Posts Tagged ‘coaching’
Dear Creative Community,
I’ve spent the past two months creating two offerings that will SUPPORT your writing in 2019. They are my holiday gifts to you. As you know I am passionate about serving you! I am only offering these gifts to my special community of writers and that’s YOU. They are time sensitive!
The first is a FREE winter wonderland pop-up webinar called ‘Affirm the Writer in You 2019′. This webinar is designed to allow you time to reflect on your 2018 writing accomplishments and chart what’s next in 2019. I bet you are craving time to write and reflect before the year ends! If you don’t grab this time now, when will you?
During the webinar we’ll explore:
-The sequence of success on the author journey
-Trends for authors in 2019
-Cultivating the “maker” and “manager” energy of the writing life and business
-Harnessing urgency in order to write in 2019
-How to get unstuck and approach the page with more ease
-Cultivating audiences that love your work
No need to signup—just bookmark the details below and I will send a reminder the day before.
SUNDAY, DEC 30th-3-4:15 pm EST
Dial-in number (US): (605) 475-4081
Access code: 380339#
International dial-in numbers: https://fccdl.in/i/bergermichele2005
Online meeting ID: bergermichele2005
Join the online meeting: https://join.freeconferencecall.com/bergermichele2005
(copy and paste the above link–you’ll want to join the online meeting so you can see my slides!)
My second holiday gift to you is an opportunity work with me through my NEW e-course Charting Your Path to Publication NOW.
So many writers feel daunted navigating the submission process and often find themselves stymied by inevitable rejection and not making progress on the path of publication. I’ve been teaching this successful live workshop over the years and have taken all that wonderful content (and wisdom learned from what writers need) and created an amazing e-course.
This transformative course will empower you with the necessary tools and skills to move your writing forward in 2019.
SPECIAL BONUS: If you sign-up by Dec 31st, you’ll receive a 30 minute coaching session with me!
Click here for the FULL DETAILS and see the fantastic price of this offering. I hope you make the investment in your writing for 2019.
I am wishing you the healthiest and happiest of holiday seasons. Thank you for being a part of my community. I am inspired by your creative path.
Stay inspired,
Michele
P.S. Any questions about the e-course? Just shoot me an email at mtb@creativetickle.com
We’re two weeks into 2017. Have you already broken one of your New Year’s resolutions regarding your creative life?
If so, you’re in good company as studies show that at least one third of people break their resolutions within the first week of making them. And, almost half of all people who make resolutions break them within a month.
Most of us don’t reach our creative goals without structure and accountability.
Doors are almost closed on my signature ‘Tone Your Creative Core™’ Program.
I have added a NEW BONUS just for you:
On Sunday, January 15th, I will host a LIVE group coaching call. I’ll be talking about what needs to be in your creativity start-up kit to set you up for success in 2017. I’ll do a powerful visioning exercise and share a few ways to “hack your brain” for increased creativity. The majority of the call will be me answering YOUR questions. Have questions about publishing, finding motivation, getting past the inner critic? ASK THEM and get helpful answers. I want to support you in dreaming about what you want to accomplish in 2017 and to planning how you will do it.
Check out the details here. A small investment with a big payoff.
Pop-Up Coaching Happening In About An Hour on Facebook Live–Get Your Questions Answered
Posted on: October 30, 2016
- In: creative writing | creativity | writing
- 1 Comment
Hi creative peeps,
I’m doing ‘pop-up’ coaching at 6:30 (EST) tonight on Facebook Live. Ask me ANYTHING about writing, making time for a creative life, and how to beat those pesky inner critics, etc. I’ll also share some tips about how to get your creative projects going full blast through the end of the year.
Come to my Facebook Page (Michele T Berger) at 6:30. I’d love to support you in meeting your creative goals.
How Can You Make the Last Quarter of the Year the BEST for Your Creative Work? Come Join Me On Facebook Live Next Week!
