I call on you to step up fully to honor your impulse to write. I invite you to ask yourself not will you write but what will you write.
What if you lived as if writing were not optional, but a daily tonic, a balm to your spirit? What if you finally took your writing impulses seriously and wrote something, anything, every single day?
What will you write today?
What will spring from your heart
leaping to marry with your mind
and beg your body to
sit still enough
to bring it all together
onto the page?
You, revealed.
You, shared.
You, trusting.
You, giving what must be
written
so your day
and your life
are spoken.
What will you write today?
The Writing Life
Write every day!
I love this new notebook I got from Two Hands Paperie. I chose the dot grid paper for the interior. I think I will use this for my daily writing in October. Who wants to write with me daily? Join The Devoted Writer here.
What's your creative focus for autumn?
It’s that back-to-school feeling where I get the urge to settle in with books and notebooks and plans. The lifelong learner in me loves to engage with a project or course of study.
What are you studying? What is your creative focus for autumn?
Say you are starting back at school now, and you want to end the year feeling like a creative champ. What would you focus on for the final quarter of the year? Choose one or two projects that are important to you.
I am focusing on the next draft of my book, The Busy Woman’s Guide to Writing a World-Changing Book. My secondary focus is developing programs to celebrate my 20-year anniversary next year. I can’t wait!
Steve and I are going to upstate New York for Christmas. It’s always been my dream to be on a tropical island, far away from Christmas. I’ll take this! My plan is to have the book completely done and to the designers.
I know it’s early to be thinking about Christmas. (Crikey!) But I am still in long-term planning mode. I have a full and exciting fall planned, so Christmas dreams are my carrot.
For me, it feels good to have this kind of focus. Just two major projects alongside The Devoted Writer and my coaching work. That seems doable. There are other projects begging for my attention, but I am able to keep them at bay when I know what I want to feel most satisfied about when I get on the plane on December 26th.
Make your own creative focus for the fall, keeping it to two major projects at most. See how it feels to enjoy this focus!
Write your heart out with us!
If writing is part of your fall focus, consider joining me and other writers in The Devoted Writer. This class helps you set up a writing practice that makes your heart sing. Join us in October to write your heart out. Get your spot now and start warming up your writing fingers!
Set up a home writing retreat
I recently checked my calendar and noticed something exciting. In the first week of July, there are zero appointments on my calendar! Now, I love coaching the 60-some clients I am working with this year. I love getting on Zoom calls and helping professional artists and budding writers build lives around their creativity. And…I love the weeks when I have space to do my own creative work.
With all that space next week, and it being an American holiday, I decided to take the first week of July as an at-home writing retreat. My time will be focused on making serious headway on my book, The Busy Woman’s Guide to Writing a World-Changing Book. My birthday is smack in the middle of it, so I may take some time for a massage and dinner with my sweetie.
How to design an at-home writing or art retreat? With all the roles we play and things we do, it’s not easy. But it’s possible. I have written about this before, but I’ll share the current practices I use to structure an at-home retreat.
Set an intention. Mine is: I am deeply and happily immersed in the work of writing this book. While I may work on other things too, my focus is my book.
Set a goal. My goal is to complete the revisions on this draft and to go over the whole book to make sure it’s organized in a way that is most useful for the reader. This is an ambitious goal, but I find it helpful to set goals that really engage my focus and energy.
Set aside other things. I have a lot of other projects on the docket for the fall and for 2019. (I can’t wait to share with you!) But this week’s focus is on making as much progress on the book as I can. Its next step is giving it to a few beta readers, and I want to get it in shape as soon as I can.
Set space. I will set aside cooking and cleaning by making a giant salad and making sure I have other food for the week prepared or delegated. The studio will be clean and ready to work. My writing space will be in my office, at the Botanic Gardens, and as a treat, a cafe nearby.
Set up physical support. Walking and exercise benefits my creativity enormously, so I will make sure I have that on the calendar. There are some new aqua classes at the rec center that I am eager to plunge into.
Set focus. I am always challenged by doing my work simultaneous to posting on social media. Shots of me working on my book in the Botanic Gardens are fun and hopefully inspiring. But do they help me hold my focus? I will decide next week if sharing my progress helps me or detracts from my focus on writing. Sometimes it’s good to go into the writing cave solo.
