In response to the previous post, “Feedback Should Be a Crystal Ball, Not a Wrecking Ball,” Paige McKinney observed, “Sometimes wrecking balls seem magnetic, and once they’ve hit, a writer’s stuck. Any advice on how to let go or fight the pull?” I’ll talk about how to recover from “feedback fallout” – writer’s block and … More How to Avoid Wrecking Ball Feedback
Judy Reeves, author of Writing Alone, Writing Together, offered this comment to my first post about feedback: “Thanks for this post, Rosanne. I know from personal experience how criticism can do harm, but I also know critique is valuable to me as a writer and to those writers I work with. I wanted to pass … More Feedback Should Be a Crystal Ball, Not a Wrecking Ball
You’d think that praise would be the one form of feedback that always benefits the person receiving it, but it’s not. As Charity pointed out in a comment, “I have a long and varied (and sometimes painful) relationship with feedback. Oddly enough, even praise has paralyzed me. I end up thinking: ‘Well, no way I … More The Problem with Praise or How Good Intentions Can Cause Writer’s Block
What can put a writer who is engaged, excited, committed and making real progress into a tailspin that leaves her/him deflated, defeated, demotivated and questioning if s/he can finish this piece and if s/he should write at all? What can push a courageous writer away from a topic or particular piece of writing s/he was … More Most Common — and Least Suspected — Cause of Writer’s Block and Resistance
The previous post introduced the idea of keeping an appreciative journal where you focus on the positive and on what’s working well in your writing and your life. How to Write an Appreciative Journal Focus on observable facts and state them without judgment. Write about what you’re doing and what’s happening in specific, factual statements, … More Journaling Your Way Out of Writer’s Block Part 2
Do you keep a writer’s journal for any of these reasons: warm-up before writing something else drain your brain of miscellaneous thoughts that would otherwise interfere with your writing keep track of progress on a particular project practice the craft of writing store great ideas and images for future use give future English majors insights … More Journaling Your Way Out of Writer’s Block
Writers must be creative; it’s create or die (at least inside). In your pursuit of creativity, your brain is your most important asset. How well do you maintain it? Take this Self-care Assessment to find out. Downtime: The brain requires rest to retain what it learns. Dr. Loren Frank, assistant professor of physiology at the … More Keeping Your Writer’s Brain at Creative Optimum
“I spent 15 minutes journaling last night. Is that Process or Product Time?” “I started out just freewriting, but ended up with a character sketch. Do I count that as Process or Product Time?” There are times when the lines between Process and Product Time can get hazy. It may not matter what you call … More What’s the Difference Between Process and Prouct Time Writing?
A primary source of resistance is the assumption that you should be thinking, feeling or doing something you aren’t. You think you need the perfect space to write, but where you are is anything but perfect. You think you should be excited with new ideas and inspired by brilliant insights, but you are dull-eyed and … More Blocked Because You’ve Got Nothing?
When was the last time you were in a room with energy-saving, motion-sensing lights? You know, the ones that turn off as soon as you get focused on what you’re reading or writing so that you have to flail your arms around to get the lights back on? It’s more recent than you think. In … More Keep the Writing Light On
Bane of Your Resistance 