What if the secret to better writing isn’t more technique—but more truth?

This week, Tami Simon speaks with Anne Lamott—beloved author of Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, and more than twenty books—and her husband Neal Allen, writer and spiritual coach, about their new collaborative book, Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences. Together, they unpack the craft of writing as both a technical discipline and a deeply human practice.

Join Tami, Anne, and Neal to explore:

• The three-draft process: from the “child’s draft” to the “dental draft”—and where the real work of writing begins
• How to find your natural writing voice and stop trying to sing someone else’s song
• Writing as melody, rhythm, and harmony—and what the Beatles can teach us about our own creative strengths
• Why the rules of good writing are really about respect: for the reader, for truth, and for your own story
• The power of writing “toward the really real”—and why plain-spoken, heart-centered writing connects more deeply than literary pyrotechnics
• Rule 33: writing the hard stuff—life, death, mystery, and the things that are difficult to say but essential to try
• Why writing is collaborative, not solitary—and how talented editors and trusted readers can save your work (and your skin)

Whether you’re a lifelong writer or someone who has always wanted to tell your story, Anne and Neal offer practical tools and generous encouragement to help you get your words on the page—and make them matter.

Listen now and start writing toward the really (really) real.

This conversation offers genuine transmission—not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together. Originally aired on Sounds True One.

Many people have written and taught about the inner critic. But few have illuminated the subject with an approach as refreshing, innovative, and accessible as the one Neal Allen presents in his new book, Better Days—which includes a foreword by his wife, the celebrated writer Anne Lamott. 

In this podcast, Tami Simon sits down with the uniquely talented, often quirky, and always insightful couple to hear how they’ve come to understand and reframe the sneaky inner voice that manifests as an unnecessary source of torment for millions of people. Give a listen as they discuss: vulnerability as a path to relationship—and to the divine; radical silliness; the protective role of the superego (and why it’s so reluctant to give up control); the empty chair technique in gestalt therapy; giving your inner critic a new assignment in life; reclaiming the value of curiosity; destroying your false identities; anxiety and its source; tips for identifying the sometimes subtle voice of the inner critic; the futility of arguing with your inner critic; exploring the truth of who you really are; the “saying yes” practice; acceptance and surrender; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.