March 9, 2011

Into each life some rain must fall…as the saying goes.

And when the difficulties pour on for days on end, our emotions get on overload, making it difficult to write. Sometimes it’s a chronic issue that disrupts the writing schedule. Sometimes the event comes out of the blue.

It can knock you for a loop.

Back in Balance

If your emotions are doing the roller-coaster thing on you today, and inner turmoil keeps you from writing, I recommend both the Writing for Emotional Balance book and website. The exercises and explanations in the book (by Beth Jacobs) were so helpful to me years ago and several times since then. According to her website:

Backing Off and Calming Down

November 15, 2010

Do you ever wonder if you’re a REAL writer? If you have doubts, it might be because you have a bad case of the “shoulds.”

Symptoms of the “shoulds” include:

• You should write first thing in the morning.
• You should write daily.
• You should keep a journal.
• You should write down your dreams every morning.
• You should have a room of your own and be organized!
• You should write for publication.

What if some of the “shoulds” just go against your grain? Are you not a real writer then? What if you write best after 10 p.m. instead of first thing in the morning? What if you start journals repeatedly and never last more than three days? What if you can’t remember your dreams? What if an organized office makes you freeze and you secretly prefer writing in chaos?

Are you a REAL writer then? YES!

What Am I Exactly?

If you struggle with your identity as a writer–if you don’t seem to fit the mold no matter how you’ve tried–you would love the book I found over the weekend. It’s called The Write Type: Discover Your True Writer’s Identity and Create a Customized Writing Plan by Karen E. Peterson, who wrote the best book on writer’s block I ever read.

This book takes you through exercises to find the real writer who lives inside you. You’ll explore the ten components that make up a writer’s “type.” They include such things as tolerance for solitude, best time of day to write, amount of time, need for variety, level of energy, and level of commitment. Finding your own personal combination of traits helps you build a writer’s life where you can be your most productive and creative.

Free to Be Me

To be honest, the exercises with switching hands (right brain/left brain) didn’t help me as much as the discussions about each trait. I could usually identify my inner preferences quite easily through the discussion. It gave me freedom to be myself as a writer. It also helped me pinpoint a few areas where I believed some “shoulds” that didn’t work for me, where I was trying to force this square peg writer into a round hole and could stop!

We’re all different–no surprise!–but we published writers are sometimes too quick to pass along our own personal experience in the form of “shoulds.” You should write first thing in the morning should actually be stated, It works well for ME to write first thing in the morning, so you might try that.

What About You?

Have you come up against traits of “real writers” that just don’t seem to fit you? Do you like to flit from one unfinished project to another instead of sticking to one story until it’s finished and submitted? Do you need noise around you and get the heebie jeebies when it’s too quiet?

If you have time, leave a comment concerning one or two areas where you have struggled in the past with a “real writer” trait. Let’s set ourselves free from the tyranny of the shoulds!

October 13, 2010

(Read Regain the Passion–Part 1 first.)

So…when does passion flourish? Under what conditions?

First, a writer’s passion is generally at its highest point when life is going well. (Big surprise!) When relationships are smooth, health is good, there’s enough money to pay the bills, the writer is following a healthy diet and getting sufficient sleep: these are the optimal conditions.

Whatever is draining your passion needs to be attended to, thoroughly and persistently. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always bring back the passion. It simply sets the stage, giving yourself the optimal environment for your resurrected passion to grow.

Habits of a Passionate Writer

How do you recognize passion for writing? Yes, it’s a feeling, but it’s so much more. Each writer will exhibit certain habits when she is being passionate about her writing. These habits are individual and personal–and present in your life whether you feel passion or not. Take a moment to make a list of habits that (to you) marks a writer as passionate.

To me personally, a passionate writer:

A. writes, almost daily.
B. listens, observes and thinks—alert to her surroundings.
C. carries a notebook everywhere to jot down impressions, descriptions and ideas.
D. journals—daily, if possible.
E. is focused—begins and continues her writing with energy.
F. reads other good children’s books, both current and classics.
G. keeps up with professional reading.
H. shares her enthusiasm at conferences and workshops (but doesn’t over-schedule such events so they don’t interfere with writing).
I. leads a more secluded life than the average person, in order to nurture and explore her talent.
J. is physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually healthy.
K. is a 24-hour-a-day writer. Even when washing dishes or cutting grass, the passionate writer’s work is close at hand, on the edges of her mind. Everything she does is writing-related and life-related, so that her work and her life are inseparable.

Those are just my own personal ideas. Everyone is different. On Friday we’ll talk about practical ways to get the passion back. Before that, leave me a comment and tell me what a writer’s passion means to you.

July 14, 2010

I recently re-read Angela Booth’s “Change Your Life with Your Journal.” I’ve  journaled through many down periods in my life, and it’s always been therapeutic. However, her following statement hooked me.

