growth

August 3, 2009

• WRITER'S BLOCK: PERSONAL COMMENTARY

  I saw a movie yesterday at a major motion picture theater where I "saw" once again how all writing is definitely not good writing.  I paid good money to see a movie that left me dissatisfied.  Of course, I know that there are plenty of bad movies. (…)

July 19, 2009

• WRITER'S BLOCK: LOVE OF WRITING

  I cannot retrieve the past when I could knock out novels quickly.  Nor would I want to.  Rather, what I want is to feel connected more deeply to the novels I do write.  This is the experience I'm having with my new novel. (…)

June 19, 2009

• WRITER'S BLOCK: FEEL THE FEAR

  Over time I have met many people who tell me they wish they could write.  When I talk to them about what they want to write, they usually are not clear.  Rather, they have a vague idea.  But, that's not what gets in the way.  What gets in the way is fear.  Fear that they cannot, after all, write anything of value.  Fear that they really have nothing to say.  Or they have nothing to say that hasn't been said before. (…)

June 10, 2009

• WRITER'S BLOCK: NOTICE YOUR INNER CRITICAL VOICE

  The more clutter I have cleared, the more light hearted I have been feeling.  Clearing this clutter has been leaving my mind freer to focus on the now, on the present.  I do not have to see myself as procrastinating in cleaning up clutter  — because I'm not.  There are still things that need to go, but I am scheduling them. (…)

May 8, 2009

• WRITER'S BLOCK: WRITING COACHING GROUPS

  I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the power of a small group of people to energize each other.  I am speaking in particular about the small writing coaching group I have been working with. (…)

April 26, 2009

• WRITER'S BLOCK: ALL WRITING IS PRECIOUS

  Before I understood that ALL writing is precious, I would throw out what I didn't like.  I didn't understand then that what I was really doing was discarding parts of me.  Or maybe I really wanted to throw out those parts, hoping it would mean that they no longer existed. (…)

April 5, 2009

• WRITER'S BLOCK: OVERCOMING "PERSPIRATION"

  Sometimes I think that we writers believe we MUST suffer.  Without "perspiration" how are we to believe that we have produced a worthy product?  Without "perspiration" how are we to believe that we are truly writers?  The myth of the suffering writer is a long standing belief that is hard to relinquish. (…)

March 30, 2009

• WRITER'S BLOCK: TAKE A BREAK

  I'm suggesting that you take a break from your writing, unless you have a deadline you must meet, in order to rejuvenate your writing.  Nor because you feel stuck, frustrated, depleted of ideas….  or any other negative reason you can think of. (…)

March 27, 2009

• WRITING WHEN YOU'RE NOT WRITING

  Writing when you're not writing appears to be a contradiction.  Yet, it is important to be aware that writers often think they're writing when they don't have pen to paper or aren't sitting down at their computer.  Probably you know that it's generally advised (as a writing tip) that you carry a notebook with you to write down your ideas.  And many writers and wannabe writers do exactly that. (…)

March 24, 2009

• POSITIVE SELF ESTEEM AND WRITING

  Which comes first? (…)

March 21, 2009

• TELEGROUPS HELP YOU GROW AS A WRITER

  In my writing coaching telegroup, one of the most valuable aspects is the opportunity to receive positive feedback.  We often underestimate the value of hearing/seeing what we have done right.  In the context of the group, this means what we have written that pleases others. (…)

March 18, 2009

• FREEWRITING IS THINKING

  Often we don't know what we're thinking until we have a conversation with someone, or until we write, freely, uncritically, for no one but us.   This is not necessarily the kind of writing that leads to a finished product.  Nor is that necessarily the intent of the freewriting.  Rather, the goal is to know what we're thinking.  Thinking without writing or talking can lead to rumination, not to new ideas.  One of the reasons conversations can impede the development of new ideas is that we must be aware of who the person is with whom we're talking.  Often they have a point of view that influences our thinking.  Not in the direction we want to go, even if we didn't know that before they spoke.  Not so with freewriting. (…)

March 15, 2009

• FREEWRITING DURING REVISING

  Nothing can be written, usually, without revision, albeit minor revision.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is possible to get  to the point where your freewriting is close to a finished product.  But, when this does not happen and revision is needed, there is still an important place for freewriting. (…)

March 12, 2009

• Freewriting During Revising

  Nothing can be written — usually — without revision, albeit minor revision.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is possible to get to the point where your freewriting is close to a finished product.  But, when this does not happen and revision is needed, there is still an important place for freewriting. (…)

March 9, 2009

• Write to Someone and Write More

  It is a basic human need to have conversation.  yet, often conversation can move so quickly that we don't get a chance to know what we're thinking or learning.  Sometimes the conversation gets off on a topic we didn't expect nor does it hold interest for us.  Sometimes the conversation becomes emotional and forward thinking is interrupted. (…)

March 6, 2009

• What About Left Handed Writing?

  Left handed writing is NOT like a left handed compliment.  Nor do you necessarily write with your left hand.  You write with your non-dominant hand which typically is your left hand. (…)

February 19, 2009

• WRITE YOUR WRITING GOAL

  Write It Down Make It Happen is the title of a book by Henriette Anne Klauser which relies on the premise that if you write down what you want your goal to be, the goal will happen. (…)

February 16, 2009

• FREEWRITING EXERCISES FOR YOUR GROWTH AS A WRITER

  Freewriting is as essential to the writer and wannabe writer as scales are to the musician.  There needs to be the opportunity to practice – practice – practice – without having to produce what you believe is some fabulous product. (…)

February 13, 2009

• BEGIN WITH FREE WRITING

  "If we taught our children to speak in the way we teach them to write, everyone would stutter."
  – Mark Twain
  For any of you who are parents, you will remember how happy you were to hear your first child's first words.  Nor did you correct the way your child spoke the word.  You were simply excited to hear "the word."  And as your child grew, and their vocabulary along with it, you did not correct how your child spoke.  Not until you sensed that your child had comfort with speech. (…)

February 2, 2009

• "Free Writing" in the morning

  Anyone who's been writing for a while has likely at least heard of Julia Cameron even if they have not read her by now well known book, The Artist's Way. (…)