In a comment on a previous post, Judy Westergard wrote that her readers are the darlings she needs to kill to give herself freedom to write what needs to be written. Most writers, when they talk about killing their darlings, are referring to particular lines or passages that they just love, but that don’t really … More Neither Twisted Writer or Blocked Writer – Dreaming Writer
My previous post raised questions about hurting fictional characters: Do you question yourself about your willingness to write the scenes where people are going to get hurt? Do you stop short of where the story needs to go because you’re afraid of what others will think of you? How do you know when you’ve gone … More Twisted Writer or Blocked Writer: How Much Is Enough?
T.R. realized she was resistant to writing because she was reluctant to hurt a character and “take him apart.” The unwillingness to make characters suffer is a common source of writing resistance. Unwillingness to make real people suffer in real life is what separates us from sociopaths. In memoir, personal essays and other creative nonfiction, … More Twisted Writer or Blocked Writer? Which One Do You Want to Be?
About a month ago, Sara, a coaching client, and I talked about how she could set target dates as she drafted her novel. She decided to set a target for so many words per week and target dates for reaching specified total number of words. We talked about the potential emotional hazards this posed for … More New Book Update: Are Targets Dangerous for Writers?
Writer’s block consists of exerting an excruciating amount of energy to accomplish nothing. I suggest you skip the painful part, and do nothing right from the start. Writers need plenty of time to do nothing and do it well. Brenda Ueland intuited the value of time to do nothing back in 1938 when she wrote … More Nothing Beats Writer’s Block Like Doing Nothing
Pain is Tuition for Compassion, Fear is Tuition for Bravery A Sufi adage tells us, “Pain is the tuition for compassion.” Until you’ve experienced deep pain yourself, you are incapable of the compassion that calls forth the best parts of human beings and allows us to connect heart to heart, deep below the surface of … More Learn to Be Brave, Not Blocked
Every once in a while, I meet former students and we chat about their writing. A few months back, one woman told me she’ll always remember what I said in class years ago. “What was that?” I’m always curious about what bit of wisdom or nonsense filtered through my mind, came out of my mouth, … More Maybe You Don’t have Writer’s Block: Maybe Writing Is Just Hard
Can’t get the words on the page? Try putting pictures there first. Sometimes you need to back away, not just from the keyboard, but from words themselves. Cut pictures, not words,and paste them into a new creation. Collage-making puts me in a different state of consciousness, one where my perspective is more fluid and creative … More Cut and Paste Your Way Through Writing Resistance: It’s Not What You’re Thinking
Janet Brook, writing as J.L. Brook, is the author of Trickster’s Wind a Young Adult Fantasy about magic, mayhem and chaos, three words that describe her writing journey as well. Hoping to inspire other writers to persevere, she shares how she overcame roadblocks with persistence and short drives (aka baby steps). I learned to sabotage … More Exiting the Land of Guilt: Guest Post by Janet Brook
Process is a best-seller! The new craze of adults coloring with crayons and markers offers the added bonus of reducing resistance and releasing creativity. Coloring, my favorite way to do Process, was the topic of a New York Times article announcing that millions of adults around the world are getting out their crayons to color … More Bust Writer’s Block with the Adult Coloring Craze
Bane of Your Resistance 