When you realize you’re too distracted to write, kudos! Recognizing distraction (or any other form of resistance) is Step 1 in responding effectively. As soon as you recognize the distraction, you can stop wondering if you have ADHD and takes steps to refocus your attention and get back to writing. Your next step is to … More Too Distracted to Write? Here’s Your Next Step
Beware! Here Be Distractions! Distraction is one of the most common forms of writing resistance. Sometimes distractions force their way into our consciousness. But sometimes we actively go looking for something to distract us from writing. Opening email before I’ve put in my Product Time usually means I’m trying to distract myself. Looking at Facebook … More Too Distracted to Write?
There’s nothing funny about feeling blocked or recognizing that you’re spending more time resisting than writing. But the solution might be a laughing matter. Humor Increases Creativity Recent research shows that “mirthful laughter” triggers your brain to release gamma waves, which are the brain’s highest electrical frequency. Gamma waves are required to achieve an aha! … More Laugh Your Way through Writer’s Block
Transitions are usually difficult for me. Which is why I’m so surprised that the current transition is – I’m almost afraid to jinx it – easy. Typically, while I’m clipping along in one stage – doing research or drafting, for example – I’ve got momentum working for me. I show up for Product Time and … More Big Significant Next Steps Make Writing Harder
One of my favorite routes through Incubation is a long soak in a hot bath. It just feels so good. Dr. Paulette Sherman explains how to make a simple bath more effective in her upcoming book, The Book of Sacred Baths: 52 Bathing Rituals to Revitalize Your Spirit (Llewellyn, August 2016) and she shares the … More 5 Ways a Sacred Bath can Float You Past Writers Block: Guest Post by Paulette Kouffman Sherman
“Everything stinks until it’s done.” – Dr. Seuss You may have heard me say (or read my post) that to write well, you have to be willing to write badly. But do you know when to write badly? Writer’s Craptime Writing badly is what Anne Lamont calls the Sh*tty First Draft, Marla Beck calls the … More Writer’s Naptime or Craptime?
In Part 1 of this two-part guest post from Joel D Canfield, Joel highlighted the limitations of trying to write book-length prose SOLELY by the seat of your pants. In this post, he explains how he structures a story without losing the benefits of “pantsing.” Joel is the author of fourteen books and the Someday … More The Ultimate Tool for Getting Pantsers Through Their Resistance to Plotting: Guest Post by Joel D Canfield
Once again, author and author consultant Joel D Canfield made an intriguing comment, this time on the question of Who Gets More Creative Flow: Planners or Pantsers, so I invited him to expand his comment into this guest post. Joel is the author of fourteen books and the Someday Box blog for those who want to … More How My Writing Process Saved the Day, and How it Can Save Yours: Guest Post by Joel D Canfield
The last time we made lamb kabobs, I slow cooked what was left on the chops, then spent a half hour or so trimming the meat from all the fiddly little bones as a treat for the dogs. While my hands and my surface mind were occupied, my deeper mind was free to ponder a … More Are You an Over-Convenienced Writer?
In a world of limited either-or, the creative flow is delightfully and powerfully both-and. … More Who Gets More Creative Flow? Pantsers or Plotters?
Bane of Your Resistance 