I hate it when anyone leaves something on my desk. In all honesty, my office is typically in a state of creative flux (aka messy). Some might question how I can even tell that someone has touched my desk. So it’s certainly not that I fixate on things being in a particular place. It’s pure … More Position Yourself Beyond Writer’s Resistance
In my last New Book Update, I admitted that I had too many “top priority” projects. So I made the difficult decision to postpone work on my new novel. Since then, I recognized how perfectionism had pushed me away from the novel I finished drafting years ago. And I scheduled a mini-retreat in January to … More New Book Update: Making Progress By Postponing
B. Adams “Coloring Grover” wins the second drawing in the Where’s Your Creative Brain photo contest! B. happens to be in my Writing Habit class at the Loft, so she’ll receive her prize — the Stained Glass Mandala coloring book — in class next Monday. You could be the winner of our next drawing on … More Where’s Your Creative Brain Photo Contest Winner #2
Between 2006 and 2008, I sent queries for my novel The Essential Path to 27 agents. I got 26 letters declining the opportunity to represent me; one didn’t bother to reply. In the middle of this exercise in rejection, I started work on what is now Around the Writer’s Block, perhaps unconsciously looking for a … More How the Desire to Be “Rejection-Proof” Blocked My Novel
JMDragonfly’s “London” wins the first drawing in the Where’s Your Creative Brain photo contest! A complete set of Brainy Pencils and Brainy Erasers will be on their way to JMDragonfly as soon as I get her address. Wednesday, October 2, the next winner receive a mandala coloring book — perfect for your Process practice. All … More And the Winner Is…
In answer to the questions raised in the previous post, you move from close enough to excellence with discerning, observant practice where you change what you do based on the results you get. Indiscriminate practice only reinforces what’s already there. There’s no point in polishing and repeating mistakes. Make your mistakes new ones. Recognizing failure … More From Close Enough to Excellence Through Failure
Forget about discipline and will power. What writers really need are habits. Here’s why. All the really cool writers have habits: Maya Angelou, E.B. White, Ernest Hemingway, Steven King, the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, JK Rowling. (We can only guess what habits EL James employs… no wait, I’d rather not.) Habits get stronger every time … More Seven Reasons Writers Need Habits More Than Discipline
I’m honored and thrilled to deliver the keynote “Creativity and the 50 and Better Brain” at the Loft’s Creative Writing for Writers Aged 50 and Better conference on October 5. Is your 50 and better brain up to the creative challenge of writing? Absolutely! Your brain is changing, not deteriorating. Discover how to leverage the … More Free Writer’s Conference and Book!
The only physiological difference between fear and excitement is in the exhale. When you’re afraid, you take a sharp breath into the top part of your lungs and hold it. When you’re delighted or excited, you take a sharp breath into the top part of your lungs and then you let it out in an … More Remember the Exhale
Bane of Your Resistance 