As a writer, what do you give thanks for? Your computer? Teachers who taught you to read and write? Writers who inspire you? Your vision and the flexibility of your fingers and brain? Can you see how resistance, even full-fledged block, might be something to be thankful for? When we feel resistance, we both want … More What Are You Thankful For?
As I mentioned in my previous post, feedback can be dangerous. Without direction, feedback can become veiled (and sometimes not so veiled) criticism and judgment that slams the brakes on your writing. Even well-meaning praise can block you. We need feedback to know where our writing is working and where it isn’t, but we need … More Feedback Can Cause or Cure Writer’s Block
Sound familiar? Well it is summer and that means re-runs. Here’s why I’m repeating a previously published post: I talked with my editor about revisions on Around the Writer’s Block last week and that’s where my focus is right now. I tried drafting a new post today but realized it’s just not ready for prime-time … More 10 Reasons Every Writer Should Have a Dog
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
If you don’t know where to start or where to go next in your writing, anything is possible. So there is no reason to not play around with random chance. Of course, a part of you will think “I can’t throw just anything into my writing. It wouldn’t make sense. It would be stupid.” And … More Play With the Random
The blank screen or page can be dangerous – stare at it too long and every idea you ever had can be wiped away. Avoiding the blank screen/page until you know exactly what to write is just as dangerous. Some days you’ll be blessed with ideas and images that inspire your writing and make it … More Don’t Know How to Start Writing or Where to Go Next?
(In Part 1, we identified the Poop Principle; in Part 2, we saw how love brings us back to our writing.) We love writing (or love at least a significant part of writing), yet we all have excuses and ways to avoid writing. Why this is so puzzled me for years. I explored and reflected … More Poop on Writer’s Block Part 3: A Habit of Love
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
“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
Bane of Your Resistance 