Ramona Ausubel's Practical Advice
From Talking Writing by Martha Nichols, John Vogel, and Neva Talladen
June 11, 2026 · 1h 12m · Season 6 · Episode 14
About this episode
Ramona Ausubel discusses her craft book 'Unstuck' and shares strategies for overcoming self-doubt and maintaining momentum in writing.
Author Ramona Ausubel sits down with TW creative director John Vogel to talk about her new craft book and write's guide. In Unstuck: 101 Doorways Leading from the Blank Page to the Last Page , Ramona lays out exercises and strategies to maintain momentum throughout a writing project. Much of the advice centers around a few different themes, such as forging a relationship with the ever-present self-doubt, deeper exploration of the internal world of the artwork, and keeping the fun alive during the writing process. Ramona has written three novels and two short story collections while maintaining an active teaching schedule, with a faculty position at Colorado State University and teaching summer workshops for several organizations including Writing by Writers and the Breadloaf Environmental Conference. Unstuck is published by the Tin House imprint, which was recently acquired by independent publisher Zando. Ramona also attended the Tin House Writing Workshop at Reed College shortly after finishing graduate school, and taught there during the online era of COVID. During the interview we talk about more about Tin House, how her short story writing both fueled and provided respite…
People in this episode
Host: John Vogel
Guest: Ramona Ausubel
Topics covered
- writing advice
- self-doubt
- creative process
- novel writing
- short story writing
- teaching writing
Keywords
- writing
- craft book
- self-doubt
- creative process
- exercises
- strategies
- novels
- short stories
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Colorado State University, Writing by Writers, Breadloaf Environmental Conference, Tin House, Zando
Books & works: Unstuck: 101 Doorways Leading from the Blank Page to the Last Page
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