World-class athletes agree that the mental game is key to winning. Overcoming writer’s block and other forms of writing resistance is key to winning the writer’s mental game. This blog, the Around the Writer’s Block book and AWB classes give you a significant edge in this part of the game. I’ve invested years teaching and … More Winning the Writer’s Mental Game
One of my mentors once told me “You can’t start doing what you don’t know how to do until you stop doing what you do know how to do.” I’ve stopped chasing what’s urgent (which I know how to do far too well) so that I can start learning how to identify what it truly … More Break the Urgency-Induced Block
Does your writing have unexplained bumps and bruises? Does it frequently “lose” its lunch money and have to settle for the dregs of your time and attention? It is always shoved into last place in the queue? If you habitually bounce from one urgency to another, your writing will suffer. If you pay attention to … More Is Your Writing the Victim of the Urgency Bully?
Yes. And no. There’s no doubt that a deadline creates urgency. Sometimes the urgency generates enough energy to propel a blocked writer out of paralysis and into action. Sometimes that action is writing. But breaking out of paralysis doesn’t necessarily mean all resistance is gone. A paralyzed writer may move into action, but that action … More Can a Deadline Cure Writer’s Block?
Writers have to know how to relax in the moment so we can move out of the resistance caused by a limbic system takeover and re-engage our creative cortex. But even better than knowing how to move out of resistance is knowing how to avoid it in the first place. A regular relaxation practice gives … More Keep Your Creative Cortex Engaged – Brain Basics Part 3
After the last post on the neurology of resistance, many of you may be thinking “Okay, so writing resistance is normal and I don’t have to feel guilty or embarrassed. That’s a huge relief, but what do I do next? How do I get past resistance and start writing again?” The key is the RAS … More Relax Your Way Out of Writer’s Block – Brain Basics Part 2
To revise your writing, of course you must evaluate it. But evaluating is not the same as judging. Judging engages your mental filters and you stop seeing what’s really there. Once you assume something is good, you start seeing all the good things about it. Even neutral aspects will seem positive and negative aspects will … More Discerning Writer’s Guide to Revision
Revision requires that we see our writing for what it is: an approximation of our intended meaning and effect. We’re trying to recreate the same ideas and emotions in the reader that we experienced, to induce the same neurological state of consciousness, and we can’t do more than approximate that. The page will never hold … More How Do You Revise Without Letting the Saboteur Attack?
7. Read! I never discourage anyone who has even a passing fancy of being a writer. But I have to admit that if someone told me s/he wanted to be a writer but hated to read, I’d be at a loss for what to say. Reading and writing are part of the one whole. Writing … More Eight Essentials Every Writer Must Master – Part 4
The previous post identified Essential #4 Care For Your Creative Brain. One of the things that creative brain of yours needs to do is to: 5. Understand and respect the stages of the creative process. Although it is possible to stumble through the creative process without understanding it, writing is so much easier, effective and … More Eight Essentials Every Writer Must Master – Part 3
Bane of Your Resistance 