What happens when you know what you want to do with your life, but the road to getting there looks nothing like you imagined?

In this episode of The Edit With Holly Totten Writing, Editing, Publishing, I'm joined by my friend, author, and celebrity interviewer Adam Rothenberg, founder of Call Me Adam.

Adam has spent 17 years interviewing celebrities from film, television, theater, and music, conducting more than 2,300 interviews along the way. But his journey into entertainment wasn't a straight line.

From growing up with a learning disability and being discouraged by a teacher to trying his hand at acting, radio, and stand-up comedy, Adam kept pursuing his love of entertainment until he found where he belonged.

We talk about the influence Dolly Parton had on his career, the lessons he's learned from interviewing celebrities, and why building trust and making people comfortable can lead to more meaningful conversations.

Adam also shares some memorable interviewing mistakes and what those experiences taught him.

This conversation is about finding your own path, staying true to yourself, learning from mistakes, and recognizing that sometimes your dreams come true in ways you never expected.

In Part 2, Adam and I will talk about writing his debut book, Behind the Curtain: The Mistakes, Lessons Learned, and Triumphs of Interviewing Celebrities, including the challenges of writing, editing, and keeping his authentic voice on the page.

Connect with Adam:

Website: https://callmeadam.com

Podcast: Baring It All with Call Me Adam

Social media: @callmeadamnyc

Purchase Adam's book here: https://a.co/d/04z5flL8

Connect with Holly:

Website: https://theeditwithhollytotten.com
theeditwithhollytotten@gmail.com

The Edit With Holly Totten Writing, Editing, Publishing is a podcast about writing, editing, publishing, and sharing your story without losing your voice.

You have the stories. You've started getting them on the page. You've thought about what your story is really about, why it matters, and which pieces actually belong.

Now what?

In this final episode of my series on getting started writing your story, we're bringing everything together and talking about how those individual memories, experiences, and ideas can begin taking shape as a book.

I'll walk you through a simple, practical process for gathering what you've written, looking for connections and common threads, grouping stories that belong together, identifying missing pieces, and creating a working map for your book.

And no, I'm not talking about creating a complicated outline or figuring out every chapter before you write another word.

Your working map is just that—working. It should give you direction without taking away your freedom to discover your story as you write.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How to gather everything you've written and see what you actually have
• Finding the connections and threads between your stories
• Thinking about your book in terms of a beginning, middle, and end
• Why "What does my reader need to know next?" is different from "What happened next?"
• How to identify the missing pieces in your story
• Creating a flexible working map for your book
• Why you don't have to write your book in order
• How planning can become another form of procrastination
• What to do next so you keep writing instead of getting stuck in the planning stage

We also come full circle to Jackson, the listener whose question started this entire series. He wanted to tell his story but couldn't figure out how to get anything on the page.

That question became a series because I knew he wasn't the only one.

If you've followed along, I hope you've learned something even more important than how to plan a book: You know how to begin.

And before this episode ends, I have a big announcement about what's coming next for The Edit With Holly Totten Writing, Editing, Publishing.

I'm introducing a brand-new segment called No Editing Required—real people sharing real stories in their own words.

Because your story doesn't have to be polished to matter.

Keep writing. Keep telling your stories. And most importantly, remember:

Your story without your voice is only words.

Connect with Holly at writelynotable@gmail.com

https://www.writelynotable.com