Posts Tagged ‘writing’
A Letter to My Mom: Honoring Mother’s Day and Finding One’s Writing Territory
Posted May 1, 2024
on:My love letter to my courageous mother is next to letters from Suze Orman, Dr. Phil McGraw, Melissa Rivers, will.i.am, Lisa Ling, Dr. Jennifer Arnold and many other amazing sons and daughters. In this third installment of the A Letter to My series…(following A Letter to My Dog and A Letter to My Cat), over sixty contributors share letters that chronicle the love, gratitude, silliness, fun and even conflict that define mother and child relationships. I am so honored to be part of this collection.
My writing teacher, Marjorie Hudson (author of Accidental Birds of the Carolinas) encourages students to ‘find their territory’, to explore the kinds of unique themes and challenges that only they can write about.
The relationship with my mother is definitely my territory. In 2013, I started exploring a snippet of my mother’s life which involved a great act of courage that changed the course of our lives. Since that time, I have continued thinking about the intersection of my life and hers. I am constantly surveying that rich and fertile ground. My mother is no longer living, so writing about her is one way that I can keep her memory alive.
When I saw the call for ‘A Letter to My Mom’, I decided to submit my very personal story. The editor and creator of the A Letter to My series, Lisa Erspamer and her team were amazing. They treated my narrative (and I assume all the others), with great care, respect and unabashed enthusiasm.
A Letter to My Mom is so inspiring and the layout of the book is beautiful. Each entry is accompanied by photos.
Hi creative peeps,
Since it’s spring, it’s a natural time to tackle decluttering. Did you know that I consider decluttering a transformational practice for creatives?
-Are you feeling stuck or stagnant in your creative life?
-Are the techniques you have relied on to expand your creative life not working (i.e. vision boards, affirmations, submitting your work)?
-Are you struggling with clutter?
Clutter is the physical manifestation of unmade decisions fueled by procrastination.
-Christine Scalise
I have created a self-paced declutter challenge course specifically for creatives. It’s based on Feng Shui (the Chinese art and philosophy of placement) and it’s not like any decluttering process you’ve done before. It tackles physical clutter and supports inner transformation. It recognizes the unique challenges that creatives can have with physical clutter and mental clutter (e.g. inner critics) and how they can reinforce each other. This declutter challenge is FUN and manageable. If you’ve got anywhere from 20-minutes to an hour a day for a few days this declutter challenge is for YOU!
Sign up by April 8 and you can join me on a live call and also have access to a bonus conversation with me and a therapist about the relationship between trauma and clutter. More details here.
Want to know more about how I approach this issue of creativity and decluttering? I’ve got three videos that explore the decluttering process, our resistance to it and why I’m so passionate about it as a practice for creatives.
The 5 Things You Say Over and Over Again that Stop You From Decluttering (and How to Overcome Them)!
5 More Things You Say Over and Over Again that Stop You From Decluttering (and How to Overcome Them)!
Shame, Fear and Anger and the Decluttering Process + Why I’m Passionate About Decluttering:
Ready to have a workspace that is welcoming, functional, and mirrors your highest intentions? Ready to be filled with energy and creative magic MOJO? Don’t miss out on this declutter challenge course
Submitting one’s work means being visible as a writer. So many creative writers struggle with issues of feeling worthy and deserving of a creative career they often don’t submit their work consistently and/or have a deep fear of rejection from industry professionals. In this video I share how I’ve worked on these issues for myself and on behalf of clients: ‘Cultivate Superpowers for Your Writing Life’. It’s about methods and mindset.
It was fun to make! At the end of the video, I share information about my successful online course Chart Your Path to Publication. There’s a flash sale on it through 12/31.
How come pleasure never makes it on to…a dutiful list of dos and don’ts?
Doesn’t joy also get soft and flabby if you neglect to exercise it?
Ellen Goodman
It’s Valentine’s Day (in the U.S.)!
Many people are thinking about love in its various forms.
I’m thinking about your love relationship with your creative life.
When was the last time you wooed your creative self?
Do I hear crickets in the background?
It’s mid-February and if you’re like me, you’ve experienced one or more of the following:
– the thrill of holiday overindulging has subsided (but the pounds still linger), leaving you with a general malaise.
–you can’t find the journal where you carefully scripted out New Year’s intentions.
–you’ve had to deal with an unexpected computer breakdown, home repair(s), lingering cold, sick child, etc.
So, for most of us, we’re back to reacting to the most immediate to-dos on our very long list.
As creative folk, sometimes we spend a lot of time focused on what we’d like to have more of in our lives: time, money, recognition, etc. A bit of griping and wishing is fine, but ultimately that kind of energy doesn’t get us in the mood to WOO anything (or anyone). By starting off with feelings of love and friendship for our long term creative projects, we may just find that we can muster up the energy to find out what we actually want to do next and how to get support for it.
Just like any other relationship that we value, we must make time for our creativity. And, just like any other relationship, feelings of pleasure, kindness and affection make us and others feel good. I suggest taking some time this Valentine’s Day to court your creative life. Is there a project that you need to seduce? Can you make time for a date with your creative work today or later this week? Have you told your creative self how much you value it?
Writing prompt: Try writing a love letter to your creative self or project. Extoll its virtues, ruminate on how it makes you feel (when the relationship is going well), and dream about the possibilities of love rekindled. Decorate the letter if you like and put in a place that you can see it and feel inspired when necessary.
