In just 1 minute and 10 seconds, Michelle May shares advice that can transform your resistance to exercise: lower the bar. The same philosophy is at the heart of the 15 Magic Minutes technique you can use to eliminate your resistance to writing, exercise or anything else you have a push-pull, “I want to … More Lower the Bar to Reduce Resistance
Last Thursday in the Twin Cities was one of those weird weather days with rain in January. The roads were wet, but not icy when I drove to Common Good Books to deliver a writer’s workshop/reading. I parked just off the alley on a significant incline and didn’t see that the rain there had frozen. … More It’s Okay to Slip… Just Don’t Stop
Many writers share the awareness that when we’re at our very best, the writing comes, not so much from us, as through us. We are a channel that creative energy flows through. What we call the source of that creative flow varies: the Divine, the Universe, your muse, the life force, the Great Mystery. This … More Are You a Creative Super-Conductor?
Breaking promises to yourself damages your trust in yourself, increases resistance and makes it harder to do what will work for your writing. Norman Mailer points out in The Spooky Art: Some Thoughts on Writing: “If you tell yourself you are going to be at your desk tomorrow, you are by that declaration asking your … More Reduce Writing Resistance by Rebuilding Trust
Question: What’s the difference between a New Year’s resolution and a broken promise? Answer: About three to six weeks. Research shows that 78% to 88% of New Year’s resolutions fail. Resolutions are destined to fail in part because they rely on will power, which cannot last. Applying will power is repeatedly making a decision to … More Why New Year’s Resolutions Are Bad for Writers
In the previous post, you identified your writing habits and your resisting habits. To transform those resisting habits into writing habits, it helps to know just a bit about how habits work in your brain. When you think a certain thought or take a particular action, a series of neurons fire in sequence along a … More How to Build Stronger Writing Habits
Anything you can do to strengthen your writing habits and weaken the resisting habits will make your life so much easier and satisfying. Resisting habits are the thoughts and actions that make it less likely you will write. For example, consistently checking your email and Facebook when you think about writing decreases the chances you … More Do You have Writing Habits or Resisting Habits?
Even though there’s a risk in publishing a blog about writer’s resistance, I’m grateful for the opportunity to exchange ideas with talented writers like you. The risk? In a nutshell, we get more of what we focus our attention on. According to extensive social science research in the field of Appreciative Inquiry, what we expect … More What Do You Want More of in Your Writing?
The next time you have a weird dream that makes no sense, celebrate! The brain practices what we need to learn and/or remember while we sleep. Nonsensical dreams are your brain’s way of practicing stepping beyond the limits of rational thinking. Of course your rational, practical mind wants to call that kind of thinking “illogical” … More Weird Ways to Get Rid of Writer’s Block and Resistance
Nothing demonstrates the Poop Principle better than housetraining – your puppy or your writing. When you get a puppy, you know the poop side of the Love-to-Poop ratio is going to be high. For a while it seems like all you do is take the puppy outside or regret not taking the puppy outside! Fortunately, … More Housetraining Your Writing
Bane of Your Resistance 