Finding Your Flow – What Do You Need to Break Through Resistance?
I’m not a believer in astrology, but as I glanced over this week’s newsletter from the Omega Institute, I found this February horoscope for Virgos:
5 Things Holding You Back from Writing
It’s the end of January; how are you doing so far on your writing goals? Still going strong? Or is your commitment starting to waver a little bit?
What Stage Are You At in Your Writing Process?
Whether you’re writing a short piece or a full-length book, knowing the answer to this question - and what it means for your writing – is crucial. Most of the below advice is aimed at people writing something book-length, but can also be used by people writing essays or other short pieces.
How to Find Time to Write
I’ve been really enjoying my Zoom “write ins.” Since I’m the host, no matter what, I have to show up and start the meeting at 8:00 every Monday through Friday. It clarifies my morning: everything I need to do before I start writing has to be done by 8:00. And I have an hour set aside. Somehow it’s easier to not get distracted when I’m in the meeting, even though our cameras and mics are off. Some days it’s just me, and that’s okay. I’m there, and I’m fulfilling a commitment to myself to show up.
This weekend was a different story.
Setting Your Schedule – Motivation & Accountability for 2022
This week I started something new. I wanted more accountability for my writing time, since by the end of last year it seemed that whatever time I set aside for writing got taken up by something else. Another task or project always crept in, and it was easier to do that than sit down to write.
So this week, I decided to make myself publicly accountable.
Year End Book Roundup
It’s been a while since I’ve done a book roundup, so I decided to do one to cover what I read October –December. Hopefully there are a few here that might make it onto your reading list in 2022!
New Year Planning Part II - Prepare Your Time, Your Space, and Your Mind for Success
Did you work on your overall writing goals for 2022 last week? Hopefully you’ve given it some thought, because this week we’re going to tackle what it will take to ensure sure you succeed. To do this, we’ll think about five areas:
New Year Planning Part I – What Are Your Writing Goals?
I know, right about now, you’re probably like, can I just finish this year and then worry about next year? And you can – of course you can. You can (and should) do your planning throughout the year, in fact, recalibrating your goals as needed. What you think will work next year right now, may need some tweaks as you go.
But now is the perfect time to take stock, assess what you did this year, and plan for next.
My Annual List of Gifts for Writers, 2021 Edition
Here we go! This is a list of some of the most fun and/or useful stuff I’ve found this year. Hopefully it will inspire some gift ideas – for a writer in your life, or for yourself!
Breaking Through Blocks Part III: The Revision Process
So far in this series, we’ve looked at Strategies You Can Use to Break Through Blocks Any Time and Strategies for Starting and Finishing a First Draft.
But as any good writer knows, the magic is not in the writing, but the rewriting. You have a draft? Great! Now the real work begins.
Breaking Through Writer’s Block, Part II: Starting (and Finishing!) Your First Draft
Last week I discussed the fact that so-called “blocks” can take many forms, and come at any stage of writing. They have different root causes, many based in fear and uncertainty. Since our minds shy away from discomfort, we find it easier, in some ways, to simply not write – until the pain of not writing becomes great enough to propel us into action for a little while, at least.
Breaking Through Writer’s Block Part I: Strategies for Any Stage
Writers can feel blocked at any stage of a writing project:
Before you even start, you can feel paralyzed about where to begin, or even what to write.
In the middle, you can feel blocked over how it’s going, or what to write next.
At the end of the first draft (or the tenth) when revision looms, you may feel overwhelmed with the daunting task ahead to make your book something people will actually want to read.
For the rest of November, I’m going to focus on block-busting.
Books for Native American Heritage Month
November is officially Native American Heritage Month, which means new opportunities to explore the literature created by a range of authors writing from a variety of traditions. There is a huge range of books for all ages, so choosing just a few to highlight is challenging.
7 Lessons for Writers from Dorothy Dunnett’s The Game of Kings
I just finished re-reading this book, the first in The Lymond Chronicles, a series of historical novels about, loosely speaking, the adventures of an extraordinary young Scottish nobleman, Francis Crawford of Lymond, in 16th-century Europe. I started my Lymond journey at age fourteen, when I foraged The Game of Kings from a used bookstore somewhere in Georgia while traveling with my father.
It’s National Book Month! What Are the Books that “Made” You as a Writer?
This week, write down at least ten of your favorite books of all time. Then think about why you love them. Don’t just list books you’ve enjoyed as an adult. Reach back into childhood and think about the books that influenced you, that made you want to become a writer.
Let’s Do the Mash! Genre Mashups and How they Can Work for You
It’s that season again, where monsters start to take up space in stores, on porches - and in our imaginations. But did you ever realize that, like Dr. Frankenstein, we can keep putting our writing monsters together out of various parts all year?
September Book Roundup
I hit a bumper crop of books I enjoyed this month. A big dose of fantasy, a smidge of historical fiction/mythology, a book on how being more curious can help almost every aspect of your life, and why staying small = staying sane in business.
Books to Check Out for Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic (or Latine, or Latinx) Heritage Month is September 15-October 15. Below I’ve chosen some books to check out if you’re looking for reading material. I didn’t plan on making them all by women, but those are the ones I’ve been drawn to lately, so there you go. There is such a wonderful variety out there, it was hard to narrow it down.