The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
Are you good at capturing your own creative thoughts? Or do you let them slip away by telling yourself that they weren’t really all that good or all that important? Stop that! Start right now doing a better job of capturing and recording your ideas. Self-doubt is an...
The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
Anxiety makes us undisciplined writers. Learn some anxiety management tools, perhaps a deep breathing technique or a relaxation technique to help you stay put. Anxiety is part of the process—learn how to manage it! What ways have you discovered to manage your writer’s...
The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
hiMany people are embarrassed to create in public. It feels unseemly to them. Like kissing in plain view. Deal with that self-consciousness! Learn to make a spectacle of yourself. If you don’t, you’ll feel uncreative everywhere except in your private space. This...
The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
Intend to create. Hold in your heart and in your belly the intention to write. Grow creative through powerful intention. You could go your entire life wishing that you had followed your passion. Unfortunately, as children we were made to believe that if we wished hard...
The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
What do you need to unlearn in order to become more creative? What things have you been taught or told about “good” writing that perhaps you should forget? When I first saw this tip, I told Mrs. Gina that what I needed to unlearn was my entire Literature degree....
The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
If you hide your work away, no one can criticize it or reject it. Isn’t that clever!? But does that foolproof, protective maneuver really serve you? The act of writing is not what I find terrifying. What petrifies me is the outcome of showing my writing to other...
The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
Have you abandoned some creative project that still retains a lot of juice? Return to it with optimism, an open heart, and a firm belief in renewed possibility! Ask yourself, What writing projects have I started, but did not finish or have not worked on in a while?...
The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
It is so much more exhausting not to work than to work. If you procrastinate, you’ll feel more exhausted than if you’d created for hours. Never forget how tired not creating makes you feel. If you pursue a career in writing, there will always be a deadline to meet....
The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
Often you’re resistant to getting started. That resistance is just a thin veneer between you and your work but it feels like a concrete wall. Get up and crash right through it! Become a bull or a battering ram. Don’t let a film of resistance cost you decades. What...
The Craft of Writing, The Writer's Life
What is your process, your style, and your rhythm? Get clear in your own mind how you create. Then accept your way of working—or change it if it is not effective. Do you remember, in school, when the teacher could not be satisfied with you just showing up, but she had...
