Fiona returns from her daughter’s wedding with stories and big news: 70,000 words and counting! Jo shares her pub-day plans for A Disappearing Act (out 28 Oct), and Jacq reports on festival and anthology work. Goal setting, messy-middle talk, and tips for writers. Follow @thewordcountpod so you never miss an episode! Follow 3 Australian writers step-by-step as they write toward publication: Jo Dixon - bestselling author of The House Of Now & Then & A Shadow At The Door ...

✨ New Episode — Happy 2nd Birthday! 🎉 Two years ago we hit record on our writing journeys… and here we are, celebrating TWO YEARS of The Word Count podcast! 💛 In this special episode, we look back at what’s changed since our first birthday — new books, agents, deals, retreats, and plenty of laughter (and bubbles 🍾). We’re nearly at 50 episodes, and we couldn’t have done it without YOU — our listeners, our fourth friend at the table. 🥂 Tune in to celebrate with us and hear what’s next for year...

This week on The Word Count, we leaned into life’s big moments — the ones that pull us away from the page and remind us that writing doesn’t always get to be the priority. With less than a month to Fiona’s daughter’s wedding, she’s fully in her Mother of the Bride era 👰💐 (yes, with the t-shirt to prove it!). Jo opened up about the heartbreaking loss of her beautiful Frankie 🐾, and Jacq talks about what's next for her book as she navigates the publication journey. We talked honestly abou...

💥 This episode is going to give you ALL the feels! You’ve got 24 hours to listen (it’s only 30 minutes — perfect for your commute, walk, school run, or lunch break) before we share the BIG BIG news with the world. 💛 Pretty please don’t spoil it for others until tomorrow, when we’ll be posting ALL about it! But… if you’ve listened, we’d love you to comment or send us a message. ⚠️ If you haven’t listened, DO NOT read the comments on socials! So what are you waiting for? We know you’re dying to...

We’re already halfway through August, and it’s been a busy two weeks for The Word Count crew - what with it being Fiona’s birthday month (Jacq calls it Fionaugust), beach holidays, plane trips, bookseller dinners, book launches, and workshops - but was any writing done? We tell all! We are also talking about metaphoric sharks in the water - those moments when you’re treading water, trying to stay afloat, but the sharks are circling. You can see what’s coming, and you know it could threaten yo...

In this episode, we are all doing different things, but we are all writing. Which just goes to show that writing looks different for everyone! 💛 Jacq finishes up her 2-week KSP Fellowship 💛 Fiona is busy writing (and rewriting) 💛Jo is drafting BOOK 4 As always, we have your favourite segments: Accountability and Setting Goals ✨ 🔔 Follow us so you never miss an episode. Follow 3 Australian writers step-by-step as they write toward publication: Jo Dixon - bestselling author of The H...

In this episode, we talk about what comes after you hit "send"—when the final proofread is done, the manuscript is locked, and the book is officially out of your hands. 💛 Jo shares how it feels to finish Book 3 💛 Fiona contemplates the two-thirds mark 💛Jacq reminds us there’s always another story to tell. Of course, we have your favourite segments: Accountability and Setting Goals ✨ Follow 3 Australian writers step-by-step as they write toward publication: Jo Dixon - bestsell...

We probably should have called this episode “The One Where Jo Lets The Secret Out Of The Bag” (listen to the end, you’ll understand 😜😂) 💛 We discuss pitching - what works and what doesn’t 💛 Fiona and Jacq commit to entering Pitchable at @qldwriters 💛 Jo and Jacq talk about doing their nudie solstice swim! Of course, we have your favourite segments: Accountability and Setting Goals ✨ 🔔 Follow us so you never miss an episode. Follow 3 Australian writers step-by-step as they write t...

We’re celebrating our 40th episode by answering 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 burning questions — about us, the podcast, writing… and more! PLUS, we announce the lucky dear listener who’s won an 𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝗼’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹 – 𝗔 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝘁 – along with 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵, 𝗮 @𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲, and the newest obsession: 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝗶𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀! And of course, your favourite segments: Accountability and Setting Goals ✨ 🔔 Follow us so you never miss an episode. Follow 3 Australian writers step-by-step as th...

Aaaannnddd… we’re back! It’s been SEVEN LONG WEEKS since we were last in your ears, dear listeners - and we hope you missed us! 😉 We've chatted a little longer than usual because it's been so long since the last episode, but it's still under 40 minutes! This episode is (fittingly) all about Brainstorms: 💛 Jo shares how her brain surgery went 💛 Fiona tries to brainstorm her way out of the messy middle 💛 And Jacq, as always, is the brainy one reading books we’ve never ev...

