Cynthia Morris

You probably know that writing has sustained my sanity and creativity for a long time now. And, it’s my mission to help people craft a writing practice that honors them and serves their writing dreams and goals.

I was poking around online recently to see what people were saying about a journaling practice. I found an article on the New York Times:

What’s All This About Journaling: One of the more effective acts of self-care is also, happily, one of the cheapest  by Hayley Phelan

The following two paragraphs blew me away. I know the benefits of regular writing firsthand, and I have seen hundreds of people’s lives change as a result of the practice. But I’d never thought of writing this way:

“….writing is fundamentally an organizational system. Keeping a journal, according to Dr. Pennebaker, helps to organize an event in our mind, and make sense of trauma. When we do that, our working memory improves, since our brains are freed from the enormously taxing job of processing that experience, and we sleep better.

This in turn improves our immune system and our moods; we go to work feeling refreshed, perform better and socialize more. “There’s no single magic moment,” Dr. Pennebaker said. “But we know it works…”

(Emphasis mine; James W. Pennebaker is a social psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin who is considered the pioneer of writing therapy.)

The cool thing about a journaling or writing practice is that it can do so many things. We can write to refresh and release. We can write our way to clarity. We can write from our imaginations and for our work.

If you haven’t been writing, I invite you to pick it up today. Don’t do it ‘right’. Don’t do it my way. Do it your way and let your pen lead you closer to yourself and what you want for your life.

There’s still room for you in our online writing salon, The Devoted Writer. We’ve only just begun and already people are savoring the positive effects. Like Patricia Mauerhofer, who shared in our salon:

“I am soooo grateful and happy for being here and having signed up…7 days and my playful creativity juices are starting to flow again.I also became aware why writing just a little every day is good enough for now.”

Writing every day isn’t the goal; being connected to ourselves through a writing practice is our focus. Some people are working on projects, others are writing just for themselves.

Join us here.

Do you have a writing practice that honors you? Share in a comment below one thing that helps you connect to your writing practice. 

I’ve been doing daily writing based on my own prompts, These are coaching inquiries that I often ask my clients. Some of them are ones I wish someone would ask me.

One of the hardest prompts to write from was: “What are you afraid of?” 

It was hard to stay with my fears for a full two pages. And yet, I feel plenty of fear. Our world has tipped even more toward a fear-based experience.

And yet, it’s hard to be with our fears. It’s hard to pinpoint what we are afraid of.

In all my years as a writer and writing coach, I have seen the profound benefits of staying with an inquiry and letting ink lead us to deeper truths. When we are able to explore what’s inside via our pen or keyboard, we get so so so so so much more than when these thoughts and feelings just rumble around inside us.

I am hosting Pop-Up Writing Salons where we give space to ourselves and our ink to write. After a brief welcome and introduction to our writing guidelines, we will dive into a series of writing sessions. Using my prompts, we’ll explore what’s true for us around the topic of fear.

These are not salons to ‘get writing done’ but instead to get in contact with ourselves and what we feel and think. There will be no critiquing or reading of our writing. There will be no sharing of our writing. Instead, you will be invited to reflect on how the writing was for you, shared in a simple and easy way, if you wish. 

I am skilled at hosting a safe, supportive space where our we and our writing finally get the space that they need. We will be using my private Zoom channel, and you may choose to be on video or not. You can also call in via telephone.

Join us this Thursday, March 12th at 2:00 PT, 3:00 MT, 4:00 CT, 5:00 ET, 9:00 am on the 13th in Sydney to explore fear.

This is a free, online event. Be sure to check your time zone. Reserve your seat using the link here. 

I was in the car with a friend recently. She was gushing about an author and what a great writer she is.

While I, too, love great writing and appreciate great authors, in this moment, for some reason, my inner critic closed my heart. I felt jealousy and a sense of less-than.

“I don’t think I’m a great writer,” I confessed. She was shocked. She sees me as an accomplished writer with books and plenty of other writing under my belt.

It’s true that I am prolific. Even my inner critic can’t deny that. But I go dark side and don’t know how good I am. My clients face this, too. Accomplished authors feel this. It seems our communal, number one fear is: Will my writing be good enough?

The problem with good enough

The problem with our concern about whether our writing is ‘good enough’ is that ‘good enough’ isn’t a specific target. How, exactly, will we know when it is ‘good’? When someone else validates it? When someone else agrees to publish it? When we get paid or win an award?

Most of the writing I’ve done in 25 years hasn’t earned me the big bucks or garnered prestigious awards. But that doesn’t mean it’s not good.

I remember a day when I clarified what ‘good enough’ meant for me. I made the decision to self-publish my Paris novel Chasing Sylvia Beach. I realized I didn’t need someone in the publishing industry to approve and signal that it was a ‘breakout novel’. The power and self-acceptance I claimed felt so good.

I had the same feeling with my last book, The Busy Woman’s Guide to Writing a World-Changing Book. I wasn’t trying for ‘great writing’. I wasn’t aiming to be clever or demonstrate how ‘good’ I am as a writer. I was simply aiming for clarity so my readers would be inspired to take immediate action toward writing their own books.

Same happened with my podcast essays. I hoped to write honest, humorous and authentic essays. I wanted to move my listeners with stories that showed how we all face stumbling blocks in the creative process. At first I read books about how to ‘write funny’. And consumed storytelling books. And listened to others’ podcasts.

For sure, a certain amount of study of our craft is necessary. We can always improve. No matter how talented you are, your free writes will nee editing. Getting constructive feedback and practicing our craft is part of the game.

And, there comes a time when we have to shut off the hose of information and turn to our own deep well and write from there. When you have to trust that your writing is good enough. You have to relinquish control and release it into the world. It will or will not meet your readers in the way you hope.

I am fortunate that I spend a lot of time writing. This gives me a chance to both continue to work my craft and to let go of insecurities about whether the writing is ‘good’. As you see, these insecurities still arise.  But my definition of great writing has changed. It’s less about whether someone else is approving of it. My metric for good writing these days is whether I am being as honest and wholehearted as I can be. 

Over to you

If you live alongside the ‘good enough’ gremlin, I invite you to get clear on what ‘good’ is for you now. Do a free-write to clarify your own metrics for good writing. What does this spark in you? Leave a comment below let us know your relationship to ‘good enough’.