Many creative people apparently believe or subscribe to the idea that “inspiration” must strike so that we can be creative, regardless of how motivated we may feel about our creative work. Do you believe it? More important: How have you tested your belief? What conditions make that spark of “inspiration” more likely to happen? Is inspiration the same as flow? […]
The devil’s propensity for details pokes specifically at perfectionists. The details of any project are the perfectionist’s easy target. Let’s dot each i and cross each t and for heaven’s sake let’s make sure the apostrophes line up just so. Can you relate to this vision of hell? I’ve written about perfection before, and recently […]
To encourage writers participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) I started writing The Daily Writer Notes, sending out an encouraging little email each morning. The series sure kept me writing at least a little something every single day! I enjoyed writing these so much that I’ve decided to keep on writing them every day […]
As a writer, how often do you stop to reread your work and then agonize over what you just wrote because it’s not perfect? How much time to you spend mulling exactly where to start a scene, debating the perfect first line for the fifth chapter, toying with the perfect verb for a key sentence, […]
Any big writing project, or even a modest writing project (is any writing project modest? I don’t think so!) requires you to sit down and actually write. Finding the time to write is a matter of priority setting and a matter of logistics. Once you’ve cleaned up your calendar and eliminated any “extra” responsibilities, look […]
You may be wondering about all the NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month fuss. Wondering why anyone would even want to try to write a novel in a month or 50,000 words of anything in thirty days. At that pace, the quality will be subpar and the burnout risk is above average. Let’s be bluntly […]
I hate to bring up the subject of creative anxiety twice in one week and then not offer a coping exercise! In his self-help creativity manual Coaching the Artist Within, psychologist Eric Maisel suggests we learn to appreciate what he terms the “Tao of Anxiety” and thus coach ourselves through it. It is, as are […]
Deep in Chapter 8 of Eric Maisel’s Coaching the Artist Within, we come across a nugget on identifying and dealing with perfectionism. Maisel argues that we are culturally conditioned to value a high gloss perception of perfection over reality. Reality, of course, includes both glossy and matte, highs and lows, successes and failures, perfection and […]
Apparently the powers that be have named April National Poetry Month. The nice helpful elves over at The New York Times put together a nifty cheat sheet to help us get our poetry on. The catch is, at least to my mind, that every one of these quick poetry tips and starters depends on you […]