Set boundaries. This one seems obvious but it’s rare that we actually set up boundaries to serve our focus. My boundaries for the week include letting my husband know that I am focused on the book, and that I will be diving into it first thing during the day, taking time midday to work in my art studio, and then resuming work in the afternoon. Other boundaries include not checking email until midday, after a solid writing session.
Set up fun. When we’re working in a focused way, we also need to give ourselves a break with some delight and fun. I will have time each day to continue with the 100 Day Project – about 15 days left! Spending time making art always calms and replenishes me. I will also plan to go to a movie one night.
What about you? How can you set yourself up for an at-home retreat? It could be a day, or two, or three days. Make it yours and make it work for you and your project.
Write a manifesto for your book
When I talked about my book idea with my colleagues, I felt the fire and the passion of what I want to share with my readers. I sat down to write an introduction, a ‘what this is about’. I wanted to write something that rang true, that would incite joy and possibility and empowerment.
But when the moment of truth came, my writing felt stiff and formal. It turns out this happens a lot. We set out to write the introduction, but it all seems too big. Too much to gather in one chapter. An introduction is a sort of stand and deliver moment. It should explain what’s to come.
But you may not know what exactly will be in your book, so starting there, while it seems to make sense, actually clogs up our ink. Still, it’s helpful to have a clear rallying cry about your book. This will galvanize and energize you throughout the writing process. It will also give you a way to easily communicate what your book is about, should you choose to talk about it with other.
I suggest writing a manifesto to serve as this rallying cry. Write the introduction after you’ve written the book.
Draft your book’s manifesto now
A manifesto is about what the impact you’re committed to having for your audience. A manifesto is a stake – what you’re taking a stand for. Try this exercise that I use with my clients and that finally worked for me to carve out what I wanted to say.
(Note: if you have stage fright or dread public speaking, imagine that for the sake of this exercise, you are released of that fear.)
Imagine that you’re in a room full of the specific people you wish to reach. You’re on stage, looking out over your audience. They’re smiling at you, sending love and appreciation. They are eager to hear what you have to say.
You have five minutes to tell them what you want to share. Answer these three questions to get to the heart of your work:
• What do you want for them?
• What must they know now?
• What do you want them to do with the knowledge you’ve given them?
Imagine yourself speaking to your people, from your heart, as if this were your one and only opportunity to do so. The time is now. The need to share your work is urgent.
Feel free to speak it aloud and record it. You can play it back later. Use Dragon Dictation software, ‘voice to typing’ in a Google doc or other recording device. Or just speak it, then type like mad what you’ve written. You can also set a timer for 10 minutes and free-write your answers to these questions.
Conjuring up a direct and sincere communication with the people you’re writing for can lead you past insecurities that are common at the beginning of writing a book.
Drafting your manifesto can help you focus on your work as a gift to your people instead of a reflection on how great you are. Your manifesto will help you get out of your own way and hush your inner critic.
This may take several drafts, and it may take time. Don’t worry about it. Get the gist of it out and keep going.
You can write a manifesto or rallying cry for any project, not just a book. Try it and see how it impacts you and your project.
Excerpted from my book, The Busy Woman’s Guide to Writing a World-Changing Book.
Books are powerful. Books can change lives.
Women are powerful. Women change lives.
Women writing books = power pair. Women’s books change the world.
Women’s voices are ringing more loudly and truly than ever.
Now is the time to bring your truth, your expertise and your power to light.
Now is the time to access and express your wisdom. The world needs it more than ever.
The world needs you more than ever.
Write. Write it now. We need it.
What is your book’s rallying cry? Share in a comment below.
Harness your focus to do quality work
You’re ready to get to work on your book or body of work or whatever your dream project is.
You go to your ‘zone’ and prepare to get into your flow state. But first, you check in. You check email. You check Facebook. You check Instagram. You check to make sure someone has liked or loved or responded to you.
You know what happens next. You’ve frittered away your focus and lost your precious creative time.
From what I have seen with my clients, the biggest challenge we face is lack of FOCUS. It’s incredibly difficult to harness our attention and focus on anything for longer than a few minutes.
