Write With Impact with Glenn Leibowitz

Write With Impact is the podcast for writers seeking to take their writing to the next level. Hosted by writer and digital entrepreneur Glenn Leibowitz, Write With Impact features actionable strategies, tips, and resources to help you hone your writing, build an audience, and have more impact. Guests include best-selling and award-winning authors, content marketers, bloggers, and journalists. Write With Impact also dives deep into topics such as writing strategies and productivity hacks, audience-building and content marketing techniques, and self-publishing tips.

84: The Advantage of Writing Well in Thought Leadership–A Conversation with Bob Buday 05/20/2023

83: Jeffrey Towson on Writing, Generative AI, and the Creative Instinct 05/14/2023

82: Writing on the Job with Martha Coven 04/09/2023

81: A Chat About ChatGPT with Jane Rosenzweig, Director of the Harvard Writing Center 03/12/2023

81: A Chat About ChatGPT with Jane Rosenzweig, Director of the Harvard Writing Center Before I introduce today’s guest, I’d like to make a special announcement about this podcast: Write With Impact is now 8 years young! Thank you to all of my guests who have shared their wisdom and experience so generously. I couldn’t have done this without you. And thank you to my listeners from around the world who have taken the time listen to one or more of the 80 episodes I’ve produced since April 2015. As you may know, since 2021 I’ve been conducting these interviews on video. So if you would like to watch these episodes head over to Write With Impact Academy, my learning community for writers hosted on Substack. Just go to . You can also watch my interviews on my YouTube channel. Just search for Write With Impact. Okay, let’s dive into today’s episode. Since the roll-out in December of the powerful new AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, I’ve been trying to sort out what this new technology means for professional writers and editors like myself. One writer who has been thinking through the impact of ChatGPT is Jane Rosenzweig. Jane is the Director of the Writing Center at Harvard University, where she’s been teaching undergraduate and graduate students how to improve their writing for nearly 23 years. Jane has been sharing her initial impressions of ChatGPT on her , published opeds in the Boston Globe, and even shared her thoughts in an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, the nationally-broadcast TV program. I first spoke with Jane when she joined my podcast a year and a half ago to talk about her advice for writers. So I invited her back to help me parse through the implications of this new technology. She covers a lot of ground in our conversation. She examines how ChatGPT might impact t learn the process of discovering and articulating their own ideas and interests through writing, to how the use of ChatGPT to generate blog posts and even novels could potentially sever the human link between author and reader. Jane also shared some practical writing advice drawing on her experience teaching at Harvard, as well as her work with corporate clients. She talks about cutting repetitive language, removing words that weaken the impact of your message, being more selective about when you should use active versus passive verbs, eliminating what she calls “fake transitions,” and writing shorter and more impactful sentences. There’s a lot in here, and I strongly encourage you to listen through to the end. To watch a video of the complete conversation with Jane, head over to Write With Impact Academy, my learning community for writers, hosted on Substack. Just go to , enter you email address, and you’re in. It’s free. And be sure to check out Writing Hacks, Jane’s excellent Substack about writing. You can find her at . /episode/index/show/writewithimpact/id/26200383

80: The Elements of Exceptional Thought Leadership with Robert Buday 02/05/2023

79: How Busy Entrepreneurs Can Build a LinkedIn Content Creation Engine 01/08/2023

78: Know Your Reader and Stay True to Your Authentic Voice 10/17/2021

77: How to Write Viral Articles on LinkedIn 09/18/2021

76: Sting, Synchronicity, and Structure: A Note About My Book Writing Process 09/07/2021

75: How to Write and Market a Bestselling Memoir 09/02/2021

74: How to Plan, Write, and Self-Publish Your First Book 08/21/2021

73: How to Write an Essay that Helps You Get Accepted to the College of Your Dreams 08/13/2021

72: This Writer Ditched Corporate Life to Do What He Loves 07/28/2021

71: Writing Masterclass with Amy Blaschka, Social Media Ghostwriter and Storyteller 07/17/2021

