Have so many things on your To Do list you don’t know where to start? Tempted to postpone your writing – again – so you can take care of all the things that you somehow ended up being responsible for? The next time you’re facing a “faux commitment,” that is a commitment you shouldn’t have … More Want More Time to Write? Uncommit Yourself
One of the reasons I appreciate working with John Drozdal is his sense of humor, especially when we talk about the Saboteur (see chapter 8 in AWB). Like all of us, John got shoved around by his Saboteur for a long time without knowing what was happening. But once he found out what was going … More Out-trashing the Saboteur: Guest Post by John George Drozdal
The desire to write good stuff and especially an expectation that you’re supposed to write good stuff is a guaranteed, one-way trip to Resistance City. How can we possibly write anything worth reading if just wanting to do that triggers our resistance? We sidle up to it. We surrender the desire for any particular outcome … More Wanna Write Something Good? Start With Writing Something Awful!
I saw my dental hygienist, Nan, last week for a routine cleaning. She noticed that I had more build-up than usual and asked if I was using my electric toothbrush. I’d had a feeling Nan was going to ask me about that. So I’d thought about why, after consistently using my electric toothbrush for years, … More Don’t Let Perfectionism Sneak Up on You
What kind of writer are you: A tortoise — slow but steady? A hare — lazy but fast when you get around to it? Or a porcupine — excellent but unheard of? Porcupine was in the famous race between the Tortoise and the Hare, but no one ever hears about it. Porcupine knew he wasn’t … More Friday Fable for Writers Who Unintentionally Block Their Writing
True writer’s block — sustained periods of wanting and needing to write and being unable to — is rare. Most of us procrastinate or postpone starting or we distract ourselves as soon as we sit down so we don’t experience the agony of trying to write and finding we can’t. Most writers experience other forms … More Are You Ready to Solve Writer’s Block and Resistance?
You might remember from a previous New Book Update, that my plan for revising my novel was to: dreamstorm possible new scenes and modifications to existing scenes then play around with new, modified and existing scenes on index cards or Post-it Notes to find a new structure (at the macro level of scenes) BEFORE I … More New Book Update: Best Laid Plans Oft Go Astray (But Don’t Let That Block Your Writing)
“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 Process Play or Prouct Time Writing?
Author and musician Joel D Canfield made such an intriguing comment on my last post on how people-pleasing interferes with writing that I invited him to expand that comment into this guest post. Joel is the author of eleven books and the Someday Box blog for those who want to get a book out of … More How To Let Go of What Others Think to Create Better Art: Guest Post by Joel D Canfield
With a title as long as AWB’s, you’d think I’d covered all the bases. Really: the full title of Around the Writer’s Block includes the sub-title Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance*. The sub-title in turn introduces a sub-sub-title that lists the primary forms of resistance: *Including Writer’s Block, Procrastination, Paralysis, Perfectionism, Postponing, Distractions, Self-Sabotage, … More Hidden Writing Resistance Is Just as Dangerous as Obvious Blocks
Bane of Your Resistance 