Ep 182 Bridie Jabour - Being Interested Is This Story-tellers Superpower

Great writing rarely starts with a perfect sentence. In this episode, Guardian journalist and novelist Bridie Jabour dives into her writing process, creative routine, and her approach to chasing curiosity. You'll also hear what 20 years of journalism taught Bridie about noticing small things, sharing informed opinions, storytelling, and the lessons we encounter in motherhood, grief, and family. Together, we explore how journalism and fiction feed each other. Bridie shares her process of writing novels while working and raising kids. She also shares how she approaches and tackles many of the common roadblocks to writing, including perfectionism, self-doubt, and wrestling with the first draft. Tune in to discover: • Why curiosity and noticing small things are the storyteller's real superpowers • The line between having an opinion and having one worth sharing • A simple mindset shift that stops you overthinking your first draft • The 15-minute trick that ends procrastination • The permission every writer needs before they type a word • Why humour belongs right beside grief and hard subjects • How writers get through nerves and self-doubt • Bringing lightness to heavy topics • How creativity, career, kids, and ambition can be pieces of the same puzzle Bridie’s latest novel ‘Ordinary Funny Tragic’ covers themes of ambiguous motherhood, navigating complex grief, and the constant evolution of our identity. Key moments: 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:15 Cadet at eighteen 00:07:40 Loving people first 00:14:00 Opinions need facts 00:17:40 Learning to change your mind 00:23:00 The maternal ambivalence idea 00:28:00 Writing brick by brick 00:31:30 Anne Lamott's permission 00:36:40 Discovering parental rage 00:50:50 The duck arrives 00:57:20 The Virginia Woolf cure - 👉About Bridie Jabour Bridie Jabour is a journalist and author with 20 years in Australian media. Her journey ranges from her cadetship at the Gold Coast Bulletin to The Guardian - where she spent five years as an opinion editor and is now based in the London office. Her writing covers feminism, family, and modern life, and her latest novel is “Ordinary Funny Tragic”. Connect with Bridie: https://www.instagram.com/bkjabour - *Credit to Alex Vaughan for the image of Bridie used in this artwork* 🟡Subscribe and follow along for more meaningful conversations with extraordinary people about living a boldly, connected, standout life. - 👉Here’s how we can stay in touch https://pragmaticthinking.com/ https://www.instagram.com/alihill/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/fromalihill/