I know how scary it can be to think about what your writing should be....
Recent News
Regular Writing Isn’t Enough — You Need to KNOW You’re Making Progress
It isn’t enough to make progress on your writing; you need to KNOW you’re making progress. Dan Pink’s ultra-short Pinkcast video on Progress Rituals reveals how seeing your progress increases your ability to make more progress. The Nudge You Need… Easy inspiration is just a text away when you enlist a text-accountability buddy. My friend […]
Keep Your Writing Approach Fresh Guest Post by Cheryl Campbell
Cheryl Campbell is the author of the Burnt Mountain fantasy series and Echoes of War, book one in the upcoming Echoes trilogy. She describes herself as “a techie with a creative side, or perhaps a creative with a techie side.” There is no doubt that Cheryl is creative in both her approach and the results. […]
Forget Answers – Writers Need Questions!
One of the more common sources of writing resistance and block is the lament “I don’t know what to write!” As if “real” writers wake up every day with a clearly defined writing plan that details exactly where to start and how to progress at every moment. Western education sets us up for the belief […]
The Creative Necessity of Surrendering What We Know: New Book Update
Letting Go After my last New Book Update post about receiving “Best of Luck” replies from agents I’d queried, I juggled blogging, querying and starting a new novel. It seemed an appropriate time to write posts about managing multiple writing projects. So I did. In February, I took a retreat from this blog to snorkel […]
Writing Is Not Your Servant: Guest Post by Kathy Hopewell
Dr. Kathy Hopewell, writer, performer, teacher and blogger at The Freewriter’s Companion, candidly describes the disappointment of discovering that writing cannot be a command performance. Thanks to Kathy’s willingness to share her insights, you can follow Kathy’s suggestions for partnering with, instead of trying to dictate to, your writer-self and thus avoid that particular frustration. […]
Praying for Writing Miracles
If you’re like me, and I have a strong feeling you are, some days, the words and images appear in our mind and flow effortlessly and joyfully out of our hands onto the screen. Some days, we’re afraid they won’t. But it’s certain that if we don’t show up for our writing practice, the words […]
Ten Reasons to Invest in 15 Magic Minutes
Are you feeling guilty because you’re not writing for hours or jotting thousands of words a day? There’s no need. Instead of sweating the details, try 15 Magic Minutes. Note: Originally published on The Huffington Post. Reprinted with new graphics. You can do anything that advances your writing in those 15 Magic Minutes. I’ve had […]
Gone Snorklin’ – Why I’m on Retreat and When I’ll Be Back
Writer’s Digest named BaneOfYourResistance one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers. As the Brits would say, I’m chuffed. But… The honor upped the ante. I felt pressured to post more often. I was driving myself crazy trying to get an unprecedented number of posts written in advance and scheduled to appear while Claudia and […]
Multiple Writing Projects: Avoiding Resistance Roadblocks on Route 3
After you’ve identified possible projects (Route 1), prioritized those projects and selected a reasonable number of projects (Route 2), you’re ready to cruise down Route 3, where the “real writing” happens, right? If you saw the trick question there, good for you! First of all, Routes 1 and 2 are just as much “real writing” […]
Success with Multiple Writing Projects Requires a “Reasonable” Number
Of course, a reasonable number of projects varies from writer to writer and from situation to situation. For example, Stephaine O’Brien recommends focusing on one primary project until it’s complete and working on other projects whenever inspiration strikes. I can’t possibly tell you what’s reasonable for you. But I can tell you that making conscious […]
Bane of Your Resistance 