Posted on: October 24, 2016
Hi creative peeps,
We are deep into the last quarter of the year. Wow! It seems like it was just June and I was packing for the beach. A few days ago, I sat down and checked on where I was with my writing goals and creative projects and where I wanted to be by the end of the year. There are several goals that I could see would be met by the end of the year. And, there are a few goals that seem far from their end-of-the year target. I am both daunted and excited about this gap between where I wanted to be in October and where I am. But, there’s also many things that are going extremely well that I couldn’t have predicted in January. And, making that list clarified areas I need to take action in.
You might be in the same situation—wondering how you will make good on some of those plans and promises you made to yourself during the first quarter of the year.
You might be feeling that some of your most important goals are slipping away from you as you look at the calendar and see the end of the year fast approaching. (I don’t think anyone in the U.S. gets much of anything done after Dec 18).
It’s not too late to connect with what you most wanted to accomplish this year with your creative work.
I’ve found a perfect opportunity for me to serve you. I decided to learn Facebook Live so that we could connect about how you can make the last quarter of the year the best!
If you’ve never done Facebook Live it is EASY. You will just go to my Facebook page (on this page, you’ll see the icon to the right toward the bottom of the page—Michele T Berger) at the designated time and I will appear in real time. You can type in questions (please, or else I will just be talking to myself) and I’ll answer them live. Everyone on the page at that time can follow our conversation and join in. It will be FUN!
Next Sunday, Oct 30th at 6:30 pm (EST), I will be on Facebook Live answering YOUR questions.
You can ask me anything about writing, the creative process, etc. I mean ANYTHING. You know I love to provide coaching on how to make more time for your creative life, writer’s block, dealing with inner critics, fear, procrastination, perfectionism, etc., how to submit your work for publication more frequently, etc.
I’ll also share a few tips and resources that are helping me stay on track so I can reach the goals I outlined for myself.
I’d love to see you there. Feel free to go over and ‘like’ my Facebook page now. I’ll also provide reminders about the Facebook Live event during the week.
Mark the date in your calendar—it will be like a free coaching session!
Facebook LIVE: Next Sunday, Oct 30th at 6:30 pm (EST)! I’ll stay on about a half hour, or until there aren’t any more questions.
I want to thank you for subscribing to my blog. Welcome to new subscribers! And, to those who have been followers (and readers) from way back, thanks for sticking with me!
In 2011, I decided to devote myself to writing weekly on my blog and to support creative community. From that intention, so many great things followed: community building, more writing, opportunities I couldn’t have imagined, new friendships, etc.
I’m inspired by all that you do, seek and create. I want to continue to walk this creative path with you. Let’s keep inspiring each other.
On that note, I wanted to share several inspiring conversations I’ve had with some of the most talented writers, coaches and transformational experts from my Creativity Bonfire Series. My Creativity Bonfire Series brought together 12 leading writers, authors, visual artists and thought leaders to talk about creativity—how to sustain and maintain it.
Each conversation is about an hour long. Let yourself soak in their wisdom about staying true to the creative process and eliminating distractions.
Conversation with SARK, artist, creative entrepreneur and author of Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper: Gifting the World with Your Words and Stories and Creating the Time and Energy to Actually Do It
Conversation with Eric Maisel, creativity coach and author of Coaching the Artist Within
Conversation with Amanda Owen, consultant, motivational speaker and author of The Power of Receiving: A Revolutionary Approach to Giving Yourself the Life You Want and Deserve
Links will stay live until Oct 15.
- In: creative writing | creativity | writing
- 7 Comments
Feeling worthy is a learned behavior.
—Beverly McIver
Happy New Year!
How lucky are we that we have another year to explore our creative passions and dreams.
Last month, I got the nub of a terrific idea from meeting the writer James Maxey. He is using the energy of 2016, being a leap year, to spur him on to write every day and aim for 366,000 words by the end of the year. Intense, I know!
I loved the idea of attempting something inspiring, mind-stretching and ambitious for my creative life in 2016. I thought about what I need in my creative life and what other creative folk might need.
