Fake It ‘Til You Make It: One Writer’s Path
For the writer, fake it ’til you make it means that you call yourself a writer, even when you don’t feel like one.
When Will Your Book Be Finished?
It goes like this: You tell yourself your book will be done by the end of the year. But then the year passes, and then sometimes another. You ask yourself: Am I a no-good procrastinator who will never finish my book? And yet, you’re focused on your book, working at your writing and editing, honing…
Go Fishing–A Simple Technique to Get You Writing
Feeling stuck as a writer is the equivalent to having a non-stop headache: it hurts! Since finishing the manuscript for Reclaiming the Wild Soul last year, I’ve been looking for another big writing project to throw myself into. Nothing seems to have grabbed me yet, and so I find myself slightly adrift. But I’m willing…
Big, Medium, Small, A 3-Step Approach to Revising
You’ve written a piece–a chapter, a scene, the introduction to your book. Now, having set it aside for a while, it’s time to revise. Here’s a three step process to help you revise until you have a polished piece. Step 1: Think Big. Read back over your piece and then reflect: What is this about?…
The 3 Stages of Creation
Robert Fritz, the developer of TECHNOLOGIES FOR CREATING®, talks of the three stages of creation. The first is germination. This is often a supremely energetic stage, filled with excitement, enthusiasm, and even a sense of power. This is a vital stage, but as Fritz argues, if you want to be a creator, you need to…
What If You Write Your Book, What If You Don’t?
This week, I’m going to ask you to listen to a writing meditation and exercise designed to help you get clear about the consequences of writing–or not writing–your book. So settle down somewhere quiet and comfortable, your journal and pen in hand, and get ready to do some exploring. The entire exercise can be done…
5 Ways to Break Your Writer’s Vow of Silence and Engage Readers
Your book won’t sell itself. You have to find ways engage with people, even before your book is published. It’s called building a platform. You want to hook people into what you’re writing about by starting a conversation with them. Agents and publishers love writers who know how to talk and write about their books…
When Should Your Writing Come First?
If your writing always comes first, to the detriment of everything else, you might end up with a lot of words but few friends. Writers are, after all, first and foremost human beings with rich and complicated lives. We have obligations, responsibilities, and relationships that need tending to. But there are crucial times in a…
Five Strategies for Writing through the Fear
Fear holds us hostage. We sit down to write and end up wasting hours on Facebook. We blame ourselves for being lazy and inept. In worse case scenarios, we just give up and stop pursuing our writing dreams. But while fear is part of the writing process–-don’t we all worry about writing well enough, having…