We’re back with part two of our overview of Fall (autumn) as a season for writers. It’s a challenging time because even though we’re at the point of completion of a project, there is grief to deal with (listen to ep.10 for more on that!) and the mental mindset needed to deal with getting ready to receive. Receive what, you ask? Criticism, feedback, and even new ideas to start spring with!

In this part of our series, we discuss how to declutter your brain and your ego so you can clarify the discernment you need to for the tasks ahead. You will need to be ready to decide what to keep and what to let go off, and learn to value your own authority over your stories. It’s a challenging time but the Writer’s Table Collective is here to help you out!

Ep.11: Seasons of Writing: Fall Pt. 2 – TRANSCRIPT

Dave Hogan, Gina’s Pop
0:02
Welcome to Around the Writer’s Table, a podcast focusing on the crossroads of creativity, craft, and conscious living for writers of all ages and backgrounds. Your hosts are Gina, Melody, and KimBoo, three close friends and women of a certain age, who bring to the table their eclectic backgrounds and unique perspectives on the trials, tribulations, and the joys of writing. So pull up a chair and get comfortable here around the writer’s table.

Melody, A Scout
0:43
Welcome back to Around the Writer’s Table podcast. My name is Melody, A Scout. And we’re moving into Episode 11, part two on the season of Fall. And thank you for joining us this morning and myself, along with KimBoo, romance novelist and former project manager who helps writers and solopreneurs find time, mojo, and motivation to create. Say hi, KimBoo. No?

KimBoo York
1:18
Yep, it’s me. Hi. Hey, yep, I’m here. I should have… was on mute. I’m always on mute. Yeah, I’m here now.

Melody
1:28
We also have Gina Hogan Edwards, who is passionate about supporting women in finding their voices on the page and from the stage. Welcome, Gina. 

Gina Hogan Edwards
Hi, everybody. 

Melody
And of course, myself, Melody, A Scout who I help my clients find their sense of home by restoring balance and harmony to their lives through plant spirit medicine, and through my book Soul of the Seasons.

KimBoo
1:53
Hi, Melody. I

Melody
1:58
I feel like I’m at a 12-step group.

KimBoo
2:01
I was thinking more like elementary school. Hi, this Melody.

Gina
2:08
Do y’all… are y’all old enough to remember Romper Room? 

Melody and KimBoo
Oh, yeah. Oh, my goodness. 

Gina
I see Melody. I see KimBoo.

KimBoo
2:19
Oh, yeah, we’re getting off to a great start today. Oh, so what are we doing today, Melody? Why don’t you just launch in there and tell us what’s going on.

Melody
2:30
We touched on a lot of really great subjects on the season of Fall, last episode. So we’re gonna do a continuation of that. First, I wanna just briefly go over the five seasons for writers. And we started with Spring, which is a season of New Visions and new growth. It’s where we birthed our projects and began all the fun phase of writing the first draft and making things come to life. 

Then we moved into Summer and Summer is the season of production. It is a season of a lot of things going on, and our work matures. It takes shape. It begins to bear fruit. 

And from Summer we moved into the season of Harvest. And Harvest is where we reach this state of completion. It may be completion of our entire work, or it may be completion of a phase of a work. But at this point, there’s a lot of satisfaction in all our hard work and gratitude for all that we have done. 

And moving on from Harvest, we’re now in the season of Fall. In the States, we’re actually in the season of Fall here. And Fall, of course, is a season of letting go. So we talked a lot about different forms of letting go in our last podcast and different stages of the writing process. There is a lot of letting go all along the way. Some of it to our internal thoughts, and internal self-imposed restrictions and disciplines, which may or may not work for us. 

Now, we talked a little bit about what a balanced Fall looks like, but we just briefly touched on the Fall imbalances. And I’d like to go over those briefly. We’re going to talk a little more about those in depth. KimBoo, can I ask you to go over that list of the Fall imbalances?

KimBoo
4:41
Sure thing and, just as a note, I’m going to touch on ones that we’ve talked on before. There’s a full long list that will be in our worksheet that covers all of the imbalances. Last time, we talked about imbalances such as endless grieving, the inability to take on new attachments and how those two are related. Gina brought up hypersensitivity to criticism, which is an important one as we talk about critiquing in a little bit. Being a perfectionist, being persnickety, overly dependent on authority, which in the writing process and the editing and critiquing process might be an over reliance on your betas or your editors. 