I asked myself the question: What could I share with you on a daily basis that would support a positive mindset as we approach our creative work?
Answer: Affirmations!
I was lucky enough to meet renowned visual artist, Beverly McIver at a professional development conference. She talked at length about how important it is that creative people do the inner emotional work to support the (often) long path to professional success. Anxious and unhelpful self-talk and inner critics often stop us before we can even get to our projects.
What I need as a writer is lots of practice in self-kindness, plain and simple. I have technique, craft, discipline and perseverance in spades. Many creative people struggle with simply being self-accepting. As you know, we can think the meanest things about ourselves.
Over the years, I have found affirmations to be a potent tool in combating unhelpful self-talk/criticism. The use of affirmations has come a long way. An affirmation is a short, simple, positive declarative phrase that as Eric Maisel says, in Coaching The Artist Within, “you say to yourself because you want to think a certain way…or because you want to aim yourself in a positive direction.”
You can use them as ‘thought substitutes’ to dispute self-injurious thoughts (as a cognitive behavioral approach), or to provide incentive and encouragement when those seem to be in short supply. Affirmations as writer and coach, Rochelle Melanader notes in her book WRTE-A-THON: Write Your Book in 26 Days (and live to tell about it), helps to “challenge and reframe assumptions.”
Now that many psychologists, mental health workers and coaches advocate the use of affirmations, they’ve become respectable. Gone are the days that affirmations made you only think of Shirley MacLaine, flouncy scarves, and quartz crystals. (Though for the record, I’ve liked each of the above at different times in my life.)
So, my commitment to you and myself is to post an original affirmation every day through the end of the year. It’s a fun and daunting goal! Some affirmations will focus generally on creativity, but many will focus on writing. I imagine some will be serious and others will be a bit more whimsical. They will usually arrive without commentary, but occasionally I may offer some additional thoughts. I encourage you to use the affirmation as you see fit. You can say it to yourself several times a day, write it down or adapt the words to your liking. Periodically, I’ll be writing about the different ways creative people use affirmations and the current research on the use of affirmations.
My greatest hope is that the affirmations I write will be there when you need them most. And, that they will embody a tone and energy that can carry you past the sometimes insistent, unhelpful and inaccurate voices in our heads.
Affirmation #1- The more creative work I release into the world, the happier I am.
Passion, Persistence and Challenging People’s ‘Shoulds’ -Interview with Author Cornelia Shipley
Posted on: July 18, 2014
How do you design a life and work that really work? How often do you throw up your hands in frustration about the way one facet of your life is going? Cornelia Shipley, a master coach, has spent much of the last decade refining her transformative approach using her ‘Design Your Life’ process to explore the hidden reasons why people don’t experience the level of satisfaction, fulfillment, and freedom they want in their life. Her new book Design Your Life: How to Create a Meaningful Life, Advance Your Career and Live Your Dreams grew out of a painful moment in Cornelia’s life. She used that moment, however, to develop a framework that helps people to develop their vision, create ‘say yes’ standards, understand the power of a personal brand, and create a ‘money mindset’ to empower them to reach for their dreams.
I met Cornelia many years ago when I was doing holistic financial coaching and she was transitioning from the corporate world to that of an entrepreneur. She had already built a successful consulting practice and my work was to support the incredible vision she held for her business. From my first conversation with Cornelia, I was inspired by her energy, passion and dedication to helping people bust through self-defeating blocks.
Cornelia Shipley PCC, BCC, ELI-MP, is Founder and President of 3C Consulting, a leadership development firm specializing in Executive Coaching and Strategic Planning. A member of the coaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin Professional Life Coach Certification Program and the GPSS Coaching Model, Cornelia works with organizational leaders.
Cornelia is a sought-after speaker and coach. She leads strategic planning workshops for senior leaders across the US, is creator of the annual women’s leadership conference ‘Design Your Life’ and serves as a board member for Women for Coaching Community Change. Cornelia has a strong passion for systems theory, which she uses in her Leadership Boot camp and Executive Impact programs.