And yet our attention and ability to focus is the #1 thing that is required to make anything. We need to be able to shut out others’ voices and opinions. In order to be a writer, artist or business owner, we need to temporarily suspend our other roles as mother, employee, caregiver, household manager.
We must continually train our attention and focus. As we near the completion of a book or body of work, our fears and insecurities grow and focus gets dimmer. We need to be vigilant and protective of our ability to focus.
The ability to wrangle our focus is the main skill we need to cultivate. My clients have found success with some of the following:
- Start with smaller bits of time and build to longer creative sessions.
- Use a timer. The Pomodoro Technique is an example of this, but you can use any timer. My writing students like Insight Timer because they can program the interval bells to their liking.
- Practice simple rituals to enter and exit the creative zone.
- Change locations to do the work, even if it means simply shifting the easel.
- Use free-writing or a sketchbook as a way to warm up before the real work.
At the end of the day, while all these things can be helpful, we must take responsibility for the quality of our attention. The quality of our focus is reflected in the quality of our work.
What helps you to harness your focus so you can get your creative work done? Share below in the comments section what helps you focus.
How to access our authentic voice
Artists and writers have been gifted with talents that must be made into contributions. The big challenge seems to find our voice and express our authenticity. What’s so close to us is often so elusive.
It’s easy to imitate, and indeed that is where we begin. It’s important to our learning process. But like all great artists who break into their own style and voice, so must we all seek and express our true voice, our true selves.
How do we access that truly authentic part of ourselves? Why is this so important if we are writers, artists or business people? It’s a good idea for all of us to try to be ourselves – that’s the path to happiness. But it’s vital for creative people.
Without our authentic voice, we blend in to the chorus.
Without our unique point of view, we are mere imitators.
Without our particular moves, we are dancers to someone else’s choreography.
Without our courage, we are followers and not leaders.
I am on a quest to help us all access our authentic, powerfully creative self. I consider this core to be a marriage of our life experiences and the divine forces that guide us and have gifted us so generously.
But how? How do we find our authentic voice and words?
The practices I teach my clients and students can bring us closer to our essence. But before all these practices, the first requirement is courage. We often fear we have nothing to say, or that our truth will hurt others. We use these fears to stay shut down, to stay safe. But I believe this path to our essence is the only path worth taking. I use several approaches to make this path to the true self easier.
Some of our tools include:
Free-writing. You’ve heard me rave about how powerful this is for so many kinds of writing. It’s especially powerful as a tool of freeing the voice and the self. https://www.originalimpulse.com/devote-writing-life-now/
Visual journaling. This colorful noodling and doodling as a response to the world’s bounty brings us closer to the authentic self. The people who come to my workshops in Paris and Boulder are always surprised at what emerges on the page. The processes I use help us bypass the inner critic and the logical mind to access that playful, naive place where often the best art is made.
Walking. Being outside, moving our bodies is an act that honors our basic humanity. Our bodies, moving through space, taking in the world around us. As we walk, we open ourselves to new insight. We often encounter things that give us new associations. The name of my company, Original Impulse, came to me on a walk in early 2000.
Notice censorship. When do you censor yourself? We often speak differently according to who we’re with. I swear a lot, but chances are my students, clients and strangers don’t know this. I don’t use curse words when writing and not when working. (Most of the time!)
There may be other times when you censor yourself that aren’t really necessary. Pay attention this week to when you tamp down your true voice.
My personal and business coaching, my workshops and retreats are designed to help you access this artful, truthful core. The packaging may be different, but the result is always the same: people leave more connected to their true nature. They leave with a buoyancy and a confidence that can fuel their daring creative lives.
What helps you access your authentic self? Share below in the Comments section.
Bring your legacy project to the table
I’m writing another book! It’s a book about writing books (so meta!).
The working title is The Busy Woman’s Guide to Writing a World-Changing Book. This has been outlined and partially drafted and sitting in my Evernote files for years.
It feels so good to get this project off the way back burner and onto my current work flow. It feels good to put all the things I have been sharing with clients and teaching in classes into a form that so many more people can access. To me, this is a legacy project that will live beyond me and hopefully – as the title suggests – change the world.
