In response to previous posts on humility, Liz Ward asked, “Could I be humility on steroids? If someone compliments my writing, I dismiss them because I KNOW I’m merely an adequate writer with only a hope of being better–it doesn’t matter that I’ve been trained and have made writing a part of a 30-year career. … More Balance Pride and Humility to Reduce Writing Resistance
In response to my recent post about the David Brooks “Modesty Manifesto” video, Rachel V. commented: “I think I see a lack of modesty in my writing when I feel unwilling to change something (like a scene or dialogue) that doesn’t work for my reader. Even if I know that my readers are giving me … More Why We Resist Feedback (and Why and How to Stop)
New York Times columnist David Brooks is a writer worthy of respect, a writer to emulate. Brooks consistently sifts through a vast array of research from credible sources, combines and interprets facts to create new insight and wisdom, and then wraps that intelligence with delightful humor that engages his audience. I highly recommend his book … More Recommendation: David Brooks Delivers a Modesty Manifesto at Aspen Ideas Festival
The effective writer’s personality is not at the center. Her talent isn’t at the center. Her ego and self-worth are not at the center. The writing task is at the center.
This is how writers can quiet the conscious self and all the inner chatter that is the origin of resistance. The better we direct our attention away from our own qualities – our expectations, nerves, reputation – the easier it is to lose ourselves in the creative flow. We can prevent ourselves from thinking too much about ourselves as writers or about the quality of any given day’s writing – which is death to flow performance.
Bane of Your Resistance 