One of my coaching clients confessed that she always felt guilty about not writing. She felt so behind on a writing project, it seemed logical that if she could write, she should write. She never really knew when it was time to write – it was always time to write. She certainly didn’t know when … More It’s Always Time to Write, Right? Wrong!
In the previous post, I promised that you can train your brain to follow two simple commands that will transform your writing no matter how resistant you are. The first was Sit-Stay. The second is: Pay Attention To the trainer, Pay Attention means “look at me, make eye contact with me” (which is why some … More Train Yourself to Resist Resistance: Second Trick
No matter how much or how long you’ve been resisting your writing, how much you procrastinate, postpone, distract yourself, or chase your own tail in pursuit of perfection, two simple tricks will change everything. Well-trained dogs respond to these commands and you can train your brain to respond, too. Yes, I know people are more … More Train Yourself to Resist Resistance
As Lisa Cron, author of the fabulous writers’ guides Wired for Story and Story Genius, explains in her TEDx Talk, our brains evolved to attend to, engage in and learn from stories. The title of her first book is literal: we are wired for story. Your brain is a fabulous storyteller. You make up more … More Are You Lying about Your Writing? To Yourself?
What will smart writers’ brains be wearing this summer? Whatever it is, it needs to be different from what your brain wore last season. Because your brain needs a makeover — a cognitive style makeover. If your brain is resistant to the idea of a cognitive style makeover, and really, what brain isn’t, remember that … More Want to Write Better? (Part 2) Give Your Brain a Makeover!
In our previous post, we explored how your brain is naturally creative, always making new associations and connections, but that you don’t notice because your brain prefers rational, logical thinking so much it drowns out other styles of cognition. Allan Snyder’s research suggests that we can increase our awareness of our creativity by temporarily inhibiting … More Want to Write Better? Think Different!
You know, of course, that stars don’t “come out” at night. They are always there emitting the same amount of light all day, all night. We just can’t see the stars until the sun “sets,” or more correctly, until the part of the planet you’re standing on rotates away from the sun enough to escape … More Don’t Let Logic Eclipse Your Creative Writing
How would you feel if you were playing hide-and-seek and no one came to find you? What if it turned out you were “It” and everyone else was waiting for you to find them? Are you playing a backwards game of hide-and-seek with your writing? Are you hiding, waiting for inspiration to find you when … More Waiting to Be Inspired to Write? You’ve Got It Backwards!
I have a miserable cold. Actually, the cold virus is probably quite content; I’m miserable. Creative cognition seems beyond me, so I invite you to appreciate this video. George Saunders will assure you that “It’s scary to not know where a story is going.” How is that reassuring? Because writing should be scary. Settle in … More Let Your Writing Scare You
When I read C. L. Blacke’s blog about cultivating a writing practice, I knew you’d want to learn more about her routes around, over and through resistance. C.L. reports that, in the early years, trying to overcome writing resistance “felt like smashing my head against a wall and expecting it to move.” When she finally … More Top 10 Routes thru Writer’s Resistance: Guest Post by C. L. Blacke
Bane of Your Resistance 