By Carol Grannick on July 6, 2010
I’m so excited to share an interview with author Jenny Meyerhoff about creating and maintaining resilience on the writer’s journey. If you struggle with holding on to your resilience, or simply need an occasional ‘lift’, notice how deliberate Jenny’s choices are about how she stays creative and productive. Note, as well, how important is her [...]
Posted in Interviews: Resilience At Work, Rethinking Writing Obstacles | Tagged Jenny Meyerhoff, Queen of Secrets, writers' resilience
By Carol Grannick on June 29, 2010
If you’re going through a difficult time with your writing or your life, you may find that positive emotions of joy, interest, and inspiration are available in the restorative experience of re-reading a favorite book.
Posted in Learned Resilience: How To Do It, Lessons From Life | Tagged Kerry Madden, writing life
By Carol Grannick on June 22, 2010
The Irrepressible Writer is a hunter-gatherer. Because positive emotions come and go, and because they are “lighter” than negative emotions, I’m always searching.
A good writing conference is invaluable for positivity-creating experiences, and I had the good fortune to attend the magnificent Illinois-SCBWI Words In The Woods 2010 retreat/conference this past weekend.
You can read about [...]
Posted in Lessons From Life | Tagged Words In The Woods, Writers Conference
By Carol Grannick on June 15, 2010
For most of us, positivity does not come naturally, and even if it does, it takes hard work to hold on to it.
Why? Because for most of us, creating and maintaining positive thoughts and emotions requires thinking. And when our brains are cluttered with worries, self-doubt, internal and external expectations, and more, it’s hard to [...]
Posted in Learned Resilience: How To Do It | Tagged Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, positivity
By Carol Grannick on June 8, 2010
I’m not one to recommend or partake in food as a way to increase positive emotion, unless I happen to be hungry and the food is nourishing and delicious.
But yesterday a soft-serve ice cream cone brought me unexpected and to-be-savored moments during a difficult time. My husband, a chocolate milkshake lover, said he was heading [...]
Posted in Lessons From Life | Tagged positivity
By Carol Grannick on June 1, 2010
As usual, Bob Herbert’s column in the Tuesday, June 1 New York Times is an expression of my thoughts and emotions. I find myself deeply distracted from my work by the state of the world.
And yet I will write today – enter revisions into my netbook (a recent purchase that caused an influx of positive [...]
Posted in Lessons From Life | Tagged Bob Herbert, learned helplessness, New York Times
By Carol Grannick on May 25, 2010
I invite you to enjoy this wonderful, immensely instructive interview with children’s author Kathi Baron, whose first novel, SHATTERED (Westside Books, 2009) has the concept of resilience at its core.
In addition, though, Kathi’s responses to my questions are superb examples of the creative brain’s response to negative and positive thinking and emotion. You’ll see [...]
Posted in Interviews: Resilience At Work | Tagged Kathi Baron, learned optimism, SHATTERED
By Carol Grannick on May 18, 2010
When I left my adopted hometown of New York City years ago, I flew back once a month for almost a year, weaning myself not only from friends, but from the city itself and the love-hate relationship I’d had with it for fourteen years.
In the years that passed, the mythic status of the city pulled [...]
Posted in Lessons From Life | Tagged revision, separation
By Carol Grannick on May 11, 2010
I’m honored this week at The Irrepressible Writer to have a guest post by Meredith Resnick, whose blog at http://writersinnerjourney.com is a constant source of nourishment and inspiration. I am particularly fond of Meredith’s brilliant, concise interviews that explore the heart, mind and spirit of the writer’s creative process.
I hope you’ll enjoy her – here, [...]
Posted in Rethinking Writing Obstacles | Tagged writing growth, writing stagnation
By Carol Grannick on May 5, 2010
It’s not just the negative self-talk that wastes your writing time. It’s the negative self-talk over and over. And over.
Ruminating is a common and unhappy, unproductive activity. And the desire to “just say no” and switch it off can be unsuccessful.
In fact, yelling at Rumination to stop often kicks in a bigger and “better” [...]
Posted in Rethinking Writing Obstacles | Tagged rumination
