Posts Tagged ‘ writers mindset ’

The ‘Should’ Monster

Does this little monster tell you that you SHOULD be writing?

Picture this: it’s a bright July morning, and you have the day to yourself. Your perfect writing spot is waiting for pages to be filled. It’s your time. But instead of enjoying this fact, you hear a little monster tell you that you ‘should’ get to the desk, hear him growl at you over your morning coffee; chiding you for taking so long, that you ‘should’ get going; that you are wasting precious writing time. He hurries you to your desk, berating the laptop for taking its time to load up and then when the cursor is flashing, your mind…

* Did you dream of being a famous and successful writer, when you were little? * By the time you reached the age you are now, how famous and successful did you imagine yourself being? * And when you really think about that last question, does it provoke an emotional or physical reaction? Tension in your body, a sick feeling, a tightness in your throat, tears? Early talent – and the praise and encouragement that comes with it – can be a double-edged sword. At eight or nine years old, even as a teenager, it is easy for a gifted…

I’ve touched on gender issues in writing before but here’s a slightly different take on the same subject. What if the gender imbalance at the top of the literary tree – the higher proportions of men in the high-kudos publications and on the prize shortlists – is because women are more emotional? A prickly subject. Even as I type it I can envisage women across this glorious web of electrons getting ready to beat me down with a rolling pin (and I use the domestic imagery not to bait anyone further, but in an attempt to soften the ground with…

So what exactly is EFT? Why do we think its a brilliant tool for writers and people who want to be writers? Let’s start with the basics. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique. It’s sometimes called ‘tapping’ and is sometimes described as “acupuncture without needles”. From a personal familiarity with acupuncture, however, I would say it is massively more powerful in its effects – and the great bonus is, no needles or trained practitioners are required. Of course you might want to use an EFT practitioner for really sticky problems, but it’s very simple to do and anyone…

It would be wonderful, more than a decade into the 21st Century, to be able to answer this question in the negative, but recent figures released by VIDA demonstrate that one is much more likely to feature in the most respected literary journals if you are a man. For many of us women, this is not exactly news. My sister bought me a year’s subscription to the London Review of Books once and it began to dawn on me that, week after week, the two poem slots were invariably filled by men. And then, that most of the reviews…

Fancy being a guinea pig and getting free help with your writing? We’ve been a little quiet on the website of late, for good reason: Kate and I are recording the modules of our new “Breakthrough Writers Block” online programme. The aim is to clear the psychological blocks that get in the way of getting down to writing: not just “staring at the blank page/screen” syndrome but numerous other issues such as: I don’t have time to write I don’t have space to write I don’t know where to start My partner is unsupportive What if my writing…

Jealousy of Other Writers and How it Sabotages Your Success

In her writer’s blog, The View from the Shed, Sally Quilford recently bemoaned the resentment of unpublished writers towards published ones. The post received many comments, including one from a writer who had received unpleasant messages on Facebook and Twitter when she made a competition shortlist, from those who hadn’t. Author of A Secret Alchemy, Emma Darwin, contributed another article on the same subject. The fact is that jealousy between writers is rife – and it isn’t just the jealousy of unpublished writers towards published ones; any writer (published or not) can suffer jealousy of any other writer they perceive…

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Posts Tagged ‘ writers mindset ’

The ‘Should’ Monster

When Your Dreams Become A Burden

The Revolution Will Be Emotional

EFT for Writers

Does my gender affect my success?

What Stops You Getting Down To Writing?

Jealousy of Other Writers and How it Sabotages Your Success

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