Despite no rain in the forecast for two days, it feels like time to settle in today and do some solid writing. (But yes, I’ll take “walk breaks” today.) I’ve received a few questions about the cottage I’m staying in for three weeks. This is my third time here, and it feels like home. Here’s a […]
dreams
Mind the Gap!
I love the ringing sound of “Mind the Gap!” when British train doors slide open at a station platform. “Mind the Gap!” is an audible (or visual) warning. It’s issued to rail passengers to take caution while crossing the space between the train door and the station platform. “Mind the Gap!” The phrase was first […]
Wounds from the Game of Writing: Earning Battle Scars
Wounds: we all get them. During the 1988 Jamboree encampment of 32,000 Boy Scouts, one troop (38 Scouts) led the entire Jamboree in cuts treated at the medical tent. The huge number of nicks from busy knives sounded negative until someone toured the camp and saw the unique artistic walking sticks each boy in that […]
Stage 4: Maintaining Long-Term Success
At last, success! If you’ve taken time to do each of the previous steps, congratulate yourself. It’s been time well spent. But if you’ve done the work, you want it to last. That brings us to Stage 4 for making changes in your writing life, where you learn techniques for maintaining long-term success. (First read […]
Writing Life: the Reality
“Life is difficult,” wrote M. Scott Peck in his famous book The Road Less Traveled. “This … is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it… Once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” I’d like to amend Peck’s quote to say that “the writing […]
Keeping the Dream Alive
Lately all my technology has decided to bite the dust. I’ve replaced the computer, the camera, and the Kindle. To this full-time writer, $$$ “emergencies” often mean taking on writing projects that will pay NOW. For me, that’s writing books and test material for educational publishers. I’m so thankful for the work, but it can […]
Writer Imaging (Part 3)
(First read “Writer Imaging” Part 1 and Part 2.) Here are the final attributes of a happy writing life… 4. Staying focused on the positive. View your writing life as a series of opportunities and growth experiences, even though some experiences (like rejection slips) may involve pain. Daily there are good things to focus on […]
How to Create the "Not To-Do" List
Back in March, I wrote about pruning some things from life in order to have more time to write. (See my former post “The ‘Not To-Do’ List”.) In order to make time for anything new in your life, it requires some necessary endings. Help Is on the Way So I was thrilled yesterday when my […]
Friday Follow-Up
Wednesday’s blog entitled “Unhappiness: A Positive Sign” sparked more private email than usual! Glad it got you to thinking about this. The tension you feel at the beginning of a project–that itch to “go for it!”–seems like a positive sign to me. So what is the “unhappy” part those authors were talking about in their […]
Food for Thought
When I read nonfiction books, I underline important parts. Next to very important sections, I put a star. If the passage really touched something deep in me, it gets a star within a circle. Over the holiday weekend, I had the pleasure of a couple free hours that I spent re-reading some “star-within-a-circle” portions of […]