Cornelia was recently featured on my tele-summit ‘The Creativity Bonfire Series: Sustaining Your Flame: Secrets from Wildly Inspired Creators’ where she captivated audiences with snippets from her new book Design Your Life. She made me eager to learn more. I’m delighted to welcome Cornelia Shipley to the ‘Practice of Creativity’.
Tell us about your new book Design Your Life: How to Create a Meaningful Life, Advance Your Career and Live Your Dreams. What sparked your interest in writing this book?
The concept for the book came to me while I was living in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. I was so amazed at how present people were in their own lives and their ability to leave the expectations of others behind and simply live life on their terms. When I got back to the United States the cultural contrast was so clear to me. Over the next almost 9 years I would start and stop writing the book. Just before my wedding in 2012 I committed to begin work on the manuscript when we returned from our honeymoon. Little did I know how much my life would change in the span of a week. I went from being single to married and planning the funeral of my mother who passed away unexpectedly only 5 short days after our wedding. Over the three weeks we spent planning for her services I became acutely aware of the HUGE benefits I was experiencing because of the choice I made in 2006 to live a designed life. In the face of the tragic loss, I was well supported and able to meet the needs of those around me. I felt called to finally put pen to paper and share the process I was using so successfully with the world. No longer could I sit by and watch as people lived unfulfilled, frustrating lives. So I got busy writing, rewriting and in April of this year began the pre-launch of the book which became available TODAY worldwide on Amazon!
You advocate for people to break out of their conditioned ‘shoulds’, in order, to experience an extraordinary life. What are some of the features of the ‘design your life’ system that helps people pursue their dreams?
Wow, what a great question Michele. I am going to stay with the “shoulds” of your question as it is so critical to remove the “shoulds” from your life – the external expectations and noise of others. In so many cases we are living based on what someone else said we SHOULD want, do, be or have. So we start by looking at the stories of our lives to discover what desires we have that are ours and which ones have been imposed on others. Readers are invited to clarify their values, operating principles and standards. From there we being the process of creating a personal brand that speaks for you and supports you in achieving your personal goals and objectives. We spend some time with your personal definition of success, creating a reward system and finally expanding your mindset to embrace the big vision you have for your life. It has been interesting watching readers’ response to the book. So many have started the book thinking it will be a “quick read” and find themselves STOPPED by the provocative questions in the designed action section in each chapter.
What was the most difficult chapter to write (and why)?
OK, Michele so the truth is the hardest part for me was the final review of the last chapter. I kept putting it off. I am sure you have had that happen when you are so close to the finish line and for some reason you just can’t make it those last 10 yards. I would read a page and take a 2 hour break and it went on like this for almost a week until I realized that I didn’t want to finish writing the book because my mother was not here for me to call to share in the accomplishment. When I realized what was holding me back, I spent some time crying, called a good friend, finished the final edit and then met my friend to celebrate. I followed my own process to get unstuck. I allowed the truth to surface (me missing Mom) sat in the truth (cried and talked with my friend) made the choice to complete what I started (finished the edit) and went to celebrate (met my friend for some good food and great laughs).
What’s the most surprising thing to you thus far about being a published author?
There have been two things that have surprised me, the enhanced credibility I have as a professional and the almost immediate “celebrity” status I get in some circles having written a book. I think the best thing about being the author of this particular work is hearing the positive impact that the stories and the process is having on people’s lives. I am amazed at the bold action and outstanding results people are getting from doing their work and committing to create a future that excites them.
This book was written over a number of years. How did you keep yourself motivated to finish it?
For several years I did absolutely nothing. I knew that when I returned from my honeymoon I would have an amazing story to tell about finding love, and living my definition of success. I think ultimately my commitment to finish the book going into my marriage and my mother passing so quickly after my wedding created the perfect storm and final push. Although, at one point when I got stuck I simply booked my first signing which gave me all the final motivation I needed to get the book finished.
