June Jordan’s Poetry for the People: A Revolutionary Blueprint This book blew the lid off my safe little world. I was finally exposed to political poetry, poetry by people of color, and poetry as community building. I used this book to inspire my own writing and as a textbook when I taught poetry classes. The […]
12/30 Inspiration for writers: Untangle sticky life issues
One of my favorite things about free-writing is that it can be used for any kind of writing. My students claim that after a month of free-writing, everything they have to write feels easier. Blog posts, emails, proposals…when they have free-writing at their disposal, words for any kind of project come easier. And sometimes, we […]
11/30 Inspiration for writers: Glean useful insights about our writing process
You know how we read books like Daily Rituals, trying to learn from other people’s writing process? It’s like we’re looking for the magic key that will show us how to unlock our own genius. The problem is that someone else’s key probably won’t work to open your writing gates. You have to – get […]
10/30 Inspiration for writers: Practice, practice, practice
The way to excel at anything is to practice. I have a yoga practice, a coaching practice and a writing practice. These are all very different but as practices, they have things in common. A practice requires you to show up regularly. A practice doesn’t demand excellence, or even good, on the first laps out. […]
9/30 Inspiration for writers: Discover more about yourself
The coolest thing happens in my writing classes. People sign up so they can get some writing done. But a bonus of the class is that they discover so much more about who they are, what they care about and why they want to write in the first place. No matter what you are writing, […]
8/30 Inspiration for writers: Your writing is a gift you give yourself
Appreciate that the time we spend on our writing as a gift we give to ourselves again and again. Writing might seem like a lot of work. And, in truth, it is. But it’s also a gift we give to ourselves. Taking the time to honor our writing impulse, even if we don’t know where […]
7/30 Inspiration for writers: Develop and enjoy a consistent writing routine.
Do you crave a consistent writing routine? Something you can rely on to write what you want, when you want. It’s possible, but first you have to ask this question: What does it mean for you to be consistent with your writing? You don’t necessarily have to write every day to have a consistent routine. […]
6/30 Inspiration for writers: Access inspiration anytime, anywhere
Have you ever had a lot of ideas for things you want to write, but when you sit down to actually write something, the ideas are gone? Yeah, it happens. Somehow the muse disappears when the pen comes out. Free-writing helps solve that irksome problem. We think we need to feel inspiration, then write. But […]
A Poetry Handbook: World-Changing Books by Women Series
It’s National Poetry Month! Can you believe that I got my start teaching writing with a class called Poetry Unbound? I was no great poet back in 1996, but I had a youthful enthusiasm and brio that made me want to teach. I used to jump up onto the counter at Capitol Hill Books and […]
5/30 Inspiration for writers: Finally have a reliable way to access your truth
Do you ever feel like you’re not always telling or writing your true truth? That you censor yourself in order to seek approval or look a certain way? I’ve seen a miraculous release of our truths when we use free-writing. Writing with a prompt, using a timer and without stopping has a potent truth-releasing effect. […]