Many of my clients are at the place where it’s time to do their legacy work. They’ve become experts in their field, and the time is ripe to extend their knowledge to a greater audience.
It’s not always easy to add a legacy project to our docket. But it’s ultimately worth it.
I know myself – I am most fulfilled and happy when I have a big project to work on. Last year I wrote Visit Paris Like an Artist and it was such fun to bring the ideas inside me out to the world.
I am using the Atelier to stay on track (I’m easily distracted by new projects). In February I will be doing 15 minute daily writing bursts to make even more progress.
What about you? What legacy project are you bringing out of the closet, dusting off and engaging with? If it’s a writing project, you might want to join us to write every day in February.
The Devoted Writer helps writers of all genres and levels get their words out with ease. And there are always a lot of non-writers in my classes, too. Everyone has to write, and this is the perfect way to finally get butt-in-chair time.
Join a global group of dedicated writers and me for a powerful writing month like none other. All the details are here.
Seeking your authentic expression
Years ago, I had the fortune to be on a panel about creative lifestyles with Barbara Winter, Barbara Sher and Valerie Young. I told my story of all the weird jobs I had held and how it led me to my work as a coach.
Afterward, Barbara Sher came up to me and told me “You are so authentic!” I took that as a compliment, though I wondered what exactly that meant.
On a job interview, when asked why they should hire me, I said, I’m authentic! Later, I wondered, what does that actually mean?
Sometimes if feels like our authenticity is a far-away place we don’t know how to get to. Despite our ability to share so much online, we often censor ourselves in how we present ourselves online, in our creative work, in our jobs and even in our relationships.
We don’t say what we really mean. We edit ourselves for the environment. We revise our communication so it suits the listener rather than coming from a deep, true place.
A certain amount of this is social conditioning, and it’s a good thing. But when it comes to writing or creating bodies of work, censoring ourselves is death to our creativity.
If you’re like me, when you read something that’s deeply honest or see a performer who is completely ‘in her skin’, you’re moved. You can tell when someone is giving you their fullest, most true expression. It perhaps inspires you to be more fully expressed yourself.
I have been writing and making art for decades now, and I am still on the quest of more and more authenticity. It’s an ongoing process of digging deeper to find not only what, but how I want to share my gifts.
With this goal in mind, I launched a daily challenge for myself: One True Line. Every day I write and share something that is true for me at the time. It’s surprisingly uncomfortable, and yet I know from experience that when I share something that is real and raw, it’s more compelling than the surface or cliche stuff.
I have to keep asking myself ‘what’s true?’ and also keep in check my concern over others’ response. It’s only just begun and I can see that I have many lines to pen to get to my true self.
The way I’m seeking access to this authentic self is free-writing. I’ve been using and teaching this tool since 1996 and it’s stunning how it helps us get past the inner critic, shed social conventions and get to the core of who we are and what we want to say. I write a lot of lines, in a drive toward the core.
In the classes I teach we use this method, and we don’t share our writing. Having this public accountability alongside privacy allows participants to feel free without worrying about how the writing will be received. This freedom opens up a whole new layer of authenticity and connectedness with the self. It’s astonishing how much power writers gain from this process. I use free-writing for everything I write and it’s helping me with my One True Line challenge*.
If that kind of freedom sounds like something you could use in your life, for a book you are writing or for your own personal enlightenment, I invite you to join us in my new online class The Devoted Writer.
During the month of February we will be writing daily together in a free and empowering way. Find out all the details here and join me to bring more authenticity into the world.
I’d love to hear how you seek and find your authenticity. Please share your thoughts in the comment area below.
One true line: I fear my ambition exceeds my abilities
One True Line
Hemingway got past writer’s block by telling himself to ‘write one true sentence’. As a writer and artist, I crave more permission to be honest.
Long ago, I decided to never post anything ‘negative’ online. But now I see how that has allowed me to only show the cheerful, positive parts of myself.I want to take the muzzle off and share myself more authentically.
So I am taking up Hemingway’s invitation with a new series, One True Line.Every day, I will write or draw what I consider a truth. Just one line. This project could take many forms; I am leaving it intentionally open.
Join me in your own daily One True Line. It’s free and there’s no need to sign up.