There are other imbalances that can affect us as well, such as an inflated sense of self. Being indifferent. Sharpness, cutting other people off, certainly can come in when you’re working in a critique group. And not wanting to hear what people are having to say. Lack of spiritual connection and conviction, one that speaks to me for the season, because that can really sap your energy as well. And deflecting or refusing compliments–a tough one for a lot of us. It’s like, “No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to hear it. It’s uncomfortable.” 

So those are some of the imbalances that we talked about before. And a few that struck me from our list. That’s a pretty long list there, though, that we’ve got.

Melody
6:08
Yeah, it encompasses a lot. And this list is really valuable. We’re also going to put both the balance and imbalances on our website. But they’re so useful because they’re a little alerts to us. If we see these behaviors in ourselves, they’re alerting us to the need to bring things back into balance in the season of Fall. 

So we’re gonna talk a little bit more, we’re going to talk about decluttering today, as a part of the letting go process. When we hang on to too many things, as in life, or in the body, our body has this miraculous system of taking things in and letting go of the refuse. But if we take too much in and we don’t let things go, we know that’s going to be a problem. Just as if we take too many things into our home and in our environment without letting it go, that’s also a problem. And too many things into the mind and too much into our writing process without some artful letting go is a real problem. Now, KimBoo has this really great process to help declutter the mind called the “brain dump.” KimBoo, tell us more about that.

KimBoo
7:38
Well, it’s something that’s come out of my productivity coaching business, The Task Mistress, but I think it really does relate to writers and authors, because a lot of times we can get very drawn up into everything we’re trying to hold on in our brains. So this is not just a productivity tool, it’s a creativity tool. I want people to think about not putting a fence around this particular exercise. And we’ll probably–I will definitely–have some instructions on our website, maybe a secondary worksheet, might be on that one on doing a brain dump. 

But essentially, it’s very obvious. You sit down and you dump everything out that’s in your brain on a piece of paper or on a list if you’re using digital media or voice recording, if you prefer going that way. The real key to this, though, is again not putting restrictions on what your brain dumping. If it’s a story idea, if it’s a character idea, if it’s the fact that you need to do the laundry, if it’s bills that need to be paid, if it’s some grand idea of like you want to perform comedy stand-up routine on Netflix, or whatever. That all goes on a particular brain dump. And what we need to remember, especially in the season of Fall of letting go and decluttering, is that this is a cleansing process. 

I really was taken in the last episode, Melody, with your idea of how the tree cuts back on the leaves. And starts withholding itself because it has too much water. It’ll split apart if it freezes. Not really a danger here in Florida, but still, there’s the idea of you’re holding on to stuff so hard that you end up injuring yourself. 

So a simple brain dump, sit down with a piece of paper. I usually advise doing this, ironically, at the time that you’re most distracted. In other words, at a time of the day–whether it’s you’re trying to go to sleep or you’re riding around doing errands–when your brain is really kicking up all these ideas and all these things that you should be doing, you need to be doing. Time to put that down because what you’re putting down is going to be released from you and you will actually then be able to focus on prioritizing, letting go of some things. Maybe they’ve just been sitting in your brain for a while, for no reason at all. You don’t need them there. 

And with your writing and the creativity projects that you’ve got going on, when we first talked about doing this outline, I was like, well doing brain dump, and then go into critiquing. But I think it’s really important, because two things: one, if you’re going to be going into critiquing, or you’re going to be thinking about editing a story that’s pretty much done or first draft, if you have a lot of other things filling your mind about that story or about other stories, you need to kind of clear that out. You need to be able to make room in your brain for doing the critiquing process. And secondly, I think it’s just an emotional release. I find this is true. Most people find brain dumps to be almost as emotional as it is logical. You know, Spock brain, if just like I’m writing down everything that needs to be done, it’s a release emotionally. And anything that’s trapped inside of you, you’ll be able to put it down on the piece of paper and either organize it, get rid of it, file it, prioritize it. Do whatever you need to do. 

And when you come into the act of critiquing, I know Gina, you certainly have a lot more experience on that as a professional editor and as a writer yourself. But I do find, I mean, do you agree that it’s really important to have that sense of clearness of mind when you come to critiquing as a process?

Gina
11:27
Most definitely. The clutter never does us any good in any aspect of our lives.

KimBoo
11:35
Darn it, if only it did.

Gina
11:38
Yeah. Yeah, for us clutterbugs, that’s a real problem. Yeah, the idea of, you know, as creative people, we go through these phases where we just have this abundance of ideas. And if your mind is already shifting to the next project in such a way that it hinders you being able to go through the feedback, critiquing, revising process of your current work, then that’s not going to serve the current piece at all. So I love this idea of doing a brain dump, specifically, before you enter into the critiquing process. 

