Mindset Blogs
Rejection: It’s Okay to Feel the Pain
Writers get rejected. It’s part of the job. But the frequency with which it happens doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
Recently I threw my name into consideration for a contract position I wanted. It would have meant a significant cut in my rate, but an increase in my quality of life. I would have been writing about a topic that would have brought me joy. It was a job I also would have excelled at doing. But therein lies the problem—I was overqualified and too expensive. Or maybe they just didn’t like my pitch or tone or samples. Who knows? I never heard. It was one of those situations where you apply and hear crickets.
Start of School: How a Box of Pencils Inspires Better Writing and Renewed Passion for Freelancing
The sight of school supplies lined up in boxes in colorful store displays brings back memories. There is something magical seeing those pencils sharpened and ready to write new words and stories. It’s a writer’s dream. Even when I was a grade school student, I loved the colors and feel of pencils. Later, I became obsessed with pens and have boxes of them stashed in my office supply closet.
They contain possibilities. Words still unwritten. Stories begging to be released.
Breaking Through the Resistance: A Writer’s Constant Challenge (Part 2 of 2)
Not writing happens more than writing. Staring at the blank page. Struggling to get motivation to put words on the screen. We have all felt that way. It’s common. Its cause? Resistance.
Resistance keeps writers from writing. It stands in the way of every type of creative endeavor, whether its a painter who isn’t wielding her brush or a writer avoiding the page. It is the single biggest challenge in creating things that are whole and realized and finished.
Fighting Against Resistance: A Writer’s Constant Challenge (Part 1 of 2)
Stephen Pressfield wrote in his book The War of Art that “it’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is resistance.”
He is not wrong.
Common Reasons for Not Writing: No Focus (Part 4 of 4)
This series on writing obstacles has looked at three of the four main excuses writers use for not putting words on the page: no energy, no motivation, and no ideas. In our final installment, we’re going to look at lack of focus.
Common Reasons for Not Writing: No Ideas (Part 3 of 4)
This time, we’re focusing on a lack of ideas. This is a big reason why some people stop writing. It’s simply because they can’t think of what to write next. Here are some tricks to get around that:
Common Reasons for Not Writing: No Motivation (Part 2 of 4)
This series is exploring the many reasons writers come up with for not writing and the four main reasons for those excuses: no energy, no motivation, no ideas and no focus.
Today we are looking at a lack of motivation and offering tips to help boost yours:
Common Reasons for Not Writing and Ways to Circumvent Them (Part 1 of 4)
There are many reasons writers come up with for not writing. It’s amazing how many reasons there can be, ranging from being exhausted to needing to defrost the freezer to the absolute crisis of not having any caffeine in the house. As long as there are excuses to use, writers will find them. Heck, we’re the ones who make them excuses up in the first place. We’re writers! But excuses are not going to get your novel finished or get that client project turned in on time.
There are four major categories for these excuses: no energy, no motivation, no ideas and no focus. I’m going to tackle each one and offer solutions to overcoming your particular brand of excuse. First up: No Energy.
Rejection—You’re In Good Company (Part 3 of 3)
In this series on rejection, we’ve looked at how to handle the disappointment and reason behind rejections. Now let’s get a little bit of perspective.
Every writer gets rejected. Every one. Even the best.
Rejection—Why It Happens (Part 2 of 3)
In the first blog of this series, we talked about how to handle rejection. Now let’s look at why rejections happen…and they are going to happen.
Why Writing Is Important, Especially Now
I was talking with someone recently who was despondent because she felt her writing no longer held meaning in light of what was happening in the world around us. I understand how someone might feel like that. We’re not on the front lines. We’re not putting our lives at risk sitting in front of a blank page. It’s an easy assumption to make, but an erroneous one.
Discipline for Writers: Practical Habits to Develop (Part 4 of 4)
Discipline is key to succeeding as a writer. This series has explored why discipline matters, how to embrace a discipline mindset and offered tips for developing discipline by focusing on you and your habits. This blog finished the series by looking at external things you can do to develop better a writing discipline.
