Blog
Blog
Get Yourself Ready for Nano 2022
Nano’s annual energy surge is available to writers of many stripes. You don’t have to be starting a novel (and you don’t even need to be a novelist).
Support Your Creativity with Lists
There is satisfaction in finishing a list item, and it’s too easy to hurry past that moment without enjoying it and taking it in. It’s worthwhile to pause.
New Habits for Old People
Changing habits is hard because of our default neurology. Change can happen, though, and more easily if we’re changing in the direction of a better life.
The Critique Group: A Cure for Writerly Isolation
A proven antidote to that creative isolation is a well-functioning writer group. Its sustaining, regular rhythms – drafting and sharing your pages, then reading and critiquing your group members’ pages, then gathering together and scheduling the next month’s due date and meeting – become essential and welcome elements of everyday life.
Guest Post: Writing for Children • Rules of the Road
It is absolutely necessary to write for your ideal reader. Emotionally, how would they feel in your main character’s situation? What’s the worldview of a three-year-old? If your main character is a mouse, how would the physical world look to them? And so on.
Treat Resistance Like It’s a Narcissist
Instead of engaging in hand-to-hand combat, we can assert our healthy boundaries, limit contact with the aggressor, and save our passion for places where positive forward motion is doable and satisfying.
Can Meditation and Creative Ideas Play Well Together?
When creative ideas crop up during meditation, what if the thoughts are really useful? Do I cast them out? What if inspiration is visiting? Do I slam the door?
Guest Post: Kaizen • Small Steps Lead to Success
Simply picking one small action to repeat each day or day-ish builds enthusiasm, momentum, and endurance that assists you in finishing your project.
What Is Normal Creativity?
The client’s question came from a familiar place. I suspect most of us share these doubts. Compared to other creative people, are we normal? Are we doing enough? Do we measure up? Are we hopelessly less than those other people – older, younger, wealthier, more famous, more privileged, more productive, better looking?
Guest Post: Reading Like a Writer • Reading with Purpose Improves Your Writing
By learning to read like a writer, with active, focused attention, you will learn ten times faster than by fumbling around and hoping to stumble upon effective ways of telling the story. Once you see how you can apply it and immediately improve your own writing, you’ll be hooked.