Photo credit: Getty Images
P.S. Want more innovative ways to keep connected to your creative self during difficult times? Check out my free guide here
Hi creative peeps!
It’s not at all too late to join the coolest and most informative FREE masterclass series. It’s geared toward novelists but I think some of the craft and mindset tips can be applied to writing in general. This is really going to help those of us who struggle with bringing a story full circle, connect the dots and create a fantastic ending? And also for those writers who need more support in HOW to turn what seems like an excellent idea into a robust story.
Maybe you struggle with confidence and think you’re simply not good enough to be a writer (plot twist: you are good enough!)
Or is it just that old chestnut of never seeming to have enough time to sit down and write?
If ANY of the above speaks to you, Be A Bestseller 4.0: Write Your Novel With Confidence will make you realize writing your book and finding fans is well within your grasp.
My friend Emma Dhesi has you covered.
She has brought together 20+ experts to help you structure your novel for success so you can plot a story that flows and find a flood of new readers. And I’m also one of the speakers!
Be A Bestseller 4.0: Write Your Novel With Confidence runs from 16-27 January 2023 and it’s totally FREE!
To REGISTER GO HERE
A replay of all the interviews will be available!
Early Bird Special For Chart Your Path to Publication 2023 –You Don’t Want to Miss This!
Posted November 21, 2022
on:Hi writers,
Ten years ago, around this time of year, I became a published (and paid) writer! My story, ‘Family Line’ was published in the Stories of You: Tales of the Second Person. That story has gone on to be widely anthologized in print and audio. I still get goosebumps thinking about that milestone.
Let’s celebrate my win with something to support your writing life!
Here’s what I’m going to do:
I’ve created an early bird special for you to enroll in my Chart Your Path to Publication online course which starts in January 2023. I only open this course once a year.
I know that might be enough for you but I’m going to do something AWESOME here which is to include my very popular mini-training on Savvy Submission Strategies for Writers!
This mini-training helps you take the fear, overwhelm and confusion out of the submission process so you can be a more visible, successful and confident writer.
To get you ready for 2023, I’ll send you the training (two videos) and then you can join me in an interactive live workshop via Zoom on Sunday, Dec 4, 2022, 4pm EST:
“How to Navigate The Submission Stream”
During the workshop, I will be guiding you through exercises to help align your writing goals with easeful ways of getting more of your work into the “submission stream”, accepted, and published. We’ll have time for Q&A so you can get answers to some of your burning questions.
*Delivered via Zoom. I’d love for you to be there live but if you can’t it’s no problem–it will be recorded!
Many of you have wanted to work with me and this course provides a great way to do so.
Chart Your Path to Publication online course
Modules on how to submit your work, tools of the trade (how to write cover letters, bios, query letters, book proposals), how to find markets for your work, author mindset (how to navigate rejection) + MUCH MORE+ a Live Coaching Call
My online course provides you a roadmap to expertly and joyously navigate your way through the ever-changing and volatile landscape of publishing.
This course will teach you strategies to beat the odds of rejection. You’ll learn how to select markets for your work, how to submit your work, track submissions, and find great resources.
If you come to the end of every year wondering why you aren’t more widely published, this is the course for you!
Let me support you to get published and experience confidence every step of the way.
My early bird special is pretty amazing. Those of you who know me know I like to “over deliver”.
This offer is gone 11:59 pm Monday, Nov 28 (Pacific Standard Time)
Check out all the details for enrollment here.
In a week or so I’ll be telling everyone outside this community about Chart Your Path to Publication and offering it at a higher price and without this bonus workshop. So, if this sounds good to you, I’d go here now.
Best,
Michele
PS, I should mention that this year’s cohort of writers I worked with in Chart Your Path to Publication had many writing successes including:
-Earning their first publication credit!
-Getting more sales of their work!
-Establishing and refinement of their writing practices
-Upgraded mindset about what is possible for them
-Gained more confidence working with editors, agents and publishing professionals
-Negative writing habits dissolved, even after years of struggle
Happy New Year, all!
The second most important step in becoming a published creative writer, after finishing a piece, is submitting one’s work. It’s the one thing that most writers don’t know how to do well, don’t do enough of, or don’t do consistently.
I’d like to help you beat the odds of your writing being rejected as we launch into 2022.
Fear of rejection, lack of confidence, and overwhelm topped of the list of challenges writers told me they faced submitting their work. Many writers struggle with submitting their work consistently and finding venues. You may struggle with cover and query letters, writing a great bio or knowing how to manage editorial feedback.
I GOT you. The wait is over. And, just in time to get your 2022 off to a productive start.
My FREE mini-training ‘Savvy Submission Strategies for Writers’ is designed to help you shed your ‘invisibility cloak’ and gain the tools you need to send more of your work into the world consistently and with confidence.
It begins on January 5th and includes two videos and an amazing LIVE workshop with me on ‘How to Navigate the Submission Stream’ on January 9th that you don’t want to miss.
And, there will be some surprises along the way!
CLICK HERE to register for the FREE mini-training.
I know the long and challenging journey to publication and I want to create some short cuts for you. There’s so many things I didn’t know about the submission process and also what to do when a work is accepted (intellectual property rights matter!). This will help emerging and established writers (indie or traditional publishing inclined).
Nothing in this training is theoretical or fluff. It’s based on my fifteen year coaching career helping writers become published and my experience as an award-winning writer of fiction, poetry and nonfiction. I guarantee that this training will change the way you think about your writing potential as a writer and how you approach the submission experience.
CLICK HERE to register for the FREE mini-training.