Discipline for Writers: Tips for Handling Emotional & Physical Barriers (Part 3 of 4)
There are reasons why discipline is difficult for creative people. We tend to be free spirits who eschew structure. The very act of creating is rebellious. It’s a breaking free of the rules and expectations. It’s a more untethered life than the typical nine-to-five affords. It is at its heart an emotional act. On the other hand, discipline is based in thought and rationale. It’s not surprising these two opposites clash. But there are ways to change that.
Discipline for Writers: Changing Your Mindset (Part 2 of 4)
Habits are mental. They are choices you make every day—choices that require discipline. Yes, that D word that carries some negative connotations. But though discipline isn’t easy to develop, it is far from a dirty word. Rather it is a commitment. Dedication to a dream combined with the will to execute.
This blog will focus on ways to embrace discipline as a writer.
Discipline for Writers: Why It Matters (Part 1 of 4)
Writing is a creative pursuit. It isn’t like traditional, non-creative, jobs where you punch a clock and pick up a paycheck. There’s no boss to report to or inbox to tackle. It’s less structured than all that. And not. Not if you want to survive.
Tricks to Help Writers Stop Procrastinating
We’ve all been there—desperately searching for any task to be completed other than writing. There’s nothing like staring at a blank page to make laundry, cleaning the bathroom, mopping or taking out the trash look so good.
Meet procrastination—the habit that keeps writers from writing. It’s what forces us down the rabbit hole of YouTube and what has us launching Netflix instead of working on our pages. It’s why we flee from that insistent cursor that waits for words to pour from our fingers.
When to Quit Writing…and When Not To
Writing is hard. Words don’t flow out easily and land on the page as genius. They need to be selected, ordered, rearranged, swapped, lined up and perfected. Most times they are not cooperative companions though. They are like the unruly child who doesn’t recognize the word “no” even when yelled and accompanied with hands held face out.
There is a reason so many talk about writing instead of doing it. The trick to making it as a writer is not quitting when it gets tough.
Tech Writing—Why I Don’t Write It
Being a writer for hire opens a world of opportunity. There are many places that need good writers. I’ve written about it before. But within those vast opportunities, there is a clear divide between technical and non-technical writing. Choosing between them is a tough decision. Should you follow the emotion or the facts? The story or the money?
It’s Not You: Writing and Rejection (Part 2 of 2)
Every writer will tell you to get used to rejection. They say it because it’s true. There’s no way around it. For writers, rejection is as common as succeeding and it never gets easier. But that doesn’t mean you can wallow in it your disappointment. You will never get anywhere if you do that. You need to learn how to cope with rejection and keep going.
It’s Not You: Writing and Rejection (Part 1 of 2)
There’s nothing more nerve-raking as a writer than submitting your work to an agent or editor. There’s that moment before you hit send that makes your heart skid to a halt and then jump back into rhythm. It’s a queasy act of faith before you’re forced to wait and worry. Is my work good enough? Will they like it? What if they don’t?
Finding Your Writing Mojo
There are days I don’t want to write. No matter how I struggle, the words don’t want to come. Every syllable I manage on those days feels forced onto the page like Sisyphus with his boulder. Those are the days I wish I had picked another profession, one where I could punch the clock, do my task and go home without another thought. I even look back fondly on those days in college when I worked as a waitress.
Luckily those days are rare.
Tips for Breaking Writing Obstacles
I’ve written before about not believing Writer’s Block exists. I still don’t. It’s the Sasquatch of our industry. What I do believe in is not having ideas or motivation and not being in the zone, but those aren’t blocks, they are obstacles. Every career has them. And they can be overcome.
There are days when writing is a painful process of flinging words on the page without passion or a clue. We’ve all been there. Flailing about for an idea, any idea. But that’s different than having writer’s block.
Writer’s Resolutions: Ways to Form Habit
If you’re like me, you are probably setting goals for the new year—promises to exercise daily or eat right. It’s the season for starting over and re-committing to good habits. There’s nothing quite like feeling like you have a clean slate and move forward freely into a new and improved you. But while you’re picking good habits, don’t forget your writing.
Writing is a habit like any other. It takes discipline to stick to it, especially when the self-doubt creeps in or the rejections start piling up. The more you can do to create a habit of writing, the better you will be able to handle the vagaries of the craft.
Giving Yourself a Clean Slate for the New Year
The holiday season is a time for joy and forgiveness, which includes forgiving yourself for all those creative projects languishing in the back of your closet or in forgotten files on your computer. All those stories awaiting an ending. All those tiny scraps of paper sporting lines of dialogue. All those frustrated characters without an ending.
