I apologize to those of you who got an email version of the Ta-Da post but couldn’t click on the menu bar because there is no menu bar in an email version. So here’s a repeat of the post with a link you can use to get to the new page. I’m proud to present […]
Archive | March, 2012
Master Writer’s Block: What Masterpiece Theatre Teaches Us about Writing Resistance
I’ll admit it: I’m a fan of Masterpiece Theatre’s Downton Abbey. I suppose if I’m going to publicly admit I watch TV, Masterpiece is the one to admit to – it’s literature, after all. I’m not just confessing to unburden myself; I promise this applies to writing and writing resistance. If you’re a fellow fan, […]
Reserve and Conserve
When your water supply is running low, you turn to your reserves in a water tower, reservoir or rain barrels. You get serious about using only what you must. When your creative well is tapped out, you can apply the Reserve and Conserve alternatives. Going to the Reserve Bank Some writers are smart enough to […]
Can I Borrow a Cup of Inspiration?
Another solution suggested for the dry well problem (which we looked at in previous posts) is to beg, borrow or steal water/writing. Or as I prefer to think of it: invite, cite and rewrite. Invite: Come On In, The Writing Is Fine The point of begging is to get something for nothing because you’re perceived […]
Can You Dig Your Way Out of a Creative Dry Spell?
In the previous post, I observed that sometimes resistance is not so much a tangible obstacle as it is an absence of creative inspiration, energy and initiative. Following the metaphor of a dry well, the solutions we would take if our water source disappeared can tell us what to do to restore our creative wellspring. […]
The “What If” Cure For Writer’s Block
Imagine you depend on a well for all your water. What would you do if that well ran dry? How many alternative solutions can you think of?” That’s the question I posed to the writers attending a First Pages workshop last Saturday. (First Pages are FREE writing workshops co-sponsored by the Loft Literary Center and […]
Want To Break Writer’s Block? Timing Is Everything
Are you editing too soon? Do you eliminate ideas before you even get them on the page? Do you think of a sentence, decide that’s stupid, try to think of another, which you think is just as stupid? Do you give up just when the editing should really start? Editing and Drafting Don’t Mix Many […]
Is Writing Really Important or Merely Important?
Last Friday, I wrestled with back cover copy for my book, struggling to balance my editor’s extensive experience writing this kind of copy with my impulse to include everything a potential reader needed to know to buy the book. (Since then, it’s occurred to me that I’ve already written that – it’s called “Chapter 1: […]
Why Writers Need Habits, Not Discipline, to Overcome Resistance
In the previous post, I explained that I’m not a fan of discipline (aka punishment). Here’s why. Why Discipline (aka Punishment) Rarely Works The human brain remembers every little thing associated with a negative experience. Because any of the little details might have caused or contributed to the experience, it pays to remember those details […]
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Bane of Your Resistance 