Reading time: About 2.5 minutes Do you find it hard to get back into writing after taking a break from it for awhile? Here’s what to do… One of my clients is a successful novelist. She has a high-profile, New-York-based agent, and has already had one of her books published, to critical acclaim. Now, she’s under […]
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Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you want to learn how to cure procrastination? Try lying to yourself… I used to hate writing. Twenty years ago, if you’d told me that I could tell myself a simple lie and — suddenly, magically — it would make writing easier and more pleasant, I would have
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Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Are you determined enough to get your writing done? Believe it or not, stubbornness is a virtue… When one of my daughters was two she chose to present her unique personality on a family camping trip. I was about to go for a walk, and she begged to come along.
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Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Are you always able to write the perfect amount of copy? It’s not related to luck. It’s the product of good planning and diligent editing… I awoke at 6 this morning, as I do most mornings, and went to my office to meditate. Then I attacked my “first morning tasks”
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Reading time: Just over 1 minute Could taking a fresh start — apart from on New Year’s Day — help you accomplish something important? Two classes I ran this week ended up being better, livelier than usual. One, for my Get it Done group, seemed friendlier and more engaged. The other, for my Extreme Writing
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Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Do you think there ought to be some new year’s resolutions for writers? Let me suggest something that will work even better… I know it’s resolution season. New year’s plans seem to lurk in blogs like dangerous creatures in swamps. But not here. I don’t believe in new year’s
Here’s a non-resolution that could change your writing life Read More »
Reading time: Just over 4 minutes Is your major aim reducing writing stress? Over the last 40 years, I’ve developed 11 strategies that really work… My number 1 stressor right now? Organizing high school debate tournaments. Picture this: An event featuring 48 articulate and argumentative teenagers who must be matched against each other in 12
The definitive guide to reducing writing stress Read More »
Reading time: About 3 minutes The year 2015 marked the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II across Europe, the 80th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s birth and, oh, the 500th edition of this column. Welcome to the 500th issue of this column. I’m a big believer in
Happy anniversary to me! Read More »
Reading time: Just over 3 minutes Do you suffer from bad writing habits? Here are some ideas you need to overcome so you can develop the good habit of writing — easily — every day… I work with dozens of people every year who are trying to build the writing habit. Some succeed quickly. Others
Trying to build a writing habit? Beware these 5 traps Read More »
Reading time: Less than 3 minutes Is a messy desk hurting your writing productivity? One of my classmates in high school had such a messy desk that our teachers — nuns — frequently hassled her and sometimes gave her detentions for her untidiness. In retaliation she posted a sign saying, “a clean desk is the sign of a
Do you suffer from Irritable Desk Syndrome? Read More »
