Archive | December, 2013

Is Your Writing Time Productive?


Which of these illustrations best reflects productive writing time? Answer: All of them. There is much more to writing than having your fingers on the keyboard. That’s why I call it Product Time, not writing time. Note: This is the second in a three-part sneak peek summary of the Three Recommended Habits: Process, Product Time […]

4 Comments Continue Reading →

Why Writers Need Creative Play aka Process


Happy Holidays! My gift to you is a three-part sneak peek at summaries of the Three Recommended Habits: Process, Product Time and Self-care. This information is usually available only to my students and coaching clients on a password-protected page. You can find Success Stories from writers who applied the habits and the brain science behind […]

10 Comments Continue Reading →

Bright Solstice!


Let’s celebrate! We’re halfway through the dark! Winter starts today (for those of us in the northern hemisphere). Frigid winds will blow down from the arctic. The temps will drop. We’ll get snow and ice and more gloomy days than we wish. BUT, from this day forward, every day will be a little longer. The […]

4 Comments Continue Reading →

Stop Stopping Your Writing


Today’s post, Stop Stopping Yourself With Premature Edits, has migrated to Joel Canfield’s Someday Box blog. While you’re there, check out Joel’s blog. Since you appreciate my blog, chances are you’ll like his, too. If you followed a link here from Joel’s blog, welcome! Please explore my previous posts and pages and let me know […]

2 Comments Continue Reading →

Writer’s Events Updated for 2014


My assistant Blue updated my Events page for the first three months of 2014. Don’t miss the Early Bird Discounts on my Loft classes! Just follow the links on the Events page to the Loft’s class description and look for the discount code just above my bio. I’d love to see you at several or […]

2 Comments Continue Reading →

Writers Gift: Darkness Is as Much a Gift as Light


We can find significant gifts in darkness. Just as seeds sprout in the darkness underground, creative insight requires a time of not knowing and wandering lost in the dark. You can’t become enlightened if you haven’t traveled through darkness. You can’t write satisfying fiction or memoir if your characters don’t face the darkness in the […]

Leave a Comment Continue Reading →

“Ideal Conditions” Is Code for “Writer’s Resistance”


How do you define ideal writing conditions? Is caffeine essential to kick your brain into writing mode? Would writing be impossible if your computer crashed? Do you need absolute quiet and solitude? Or are background sounds and activity a must for you? Would you delay writing for more than five minutes looking for a special […]

2 Comments Continue Reading →

Writer Announcements & Links to All Sorts of Writer Fun


Today’s post has migrated — you’ll find it on Penquin’s Book Country blog. If you recently completed a big writing project or hope to complete a writing project in the future, you need to know about the Afterglow or Aftershock that can be part of the Hibernation that follows finishing a project. Please Don’t Feed […]

2 Comments Continue Reading →

When Waiting Leads to Writer’s Resistance


What if you were a kid playing hide-and-seek and no one came to find you? You’d probably a) feel hurt or angry and b) stop playing. What if it turned out you were “It” and everyone else was waiting for you to find them? You’d probably a) stop feeling bad and b) start playing again […]

4 Comments Continue Reading →

Writer Gifts


Throughout December, I’ll suggest tips for creativity-enhancing or just plain fun gifts for writers in a series of blog and Facebook posts. (Be sure you’re subscribed to both.) Please Share any posts that strike your fancy with your family and friends. Writer Gift Tip #1: Lights, Hope, Action! In the northern hemisphere, December is the […]

3 Comments Continue Reading →