RAR #268 Advice to Young (And Young at Heart) Creatives

Read-Aloud Revival ®

Sarah Mackenzie

Books, Homeschool, How To, Read-aloud, Kids & Family, Teaching From Rest, Reading, Education, Parenting

4.9 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever read a book and thought, “Wow, how did the author do that?!”

Or maybe you’d love to sit down with your favorite author and pick their brain about their writing process or tips and tricks for when you get stuck.

Today, the Read-Aloud Revival team has compiled some of our favorite advice about getting creative from the archives of RAR Premium’s Family Book Clubs.

Whether you write, draw, paint, or engage in any other creative pursuit, and whether you’re seven or seventy-seven–and every age in between–there’s something here to help you get your creative juices flowing.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

Tips for staying with the struggle and keeping the joy in your creativity
How to create a satisfying story
Advice for getting ideas, when to ignore your outline, and loving the process

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/writing-advice

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Do you ever close a book and think, ugh, I wish I knew how the author did that?
0:06.8	Or maybe you finished reading a book and you think, I would love to ask the author about
0:13.1	their favorite writing tips or tricks or how they get unstuck.
0:17.8	If you do, you're in for a treat today.
0:41.0	Welcome to the Read Aloud Revival podcast. I'm your host, Sarah McKenzie. For today's episode, the RAR team compiled some of our favorite advice for young and young at heart creatives from our family book club
0:49.1	archives. Six writers and illustrators share nine pieces of advice on today's show, ranging from
0:57.2	super practical to the absolutely inspirational.
1:01.6	Now, when I say this advice is for young creatives or young at heart creatives, I mean it.
1:08.0	Whether you're seven, 27, 47, or 77, this episode is full of good stuff for you.
1:17.6	It will encourage you whether you love to draw or paint or write or do some other creative pursuit.
1:26.6	So let's dive in.
1:33.6	It's no secret that sometimes the creative juices just aren't flowing, even when you really wish they were.
1:42.2	Should you wait it out, force yourself to try and push through,
1:47.0	go hunting for inspiration? Well, our first author has a great perspective. Corina Yanglazer
1:54.4	is the author of the middle grade series The Vanderbeekers, and she says she finds value in staying with the struggle. What do you do when
2:03.7	you need inspiration when you're writing? You know, it's really tough because I think that, you know,
2:09.5	you could be the kind of person who, like me, is just sort of as like, if this isn't happening,
2:16.8	I need to force it to happen. Because I feel like it's just sort of it's like, if this isn't happening, I need to force it to happen.
2:18.8	Because I feel like it's really easy if you're in a creative field to be like, okay, I'm not
2:25.7	feeling this.
2:26.3	I'm just going to like do something else and then come back to it.
2:29.4	And sometimes that is like the right decision.
	...

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