Part 1 invited you to write your Writer’s Poop List of the things you don’t love about being a writer. So why do we deal with all this s**t? Why do I pick up what a friend euphemistically calls “recycled dog food”? Because I love my dogs and that is part of having dogs to … More Poop on Writer’s Block Part 2: Love Brings Us Back
I will always have dogs. I can truly think of no greater poverty for me than to not be able to love and live with a dog or two. I do not love picking up dog poop, but poop is an unavoidable part of having a dog. We do hire a service to remove it … More Poop on Writer’s Block
“Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” – Pablo Picasso Creation and destruction are opposite ends of the Transformation Continuum. You can’t create something without destroying something else. Create music, destroy silence. Create a garden, destroy weeds. Create a story, destroy all the other possible ways you could have told … More 10 Ways to Break Writer’s Block – Literally
Meditation is one of the best things we can do for ourselves as writers. Regular meditation will: undo the damage of multitasking give us clarity soothe the body and reverse the negative effects of stress increase creativity provide entry to the creative flow/writer’s trance state of consciousness reduce anxiety and therefore reduce resistance to our writing. … More Want to Write Easy? Meditate First
Earlier today I realized it’s already Wednesday and I haven’t written a blog entry this week. I groaned. My head dropped and my torso slumped in my office chair. But now, I’m physically and mentally refreshed and ready to go. What changed? I just spent 15 minutes monotasking. I set the timer for 10 minutes … More Monotasking: The Quick Cure for Writer’s Block
In more recent versions of the Marshmallow Test, Walter Mischel tells children to pretend the marshmallow is only a picture of a marshmallow or a fluffy cloud. The children who employ their imagination could wait three times longer than kids who didn’t use their imagination. “Once you realize that will power is just a matter … More Step Away From the Marshmallow Part 2
Have you seen the Marshmallow Test? Four-year-olds are given a marshmallow and told that they can eat the marshmallow whenever they want, but if they wait until the researcher comes back, they can have a second marshmallow. The videos are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant as the kids devise different strategies to avoid the temptation or … More Step Away From the Marshmallow and No One Gets Writer’s Block
My intuition tells me there is something more significant about multitasking than just “don’t do it.” It’s about focus; it’s about the ability and freedom to choose what to pay attention to. Without that ability to focus, our struggles with writing resistance will be futile. My next couple of posts will explore this connection between … More Step Away From the Catnip and No One Gets Writer’s Block
Identify the Opportunity and Desire Take a few minutes to complete this sentence (on the page or screen or in your head): “I want to write…” Did you write mainly about what content you want to write (e.g. a story about a rodeo clown, or poetry that moves people to tears, or an essay about … More The Right to Write What’s Right for You
If you think you can carve out time for your writing by multitasking, think again. The cortex cannot truly multitask; you can pay focused, conscious attention to only one thing at a time. When you attempt to multitask, you actually shift your attention from one task to another and back again. Every time you shift … More Multitasking Kills Creativity and Causes Writer’s Block
Bane of Your Resistance 