Blog
Write For Your Future Self
When I was coaching a client last month, I brought up the notion of “the future self” as a way to provide a different sort of motivation for writing. Our future self is the one waiting for us next month or next year or 10 years from now. It’s who we will eventually...
Beginnings, Middles, and Ends
Many of you know I’m in the midst of traveling abroad for much of this year. When I travel, I like to think of the journey as a story. Each journey (or task, event, or project) has a beginning, middle, and end. Using this kind of story lens help me to interpret and...
Inviting Inspiration
As creators, we pay a lot of lip service to inspiration, but what does it really mean to be inspired? And how do we go about getting into that state? Lately, I’ve been thinking about the nature of creativity and inspiration and the connection between the two....
Dickens, Dreams, and Drafts
I was recently in London and spent a few nights in Bloomsbury not far from a house Charles Dickens lived in from 1837 to 1839. It was here where he completed The Pickwick Papers and wrote the complete manuscripts for Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickelby. His subsequent...
The Uncertainty of Writing
Lately I've been dipping into Pema Chodron's book Comfortable with Uncertainty (Shambhala, 2002). I'm at an uncertain point in my life and needing reminders to breathe deeply, face my fears, and accept that everything is impermanent. I'm reminded that all of this is...
Does My Story Need an Outline?
Outlines—I used to think: “take ‘em or leave ‘em.” Maybe some people need them, but I’ve got a good handle on my story, so I’ll be fine. Maybe I’ll outline the next time. And then I hit the ‘muddles’, either in the middle of drafting or during revisions.
Writing Story Characters
Story characters are like you and me. They have foibles and flaws, hopes and dreams, and histories full of sweet memories as well unhealed wounds. As a writer, you may base some of your characters partially on yourself or people you know….
Getting to the Work
It’s the biggest challenge we face: opening the notebook or computer document and getting started. There are a hundred different demands and responsibilities vying for our attention and so often our writing ‘has to wait’. But the longer it’s neglected, the more our essential creative nature withers. How can you help yourself get to the work? Try these three simple suggestions:
Becoming a Resilient Writer
The writing life is more like a continuous marathon than a slap dash sprint. More than talent, luck, or discipline, a resilient writer needs to develop persistence and endurance. The following 5 traits can help build your resilience.
Choice, Change, and Conflict
In the midst of all the changes in the world, we are invited to make some new choices—collectively and individually. Unexpected changes bring us face to face with unexpected choices—to let go of certain assumptions and plans, to reframe cultural beliefs and “norms,”...
Write For Your Future Self
When I was coaching a client last month, I brought up the notion of “the future self” as a way to provide a different sort of...
Beginnings, Middles, and Ends
Many of you know I’m in the midst of traveling abroad for much of this year. When I travel, I like to think of the journey as a...
Inviting Inspiration
As creators, we pay a lot of lip service to inspiration, but what does it really mean to be inspired? And how do we go about...
Dickens, Dreams, and Drafts
I was recently in London and spent a few nights in Bloomsbury not far from a house Charles Dickens lived in from 1837 to 1839....
The Uncertainty of Writing
Lately I've been dipping into Pema Chodron's book Comfortable with Uncertainty (Shambhala, 2002). I'm at an uncertain point in...
Does My Story Need an Outline?
Outlines—I used to think: “take ‘em or leave ‘em.” Maybe some people need them, but I’ve got a good handle on my story, so I’ll be fine. Maybe I’ll outline the next time. And then I hit the ‘muddles’, either in the middle of drafting or during revisions.
Writing Story Characters
Story characters are like you and me. They have foibles and flaws, hopes and dreams, and histories full of sweet memories as well unhealed wounds. As a writer, you may base some of your characters partially on yourself or people you know….
Getting to the Work
It’s the biggest challenge we face: opening the notebook or computer document and getting started. There are a hundred different demands and responsibilities vying for our attention and so often our writing ‘has to wait’. But the longer it’s neglected, the more our essential creative nature withers. How can you help yourself get to the work? Try these three simple suggestions:
Becoming a Resilient Writer
The writing life is more like a continuous marathon than a slap dash sprint. More than talent, luck, or discipline, a resilient writer needs to develop persistence and endurance. The following 5 traits can help build your resilience.
Choice, Change, and Conflict
In the midst of all the changes in the world, we are invited to make some new choices—collectively and individually. Unexpected...
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