Joel Canfield asked me to review “the foundations and high-level perspectives about why we struggle with this stuff, and why your excellent solutions work.” I’m happy to oblige! Here are the brain basics of writer’s block. Do You Have What It Takes? If you’ve ever questioned whether you have enough discipline, will power, ambition or […]
Ta-Da! Announcement and Request
I’m on Bigger Life Radio! I talked with Michael Pollock, host of Bigger Life Radio, about writing resistance and how to overcome it, the brain, expectations vs. commitments and targets, the Saboteur, and other cool stuff I think you’ll enjoy. Please listen to the podcast. (While you’re there, you might want to check out the link to […]
Too Much of a Good Thing
With the exception of chocolate (which you simply can’t get too much of), too much of a good thing can be another of the myriad, subtle forms of resistance. Obviously, we need to revise, polish and proof our writing before it goes out in the world. Even with the informality of a blog, it makes […]
Neurology of Resistance: Limbic System vs. Cerebral Cortex
“Before this class, I thought there was something wrong with me – that I must not really want to be a writer since I wasn’t writing. Now I know there’s neurological and psychological reasons for it and, even better, there are solutions! I’ve written more in the past few weeks than I did in the […]
This Is the Writing Life; That’s Resistance! Part 2
When the research books and printouts pile up and your notes and drafts are getting so thick you can’t find your desk, that’s the writing life. When you have so many other appointments, projects and priorities, you can’t find your way to your desk for weeks, that’s resistance. When you’ve put in your writing […]
This Is the Writing Life; That’s Resistance! Part 1
What’s the difference between normal incubation and resistance?
Welcome to the Bane of Your Resistance
Growing up with “Bane” as my last name, I’ve heard more references to “the bane of my existence” than I can count. That’s right, my last name means “death, doom, destruction,” and comes from the Old English “bana” which means “slayer.” Fortunately (I guess) the clichéd use of the phrase ‘bane of my existence” has […]