Episode #19: A Sit Down with Janu Miah

This episode we talk to Janu Miah, a leadership and organisational development specialist, about rewards and motivation.

How can we use rewards to get ourselves out of procrastination holes? Jan guides us towards better uses of our time and how our minds work.




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• on Spotify
• on Acast

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Marc talks to Jan about motivators, rewards and how to get things done, including some expert diving into how his mind works and just how often he picks up his phone (don’t we all?). Often we are not using our down time productively and triggers or habits mean that we end up wasting that time.

Should we be replacing the habits we don’t want with the habits that we do? Marc likes to get things done when he is pressure prompted, so that might be a more meaningful way to get things done. Jan offers some tips and advice on how to use what we know about ourselves to allow us to work more productively.

What else did we learn in this episode?

• We let the first chapter of our book out into the big wild world - squee!
• Jen doesn’t actually reward herself for anything 
• We give essential updates on both of our rollercoaster games 
• The word ‘dinglehopper’ is mentioned
• We reference the lovely Negeen Papehn, writing wonderwoman 
• Do grown ups need bribery?

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Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com
Find all our episodes: Pow Podcast UK Episodes

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Music credit: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

BONUS! Episode #18.5 Channel 4's "The Circle"

We love a bit of reality telly, and we've got properly sucked in to Channel 4's new show, The Circle. It's all about how people use and present themselves on social media, and what lengths they'll go to to become the most popular.

We have a chat about what we think about it, how it makes us think about our own use of social media (and how lucky we were to grow up on MSN Messenger!) and how the show works. We also talk about how fab Sophie Willan, the narrator of the show, is.

Join us in the excitement! And let us know what you think about The Circle!

You can find to our bonus #18.5 episode here...



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Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com
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Episode #18: Wellness for the Creative

Should you be striving for wellness as a creative? Despite the notorious anguished artist stereotype, we believe that you should look after yourself if you want to create amazing things.

Looking after yourself and making time for the self care is a priority, and we talk about how you can start to do that.


Listen to the episode on

• on iTunes
• on Stitcher
• on Spotify
• on Acast

or on Libsyn, right here...




We are all about the wellness this episode, appreciating and nurturing our bodies with l’eau mineral and pink Vimto.

We talk about what makes us feel good and how to integrate self care rituals into our everyday lives. Big shout out to Emma from Shine for her teaching and advice, which forms a big part of what we talk about.

We’re also caught up in the "Back to School" vibe, so we set ourselves some goals – personal, work, podcasting and more - to get us to the end of the year.

What else have we learnt this episode?

• We’ve been doing POW of over a year now – wooo!
• What is a Self Care Toolkit?
• The wonders of a good bookshop
• Our minor obsession with amusement park based games
• Jenni’s struggles with anxiety over the last year
• Fearne Cotton’s various mental health championing and products, including her Happy Place podcast and Happy Journal
• Exciting tie in merch, like FRIENDS’ candles and Marc’s fave, The Shop That Must Not Be Named in York.
• It’s worth taking a free book when you get given one, as Jenni reviews the very strange Rin, Tongue and Dorner

Don’t forget to visit Marc’s Etsy shop – he’s MarcoLooks on Facebook and Instagram.

If you’re struggling, feeling blue, overwhelmed, anxious or depressed, take a look at these fine sites

• MIND
• Anxiety UK
• The Samaritans
• ReThink

Follow us on twitter: @POWpodcastUK
Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com
Find all our episodes: Pow Podcast UK Episodes

If you're reading this far, maybe you have time to like and leave a review on our podcast...also, don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list, to keep up to date with all our latest news.

Music credit: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

Episode #17: Writing Retreats

We're back and better than ever in Episode #17! We talk you through our first mini writing retreat, as well as our experiences at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

on iTunes
on Stitcher
on Spotify
on Acast

or on Libsyn, right here...



Marc and Jenni meet up in deepest Leicestershire to go through our first few chapters. We pod directly from the beautiful retreat, and a pub near the M1, while we edit, rewrite and work through the beginning of Too Much (...apologies for the sound quality in our on-the-road-podding).

Are writing retreats useful? How do you approach them? What’s it like re-reading your first chapters, especially when a lot of them were written about 10 years ago? We cover all these points and more when we do our own mini writing retreat. As well as some plot holes, we discuss the differences in perspective and narrative in the first few chapters and how effective we thought it was.

We also talk about:

• How our book is shaping up 
• Just how BEAUTIFUL our place to meet up was (The Grange Tea Rooms in
• Markfield) 
• We mention cakes far too often 
• Is procrastination something you’re born with? The link to article Jenni mentions is here, from The Stylist 
• Turning our novel into an adult activity book 
• The productive effects of carbs 
• The shows we saw in Edinburgh, including the fantastic Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels musical, and the comedy magic show Two Ruby Knockers and One Jaded Dick, and Marc's favourite show of the Fringe, Joe Sutherland's Toxic. 
• The magical mystery tour of Edinburgh 
• Jenni's low point in Edinburgh (walking home in the rain in a Primark pac-a-mac) 
• Chris Addison's blog post about insecurity and unhappiness in the creative process

That's about it. Our next episode will be hitting your devices very soon, so keep an eye out.

Follow us on twitter: @POWpodcastUK
Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com

Find all our episodes: Pow Podcast UK Episodes

If you're reading this far, maybe you have time to like and leave a review on our podcast...also, don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list, to keep up to date with all our latest news.