70: Writing Masterclass with Andrea Koppel, Founder of College2Career Academy 06/30/2021

69: Writing Masterclass with Jane Rosenzweig, Director of the Writing Center at Harvard College 06/29/2021

68: Richard Rys helps tackle some of your biggest writing challenges 06/27/2021

67: Rediscovering the Joy of Writing 03/21/2021

66: How James Crabtree Wrote a Critically Acclaimed Book 11/11/2018

66: How James Crabtree Wrote a Critically Acclaimed Book In this episode I chat with James Crabtree, a journalist and author of the new book, . The Billionaire Raj charts the rise of the new billionaire class behind India’s rapid economic rise. In this eloquently-written page-turner, James combines on-the-ground reporting, rigorous economic research, and vivid storytelling as he brings to life the fascinating yet not very widely-known tale behind the world’s second most populous nation. Before writing his book, James was the Mumbai bureau chief for the Financial Times. He’s currently an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, where he teaches courses on leadership and political communication. Since it was published in July, Billionaire Raj has received several glowing reviews by top-tier media. Along with just a handful of newly published books, Billionaire Raj was short-listed for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award. It was also recently named by Amazon as one of the 100 best books of 2018. In our conversation, James explains the process he followed as he wrote his book, from 4 am writing sessions at a coffee shop across the street where he lives in Singapore, to his “a-ha” moment while doing laps in the swimming pool, a pivotal event that led to the three-part structure he eventually adopted for his book. James also explains how he balances research with writing, why having memorable characters matters, and why he rewrote his prologue 100 times before he felt it was ready for publication. You can find the show notes to this episode with links to James’s website and his book on Amazon over at If you’re interested in reading more of my writing, head over to LinkedIn at . There you’ll find my essays on writing, professional development, and a range of other topics. It’s because of the support of readers like you that I’ve been named a “Top Voice” by LinkedIn’s editorial team for the past four years in a row. So thank you! /episode/index/show/writewithimpact/id/7515542

65: How to Research and Write a Non-Fiction Book That Publishers Will Love 04/21/2018

65: How to Research and Write a Non-Fiction Book That Publishers Will Love Today I’m pleased to share a conversation I had recently with Dr. Simon Targett, the co-author with John Butman of the new book, New World, Inc.: The Making of America by England’s Merchant Adventurers. Dr. Targett holds a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge. He was a journalist and editor with the Financial Times for over a dozen years, and later headed up the publishing arm of Boston Consulting Group before founding Thinking Cap Communications, a London-based strategic thought leadership and reputation management consultancy. Soon after its publication in March by Little, Brown and Company, New World, Inc. was named a “Best History Book of the Month” by Barnes and Noble. New World, Inc. tells the story of English merchant adventurers in the 16th and 17th centuries. In their search for China, where they hoped to trade woolen cloth, England’s chief export at the time, for China’s silk and other luxuries, they ended up establishing trading outposts and colonies in America. These adventurers, backed by a new breed of investors in England, were the earliest founders of America; not the Pilgrims, as the widely accepted narrative goes. This meticulously researched, well-written, and beautifully designed book tells the fascinating and largely untold story of the earliest days of globalization, of innovation and entrepreneurial risk-taking, and of the creation of some of the earliest venture-financed companies in the world. In our conversation, Dr. Targett explains the process he and John went through to research and write the book. He tells how they prepared their book proposal which led to a bidding war for their manuscript and eventually a book deal with a major publisher. And he offers advice for writers seeking to take on large non-fiction, “big idea” book projects like theirs. You can find links to the book and information about Dr. Targett over at . /episode/index/show/writewithimpact/id/6506273

64: How to Write a Page-turning Memoir That Agents and Publishers Will Love 02/11/2018

