There is a famous quote: “If you take one day off writing, your muse will take off the next three.” In other words, it will take you three days (after skipping writing) for you to get back into the flow of your writing project. Even taking one full day off will cost you in focus. […]
writing habits
A Writerholic’s Many Faces
Did you know that, contrary to popular belief, workaholics (and the sub-group writer-holics) don’t work all the time? In fact the term can describe “any person who is driven to do too much, whether that person works sixty hours a week or runs around like a chicken with its head cut off…Some work addicts appear […]
Pulling Weeds and Planting Flowers
Writers are good at pulling up weeds, but they sometimes forget to keep going and plant flowers in the dirt. After you pull weeds, don’t forget to plant flowers. Many writers in December and January talked about their goals for the new year. Many are working hard to break habits that keep them from their […]
Warning: Stop Shifting and Drifting
Have you ever noticed that we never drift in good directions? If you want to accomplish anything, it has to be by choice. “Drift” is our default setting when we allow outside distractions to capture our attention. Have you drifted away from your writing goals set earlier this year? Looking Back Recall the last time you […]
Writing for the Soul: Success!
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the 30+ check-in reports I get every day from the four “challenge groups.” We are writing on thirty different projects, in more than twenty states, across many time zones. Many are grandparents, but a few are juggling their writing with nursing babies. How can such a diverse group of writers support each […]
Give Yourself the Slight Edge Today!
Can writing just 15-30 minutes a day really amount to anything? Even over the long haul? Absolutely! And that’s why I’m running these two writing challenges in April. It started when I read a book called The Slight Edge. It’s not a writing book per se. But the subtitle tells you the book’s premise: “turning […]
Writing on Schedule
As I mentioned in “Harnessing the Unconscious,” Dorothea Brande claimed in her classic book Becoming a Writer that there were two distinct types of writing you must master if you hoped to have a career as an author. Whether or not both are necessary is up for grabs. However, I do know that both types […]
Harnessing the Unconscious
If you already write fluently, for hours at a time, and you can write at will whenever you choose, you don’t need today’s idea. However, if developing and then maintaining a daily writing schedule keeps eluding you, you’re in the right place. This post describes the first type of accountability challenge for April. Back to […]
Accountability: It Works!
Back in January many of you joined me in the “31 Minutes for 31 Days Challenge.” That jump started many of us for the new year. In February I did my first 28-Day Challenge with two writing friends, and March began our second 28-day Challenge. (The Challenge has been to write at least 30 minutes […]
Direction, not Intention
All of our actions have results, or consequences. That’s not news to anyone. And yet, do we act like we believe that? Not all that often. Good Intentions Too many writers (myself included sometimes) believe that if we work our hardest and try our best and keep a good attitude, we’ll end up successfully published. […]