*This article sprung from a writing conference I attended years ago.
Sixty or so writers filed into the conference room for Drusilla Campbell’s “Night Owl Critique” session at the San Diego State University Writers’ Conference. These writers must be sleep lightweights, I thought. Eight p.m. is hardly late. As we put our offerings on the front table, Drusilla announced in a deep and scratchy voice that she would read until they were all gone.
This was my first on-the-spot critique session, and I looked forward to hearing what she had to say about the first pages of my novel. Drusilla read each submission aloud, pausing to elucidate writing lessons that we could all benefit from. These ten lessons will improve almost any kind of writing. Writers, take heed!
[Read more…] about Ten Ways to Improve Your Writing
Your Writing Life
How to Be a Happy Writer
Writers – how do you know when you’re a happy writer – when
your book is published? When you deposit that fat royalties check?
If you’re waiting for external validation to make you a
happy writer, you might pass a lot of your time waiting. And that can make for
a lot of unhappy moments as you revise your articles, dig deep for your angle,
and add another rejection letter to the pile.
You’ll enjoy writing more if you’re finding joy along the
way to those peak moments. Relish the satisfaction you glean from the
challenging work of writing. Find happiness in the process, not in external
validation.
Because honestly, writing isn’t always a joyful experience.
The writing life is full of challenges and frustrations, doubts and fears. It
can feel more like the scary forest in the Wizard of Oz than a field of
blooming flowers and scampering puppies.
More honestly, in the fourteen years I’ve been coaching
writers, I’ve avoided focusing on how difficult it is. I committed to being a
positive voice, to encouraging people to go for it.
But for my own writing life, I found I needed to acknowledge
the difficulty of the writing path. Doing so doesn’t make it harder, or more
negative. Admitting that it’s hard strengthens me.
When coaching my clients through their writing challenges, I
constantly weave their values into the process. Awareness of our values invites
an engaged happiness that allows us to enjoy meaning and purpose in our writing
rather than waiting for external validation bring joy.
Fortunately, writers have the skills required to savor
happiness – attention to detail, sensitivity to nuance and meaning, and the
ability to articulate complex states of being.
Happiness is…
I invite you to take a few minutes today to dip into your
happiness well. How does your writing bring you satisfaction? Here’s how
writing please me:
Happiness isn’t getting everything I want. Happiness is the
vitality I experience when I reach for my goals. Values honored: zestiness and
challenge.
Happiness isn’t being free of my day job so I can write all
the time. Happiness is the ability to shift between work and my creative
writing – on a regular basis.
Value honored: variety.
Happiness isn’t about being perfect or an amazingly talented
writer. Happiness is learning and being engaged in a challenge – finding the
right word, wrestling with a subtle transition between paragraphs, settling on
the right angle for the subject matter. Values honored: challenge, alchemy, and
connection.
Happiness isn’t having everything all figured out. Happiness
is learning, stretching, feeling those aha! Moments. Values honored: discovery
and exploration.
Happiness is finding meaning through a creative medium.
Writing, photography, calligraphy, filmmaking help me connect with and express
my vitality. Value honored: meaning.
Of course, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that outcomes and
external validation have a place in the happy dance. Happiness is also:
- publishing my writing on blogs and in magazines
- receiving comments from readers sharing how my writing
impacted them - being StumbledUpon, reprinted (with attribution!)
- winning awards and receiving grants
- receiving money for my writing.
I know I’m happy when I let myself feel satisfied with my
efforts. When I know I’m doing my best, when I recognize that I am expressing
my values on a daily basis, and that my words help others.
How do you know when you’re happy with your creative work?
What values are you honoring with your creativity?
It is important for me to make this distinction about
happiness. Naming my writing course Make Writing a Happy Habit forced me to
clarify what writing happiness means. If you’d rather be a happy writer than a
grumpy one, you’ll want to join us.
Make Writing a Happy Habit is both an online class you can take with me or an e-course that you can follow
on your own. Join me and other happy writers beginning September 13th and watch
your happiness flourish.
Remember, Impulses subscribers can take an extra $30 off the
registration for Make Writing a Happy Habit. Not a subscriber! Oh no! Go here to subscribe to Impulses and get the goods every other week. (We’re talking deals!)
Focus, Follow Through and Finish (and Have Fun!)
I love autumn! I’m a student at heart and I relish the change in temperature that allows me to feel more focused. This fall I’ll be finishing my novel – what creative work will you undertake?
I can help you focus, follow through and finish. Make creating easier by joining one of my coaching groups. Here’s my autumn workshop and coaching schedule – which one is right for you?
Ready to write this fall? Check out these two groups:
Make Writing a Happy Habit
Begins September 13th or take the self-lead e-course and
start anytime.
No matter what you’re writing or how far along you are, this
is an invaluable class to develop a writing practice that allows you to enjoy
your writing.
In our private
online classroom, I will lead you through the necessary steps to make sure you
get the time and space to work on your writing projects.
(Impulses subscribers get a deep discount! Join the tribe here.)
Get happy –
reserve your spot now.
Writers’ Success Group
Meeting monthly beginning September 13th
This group is for writers working on a book. Get the accountability and support you need to finally write your book. Weekly email check-ins keep you connected and on track.
Check the dates and contact Cynthia to join.
Working on a bigger project, like developing a blog or
business idea? This will help:
Creative Leap Club
Meeting monthly beginning September 13th
What’s your Creative Leap? Writing a book, making art,
building a business are all creative leaps. Now is the time to plunge past
fears and excuses and make your leap.
No matter where you live, you can participate in this
virtual club for creative adventurers. Surrounded by peers making their own
leaps and facilitated by a certified coach, your leap will be easier, more fun
and more successful, on your terms.
Leap from here.
Need creative rejuvenation? You gotta do this:
Curious Paris
October 19th – 25th, 2010
Re-ignite your creativity to make creating easier. Join me
in Paris for an unforgettable week! Remember, the early registration discount
ends this Thursday the 19th (saving you $200!).
Join me in Paris.
Go further, faster with individual, customized support:
Coaching and Consulting Packages
Sometimes you need a quick hit of information and guidance
from someone who has been there.
Consult with me and get customized support that will speed you toward
your goals. And of course, coaching can spark the momentum you need to make
satisfying progress. Make it happen, make if fun with customized support.
Save the dates for these upcoming workshops:
Journal Juju
A one-day workshop to explore the illustrated journal and discover your juju in Boulder! Mark your calendar for Saturday, September 25th – 10 am – 5 pm. Details soon!
Women’s Body Stories
A half-day workshop with De West and me to tune into your body’s wisdom through yoga and writing. Sunday, December 5th, 2:00 – 5:45 pm Watch for the podclass soon!
Empower Yourself: Embrace the Difficult Work of Creating
You’re working to get your business off the ground. You’re trying to write great blog entries. Or you’re pitching your book to publishers. You’re discovering a hard truth: it’s not easy, and sometimes it’s downright difficult.
You feel trapped and find yourself procrastinating. You don’t believe that you are capable of doing the work. Despair makes you want to give up altogether. It’s much easier to grab a glass of lemonade and go hang out in the hammock.
But by avoiding difficult situations or work, you’re missing out on the very benefits you need to be creatively empowered and bring your projects to satisfying completion.
I’m going on eleven years and draft fifteen of my novel, Chasing Sylvia Beach. Thinking of doing another revision feels difficult. But I can look back to previous iterations and see how staying with it has empowered me to tackle other creative projects.
This work has given me innumerable benefits, and here are five qualities that I’ve gained from the often-difficult work of creativity.
[Read more…] about Empower Yourself: Embrace the Difficult Work of Creating