Ana and Hana say goodbye to 2020 and ring in the ever so hopeful 2021. 2021 is greeted with further isolation due to the continuation of the pandemic which is not lost on Ana who is experiencing acute isolation and loneliness during the holiday

…Putting a Story to Bed

Sep 1st, 2021 34m 12s

Hana brings her story of a potentially haunted toy to a close and feels the satisfaction and relief of resolving an open task, while treating her character with respect. She discusses the pitfalls of perfectionism with Ana, the experience of fa

...Finding Its Confidence

Aug 18th, 2021 37m 2s

Ana gets a confidence boost at work and Hana gives her high praise as Ana learns what her writing "jam" is - writing about nature connection and mentoring. Through Hana's praise and curiosity about the piece, Ana comes to the realization that

…Learning to Blog

Aug 4th, 2021 23m 42s

Hana continues to offer support and guidance for Ana's professional writing within her new position. In Episode 10 ...Finding its Voice, Ana speaks about her struggles with writing her first blog piece. Now, a month later, Ana realizes that man

...Stuck

Jul 28th, 2021 30m 31s

Hana asks Ana for assistance after getting stuck halfway through her second scary story. Ana reads the excerpt aloud and the discussion goes into an exploration of anxiety, gaslighting, what it means to have mental health challenges, and how to

...Finding Its Voice

Jul 21st, 2021 40m 11s

Ana has been gifted the opportunity to push her writing chops at her new job and is excited to share the process of writing her first professionally published piece. Ana's co-workers help her to work through some of her writing challenges aroun

...Exploring the Eerie

Jul 14th, 2021 26m 47s

First up, a correction: This episode talks about a fish with a light on its head that it uses to lure unsuspecting victims, but that fish is called a lanternfish here when it is in fact an anglerfish *facepalm*. Many sincere thanks to Hana's br

...Allowing Emotional Acceptance

Jul 7th, 2021 44m 49s

After exploring writing a piece that uses only dialogue in Episode 5, Hana pushes Ana even further by challenging her to write a fiction piece that mixes dialogue and expository text. Ana - ever ready for the challenge, finds herself writing an

...Pondering Motherhood in Detail

Jun 23rd, 2021 31m 12s

After her last piece kept things deliberately vague, Hana committed to writing a piece that was heavy on the detail and specifics. This week's piece is written from the perspective of a young woman unsure of her life's path and wavering on a mo

...Sitting at a Window

Jun 16th, 2021 26m 48s

In response to Ana's prompt to write a fiction piece on an older person living out of the end of their life and how they’re addressing trauma they experienced earlier in life, Hana reads aloud her short description of a moment in time for Alva,

...Talking It Out

Jun 9th, 2021 31m 39s

Who among us hasn't struggled with writing a series of "She said...he asked...they cried...she exclaimed," treading the fine line between too repetitive and too esoteric? After her discomfort writing dialogue in her most recent writing exercise

...Finding the Hidden Healers

May 26th, 2021 39m 5s

Ana dives into a fictional piece about writing a first person story that connects healing from trauma with the help of the Earth. Ana discusses with Hana how daunting the prompt initially was for her and how the process of writing this piece ga

...Discussing Jewish Identity

May 19th, 2021 31m 22s

Hana writes a piece about her identity as a Jewish person and discusses it with Ana, delving into her family history and the experience of being the grandchild of Holocaust survivors while living in Bavaria, the historical home of the Nazi Part

...Reflecting on Singledom and Global Politics

May 12th, 2021 1h 14m

The podcast gets off to an intense start, as Ana discusses a piece she wrote on the last time she was single - her senior year of college, giving rise to a discussion around vulnerability, growth, and what it means to be in a relationship. Hana

...Introducing Itself

May 5th, 2021 33m 15s

Podcast co-hosts Ana and Hana introduce themselves and figure out what makes them tick as writers, while sharing their hopes for The Pen Is..., a podcast featuring amusing, introspective, and vulnerable conversations about writing as a creative

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