Time for Thanks
‘Tis the season for school assignments asking students what they are thankful for in their life. My son came home with just such an assignment and it made me think about what I was thankful for this year. It wasn’t hard to come up with an answer. It’s been a good year.
Finding Time to Write
Time is the number one excuse given for not writing. People love excuses. They never end. I have a job. I have a family. I have a life. Where could they possibly find time to write a book? Where indeed?
Give Ideas Time
Ideas are needy. They’re like flowers that cannot be rushed from seed to bloom. Like a flower needs good soil, sun, water and time, ideas need imagination, nourishment, and to exist in the real world on a page or screen. They also need time.
Get Out of Your Head
Ideas are everywhere. If you doubt that, just tell someone you’re a writer and they’re sure to respond with their “great” idea for a novel. (That tendency may be why I rarely tell people what I do for a living, but that’s another blog for another day.)
Finding Your Center
I have a friend who asked me recently what he should write, not because he did not have ideas, but because he had too many. I suggested he write what kept him up at night—the idea that begged to be put on the page, the one that would not let go. When he complained writing was difficult when he was distracted by the multitude of ideas I referred him to my favorite book about writing: Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Marie Rilke.
Writer’s Block Doesn’t Exist
There are those who will try to convince you writer’s block exists, that it is a curse on writers the world over. I do not agree. There is no bad luck associated with writing. There is only the state of writing or not writing. The first is created by sitting down and stringing words together until they resemble sentences and then putting those sentences into paragraphs and repeating until you have a finished piece, or at least a rough draft.
Getting Around Procrastination
We all procrastinate. Or nearly all of us and those who don’t are not normal, in my humble opinion.
Somehow the idea (or fact) of facing a blank page brings out the desire to do anything but that. Clean the fridge. The litter. Reorganize my LPs. It doesn’t matter. There always comes a time when in my writing when I feel compelled to do other things to avoid what I am writing. The problem with that is that writing is my career. If I avoid it, I don’t get paid.
Shhhhh…Stop Talking!
Have you ever noticed when you have a good story to tell or a secret, your entire body tingles with the anticipation of sharing it? It is nearly impossible to keep it in. To guard it.
That is the nature of a story. It is how we feel when we start drafting our social media post while in the moment, like we are narrating our own life to an unknown audience. It is a bit wonky, but part of being a writer, I think.
Feed Your Imagination
One of the question asked most often of authors is “Where do you get your ideas?” Unfortunately, the answer is rarely helpful.
Ideas are everywhere. I find them on walks, in the shower, while listening to music, eavesdropping (a habit I have despite being taught it was impolite), driving. You get the idea. They lurk wherever life can be found.
Distractions
Life is distracting. There is no doubt about that. Texts ding. Calls ring. Cats need petting. Children want food. There are so many distractions. Even ideas can be distractions.
There is something about the new and shiny that demands attention. Even new ideas. They are exciting and the urge to drop everything and follow where they lead is a strong one. Unfortunately, it is also a great way to end up with a hundred unfinished manuscripts.
The Power of Letting Go
At the beginning of summer my husband urged me to take a break from work, which surprised me. I am a stay-at-home-working mom. I make my own schedule so I can take care of our son. How was I supposed to take a break? Wasn’t my shorter work day enough?
He didn’t think so.
Writing Without the Muse
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
I’ve been thinking about this quote a lot lately. Why? Because it’s the season for hay fever, runny noses and itchy eyes. In other words, not a great time for me to be inspired. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective and the day), I don’t have the option of playing hooky. I have deadlines and clients who need the words whether I feel like writing or not.
Face the Fear and Write
I think it is fairly common for writers to be afflicted with two simultaneous yet contradictory delusions—the burning certainty that we’re unique geniuses and the constant fear that we’re witless frauds who are speeding toward epic failure. Scott Lynch
Fear: that despicable thing that pervades our writing and creative endeavors. Fear is a pervasive part of writing, of any creative act really. I despise it, but cannot shake it. It is what causes me to bounce between the rush of excitement at a new idea and the despair that I won’t do it justice.
Why do we do this to ourselves?