Simply follow along on Instagram or Facebook, using the hashtag #onetrueline .
What’s in the way of your creativity?
Do you feel lack of confidence, attempt too many projects, suffer from disorganization and plain old fear?
It’s easy to let our demons force our creativity into the closet.
Probably the biggest thing I do for my clients and students is help them get these obstacles – both inner and outer – out of the way so they can create with joy and ease.
When I talk about a program like my year-long Atelier program, I emphasize getting things done. But often we have to get things out of the way in order to get things done.
What would your life and your creativity be like with that biggest bugaboo finally gone? I’m taking a stand for creativity that empowers us and makes a difference in the world.
If you have a project that you are ready to commit to for real, check out The Original Impulse year-long Atelier program.
Your creative routine will fail you… but how to recover
You’ve got it all set – you’ll write (or make art) on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, at 3:00, for an hour each time. Sounds good, doable and perhaps even a little exciting.
This lasts for a week, maybe two. Something comes up – always – and you’re thrown off your routine faster than a squirrel leaping off a branch. And you’ll be left feeling like a failure, like something is wrong with you. You may even abandon your creative ambitions altogether.
Why does your splendidly devised routine fail you? Mostly because we don’t take into account all of our other obligations. We don’t give ourselves wiggle room. We tend to over-book ourselves, and our beloved optimism works against us. We also crave variety, and we don’t like to feel boxed in or pinned down.
It took me years to accept the fact that setting up a routine is usually a set up for failure. Sure, it may work for a week, or two, or even a few months, and then, the ship hits the foam and we veer off course.
It’s not your fault! It’s life. I have learned that it’s always something. Every single week has its wrench to hack your carefully devised rhythm. And, sigh, you have to get back on the wagon, often losing valuable time beating yourself up that you fell off.
If setting and resetting your creative routine works for you, hooray! Keep doing that. I suggest another approach: become an ardent opportunist.
This type of creative may not have planned her creative time but seems to get a lot done.
It helps to know when your best creative times are – early morning before everyone is awake. Late afternoon before the evening cycle begins. But the ardent opportunist knows that she doesn’t NEED those windows of time. She can create anywhere, anytime, even if it’s just capturing ideas and insights while away from the studio.
The ardent opportunist seizes any chance she can to create. She has her notebook with her at all times to capture her ideas, to whip out a 10-minute free-write, to finish a sketch.
When an appointment cancels or a window of time opens up, she doesn’t pop over to social media or email. She digs into her project. She knows that these small drips of time add up.
The ardent opportunist savors little victories. She knows that even the shortest sessions count, and she gives herself credit for showing up when she can.
The ardent opportunist doesn’t make excuses. She looks for ways to make it work for her.
She sets deadlines and works hard to meet them. When random events throw her off course, she gets back on with renewed commitment.
I try to be an ardent opportunist as much as I can. It’s often in those windows of time that I would never have suspected would be fruitful that have worked best for me.
Are you an ardent opportunist or a planning failure? Try to adopt the ardent opportunist approach this week and see what happens. Share your approach below!
Be a badass finisher
You find a structure that seems great to help you stay on track with your art or writing- something like the 100 Days Project.
You choose your focus and start out with a BANG! The first days are heady, where you feel joyously connected and committed to your creative love.
You see progress. You feel pride. Flush with joy and power, you show up every freaking day for your project. You are a creative badass.
And then…vacation. Guests. A tornado/flood/election/accident/illness/baby/new horse/barn/puppy/kitten/squirrel/fill in the blank derails you.
And all the woo hooo you started with turns into boo hoo. The self-recrimination kicks in. You wonder why you ever thought you could stick to your creative passions. It seems SO impractical, anyway. Just go back to the ‘same old, same old’ and forget your creative dreams.
Has this ever happened to you? I know this well, not just because of all the time I spend with my clients and students, but because I go through this cycle as well.
I got derailed from the 100 Day Project when I went on vacation. I didn’t want to do anything! I even left my FitBit behind, and my phone didn’t have service the entire week. When I came back to the studio, I found it hard to get back to my 100 portraits. I only had 12 left, but finishing seemed like an insurmountable mountain.
