I appreciate SO VERY MUCH all the emails over the past few months inquiring about my health. It was a long summer, but all is well now. In lieu of personal responses, I hope you’ll accept this post. Each question and concern and prayer meant the world to me. So, in summary: My eyes… […]
Kristi Holl
Warning: Two Toxic Areas in Your Writing Life
I am fascinated by brain books for the layman, and seeing how that information applies to writers. (See three book links at the end.) Information from the new brain research–if actually applied–could change your writing life. One book, Who Switched Off Your Brain?, deals with what the author calls “the Dirty Dozen” areas in our lives […]
Compartmentalize to End Procrastination . . . But How?
When re-reading Getting It Done by Andrew J. DuBrin, PH.D., I came to a section on dealing with procrastination. One piece of advice is something I’d like your feedback on. I have struggled to compartmentalize as he suggested. Except for occasional months here or there, I haven’t acquired that skill. The author said you can […]
Uncluttered Office Equals Focused Mind
Are you ever overwhelmed by clutter (even good clutter)? This will be primarily a photo sharing blog post—and you can skip to the last half of the post if you want to—but I want to share what prompted my office decluttering project. I have a small 10-foot X 10-foot office which holds a treadmill/desk, a […]
When Your Writer’s Personality is Rejected
The post below about a writer’s personality ran six years ago, and something happened this past week that reminded me of how much we need other writers. I am blessed to have two such people as close friends: one who is my age and in relatively the same stage in life, and one who is […]
Making Memories with Laura Ingalls Wilder, Pioneer Girl
In a slight departure from the writing tips posts, I want to share some photos of the homesteads where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. I just returned from touring sites with my youngest daughter and her two girls (ages 6 and 8). My granddaughters read the Laura books this past year, and my own three girls […]
Blasting Off: Reclaiming a Daily Writing Habit
I launched my writing rocket 35 years ago. With a daily writing habit, it took off and kept my career orbiting, despite getting off-course sometimes and necessitating a re-calculation. In theory, a re-launch would never be required. But the last couple of years have wreaked havoc with my writing routine. Breaking my left wrist in […]
ARGH! I’ve Done It Again
As I announced before the holidays, I planned to take a break from social media for a month. I did that, and soon I will write about some of those results. But lately I’ve received several emails asking if something was wrong and why I didn’t resume the blog in January. Well, it’s because I […]
Digital Detox: My Christmas Gift to ME
This fall, I read many books on habit formation (in the hopes of building better writing and health/healing habits). Several have been terrific, helpful, and practical (see below). I have already blogged about a couple of them here and here. While each book had a different focus, at least one chunk of each book was […]
Minimalist Living and the Internet: a Productive Partnership
Today I read a blog post in my Inbox about making great use of the Internet and smartphones without wasting time and trading your life for it. The web post by Barking Up the Wrong Tree author (Eric Barker) is HIGHLY worth your time. Please head over there right now. You’ll find yourself nodding and saying, “Yes! […]