When I was nineteen I started a business with a partner and we called it “Hat Trick Hats”. We wanted to be portable. We sold our hand-stitched leather creations on the sidewalks of Santa Barbara and on the Wharf and Union Square in San Francisco. We wanted to be free to make our own designs and decisions and we accomplished both. We needed to make a living and sometimes we actually ended the month with a financial surplus! Of course that money was quickly spent to replenish our supplies to make more hats. Our goal was never to get rich—and …
Tag: overcoming blocks
Writing in Time…
Having lost myself in time–for months at a time–I am sharing words of wisdom from Kenneth Atchity and his book, A WRITER’S TIME. “Like everything else in life, the process of revising your view of time begins with a decision. It’s a matter of willing to change your life by starting today to manage your time and understand its relationship to work and personal satisfaction. Here are some starting points, gleaned from my own experience and that of some other time-management experts: *Stop doing things no one needs to do. *Stop doing things someone else will do if you stop …
New Year’s Eve…final musings for 2009
Some final thoughts on writing for this year: 20) Get plenty of exercise. Drink lots of water. Don’t get lost on social networking sites. 22) Understand that as a creative person, you will experience some anxiety, its part of the creative process. 23) Learn the difference between some anxiety and crippling anxiety; seek help for the latter. 24) When anxiety shivers through you, open to your curiosity and let it guide you forward. 25) Creative people are curious people; follow your curiosity the way a dog follows its nose. 26) If you have never written a book, know that its …
National Novel Writing Month –NOW!
It’s day four of National Novel Writing Month and if you’re participating you should be 6,666 words into your first draft by the end of today! If you’ve missed the scoop, the goal is to write 50,000 words/175 pages of a first draft in one month–November. The folks at NaNoWriMo say the focus in on output. And I have to remind even very experienced writers that first draft is not about polish, it’s about finding the bones of your story. Good bones. Strong bones. Bones that can keep on through draft two and draft three and carry your story to …
A REASON NOT TO WRITE
Recently a writer shared a list of all the reasons why she needed to wait until winter to begin her new writing schedule. I read it over, paused a moment, and responded, “There will always be reasons not to write.” Those times when life seems most overwhelming–when it comes rolling straight at us full-tilt–present some of the richest challenges and also opportunities. No better time to be writing with full commitment to your practice. A writing life is just that, a writing life. It goes on, whether times are smooth or filled with upheaval. When you feel tested, I …
MANTRA FOR PERFECTIONISTS
CONNECTION THROUGH IMPERFECTION
CREATIVE BANKING
Last week, in the midst of a busy coaching schedule, a busy writing schedule, and my always busy family life, I took time out for some creative banking. I don’t mean I did some funny business with my income tax prep. I do mean I took stock of past, present, and future writing projects, and I discovered how much I have in my creative “bank”. If you’ve been writing for any length of time, you have projects you’ve left simmering on the back-burner and projects you’ve just plain left behind because it was time to move on. Those that are …
WOOING YOU BACK
One of the best essays I’ve read about reconnecting to your novel and moving past “stuckness” was penned by Gail Godwin and published in The Writer. Godwin suggests that a creative work in progress may react to the fear of abandonment like an aggrieved pet, giving you, the author, the cold shoulder or even turning its back on you completely. The provocation of this punishment may be as slight as a busy weekend you spent with your family or a missed writing session. It may be more dramatic–weeks of putting your manuscript on the back-burner. When disconnect occurs, you the writer …
MAKE MEANING
In his book OUT OF OUR MINDS: LEARNING TO BE CREATIVE, Sir Ken Robinson writes that creativity “…is applied imagination. To call someone creative suggests they are actively producing something in a deliberate way…a first definition of creativity then is imaginative processes with outcomes in the public world…” It takes courage to put yourself and your creations into the world. With sharing comes risk–of rejection, of visibility, of success. Whatever your fear, applaud your commitment to creativity. Each creative offering adds energy to the collective desire to make meaning. Each creative offering is a message to others: Be courageous, take …
NIGHT SWEATS
A writer friend confides that he suffers from nightmares as he nears completion of his first novel. “I wake in a cold sweat,” he confesses. “What if it’s not good enough? What if it’s no good? It’s like one of those dreams where you show up naked for the final exam. I didn’t used to be this scared–I didn’t doubt myself.” After we talk for several minutes, we agree the dreams, however uncomfortable, are a good sign. He is about to share his novel with a select audience of first readers, and he will be asking for their feedback. The …