Posts Tagged ‘Joanna Penn’
I’ve attended two conferences during the past two weekends. Last week, I attended the North Carolina Writers’ Network Conference. I hosted a NaNoWriMo meet and greet on Friday night and then a ‘Shut Up and Write’ session on Saturday where writers could come and just write for an hour and half. Both events went very well and I managed to get close to 2,000 words completed on Saturday.
This weekend, I attended an academic conference. I had hoped to get a lot more writing done but only managed to squeeze out about 1,000 words one day. I also conducted some useful research. My current NaNoWriMo project is a continuation of a novel concept that my sister and began last year. Although I thought I had a decent outline to work with, I find myself unsure about characters, character motivations, plot threads, etc. Not a great position to be in when trying to write fast. I’m way behind where I should be which is 18,000 words. However, I’m not panicking quite yet. I’m about to employ a secret weapon– which is dictation software.
There has been a ton of buzz about writers (especially indie writers) using dictation software and drafting their novels in a matter of weeks. Podcaster and author, Joanna Penn has had several writers on her podcast to talk about using dictation. I invested in Dragon Naturally Speaking last year and really love it.
I have used it to draft talks and lectures I give and when I feel stuck on a project. It takes a little while to train the software to your voice, but it is worth the effort. I use the headset in conjunction with my laptop. Some people use the app on their phone and dictate while taking a walk.
I’ll start using the dictation software this week and I think it will help my word count. Why? Well, some people think that we tap into our ‘inner storyteller’ when we tell our story aloud. I feel like I get into a natural creative rhythm speaking aloud after just a few minutes.
In my writing workshop just three weeks ago (whew! it’s been a busy few weeks), I encouraged my participants to try dictation as a way to bring some more play into the drafting process. Also, if you use the app then you can get more walks in which most us desperately need.
Maybe dictation might serve you well, too, for drafting new material.
Until then, I will just
How long do you want to keep writing and creating? Is your body and mind up for the journey? Writing is one of the few professions that can be practically age proof. There’s one big caveat though—we can write well into our senior years only if we respect our bodies and keep them as healthy as we can. Joanna Penn, noted and successful indie author has teamed up with Dr. Euan Lawson to write The Healthy Writer: Reduce Your Pain, Improve Your Health, and Build a Writing Career for the Long-Term. And, it promises to be a new standard on this topic.
Aching back? Chronic pain, sleep problems? Anxious? Sugar cravings? Penn and Lawson tackle many physical and mental health issues that beset writers, including difficult ones to talk about like depression, loneliness, anxiety and challenges with chronic pain.
Like in her other book: Successful Author Mindset: A Handbook for Surviving the Writer’s Journey (which I also enjoyed), Penn posted a survey on her blog and asked writers to share their triumphs and challenges with staying healthy. And, they did–over a 1,000 writers responded, detailing their struggles, triumphs and tips.
In the past several years, Penn has been open about her debilitating migraines, chronic lower back pain and managing the emotional ups and downs of creative work. Some of her long term solutions have included taking up yoga 3-4 times a week, using dictation software and taking daily walks. I’ve been inspired to see how positively the changes she’s made have benefited her.
What really works in this book is their combined experience. They expertly weave together insights from their own journey and useful snippets from survey respondents. What’s the science on rest, standing desks and ergonomic chairs? Lawson’s got the answers and does a fantastic job of making the science and medical research accessible.
What’s it about: Getting you to think about ways you can keep doing what you love for a long time; prioritizing your health as part of a long term sustainable career as a writer, cultivating a healthy author mindset
Structure: Several chapters are co-written, some chapters are individually written, reflective questions and resources at the end of each chapter
Style: Extremely personable; scientific information presented in a way that is fun to read
Topics: a personal journey to a pain-free back, writing with depression and anxiety, the active writer’s mindset, loneliness and isolation, a letter to sugar, strategies for the sofa bound, tools for writing, dealing with imposter syndrome, perfectionism, developing writing routines, ways to revise
Inspirational Nuggets:
There is a risk that any book about health can get preachy, but this is not a book about denial. It is not necessary to live a life that would make a monk weep. We are not aspirational ascetics, denying the flesh for the greater holiness of the written word. This is not an exhaustive book covering everything possible, but we hope it will help you feel less alone in your journey toward wellness. It is about empowerment. It is about sustainability. It is about making change that will help you become a healthy writer for the long term.
Healthy Writers Need Healthy Connections:
If you want to be a healthy writer, then you should spend as much time addressing your social networks and your social isolation as much as anything else. It needs to be on a par with giving up cigarettes, sorting out your sleep, losing weight and getting exercise.