64: How to Write a Page-turning Memoir That Agents and Publishers Will Love Today I’m pleased to share a conversation I had recently with Syd Goldsmith. Syd is the author of the new book, , published by Blacksmith Books. In 1967, Syd was stationed in the American Consulate General in Hong Kong, still a British colony at the time. This was an extraordinary moment in history: China was in the grips of the Cultural Revolution, which was rapidly spilling over into Hong Kong. In his book, Syd gives us an armchair view of his life and work as a diplomat at the very center of a dangerous political storm. The South China Morning Post calls it “an informative, engaging read filled with vivid historical detail.” This is Syd’s third book and his first memoir. His previous two books were novels, one of which was a finalist for the Lupton New Voices in Literature Award. Two of his three books have been acquired by traditional publishers. While he currently lives in Taipei, Taiwan, Syd continues to maintain active ties to the writing community in the US. He has attended writing workshops at the University of Iowa, the Maui Writer’s Festival, and at the in upstate New York. He’s active in the Literary Arts Center there, and has served as vice chairman of the Writers’ Center. In our conversation, which we conducted in person in Taipei, Syd shares how, despite never considering himself a writer for many years, he eventually became a published author. He explains why it’s never too late to publish your first book: He published his first novel at the age of 68, and his latest book at the age of 79. He underscores the importance of getting honest and critical feedback on your writing. He talks about the value of attending writer’s conferences, and he shares the story of how he found his agent at one of them. He describes the process he went through to pitch his book and land a publishing contract within just 9 days. And he gives us a peek into his own writing process—a question I like to ask all of my guests on this podcast. For more information about Syd, to find out how to reach him, and to , go to . *The link to Syd's book on Amazon is an affiliate link, which means I earn a nominal commission on sales, at no additional cost to you. /episode/index/show/writewithimpact/id/6247199

63: British Airways Pilot Mark Vanhoenacker Teaches You How to Land a Plane 12/28/2017

62: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Mei Fong Explains How to Research and Write a Nonfiction Book 10/07/2017

62: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Mei Fong Explains How to Research and Write a Nonfiction Book Mei Fong is a journalist with more than a decade of reporting in Asia, most recently as China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, which is where she was working when I met her several years ago in Beijing. Her stories on China’s transformative process in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics formed part of the package that won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, an honor she shared with her colleagues at the Journal. Her work has also won awards from Amnesty International, New York’s Society of Professional Journalists, and the Society of Publishers in Asia. Mei appears regularly as a China commentator on NPR, CBS, CNN, and PBS. She has taught at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism and at Shantou University in China. And she is currently the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fellow at New America, a think-tank in Washington, DC. Last year she published her first book, . The book recounts the history and after-effects of China’s one-child policy, the country's longest-running and most radical social experiment. Through a combination of in-depth research, on-the-ground reporting, and vivid storytelling that draws on her time as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in China, explores the far-reaching social and economic impact of the policy. In our conversation, Mei explains how she got the idea for the book, how she meticulously conducted the research that went into it, and the process she went through to pitch it to publishers, write it, and edit it. She also shares some inspiring and very practical advice for writers, and she reveals her favorite writing craft book—which happens to be one of my favorites as well! For more information about Mei, and to find a link to her book on Amazon, just head to . You can also learn more about Mei on her website at . /episode/index/show/writewithimpact/id/5817098

61: Jeff Goins Explains Why Real Artists Don't Starve 08/19/2017

60: Robin Rice Shows You How to Discover Your Writing Voice 04/29/2017

59: How to Write a Book Proposal that Publishers Will Love 03/25/2017

58: Joshua Spodek's Strategy for Developing a Daily Writing Habit 01/28/2017

57: How Tom Morkes Uses Influencer Marketing Strategies to Launch Bestselling Books 12/24/2016

56: Leadpages CEO Clay Collins: How to Build a Minimum Viable Audience 11/13/2016

55: Chris Fox Shows You How to Develop a Lifelong Writing Habit 10/30/2016

Write With Impact with Glenn Leibowitz

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