Critiquing is such a huge topic that we will be doing another episode, but in this one, we’re going to touch on a few aspects of critiquing that can be challenging. So one thing I want to talk a little bit about is that in our list of imbalances in Fall, one of them is the hypersensitivity to receiving critique. And what I have found–and I will say this upfront: I am not a fan of critique groups. Not a fan.

KimBoo
Mm, interesting

Gina
The reason being, I have seen too many talented writers, some of them very far into the writing process, be completely shut down by the critique that they have received. And there are two aspects of that. One of them being that their critique group may not have known the most supportive way to operate a critique group, which is something we can talk about in the next episode. But the other part of that is the receiving. The individual not being prepared to receive, not being in a mental state where they can discern what is theirs to keep in terms of the feedback that they receive, and what they should let go of because it does not serve the work. 

And so there is an aspect of being ready to receive the critique that when you are in a balanced season of Fall, you’re more prepared for that. If someone offers you something that you realize doesn’t serve the work, you more readily recognize that. You also don’t take the critique personally. You don’t take it as being about you as a writer, but you understand that it is about the manuscript. It is about the work. Not about you as a person. 

So that’s how I kind of see that flag of the hypersensitivity to critique working in the Fall season. The other thing that I wanted to touch on— 

No, go ahead. Melody, please add, before I move on.

Melody
14:35
Yeah, because what that brings up for me was an important lesson that I learned during the writing of my book was asking for critique before I was ready.

KimBoo
Ah, yes. 

Melody
And how and what was I really asking for during that time? I shared some of my work too early on and got a critique, but it stung. And it really set me back. And it took me a while to sort out that I really didn’t want nor was ready for a critique at that point. I needed some cheerleading. I needed somebody saying, “Yeah, you’re doing a good job, keep going.” And my offer in those sorts of situations is: a) really know what you want before you ask for critique. Are you really wanting feedback about your manuscript or your project at this time? Or do you just need some support and encouragement? And to ask for that. And I would recommend asking for that from experienced writers, because they understand the writing process, where Grandma Jones or you know, somebody you love, your beloved friends may not understand the writing process, and they’re going to give you just the off-the-cuff remarks, which may or may not be useful to you at all.

Gina
16:14
Yeah, I will definitely have a number of pointers and flags to offer up in that regard, when we get to the longer episode on critiquing. One aspect, you know, you talked about being sure of what you are asking for, and one way to do that before you enter into sharing your work and asking for critique is doing some inner work, doing some appraisal of your own work. Because doing that self appraisal will allow you to really see what the work needs, make it easier for you to ask for exactly what you need.

So self appraisal, appraising the work itself, it’s not looking at your manuscript in a way that you’re giving yourself this sort of cold-hearted criticism. It’s an effort for you to turn whatever those raw ideas, the raw writing, the draft into this more elaborate beauty. So, to me, appraising your work is one of the duties that you have to do as a writer. It’s an uncomfortable phase of the Creation cycle, but it’s certainly a vital one. And there is a lot of the letting go that we have talked about in the last episode that’s related to the Fall season that must happen when you’re appraising your own work.

Melody
17:41
I want to just add, Gina, that this is where a balanced relationship to authority comes in, and specifically your own authority. Because no one knows your work better than you do. No one sees your vision for your completed project better than you. Where you can take advice, and you should from others who are experienced, you, you know your work better than anyone else. You have the authority to make those final decisions.

Gina
18:14
Absolutely. Recognizing that you are the boss of your work, is…

KimBoo
18:22
It’s your baby.

Gina
18:25
Absolutely, your baby. And one of the other aspects of a Fall imbalance that we touched on last time was being overly dependent on that authority. And if you’re working with an editor, and you just take everything that they say, without questioning it, that is not in service to your manuscript. That is not in service to the story that you have to tell. Recognize that your editor, yes, is there to give you good advice, but it doesn’t mean that all of their advice is good. So being able to discern.

KimBoo
18:58
Yeah. I’ve got a story for that for our next episode, for sure on that topic. 

Melody
19:05
Yeah. And this comes into play too, because some people, instead of relying on their own authority, will find a new editor or a new critique group. And they’ll go from authority to authority, get conflicting answers, and not be able to move forward on any of it.