“The key point to note is not the therapeutic effects of writing in a journal but rather the fact that regular journal keeping will influence the way you think or feel about a specific topic.”

And what big change did Angela accomplish in her writing career by using journaling? It’s a change I would give almost anything to also achieve! This is the leap of growth that journaling allowed her to make.

“I could see that unless I changed my reluctance to market my writing, I would be stuck at a level of income I knew I could surpass… Journaling helped me change my mind about marketing my writing. I went from someone who became physically ill at the thought of sending out query letters and making cold calls to market my copywriting, to someone who LOVES marketing.” What a change!

The Proof in the Pudding

I tried her idea. In my journal I wrote about a writing task I had put off for weeks–and it had grown in my mind to mammoth proportions. I wrote about why I didn’t want to do it, what I feared would happen if I failed, all that angst stuff.

Then later I sat down to do that task, wondering if the journaling self-talk had helped. I got the job done–it took only 25 minutes according to my kitchen timer–and minus the angst. I was amazed. Only 25 minutes after procrastinating on the chore for weeks. Sheesh!

Make It a Habit

Give this idea a try with something in your writing life that has you stumped or scared or blocked. Share your experience with journaling toward an attitude change.

Did this idea work for you?

February 10, 2010

According to the National Science Foundation, the average person has about 12,000 thoughts per day, or 4.4 million thoughts per year.

I wager that writers are well above the average because we read more and writing causes us to think more than the average.

Who’s In Charge?

I had known for a long time that our thoughts affect our emotions, and that toxic “stinking thinking” could derail our writing dreams and health faster than almost anything. You are the only one who can decide whether to reject or accept a thought, which thoughts to dwell on, and which thoughts will become actions.

But sometimes–a lot of the time–I felt powerless to actually do anything about it on a consistent basis. Sometimes I simply felt unfocused and overwhelmed.

Need a Brain Detox?

I’ve been reading a “scientific brain studies” book for non-science types like me called Who Switched Off My Brain? by Dr. Caroline Leaf Ph.D. which has fascinated me. With scientific studies to back it up, it shows that thoughts are measurable and actually occupy mental “real estate.” Thoughts are active; they grow and change, influencing every decision we make and physical reaction we have.

“Every time you have a thought, it is actively changing your brain and your body–for better or for worse.” The author talks about the “Dirty Dozen”–which can be as harmful as poison in our minds and our bodies.

Killing Our Creativity

Among this dozen deadly areas of toxic thinking are toxic emotions, toxic words, toxic seriousness, toxic health, and toxic schedules.

If you want to delve into the 350+ scientific references and pages of end notes in the back of the book, you can look up the studies. But basically it targets the twelve toxic areas of our lives that produce 80% of the physical, emotional and mental health issues today. And trust me. Those issues have a great deal to do with you achieving your goals and dreams.

There Is Hope!

According to Dr. Leaf, scientists no longer believe that the brain is hardwired from birth with a fixed destiny to wear out with age, a fate predetermined by our genes. Instead there is scientific proof now for what the Bible has always taught: you can renew your minds and heal. Your brain really can change!

Old brain patterns can be altered, and new patterns can be implemented. In the coming days, I’ll share some more about the author’s ”Brain Sweep” five-step strategy for detoxing your thoughts associated with the “dirty dozen.”

But right now I’m going to read about the symptoms of a toxic schedule. I have a suspicion…

December 4, 2009

As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of the drawbacks of NaNo this year was gaining six pounds. It really needs to go, but I hate counting calories, grams of anything, and points. Then last night when cleaning my office, I found a book I’d bought last year (post holidays) but never read called The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size by Julia Cameron.

I’ve been a fan of Julia Cameron’s writing since The Artist’s Way saved my sanity and career many years ago. I’m intrigued by her premise in the prologue of the writing-diet book (which is as far as I’ve progressed so far.)

Writing for Insight

Julia teaches creativity recovery classes, and she had noticed that her students were also losing weight by the end of her course. “Weight loss is a frequent by-product of creative recovery,” she says. “Overeating blocks our creativity. The flip side is also true: we can use creativity to block our overeating.” Wouldn’t that be wonderful if it were true?

She asks some questions that are “food for thought”: What if words can be consumed instead of calories? What if, struck by a Snack Attack, I said to myself, “What’s eating me?” What if I took a moment and jotted down my feelings? What if I gave myself food for thought instead of food itself?

She suggests that when a food craving hits you that you take yourself to the page to write instead of going to the refrigerator. Your magic wand is your pen.

Julia’s Promise

Her promise if you undertake her Writing Diet? “What I can promise you,” Julia says, “is increased clarity, increased energy, increased productivity. As you write, you will lose weight and gain creativity. As you unblock your feelings, you will gain access to the energy that they hold.”

