank you Kate!

Paigelc78 ,

LOVE this podcast

This podcast is so great! I love the short segments, the content is always so on point, Kate’s is so real & down to earth, and her voice is so soothing. Highly recommend!!

Princessp925 ,

LOVE the short to the point advice

I listened to 3 podcasts during my massage chair session and it’s so great. Her voice is soothing and kind. I like to improve myself and change my mindset and habits for a better life and If that is you. This channel is for you!!!

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