Creativity coach, writing and creative process instructor, speaker, author of Around the Writer's Block: Using Brain Science to Write the Way You Want (Penguin/Tarcher 2012) and Dancing in the Dragon's Den (Red Wheel Weiser), Teaching Artist at the Loft Literary Center.
When Claudia and I realize we might be making something more difficult than it has to be, one of us will ask, “What if it’s quick, easy and now?” It’s a wonderful question. My first coach, Val Olson, gave it to me years ago. I’d spent an entire coaching session affirming my commitment to tenaciously … More What If Writing Is Easier than You Think?
Can your readers trust you? Can you trust me? I’d like to think that whatever degree of trust you give me is warranted, that my research on the brain and creativity is rigorous and my suggestions for using that information to get around resistance is helpful and valid. Rarely does neuroscientific research apply directly to … More How Far Should Readers Trust You?
To write what you truly want to write, you must take creative risks. You have to keep moving forward when you’re uncertain. You have to expose your creative self. You have to claim your own voice and simultaneously stay open to learning new tools and techniques. You have to embrace your crazy, clichéd ideas (all … More How Trustworthy Are You?
When I posted the previous post in the Out of the Postponement Loop series, I didn’t know if my next step in rescuing my “Early Drafts” project would be to look at the Shitty First Drafts cluster for structure and transitions among the bubble topics or to freewrite. Turns out, I didn’t take either of those … More Out of the Postponement Loop: Step 2 Writing from the Bubbles of an Idea
What happens when you promise yourself a writing reward, do the writing and skip the reward? Because you’re at least as smart as a dog, you stop trying. This video demonstrates what happens when dogs know they’re being cheated out a reward they earned. You might think that not giving yourself a promised reward is … More Why You Must Never Skip a Writing Reward
Reader comments on my previous post, Writing Should Be It’s Own Reward, Right? Wrong!, highlighted where I need to clarify a few things for everyone’s benefit. (This is one of the reasons I love your feedback; another is that your comments tell me my writing mattered to you, which tremendously rewarding for me.) Joel Canfield … More Refine Your Writing Rewards
When we’re in the flow and the words flow effortlessly, writing is its own reward. We don’t need to reward ourselves then; in fact, giving a reward for something that is intrinsically rewarding can be counterproductive. But writing isn’t intrinsically rewarding all, or even most, of the time. The misbelief that it should be creates … More Writing Should Be Its Own Reward, Right? Wrong!
In a previous post, I promised to reveal my writing process as I move my idea about “Early Drafts vs. Shitty First Drafts” out of a Postponement Loop into a finished piece. Here’s my messy first step in pulling this rabbit out of my hat. In the past few weeks, I spent several nights exploring … More Rescuing My “Early Drafts” Project from a Postponement Loop: Step 1 Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat
I met Catherine Brennan in one of my Loft classes. Her first reaction to Process (play for the sake of play) was a mix of anxiety and enthusiasm. As she played around with the idea of playing around to support her writing, she found creative play expanded her writing and her life as a writer … More Seven Things I Learned Through Process Play: Guest Post by Catherine Brennan
For several years, I’ve had what I think is an excellent theory about why we shouldn’t call our early drafts shitty and what we should call them instead. Every time one of my students mentioned Anne Lamont’s “shitty first drafts,” I’d explain my theory and remember I want to write a blog post about it. … More How to Rescue Your Lost Writing From Postponement Loops
Bane of Your Resistance 