Writing advice
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Funny Friday: How to write a book
“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.” ~ Steven Wright I’m starting to work on a new essay collection this fall, so today’s quote hit home while it made me laugh. Too often, procrastination throws me off schedule. If I don’t set a real deadline, I’ll find dozens of other things to distract myself. How about you? What motivates you to start and complete a project? ~CL
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The wheels of inspiration
“If you can’t do what you long to do, go do something else. You might think it’s procrastination, but it isn’t; it’s motion. And any motion whatsoever beats inertia, because inspiration will always be drawn to motion.” ~Elizabeth Gilbert After all these years, I’ve learned not to panic when inspiration packs up and leaves my home office. As author Elizabeth Gilbert suggests, motion fuels creativity and productivity. When you’re blocked or unmotivated, try doing something else that feels useful or satisfying. Ride your bike, organize a junk drawer, work in your garden, read magazines at the library, or chop vegetables. (Sorry, scrolling social media doesn’t count.) When you’re busy doing…
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Living your dreams or fears?
“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” ~Les Brown I met a student who said she wanted to publish a novel but couldn’t find the space in her life to begin it. For starters, she didn’t think she could write without a home office. She wasn’t comfortable typing on the dining room table. Or the kitchen table. Or anywhere else in the house, really. But it wasn’t the interior design of her home that blocked the woman’s dreams of writing. It was fear. Fear is a manipulative trickster. It makes excuses for procrastination; it tells us we’re not good enough; it convinces…
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Owning our mistakes
“If you’re not in the arena getting your butt kicked too, I’m not interested in your feedback.“~Brene Brown Everyone makes mistakes at work — in every field you can name. Some errors, however, are more public than others. If you’re a journalist or published author, for instance, the mistakes you make on the job are glaringly public and might remain in print forever. I recall times when I made errors that were, luckily, caught by sharp editors before they made it to print. But sometimes they weren’t caught — and I was humbled when my readers pointed them out. I learned early on that you really need to grow a…
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Memoir Writing for Mental Health
“Each of us is a book waiting to be written, and that book, if written, results in a person explained.” ~Thomas M. Cirignano If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of writing a memoir, now is the ideal time to gather your journals, photos, and memories — and get started. Did you know that writing about your experiences can boost your mental health? I’ve always believed in the healing power of writing about our lives — and one of my missions is to encourage others to write their stories. To learn more, please look for my new feature story in the “Things to Do” section of today’s Oakland Press. To…
