I’ve had more than one email that conveys to me the pain inherent in the writing life. And the question the emails ask is always the same: when should I quit?
If you’re a writer who’s faced self-doubt, failure, rejection, and despair you may know how difficult it becomes to maintain hope. Hope that someday someone [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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” [...]
Here’s my office.
To me, it’s the best room in our home. Two windows looking out on an open street with trees bring in light from sunup to sundown, and many of my favorite office ‘mates’ line the shelves and walls – books, sculpture, prints and wall-hangings.
A perfect place to write…in my mind, a [...]
One day we feel fine, and then we don’t.
In part, that’s because we’re always changing, and our feelings come and go.
One of the ways to pull yourself back into a positive space is to reach out for help.
Recently, I began to sense my inner Medusa waking, but she wasn’t threatening writers’ block. No, it was [...]
This morning as I savored my organic, fair-trade coffee from Costco, I leafed through my Cook’s Garden catalogue, and dreams of spring and summer rushed in.
Now, I’ve gotten much better about living in the present, and have tried to maximize my experience of winter by enjoying the inside life, and not having a tantrum when [...]
If you’ve looked at the first and second installments of my series on writers’ jealousy, you’ll recall that I encouraged you to stay calm about the experience of jealousy, and to reconnect with your ethical “core” values and beliefs so that you can behave well, even if you’re feeling jealous.
Those learned or natural behaviors will [...]
The first post in my series on how to handle jealousy with positivity encourages you to accept the feeling as natural and normal. For some of you, that will help jealousy pass.
For others of you, the feeling will stay uncomfortable and inconvenient, putting a roadblock in the way of your own writing.
You may have noticed [...]
Jealousy propels us into negativity and drains energy, productivity and creativity. Jealousy focuses our energy on who we aren’t or can’t be, and inhibits us from being and becoming the writers we are and can be.