What’s your best writing tip that you’d like to share?
I never pictured myself as an author, so for me it was important to follow my process and to get help from a seasoned writer and editor to help me think through the layout of the book, make sure the process was clear to readers who would be new to the material and ensure the overall tone and flow was what I wanted. Bottom line as a writer you have to be willing to follow your unique creative process without judgment.
Cornelia Shipley holds an MBA in Management Consulting and Strategy from Southern Methodist University, a BA in Communication from the University of Michigan, is a Board Certified Coach and Master Practitioner of Energy Leadership (IPEC).
To find out more about Cornelia’s ‘Design Your Life’ system and the book, visit her website.
To find out more about Cornelia, click here.
As a coach, I have found that the number one thing that stops most people from pursuing their deepest and most meaningful heart’s desire is fear. Fear comes in a variety of forms, shapes and personas including ‘what will they think’, ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I’ll never make money doing what I love’, ‘I need more credentials’, and ‘what if they don’t like what I create’, etc.
None of us are immune from feeling fear, especially when we’re moving outside out comfort zone. The danger is that fear with its tricky (and sometimes believable) tunes of gloom will get the best of us and immobilize us for far too long. I’ve had my own run-ins with fear over the years. What follows below is an impromptu ‘talking back’ that I recently gave to fear.
When you’re in the grip of a fear attack, it might be fun to write a poem/letter/manifesto to your fear and finish the lines ‘I’ve lived through….’
I am looking you, FEAR, straight in the eye
How dare you try to intimidate me!
Do you know what I’ve lived through?
I’ve lived through being a battered woman’s child
I’ve lived through being an abused young woman
I’ve lived through poverty
I’ve lived through being almost homeless
I’ve lived through discrimination
I’ve through academe
I’ve lived through the vagaries of a creative life
What else do you think you can do to ME?
How dare you sit there!
How dare you, FEAR!
How DARE you, FEAR!
So what if they laugh? I’m supposed to be worried if the unspecified THEY laugh?
What do you mean?
THEY have laughed before, so I imagine that they’ll laugh again
How dare you trying to make me afraid!
for asking for more
for wanting more
for trying more
for talking more
for being seen more
for saying I deserve more
for desiring more
How are dare you, FEAR!
Here’s what I want you to know, FEAR
Your days are numbered
I’m cleaning house in 2014
You better get in line
Or, I will strip you down into the dysfunctional four letter thing that you are
And EAT you!
Everyone interested in leadership at my university told me that I needed to meet Rob Kramer. Rob is a well-known coach and facilitator. He co-facilitates a semester long academic leadership program that I attended in 2009. I also heard that he was a yoga practitioner and brought mindfulness practice into conversations about leadership. My interest was piqued. Last November I had the good fortune to sit in on a workshop, for academic leaders, that Rob facilitated. That was the first time I heard Rob’s term ‘stealth coaching’. Stealth coaching is about teaching people a process to have effective informal, everyday conversations that can be utilized in almost any context when a potential ‘coachee’ has a situation in which more than one solution is possible.
It was a great workshop and I was excited that Rob was making the elements of coaching more accessible. Recently, I got to meet Rob for lunch. By twenty minutes in, it was clear that we have mutual interests including mindfulness practice, yoga and a deep commitment to making the academy a more humane and effective place. With an MFA in theatre and an MA in psychology, he brings a multi-layered and creative approach to coaching and leadership work, as I do.
Rob has a long history in the field of coaching through his company Kramer Leadership, LLC. Since 1998, Kramer Leadership, LLC has provided executive coaching, consulting and business training for a variety of organizations including private corporations, Fortune 500 companies, non-profit and health care environments, government agencies and educational institutions. His company has consulted with organizations in the U.S., Europe, Central and South America, and Africa. Clients include CEOs, executives in public and private sectors, higher education senior leadership and faculty, political appointees in the federal government, entrepreneurs and front line managers.
I’m happy to welcome Rob to ‘The Practice of Creativity’ to discuss his new book, Stealth Coaching: Everyday Conversations for Extraordinary Results.
