There’s nothing wrong with distracting yourself sometimes. Distraction is one way your brain copes with stress and anxiety. What We’ve Learned So Far The challenge with being too distracted to write is that you’re usually too distracted to notice. Hence, Step 1 is to Recognize when you’re distracting yourself. Since we distract ourselves to diffuse … More Step 4: Redirect Your Writing Past Distraction
From previous posts, you know that Step 1 is to recognize you are distracting yourself away from writing (or using another form of resistance). Step 2 is to relax, which will bring your creative cortex back online. Your next step is to respect the wisdom of your resistance. How can there possibly be wisdom in … More Step 3 Out of Too Distracted to Write: Respect Your Resistance
Beware! Here Be Distractions! Distraction is one of the most common forms of writing resistance. Sometimes distractions force their way into our consciousness. But sometimes we actively go looking for something to distract us from writing. Opening email before I’ve put in my Product Time usually means I’m trying to distract myself. Looking at Facebook … More Too Distracted to Write?
When I refer to the Saboteur in these posts, I do so with the hope that you’re familiar with the term from one of my classes or reading Around the Writer’s Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance. But if you aren’t or if it’s been awhile since you were in class or read … More Don’t Let the Saboteur Push You Into Writer’s Block
When I refer to the Saboteur in these posts, I do so with the hope that you’re familiar with the term from one of my classes or reading Around the Writer’s Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance. But if you aren’t or if it’s been awhile since you were in class or read … More Does Your Saboteur Push You into Writer’s Block?
T.R. realized she was resistant to writing because she was reluctant to hurt a character and “take him apart.” The unwillingness to make characters suffer is a common source of writing resistance. Unwillingness to make real people suffer in real life is what separates us from sociopaths. In memoir, personal essays and other creative nonfiction, … More Twisted Writer or Blocked Writer? Which One Do You Want to Be?
What’s GEMO? a) Tickle Me Elmo’s cousin b) a command for sled dogs meaning go right (Gee) even more (Mo) c) a motto that will get your writing unstuck and keep you moving If you answered c, you’re correct. If you answered a, you’re going to have a hard time finding GEMO at ToysRUs. If … More GEMO Ends Writer’s Resistance
Don’t know where you’re going? Excellent! Not sure how you’ll get there? Outstanding! On your way anyway? Kudos! Know everything? My condolences. Resistance is caused by fear. And fear of the unknown is the biggest fear of all. But it’s not not knowing that causes problems, it’s the fear of not knowing. At the heart … More Brainy Writers Seek Uncertainty to Solve Resistance
“Write one page without looking back.” That was the challenge I offered a new coaching client. Gloria’s writing was crippled by perfectionism. She edited too soon. She couldn’t get past the first paragraph without having to go back and start over again. And again. And again. Gloria accepted that challenge. She wrote without looking back, … More Drafting + Editing = Writer’s Block
Writers ask me, “How can I tell when I’m resisting my writing?” “You make your best guess,” I tell them. Before they can realize how much of an answer that isn’t, I describe typical examples of resistance, many of which sound familiar enough to assure them that resistance is part of their writing life and … More Ask Not for Whom Resistance Tolls
Bane of Your Resistance 