Learning how to manage the messy middle of your manuscript is all part of writing a novel. Fiona is at 55,000 words and calls on Jo and Jacq this episode to share their wisdom on managing writing forward when feeling lost. 🔔 Don’t forget to follow us so you never miss an episode. Huge thanks to Postie for producing this ep, and to Phil for lending his fabulous voice to our intros! 🙏 Follow 3 Australian writers step-by-step as they write toward publication: Jo Dixon - bestselling auth...

We’ve had a one-week medical break but… we’re baaaack! And you know we’ve always promised to keep things real on THE WORD COUNT—so this episode is all about why we needed the break and what it means for us going forward. 💛 WHO ended up in hospital? 💛 DID we hit our creative goals? 💛 WHAT are our Easter plans? 🔔 Don’t forget to follow us so you never miss an episode. Huge thanks to Postie for producing this ep, and to Phil for lending his fabulous voice to our intros! 🙏 Follow 3 Au...

This episode of 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 takes us the furthest apart we’ve ever been — 𝟰𝟰,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗸𝗺, 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁! ✈️ Jo & Jacq are on their idyllic island (𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘛𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘦), while Fiona is in Perth for her KSP Fellowship writing retreat. As always, we check in on accountability, set new writing goals for the next fortnight, and dive into the routines & rituals that shape our writing lives. ✨ In This Episode: 💛 Jo enters the FINAL stage of Book 3 📖 💛 Fiona shares her KSP word count ✍️ ...

𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟯𝟱: 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑆𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 🎙️ Well… after recording this episode, things went south - and not just because we were all in Tasmania at the same time. 😅 One of Fiona’s cats got very sick, and she had to fly home the day after recording. So, some of what we talked about? No longer true. (Spoiler: Fiona did not get to stay at Jo’s for a writing retreat sad) BUT! We 𝑑𝑖𝑑 share our tips for preparing for writing success, staying accountable, and setting new goals for the next fortnight. ✨...

In 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝟰, 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟯𝟰, we dive into how comparison can steal your joy - and how to stop envy from turning into jealousy. Plus: 💛 Jo has some exciting news! 💛 Fiona shares a MOTB update 💛 Jacq has been scrumping (big time!) As always, we check in on our goals from the past fortnight and set new ones. 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟯𝟰 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 - 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀! 🔔 Follow us so you never miss an episode. Follow 3 Australian writers step-by-step as they write toward ...

💛 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘋𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 In 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 4, 𝘌𝘱 33 we talk about writing through the doubt. Imposter syndrome affects us all - whether emerging writers or bestselling authors. We discuss how we choose to be “trickster goddesses” and suggest strategies to keep you writing when you doubt yourself or feel like a fraud. In other news… we’ve merged our Last Two Weeks recap with Accountability into one segment, so we can concentrate more on what our dear listeners enjoy the most - how we handle...

𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗘’𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗖𝗞! 💛 Did you miss us dear listeners? We definitely missed you! It’s a new year, it’s a new season and we have new year goals to share! 💛 Jo tells us Book 3’s TITLE & PUB DATE!!! 💛 Fiona almost sounds confident 💛 Jacq has a writing goal! crazy 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙚: We got overexcited & forgot to set our goals for the next 2 weeks in this episode - oops! Along with only two favourite regular features: ✍️ 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠-𝙞𝙣 ✍️ 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰: 𝘚𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 - O...

It’s our last episode for 2024 as we 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘶𝘱 for Christmas (see what we did there? 😂) We share what we learned this year as writers, and make some BIG goals for our summer break ✍️ AND we draw the winner of our 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 LIVE!!! 🎉🎉🎉 If you listen to the very end you’ll hear a special message to Phil, who hit this episode’s intro out of the park! 🙌 Wishing all our dear listeners a very Merry Christmas & we hope you’ll check in with us again in 2025 to find out if w...

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 💛 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟯𝟬: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 We celebrate and give shout-outs to the writing community every episode, but we’ve never given an entire episode to discussing it… until now! In addition: 💛 Jo overcomes her party disaster to reach yet another Book 3 milestone 💛 Fiona talks about her first mentorship meeting with Hayley Scrivenor 💛 Jacq goes to the Australian Podcast Awards (& forgets to tell her co-hosts!) Along with your favourite regular features: ✍️ 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪...

Today’s episode did not go to plan. You’ll understand once you listen. 𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲: ✅ Tied the topic to exciting news ✅ Recorded before Jo’s fab party ✅ Created an engaging title We did NOT check whether any of us had EVER been professionally mentored for their writing 🤦🏻‍♀️😩🤯 Let the hilarity ensue 😂🤣😂 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗗𝗢 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲: 💛 Fiona’s exciting news! 💛 A competition you’ll want to win!! 💛 More laughs than you can count!!! Forgive us, dear listeners, we honestly have no idea what we are...