Category: Overcoming Resistance

Multiple Writing Projects: Avoiding Resistance Roadblocks on Route 3

February 14, 2019

After you’ve identified possible projects (Route 1), prioritized those projects and selected a reasonable number of projects (Route 2), you’re ready to cruise down Route 3, where the “real writing” happens, right? If you saw the trick question there, good for you! First of all, Routes 1 and 2 are just as much “real writing” … More Multiple Writing Projects: Avoiding Resistance Roadblocks on Route 3

Prioritize Multiple Writing Projects to Make Progress, Not Waste Time

January 17, 2019

Sometimes it’s obvious that you have waaaay too many choices: But sometimes it’s tricky… Route 1, 2 or 3? It’s Not Always Obvious In a previous post, we identified three roads writers travel throughout our careers: Route 1: Not having a clue what the next writing project will be Route 2: Having so many possible … More Prioritize Multiple Writing Projects to Make Progress, Not Waste Time

Real Writers Fight Resistance, Right? Wrong!

December 6, 2018

Despite the militaristic metaphors found in The War of Art and similar books, blogs and articles, resistance is not our enemy and does not need to fought, blasted or defeated. Don’t get me wrong, I love Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. It was a powerful early influence. I was relieved to learn Pressfield perspective … More Real Writers Fight Resistance, Right? Wrong!

Five Reasons to Thank Your Resistance to Writing

November 21, 2018

How could you possibly be grateful for feeling resistance to your writing? 1.  Resistance Reveals Your Passion A student in my Writer’s Resistance class confessed “I thought I must really not want to be a writer since I’m not writing.” I reassured her that her resistance was a sign that she did want to write. … More Five Reasons to Thank Your Resistance to Writing

Rescuing My “Early Drafts” Project from a Postponement Loop: Step 1 Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat

August 10, 2018

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

How to Rescue Your Lost Writing From Postponement Loops

July 26, 2018

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