Jumping into Facebook doesn’t count. In fact, there is mixed evidence about the impact of online social media and its effect on loneliness. One study among postgraduate students found that increased use of Facebook was associated with loneliness.
The inability to do what everyone around me was doing made me feel even more worthless than the illness already did (from a chapter written by Dan Holloway on writing and mental health issues):
And if I ever admitted to my writing friends that I was finding it hard the classic retort would come back: “We all feel like that.” People who say this mean well, but it is such a damaging thing to say. The thing is, when I say I can’t put pen to paper, I don’t mean I’m finding it tough. I don’t mean I need tips to unlock the words. I don’t mean I need prompts or-don’t even go there-a better plan. I mean I can’t. I physically cannot make the words appear. You wouldn’t tell someone who couldn’t use their legs that we all find it hard to stand up, just because sometimes you’re tired and don’t feel like it. It’s time we stopped making the same gaffes with mental ill health.
Sort out your sleep
Many writers surveyed for this book talked about sleep. There were suggestions for developing routines at the end of the day and recommendations on avoiding screen-time. There was a recognition that depression, anxiety and work related stress had a big impact on your sleep.
In Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker collates studies that show sleeping less than six or seven hours a night can impact your risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, disrupt your blood sugar levels, increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, and contribute to psychiatric conditions including depression and anxiety.
So clearly it’s an important topic for writers.
Bottom line: This is a definitive guide for encouraging writers to make sensible and long lasting changes for their health.
I consider myself pretty healthy. I work out 4-5 times a week, watch what I eat and meditate several times a week. I came to this book feeling like I knew a lot about healthy living. This book, however, opened my eyes to the many things that I had taken for granted.
I have been lucky. I haven’t had much back, neck or wrist pain. But, I don’t want to take any of that for granted anymore. I saw that I was cutting corners on getting proper rest, working in not very ergonomically friendly ways, and ignoring good rules for taking breaks from work.
After reading this book, I felt inspired to take even better care of myself—especially now that I turned fifty.
I have implemented a few things right away (like getting a riser for my laptop), and recommitting to using my dictation software more often. The bigger lifestyles changes like getting more rest are long-term projects.
Not to be morbid, but when I face my demise, I hope that I’m very elderly and in a chair writing. I have better hopes of going that way by making investments in my health now.
If you pick up this book from Amazon, please consider using my link below. I am an Amazon Associate. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Here is the link for the paperback.
Here is the link for the e-book.
Do You Need to Write a Letter, Poem or Manifesto to Fear? How to Combat a FEAR ATTACK
Posted May 27, 2018
on:- In: creative writing | creativity | writing
- 5 Comments
Hi folks,
Last week, I was away at sea, on a cruise, so I wasn’t able to post. This trip was the kickoff to my upcoming 50th birthday and there is LOTS to tell about that (I got to visit Cuba!). I will share my reflections SOON.
Today, I wanted to follow-up on ridding ourselves (or at least examining) unhelpful patterns of mind as part of my Spring Cleaning and the Creative Life series. My last post was on fear and there is *always* more to say about this topic.
Four years ago, I wrote a poem about fear and its presence in my creative life. Four years ago, I held a big creativity summit online with renowned coaches and writers. I went on a roller coaster learning curve and at times it was painful. Four years ago, I was also submitting my work like crazy and getting poems published and placing in contests. Inevitably, as we grow bigger, we often have to deal with our fears that come wrapped in new clothes. This was true for me in 2014. Looking back now, I can see that my creative growth triggered a powerful fear attack. If I hadn’t pushed through it, I might have stopped on my creative journey and never made it to this amazing time in my creative life.
It is really powerful to use four years as a marker on your creative path. Amazing podcaster and writer, Joanna Penn wrote an excellent post on using the Olympics as a way to think about what one can achieve in just 4 short years. Check it out, I think you’ll find it inspiring:
https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/08/11/measuring-achievement-by-olympics/
Here is the post I wrote in 2014 (almost exactly four years ago) that explores how to handle a fear attack:
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
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!
What are you getting for the writers in your life? What are you getting for yourself this holiday season? It’s the time of year to consider gifts we might want to give to our writing partners, writing friends, mentors and/or ourselves.
I’ve found three wonderful lists by fantastic writers that provide numerous creative ideas:
Author and entrepreneur, Joanna Penn’s list includes writing themed mugs, Lord of the Rings inspired cuff links, literary games, and cookbooks.
Author and blogger, Chuck Wendig’s list includes specialty chocolates, customizable notebooks and a profanity generator!
Columnist and digital media strategist, Jane Friedman’s list includes online classes, design software, and tech tools.
Enjoy stimulating multiple economies!