–Tell us about your new book, Stealth Coaching. What sparked your interest in writing this book?
Stealth Coaching was written as an easily accessible tool for leaders to begin incorporating coaching skills into their everyday conversations. Coaching can be tremendously helpful for developing others’ potential. Time is a common complaint leaders have, and Stealth Coaching provides easily digestible strategies to incorporate into their everyday routines. I was inspired to write the book after teaching coaching skills to executives and managers for 10 years. In looking for books to recommend on the topic, most had good pieces imbedded in lots of theory. So I wrote a book that cut to the chase.
–What called you into the field of coaching?
Having been a manager myself for fifteen years, a receiver of coaching (still work with a coach to this day), and a utilizer of coaching, I found no other tool that creates more sustained change for people than coaching. It is a remarkable process to unleash one’s potential, broaden and strengthen problem solving acumen, and develop as humans and as leaders.
-How can someone practice ‘stealth coaching’ with a peer in a work environment?
With peers it can be an easier place to start, as there tends to be no power or positional differential that may inhibit the field of practice. My suggestion is to approach a trusted colleague, explain the nature of the request, and create a set of clarified expectations about how the coaching relationship will work. Oh, and maybe read my book before you start!
-Let’s imagine that you were hosting a magnificent dinner party and got to invite three of the world’s top coaches. Who would you choose and why?
Marshall Goldsmith. He is a highly sought after practitioner in the field of executive coaching, as well as a successful author. What many people don’t know is that he is a Buddhist, which brings a fascinating lens to this work.
Julio Olalla, Founder of Newfield Network, an international coach training organization. Their mission sums it up for me: “to generate and nurture reflection and learning spaces that facilitate the emergence of a new conception of knowledge and experience of knowledge allowing us a good life in a planet that is socially just, environmentally sustainable and spiritually fulfilling.”
Dean Smith, former men’s basketball coach at the University of North Carolina. Dean represents, to me, superior excellence in coaching through a different metaphor – sports. His former players love and respect him; his philosophy is tough but supportive, soft spoken yet grounded; and he has exceedingly high integrity and trust. He is a model for true authentic leadership.
–Besides promoting your current book, what’s next for you?
I am writing a recurring column for ADVANCE healthcare magazine, and formulating the topics for my next book. I am traveling a lot these days for work, but look forward to a tropical getaway with my partner soon.
–What’s your best writing tip that you’d like to share?
Write about topics for which you feel passionate. Otherwise you risk faking it or writing with a false voice.
Rob Kramer has worked for more than ten years in academia. As the director of Training & Development at the University of North Carolina (UNC), he provided executive coaching and organizational development consulting, overseeing management, supervisory and leadership development curriculum for the University’s 12,000 faculty and staff. Additionally, he served as the founding director of the Center for Leadership & Organizational Excellence at NC A&T State University. He continues working in faculty leadership development at UNC’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities.
In his teaching and consulting, Rob brings a well-rounded, holistic approach to systems and leadership work, having studied with experts such as Meg Wheatley, Barry Oshry, Fred Kaufman, Peter Senge and Juanita Brown. Rob’s background is also steeped in his experience working at the Omega Institute, where he learned from the likes of Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ram Dass, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Babatunde Olatunji, Glenn Black, Bhante Wimala and others. He is a seasoned practitioner in meditation, yoga, cycling, performing art, healthy cooking and work/life balance.
Rob received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Delaware, his Masters degree from the University of North Carolina, and completed his studies in Organizational Development through UNC-Charlotte. Concentrating on Social Psychology, Rob’s primary focus was examining group behavior, dynamics and interaction. He is a certified coach through the International Coach Federation (ICF).
Rob is an adjunct faculty member for the Federal Executive Institute, the premiere executive leadership training facility for the Federal government, where he teaches in both the residential and customized programs. He has lectured at Yale University, the University of Virginia, Duke University, NC State University, and the University of Colorado, among other academic institutions. He has served as a board member for “Chief Learning Officer” magazine’s Business Intelligence Board, and is a member of the International Coach Federation, the Organization Development Network, and the International Leadership Association.