I finally completed the 100 Day Project last week – a week behind everyone else. I eked my way forward and finished 100 portraits. With my coach’s help, I completed my commitment and feel so much better than if I had surrendered to the post-vacation inertia.
Having her support helped, but what really gets me to finish my books, launch new courses and complete most of the projects I commit to is not someone else cracking the whip.
It’s my own inner drive. Self-respect. Integrity. Intrinsic motivation. Call it what you will. For me, it’s a matter of being able to live with and like myself. Like you, I have plenty of inner demons that try to take me down on a daily basis. If I were to add ‘creative loser’ to the mix, I would be sunk.
Keeping our creative promises is one of the best power moves we can do to generate self-respect and self-love. When I stay on track with my projects, following all the way to the freaking nitty-gritty, often excruciating finish line, I gain so much power. Not only do I keep my word, I have more fun and learn a ton about myself.
When I lined up all 100 portraits and took photos and video footage, pride welled up inside me. I chose my favorites – all 22 of them. That might sound like a small number, but it doesn’t matter. I made 22 portraits that fill me with pride and joy. I overcame a limiting belief about my artistic ability. I gained permission to do it my way, and made great strides toward developing my artistic style.
If I had given up before the finish line, that ‘fail’ would have been all I could focus on. I wouldn’t have given myself credit for what I did do. And now, I feel like a badass finisher, not because it was easy, but because it was hard to get over the finish line.
There are many reasons to stick with a project to the glorious finish line. What motivates you to stay on track? Share your tips and tricks below.
Need help finishing your projects? Pick up a copy of my e-book, Cross the Finish Line and be the badass finisher you know you can be.
Pay yourself for your creativity
You might not be depositing checks earned by the sweat of your pen (yet). But that doesn’t mean you can’t start becoming financially savvy with your writing or art.
One of the top tips for becoming financially empowered is to pay yourself first. But how can you do that without incoming cash? Set your intention, and take action. Here are eight ways to make money a part of your writing, even before you get paid from others.
Begin by setting your intention to match money with your creativity. Do this by opening a bank account for your creative life. Get a savings account and label it ‘creativity’ or another inspiring name that will remind you of your intention.
Fund your account by paying yourself when you submit a query, finish a body of work, or achieve some other creative victory. Don’t wait for others to acknowledge your progress. It doesn’t have to be a lot; even ten dollars for each success signals to yourself that you value your efforts.
Spend from your creative stash only for your creative work. Use your creative funds to pay for contest entry fees, subscriptions, and supplies. Or, earmark your account for a big reward such as a workshop, retreat or conference.
Track of your art-related expenditures. Make creativity a priority and investigate how you can shift your financial priorities to support your art or writing. Keep a log of your creative money and see where you are spending more money than time on your art.
Calculate the return of ‘psychic payment’ on the creating you do. These include the side effects, or benefits, that you get from doing something. Psychic payments from writing could be: feeling of satisfaction with yourself, surge of power from expressing yourself, excitement over completing and submitting something. How do these non-monetary rewards ‘pay’ you?
Affirm your abundance. Write a whopping check and in the memo line, put Book Advance. Carry it around or post it in your studio. I write affirmations about the number of clients I want to work with and the number of workshop participants I want to enroll. I include a dollar amount with plus signs, like this: $50,000+++. I’ve been doing this for years. Guess what? Woo-woo as it sounds, it absolutely works every time.
State clear money goals. Write down when you’d like to start making money for your art and writing, what you’d like to get paid, and what you’re willing to work for. Set a standard for yourself and stick to it. For instance, your intention might look like this – After January, 2018, I publish only for payment in money (not just ‘visibility.)
Get dreamy. What will you do with the money you earn from your creativity? You might take a trip, pay off your computer or fund a conference. Write down your big vision of how you will spend your hard-earned cash. I suggest funneling the money back into your writing.
Try any or all of these over the next three months and see what happens. Notice what happens when you take these actions instead of waiting, wishing and hoping the world will pay you for your efforts.
By bringing awareness and financial focus to your art, you prepare yourself for the day when others pay you for your creative work. Keep track of emotions, ideas, and external events that stem from your efforts.
Let me know how it goes. If you already practice some of these things, let me know what results you’ve experienced. Share your money wins in the Comment section below.