Tweet Ever feel blogged out? Or that your world is filled with headlines and blog ideas? I sometimes get so zoomed into social media that when I zoom out to real life, my head spins. (Not the exorcist kind, the vertigo kind) So to take us all beyond this blog, I’m doing a short post to a few things outside the box: 1. Bit o’ holiday inspiration. You probably know that I write an online column for The Writer called, “Inspiration Zone.” Well this month I was fortunate enough to interview author and writing coach Rochelle Melander. She’s got great…
-
-
Tweet Ever write with a surge of energy like a torrential downpour bringing sustenance to a dry desert? Tip tap tip tap. A never-ending stream of consciousness. It’s flow at its best. Have you ever experienced the opposite? You write so tentatively so self-consciously almost like a new nurse with a needle afraid of the potential pain you might cause. When it comes to writing how do you make the letter P stand for more productive work and less paralyzing ones? It all comes down to another P word – perception (not perfection folks!). I’ve found that in an effort…
-
Tweet It’s almost Halloween, but I’m not talking literal here. {Though I must admit the visual of a glow-in-the-dark pen, a notebook and a flashlight sound pretty cool to me.} What I’m talking about is what happens when you write with your mind half-conscious, semi-aware. Even as a full-time writer and someone who writes every day, I still catch myself doing it too. And it’s not a pretty picture. I think somewhere a long, long time ago, I got the impression that I wasn’t that creative. And more importantly, that I was a terrible, terrible writer. So instead of fessing…
-
Tweet {flickr} What did you do today? And the day before? How much of your time was spent working? How much time did you spend on simply enjoying your life? These questions are not merely questions of curiosity, but self-preservation. In The Right to Write by Julia Cameron talks about the “well.” A fitting word to describe what we expect to be an unlimited reservoir of inspiration. But we often fail to fill ourselves up. I describe the effect as a dried out sponge. Just weeks ago I complained to my life coach that I felt like a sad orange.…
-
Tweet {photo by} You’ve worked really hard on writing that book, conceiving a new idea or blogging, but you still haven’t seen results with your efforts. Literary agent Kevin Small who I interviewed in part I of this post, sets us straight this time with the unintentional mistakes you could be making that’s sabotaging your career. 1. You’re undisciplined. Yikes. Has Mr. Small been reading my blogs? Yes, folks. He didn’t quite say that us writers are “lazy.” In fact, he said he wouldn’t use that word, but that we have a tendency to be “undisciplined.” I would like to…
-
Tweet {flickr photo by: stevendepolo} The Dreaded Phone Interview The time is ticking and you’re about to chew every single one of your fingernails in anticipation of that upcoming phone call. It could be a call to your editor, potential client or for a job interview. But whoever it is and whatever it is for, one thing is certain. Talking on the phone is a whole different medium than in person or via email. To be honest, I would prefer both over the dreaded phone call. In emails, my words come out effortlessly. There are no “uh” or “um” in writing and if they were…
-
Tweet What’s so hard about putting words on paper? Well it’s a lot harder than you think when you bring psychology to the picture. Take your thoughts for example. All those doubts, criticisms, and insecurities from years long gone have piled up. And sometimes when you’re not careful, they’ll peek out at you, disguising themselves as your own thoughts. And the results? Well, it’s not a pretty picture. What Holds You Back from Your Writing flickr photo courtesy of: Lady/Bird In Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life, author Gregg Levoy says, “If we don’t confront them, if we don’t even…
-
Tweet Hope you’ve been enjoying my quick tips for Christmas. Here is another one. Hide Your Desperation Clients can smell fear and desperation miles away. If you feel anxious and doubtful that you will ever be able to make it as a writer, hide it quick. Your worries will only attract other desperate people. It will make you take jobs that are beneath you. It will make you compromise on your values and ethics. And it will get you that much farther from your dreams. Do you remember the guy you couldn’t stand in high school? The girl who you…
-
Tweet {photo credit} There are two main reasons why you’re sitting in front of your computer and can’t type right now. You’re either physically or psychologically exhausted. 1. Physical Exhaustion. You needn’t run a marathon to be too tired to write. You could have been up all night with the baby or that darn hour gained from Daylight Saving Time ending surprisingly zapped your energy. Sometimes returning from a trip tires me out also. (Something that I often forget when intending on working right away after vacation.) Whatever the case, being tired and low energy makes it extremely hard to…
-
Tweet Got too many plates up in the air? I hear you. Writing while you’ve got other things to tend too can be exhausting to say the least. But this is the problem: Those plates? They still need to get done. You’re going to have to do all of them (marketing, editing, writing, transcribing, etc.) and still do them well too. So I’m going to let you in on a little secret. {Something that’s helped me power through articles, blog posts, queries and cover letters.} I’m a jumper. Not the adventurous parachuting kind. But the “I’m a writer and I…