As a writer, what do you give thanks for? Your computer? Teachers who taught you to read and write? Writers who inspire you? Your vision and the flexibility of your fingers and brain? Can you see how resistance, even full-fledged block, might be something to be thankful for? When we feel resistance, we both want … More What Are You Thankful For?
We live in a culture of sound bites, text messages, Tweets and bullet points. A Facebook status update or an email that’s longer three sentences raises our eyebrows and creates judgments about how long-winded the author is. There are times when brevity is the soul of wit, but there also times when brevity reveals the … More Focus, People, Focus!
Whether you’ve just signed yourself up to write a novel in a month or you’re facing other writing challenges as we move into the winter holidays, you may be tempted to skimp on sleep so you can keep up with a schedule that always seems to get frenzied this time of year. Don’t! The sleep-deprived … More NaNo or Not, You Need Your Sleep!
I want your opinion. My upcoming book, Around the Writer’s Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance, will include sections that show how relevant and useful it is for writers to understand the brain and neuroscience research. The information in these sections is tailored for readers who are writers like you, not scientists. I … More Please Vote!
Don’t resist rewriting; good writing comes from rewriting. You have to see what’s really there before you can change what’s there. … More Real Revision
In more recent versions of the Marshmallow Test, Walter Mischel tells children to pretend the marshmallow is only a picture of a marshmallow or a fluffy cloud. The children who employ their imagination could wait three times longer than kids who didn’t use their imagination. “Once you realize that will power is just a matter … More Step Away From the Marshmallow Part 2
Have you seen the Marshmallow Test? Four-year-olds are given a marshmallow and told that they can eat the marshmallow whenever they want, but if they wait until the researcher comes back, they can have a second marshmallow. The videos are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant as the kids devise different strategies to avoid the temptation or … More Step Away From the Marshmallow and No One Gets Writer’s Block
Identify the Opportunity and Desire Take a few minutes to complete this sentence (on the page or screen or in your head): “I want to write…” Did you write mainly about what content you want to write (e.g. a story about a rodeo clown, or poetry that moves people to tears, or an essay about … More The Right to Write What’s Right for You
Is there a real difference between a creative flow state (while writing or engaged in any other creative activity) and being lost in a digital trance (which could include being absorbed by TV, emails, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, shopping, etc.)? For most of us, the digital trance is so close to what we’re really looking for in the flow state, we keep going there, hoping that this time it’ll be all we need without enduring the risk and fear that come with surrendering to the flow. What happens in the brain with addiction and resistance are very different processes. But the search for something that’s almost what you need is remarkably similar. … More Does Your Writer’s Block Rely on a Digital Trance?
These quotes will demonstrate that no matter how stupid you fear your writing might be, it can’t begin to compare with the stupidity that’s already out there in the world. If you’re feeling stuck, try to write the stupidest, most sophomoric version of what you’re writing about. … More Plato or Play-Doh?
Bane of Your Resistance 