April Bosshard 1/29/24 April Bosshard 1/29/24

Your Vein of Gold ⚡

Your vein of gold refers to your personal zone of authentic excellence. When you're feeling "in flow," it's this inner treasure that's flowing.

8/29/20 8/29/20

Your ARE a talented Writer!

I would bet that someone, at some point in the past, maybe when you were quite young, once pronounced you “talented.” This was probably after you’d created something spontaneously in a spirit of enthusiasm, inspiration, or joy.

2/27/20 2/27/20

Story and the Pursuit of Transcendence

hy do we write? Why do we read? I ask these two questions often—in my courses, retreats, and even the book I’m working on right now.With reading, answers come down to understanding ourselves and the world, as well as knowing more and feeling more, including feeling less alone.

1/30/19 1/30/19

Time, the Moon, and Mary Oliver

As I watch the first month of the new year end, I am considering my relationship to time. Most days, it isn’t a good one. To my mind, each day begins so full of potential and then, by day’s end, that potential seems to have frittered away.

7/31/18 7/31/18

Writing and Creative Depression

Depression may seem like a dark topic during the summer, but I’ve noticed it can arise anytime of year, regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes it’s good to take a peek at the dark stuff when we have a lot of access to the light.

6/25/18 6/25/18

Staying the Course

Earlier this month I had the good fortune to be a guest on a friend’s sailboat for ten days. Up until then I’d only ever spent a day or half day on a sailboat and hadn't needed to do much but sit back and enjoy the ride.

5/31/18 5/31/18

Baguettes and Books

Paris has long been a mecca for literary and visual artists. Expat writers such Hemingway and Henry Miller, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein flocked to Paris in the 20's and inspired future generations to follow in their footsteps.

1/30/18 1/30/18

Chaos and Order

By the end of January most of us are either hitting a stride when it comes to moving toward goals or else we’ve abandoned them completely. The latter can leave some of us disillusioned and disoriented, and simply trying to keep our heads above water as the river of life carries us relentlessly forward. Often, we give in to the external momentum of demands and distractions (especially after a month of trials and failures) and our once hope-filled creative goals get washed away.

11/29/17 11/29/17

Jugglers or Jesters?

As writers we get used to juggling a lot. Not many of us can get by on writing alone. And, of course, we need to live an engaged life in order to have anything decent to write about. But there are days when it feels like ‘too much.’ I sometimes wonder if I’m fooling myself, jesting instead of juggling.

7/13/17 7/13/17

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 understand my experiences.

6/29/17 6/29/17

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.

8/12/15 8/12/15

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.

character • character development • conflict • courage • creativity • drafting • goals • gratitude • inspiration • motivation • outlining • productivity • readers • resistance • revision • scenes • story • structure • success • talent • time • travel • uncertainty • writing process