Music credit: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

BONUS! #16.5 Ru Paul's Drag Race Season 10 Finale!

Yaaaasssss! We are too excited about the dramatic reunion and finals Drag Race Season 10 - and you just knew that we had to share our thoughts with you! We talk about the bust up at the reunion, Aquaria's well deserved win, whether the reveals were actually worth it, our dream Drag Parliament, our opinions on Eureka, Asia and Kameron, and of course the BUTTERFLY in the room.

You can find to our bonus #16.5 episode here...



Follow us on twitter: @POWpodcastUK and tweet us!
Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com
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Please like and rate our podcast. The both of us really appreciate all your lovely support.
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Episode #16: How to Develop Your Storyline and Plot

How do you develop a plot? In this episode we talk about the best ways to develop your storyline, what the classic plotlines are and how our own novel fits into it all. We also try to fit in a discussion about Horcruxes wherever we can.

You can find to our 16th episode here...


on iTunes
on Soundcloud
on Acast
on Stitcher

or right here...




Jenni has a massive problem in developing plots on her own, but finds the process easier when writing with Marc. Why is that? We look at different techniques of plotting and storylines, structuring a novel, whether a character can carry a story and if actually it’s all down to confidence.

Also, are plots like songs? Is it all down to character? Are there really only six real plots? Are Christopher Booker’s plots plots, or are they themes? We try to classify our own novel into one of the seven classic plots and work out how we are structuring our storyline. 

Marc also talks about the fantastic background work he's put in on character development behind one of our characters, Darvin, and how it fits into how our plot is developing. Darvin goes from flimsy weirdo to Guy With a Backstory.

What else do we learn in this episode, we hear you cry...

• Where to get the best chips in Belgium...Angela Merkal approved!
• Harry Potter and the Importance of the Horcruxes
• Christopher Booker’s The Seven Basic Plots (no Horcruxes)
• George Polti’s 36 Dramatic Situations (still no Horcruxes)
• Jenni calls the Bible a non-fiction book and then immediately regrets it (again, very few Horcruxes)
• Should we make our own novel into a Penny Vincenzi-style epic saga?
• Jenni's dog learns how to knock on doors
• Jenni's current obsessions - Queer Eye & Domesday Preppers
• Why Marc has given up on the Handmaid's Tale
• Dick Turpin's grave is really close to Marc's house and the graveyard is full of Adam and the Ants fans.
• We're reading, or attempting to read Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli, Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig, Bookworm by Lucy Mangan and much more!

Follow us on twitter: @POWpodcastUK and tweet us! 

Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com

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Music: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

If you're reading this far, maybe you have time to like and leave a review on our podcast...also, don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list, to keep up to date with all our latest news.

Episode #15: Improving Your Character Development

In this episode we explore character development by looking at one of our characters in more detail – the lovely Darvin. We explore some popular and less well known ways to capture a personality that you are writing about, while drinking prosecco and gradually becoming more random (and slightly slurred).

You can find to our 15th episode here...

on iTunes
or Soundcloud
or now at Acast

or right here...

How can you approach character development? We look at techniques and tricks for getting an in depth feel for your character’s personality and background. This includes looking at things like online dating profiles, questionnaires, theme songs, family trees and loads more. Jenni and Marc chat about how all of these factors shape the character of our Darv and how it adds to the story.

We talk about the personality that Darvin projects, but also his inner life and how his achievements and disappointments have shaped him. Marc has done some great thought into Darvin's life, revealing some insights that really fill out what could be seen as a bit of a stereotypical character, and Jenni searched the internet for a bit to find some silly things to try.

What we’ve learnt this episode:

• We are now on so many channels/apps/listening thingies! Find us on Stitcher and Player.fm.
• The effect of prosecco – once you pop you can’t stop.
• Writing a book based in the 90s is filled with problems, mainly related to TV programmes, films and other cultural bits. 
• Jenni’s son has super sonic hearing (he interrupts at about 3.40 after hearing us mention Pringles)
• Puss-filled piercings of the 90s, and how hip and happening we were
• Jenni is writing a play with the lovely Mandy (of Mud and Marriage fame)
• The advantages and pitfalls of writing journals, including Fearne Cotton's Happy journal
• We rant about the Royal Wedding and how we should care about the love and not about what people are wearing. Also how Amal Clooney is way more important than her husband.
• Marc has met POSH SPICE!
• Can you read 200 books a year? We question how many books the lovely Greg Jenner reads, and how long they are. We are clearly just jealous. 
• The song that Jenni was singing and Marc didn't know was Josh Wink - Higher State of Consciousness. We also sang Republica - Ready to Go, D and Blue (Dab a Dee) which is actually by Eiffel 65. And I Want Love by Elton John. And Pompeii by Bastille.  We are sorry if we ruined these songs for you. 

Some links to character development tips and tricks

• https://www.winghill.com/2014/03/foolproof-ways-flesh-characters/
• https://litreactor.com/columns/8-ways-to-flesh-out-a-character
• The Ready Set Novel book can be found here (it's ace)

And the link for Emma's hypnotherapy and yoga site is Bristol Shine and so well worth having a look at - sign up for her courses and classes if you're in the area, and if you're not have a look at her great blog posts.

This episode is brought to you by prosecco!

Follow us on twitter: @POWpodcastUK and tweet us!
Email us at: powpodcastuk@gmail.com
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Music: "Clap Your Hands" by Scott Holmes

Please like and rate our podcast. The both of us really appreciate all your lovely support.
...also, don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list, to keep up to date with all our latest news.