Find out more about Rob and purchase his book here.
Why is it so easy to believe the awful and never believe the good?
—Carolyn See
The use of affirmations has come a long way. An affirmation is a short, simple, positive declarative phrase that as Eric Maisel says, in Coaching The Artist Within, “you say to yourself because you want to think a certain way…or because you want to aim yourself in a positive direction.” You can use them as ‘thought substitutes’ to dispute self-injurious thoughts (as a cognitive behavioral approach), or to provide incentive and encouragement when those seem to be in short supply. Now that many psychologists, mental health workers and coaches advocate the use of affirmations, they’ve become respectable. Gone are the days that affirmations made you think of Shirley MacLaine, flouncy scarves, and quartz crystals. (Though for the record, I’ve liked each of the above at different times in my life.)
Writers can benefit from using affirmations as our inner critics, judges, and evaluators are often uninvited guests during our writing sessions. Carolyn See is one of the few writers who writes about using affirmations, saying that they make “a nice counterpart to the other wretched noise that gets turned up in your brain when you write, or even think about writing: “Look at Mr. Big Man!” (in Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers)
She uses them to defeat the din of naysayers and to help her students think differently about their writing challenges. Here I’m quoting from two different passages in Making a Literary Life:
“Everybody’s seen it: nobody wants it,” my own very sweet editor said to me about the (then nonexistent) paperback of my memoir, Dreaming. “Everybody’s seen it; nobody wants it.” Yikes! Ow! The pain! It’s a good thing I remembered that I deserve the very best and now is the time for it” and thus got up the courage to call a friend of mine at a university press. The paperback is still in print, doing very nicely, thank God.”
…
I can’t tell you how many times my writing students have said to me, “I can’t do dialogue.” Or, “I have so much trouble with plot!” Or, “I don’t know what to put into this story and what to cut. I can’t seem to figure out what’s important.”
I say to them, “How about if you could do dialogue?” Or, “You have the perfect plot, right there in your brain.” Or, “You’re a perfect editor; you just don’t know it yet.”
They don’t buy it; they can’t buy it. So I suggest they say, out loud, in the car, at home, “Up until now, I couldn’t do dialogue, but now I love it I can’t wait to type in those quotation marks and see what my characters have to say!” And, “Up until now, I had some trouble with plot, but now it’s my greatest strength. I’m a fiend for plot.” And, “My natural good taste and fine subconscious mind naturally know what to put in and what to cut out of a story.”
Using affirmations about writing (and creativity) have helped me over the years. I sometimes write a few affirmations as a warm-up to a writing session. I also keep a few posted in key places in my home office. I’m currently reviewing some of my stock ones and seeing if I want to keep them for 2013.
What’s your experience with using affirmations to support your writing? Do you already use affirmations? Do you write them down and/or say them aloud? I’d love to hear what has worked for you.
If not, can you use some affirmations for your writing life for 2013?
I’ve provided some affirmations below culled from Julia Cameron, Eric Maisel, Carolyn See and myself:
My heart is a garden for creative ideas.
My ideas come faster than I can write, and they’re all good ideas.
Revising is the best part of writing.
My writing dreams are worthy ones.
Anxiety comes with the territory. I can manage and even embrace my anxiety.
If I grow quiet, the writing will happen.
To write is to improvise. I will become jazz.
My creative work is highly valued.
I trust my resources.
I honor my writing by keeping the right words and setting the rest free for another day.
For books that combine writing prompts with affirmations, see Susan Shaughnessy’s Walking on Alligators: A Book of Meditations for Writers. Julia Cameron’s Heart Steps (Prayers and Declarations for a Creative Life) is a small but potent book that comforts and uplifts.
Photo Credit: Belinda Witzenhausen (see her site for more great photos of writing affirmations)