Anyone out there who has this book want to try this with me? I think it would be fun to compare notes. I plan to use one of mymultiple journals  and dive into the rest of the book this weekend–AFTER attending a first-of-the-season Christmas party tonight!

November 27, 2009

How do I journal? Let me count the ways.

Recently I  gathered all my beautiful journals (eight of them) and saw that in each one I had filled about twenty pages before I quit. And I LOVE journaling! So what was up with that?

In the December 2009 Writer Magazine an article called “Stay on track with 6 types of journals” caught my eye. I realized as I read the article that here was the answer to my problem with journals over the years.

Do you ever do this? You receive a neat journal for your birthday or Christmas–something really pretty chosen just for you, the writer. You write meaningful insights there, uplifting passages, maybe some goals. But then the day comes when you’re upset or depressed or stuck, and you don’t want to dump that drivel into your beautiful journal full of inspiring stuff, so you don’t journal. After a while, the book gets stuck on a shelf and forgotten.

What’s the Purpose?

The author of the journaling article (Ann Edwards Cannon) suggests keeping different journals for different purposes. Her six types are the free-write journal, the idea journal, the dream journal, the quotation journal, the submissions journal, and the what-I-wrote-today-and-how-I-felt-about-it journal. I do have a quotation journal and idea journal, but not the others.

But I gathered my stack of mostly empty journals and read through them, deciding what “theme” each one represented, and decided to entitle them as such. Then, depending on my need and mood, I will get out the appropriate journal.

Divide and Conquer                                       

My six journals include five spiral bound ones and one on the computer:

• LifeJournal computer software: This is my password protected journal for ”dump and flush” sessions. This is where I write the nasty letters that I never send, where I process something hurtful said or done to me, or process personal problems I wouldn’t want others to find and read about. There’s also a special LifeJournal for Writers you might want to check out. (Put it on your Christmas list!) This is also where I keep the “wild reactions” I wrote about here.
• Work Journal (with typewriter on front): This is where I talk about what I’m working on, troubles I’m having with a project, ruminations on getting another form rejection from an editor or agent [yes, I get them too, as do most writers], and keep track of hours or words written. I count words when doing a rough draft–I count hours when revising and editing.                                 
• Simplicity Journal (with Jane Austen picture and quotes): When feeling frazzled by time pressures and To Do lists longer than the hours in the day, I know I need to simplify. Here I make plans to declutter my life (physical environment, emotional baggage, etc.)
• Gratitude/Prayer Journal: spiritual insights and quotes, answers to prayer, spiritual struggles, quotes from favorite authors, prayer requests from other people.
• Idea Journal: This is where I make notes to myself of that brilliant idea I had in the shower for a series, the weird dream that woke me up, the funny thing my grandson said that would make a great story, etc. Just remember to go back and thumb through your ideas from time to time, if it’s going to be of any use to you.
• Quotation Journal: Since I read a lot, I come across quotes I love and want to remember. I need to get into the habit of reading with my quotation journal right there as well. If I don’t write down the quote when I first see it, I rarely go back and capture it later.
• Before/During/After Journal: for mental, physical, or emotional “addictive” behaviors. For example, when I’m tired or feeling neglected, I want comfort food. When I’m happy and want to celebrate, I want chocolate. When I reward myself after a long writing stint, I gravitate to food. When I’m really exhausted, I want to pick a fight or not write at all that day. My healthy side knows that none of that is a good idea. By journaling how I feel before I do the behavior, how I feel during the behavior (either pigging out or using self-control), and how I feel afterward, I see the patterns. I can read previous entries and remind myself how I felt after indulging in certain behaviors. Often that’s enough to propel me to make the right choice.                                                                                                   

If you like to journal, try having different journals for different purposes, and see if you find that helpful. Or have a three-ring binder with colored tabs for each separate section. Whatever works for you!

January 30, 2008

Even when you’re excited about a writing project, do you have trouble getting started in the morning? Over the years, the one thing that has consistently helped me is to journal first. Sometimes I’ve used lovely bound journals. Often I use my password protected Life Journal software on my laptop. I love its search feature–it helps me retrieve my ideas later after brainstorming solutions to plotting or personal problems.

I don’t just sit down and start to journal. There’s a ritual involved for most journal writers, me included. I start with hot chocolate, a padded rocking chair, and reading a short devotional. Lately I’ve added the sounds of violin music in the background, the hauntingly beautiful (and relaxing) strains of Joshua Bell, especially his “Romance of the Violin” and the soundtrack from “Ladies in Lavender.”

If you’d like to journal, but have trouble getting the juices flowing in the morning, see “Create a Journal Writing Ritual” for ideas. If you give it a try for a few weeks, I predict journaling will become a practice critical to your writing output–and enjoyment!