The Adventurous Author | How to Write a Book, Character Development, Write with Consistency, Creative Writing,Story Structure cover art

The Adventurous Author | How to Write a Book, Character Development, Write with Consistency, Creative Writing,Story Structure

The Adventurous Author | How to Write a Book, Character Development, Write with Consistency, Creative Writing,Story Structure

By: Bonnie Jean Schaefer | Author & Coach Founder of the League of Adventurous Authors
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Hey, Time-Strapped Author! Wanna write great fiction? BUT writing is hard because you… - Have NO TIME because you work a full-time job or go to school full-time - Doubt your writing ability - Are unsure how to write the kind of captivating stories you love to read. Then welcome to The Adventurous Author, the podcast for underdog authors on a mission to achieve legendary feats in the publishing world but have to overcome impossible obstacles, limited time, and paralyzing inner skepticism along the way. Through these episodes, you will… - Gain confidence in your author identity. - Master the process and structure needed to write captivating stories EVEN WITH limited writing time. - Learn to use AI effectively and ethically to constantly improve your writing skills and story quality. I’m your host Bonnie Jean Schaefer. Under my pen name of fantasy author D.K. Drake, I write action-packed, wholesome adventures without the snooze-worthy fluff. But as your personal writing coach, I’m here to unlock YOUR narrative prowess, guide you in crafting spellbinding tales, and navigate the wild world of writing with AI. Adventure awaits, so ignite your imagination, latch on to that dragon swooping overhead, and let the storytelling quest begin. It’s time to play in our own fabulous fantasy worlds.Copyright 2022-2025 All rights reserved. Art Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • How to Build a Writing System When Your Life is a Jigsaw Puzzle | 211
    Aug 19 2025

    Your life isn’t a blank slate. It’s a thousand-piece puzzle.

    Between kids, work, health, faith, and relationships, “just write at 5am every day” doesn’t fit for everyone. That’s why professional authors build flexible frameworks that adapt to real life instead of forcing routines that break under chaos.

    In this episode, I’ll show you how to use the Jigsaw Puzzle Method to design a writing system that honors your actual life and still makes writing consistent.

    You’ll learn: ✔️ Why rigid routines collapse under real-world pressure ✔️ How to name your “corner pieces” and protect your writing block ✔️ The difference between daily, weekly, and seasonal puzzle pieces ✔️ Why flexibility is the secret to sustainable writing ✔️ How one small daily block transforms identity from “aspiring” to professional

    🎯 Adventure Challenge: Sketch your life puzzle. Name your corner pieces. Circle one 15–30 minute writing block that actually fits this week. Then write a scene starting with: “When he pressed the last piece into place, the puzzle began to breathe.”

    Your life is not chaos. It’s a beautiful puzzle. And writing is one of the essential pieces.

    Keep the words rolling and the adventures unfolding,

    Bonnie Jean

    Next Steps:

    Escape into the Land of Zandador (the books I write under my pen name of Author D.K. Drake): Purchase one or all of the Dragon Stalker Bloodline Saga books on Amazon.

    Connect: Send me an email at dk@authordkdrake.com. 📢 Subscribe & Review:

    If this episode gave you a wake-up call, share it with a fellow writer and drop a review! Your feedback keeps this show alive and thriving.

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    6 mins
  • Why Your Non-Writing Habits Hold the Key to Writing Success | 210
    Aug 12 2025

    For decades, I wrote in bursts—finishing and publishing four novels over twenty years, but I never truly saw myself as a disciplined author. I thought about writing daily, but I wasn’t actually creating daily. That gap between declaration and demonstration was holding me back.

    In this episode, I reveal why aspirations alone don’t define identity — actions do — and how to use the evidence from your daily life to build an unshakable author identity. We’ll talk about why most identity work fails, how to spot the gap between who you say you are and who you actually are, and how to install one small habit that proves your identity every single day.

    Whether you’ve been stuck in stop-start cycles or you’re tired of calling yourself a writer without the daily proof to back it up, this episode will give you the exact steps to start closing the gap today.

    What You’ll Learn:

    • Why most identity work collapses without outside-in evidence

    • How to identify patterns that reveal your true values

    • How to borrow discipline from other areas of life to fuel your writing habit

    • The difference between aspirational identity and evidence-based identity

    • One daily action that builds your author foundation

    Keep the words rolling and the adventures unfolding,

    Bonnie Jean

    Next Steps:

    Escape into the Land of Zandador (the books I write under my pen name of Author D.K. Drake): Purchase one or all of the Dragon Stalker Bloodline Saga books on Amazon.

    📢 Subscribe & Review:

    If this episode gave you a wake-up call, share it with a fellow writer and drop a review! Your feedback keeps this show alive and thriving.

    Show More Show Less
    6 mins
  • What a Charging Deer Taught Me About Character Transformation | 209
    Aug 5 2025

    Ever had a character do something totally out of character—and it felt fake?

    In today’s episode, a charging deer disrupts my dog walking expedition and reveals a storytelling truth:

    Great character moments come from internal programming breaks.

    When your character’s default behavior no longer serves them—and they know it—that’s when real transformation begins.

    🎯 You’ll learn:

    • Why plot twists rooted in internal change hit harder than shock value

    • How to identify your character’s default operating system

    • The key question that reveals when their “programming” breaks

    🎧 Whether your character is a people-pleaser, perfectionist, coward, or control freak, this episode will help you discover the moment they stop being who they’ve always been and become someone new.

    Keep the words rolling and the adventures unfolding,

    Bonnie Jean

    Next Steps:

    Escape into the Land of Zandador (the books I write under my pen name of Author D.K. Drake): Purchase one or all of the Dragon Stalker Bloodline Saga books on Amazon.

    📢 Subscribe & Review:

    If this episode gave you a wake-up call, share it with a fellow writer and drop a review! Your feedback keeps this show alive and thriving.

    Show More Show Less
    4 mins
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