Gina
19:22
Yes. Oh, man. I just encountered that in a conversation with a writer this weekend and how she had worked with a writing coach. And they had determined because it was a very non-traditional approach to what she was trying to do. This was a nonfiction book. And she had gotten an editor’s guidance, and they were in agreement about the approach that she would take or had gotten the coach’s agreement, I’m sorry. And then when she took it to the editor, the editor had a completely different vision and gave her conflicting recommendations and advice. And so she was in a state of, “Now what do I do?” And so we were asking her as a group, what is it that you want to do? What is your heart telling you? What is telling you is best for the work? 

And so making sure that you’ve got that balance in Fall to be able to discern when you need to pay attention to the authority or not. And when you are being overly reliant on that authority. So there’s a lot of aspects of critiquing, and that’s why we have decided to devote our next episode to that. So I think I’m going to wrap this up in terms of the actual discussion around critiquing, unless you ladies have something to add to that.

KimBoo
20:43
I have something to add, but not specifically to critiquing in the sense, it’s to jump off something you said earlier, about knowing yourself and I think, within what Melody was talking about, knowing whether you need cheerleading, or whether you knowing you need editing. And Melody, this is just honestly a plug for your book. Because I think if writers are not clear, your book really has a great analysis of the different imbalances of the different seasons. And if you’re not sure how you’re feeling about something, or if you’re having conflicting feelings, go to Soul of the Seasons by Melody, and there’s a link to it on our site. And read through that and start trying to figure out well, how does this… and the book isn’t about writing. It’s a life book. It’s a life help book. And it’s fabulous. If you look at it through the lens of writing, though, you might be able to find where you are at in the process that maybe might surprise you a little bit. And you won’t be taken off guard, like you were Melody where you were actually kind of, you know, you were you were in a stage where you needed encouragement and help with growth. And you were getting somebody who was trying to prune. Yeah, so just kind of a short plug for the book, because I realized as we were talking about it, it’s really helpful, a guide to understanding how some of those emotions and those things can affect your writing and your creativity, in general. So I just wanted to bring that up.

Melody
22:14
Oh, thank you, KimBoo. And thank you for that plug, because I did write some really good shit.

KimBoo
22:21
Yes, you did. Darn it. But yeah.

Melody
22:26
I also wanted to further add a plug, another plug for the brain dump, because I’ve done it both generally and I’ve done it specifically. So if you feel overwhelmed with all these ideas and the revision process, you might want to do a brain dump just on that, and gain a little clarity so you can move in the direction you’re led to go into.

Gina
22:52
So from the standpoint of what we’ve talked about today, and also covered in the last episode, we have a worksheet on our website for you, which will go over the balances and the imbalances. And I believe too, Melody, you’ve gotten an exercise related to that.

Melody
23:08
Yep. I’ll have a couple of exercises in there. 

Gina
23:13
Excellent. Excellent. So our next topic, Melody, you want to give us a sneak peek of what we’re going to do in our next episode?

Melody
23:23
Well, you know, I have to say our next episode is rather momentous in it is critiquing. This subject of critiquing was the whole reason we started this podcast in the beginning.

KimBoo
23:37
Yep. It’s taken us almost a year to get there.

Melody
23:40
Yeah, we have, because we’ve gone over this. We’ve had discussions about critiquing and how valuable they are, but how hard they are to both receive and to give sometimes. And as we tossed that idea around, we thought this is a great idea for a podcast. So we are going to be talking more about the value of a critique, when and where to ask for it, who to ask for it. A little more on receiving but also on giving a critique, and perhaps being in different levels, like a critiquing group versus an editor or a trusted friend who’s a writer or just somebody who doesn’t know the material, because there’s time and place for all of those. So I’m really looking forward to this episode. Maybe we should have a little birthday cake or something because it’s got us into this group. And I totally love what we are doing here.

KimBoo
24:41
Same here, same here.

Gina
24:43
So that wraps up our episode on the Fall season, and we are going to be continuing with one aspect of Fall and focus on critiquing for our next episode. We hope that you’ll be able to join us. In the meantime, be sure and visit our website AroundTheWritersTable.com. Download those worksheets, which include the balances and the imbalances of Fall, the exercises that Melody has mentioned and also when we–in the download for episode 10, there was also a ritual that you could engage with to help you with the Fall season. And so we will see you next time.

Melody
25:23
Bye.

Dave
25:28
Thanks for joining us around the writer’s table. Please feel free to suggest a topic or a guest by emailing info@aroundthewriterstable.com. Music provided with gracious permission by Langtry. A link to their music is on our homepage at AroundTheWritersTable.com. Everyone here around the writer’s table wishes you joy in your writing and everyday grace in your living. Take care, until next time.

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