Motivation and the Writing Life

Combating Release Day Stress, Part 2

June 22, 2018June 21, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life

A streetlight is in the foreground and a stormy background is ominously behind it.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

As I mentioned Monday in the first part of this post, I hadn’t really considered how stressful a book launch could be until I read a blog post on the subject. It made me start thinking about how I feel on book release days.

There are a few things that I do to help launches go more smoothly. Monday, I explained how doing tasks in advance of release day and keeping a checklist help me to make launches less-stressful.

There are a few other ways I try to make launch day easier for me. Some tips:

Don’t allow social media to run in the background. Appoint times to check in on social media platforms or email. I’ve found that when I have a tab open to Facebook or Instagram, the notifications really give me an underlying anxious or frantic feeling and they pull me away from what I’m doing. Even nice messages and congratulations have that effect. Instead, I’ll make a point of checking in at appointed times during the day and then close those tabs.

Set times to check sales numbers on Amazon. Checking book ranking on Amazon can be stressful. Again, setting times to take a look at sales is better than trying to track them during the day.

Work on the next project. This may seem counterintuitive, and it’s not to say that we don’t deserve a break. But I am always working on the next project on release day and the days to follow. I think it helps not only keep me on track but helps me to have a sense of perspective about the launched book and its importance. Probably not an approach for everyone, but one to consider.

Celebrate your success. This is something I have to practically force myself to do, but I always feel better afterward. This could be any small reward…anything to mark the occasion and acknowledge your hard work.

Most importantly, take care of yourself. Exercise the morning of the release. Be sure to stretch, eat well, and drink plenty of water. I’ve found that it’s surprisingly easy to end up extremely run-down by simply sitting all day.

Further reading on reducing writing-related stress:

Desk Fitness: a Series of 11 Simple Stretches by Melanie Brooks

Wrist Exercises by Jami Gold

Social Media is Eating Your Brain by James Scott Bell

Do you have any tips that I’ve left out? How do you feel on launch day?

More Tips for Reducing Release Day Stress: Click To Tweet

Combating Release Day Stress Part One

June 18, 2018June 17, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I read an interesting article lately that really made me think. It was by Sweta Vikram and was titled, “How Mindfulness Can Help You Enjoy Your Book Release Day.” In it, Vikram offered suggestions for better launch days.

I’m horrible at mindfulness, although I’ve definitely given it a go. I’ve set timers and reminders for myself. My mind always swims off to something I should be doing. Clearly, I need to work harder at making it work.

But Vikram gives other tips for making a release day better. I especially liked her reminders to continue building relationships with family and friends, to be grateful (she specifically mentions trad pub here, but it is the same for self-pub…we have a lot of folks to acknowledge on our road to publication), and to pay it forward.Continue reading

Overcoming Resistance

June 15, 2018June 15, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life, Tools for Writers, Uncategorized

by Joel D. Canfield, @JoelDCanfield

To begin, tell me a little bit about yourself. How many of these have you experienced in your writing life during the past two years? I’ll include checkboxes so you can keep track.

Never finding the time to write
Making the time but not writing
Dreaming of writing but never getting started
Starting but never finishing
Starting but never finishing that one particular piece
Thinking you can do it without help
Thinking you’re beyond help
A love/hate relationship with your writing
Focusing on unhelpful negative feedback and ignoring positive feedback
Focusing on positive feedback and ignoring helpful negative feedback
Wanting to write deep but writing shallow
Writing for others instead of yourself
Writing for money but not treating it like a business
Reading about writing instead of writing
Seeking out feedback before you’re ready
Seeking out the wrong level of feedback
Ongoing health challenges like
Unexplained fatigue (physical or mental)
Mysterious illness (a neverending or recurring cold or flu)
Injuries (constant little accidents)
Addiction of any kind (substance, activities, self-destructive habits)

How many did you check? (Put the number right here)

Is it more than zero? I’ll bet it is.

If so, you’re facing Resistance.

I’ve written nearly 20 books and 200 songs in the past 11 years. I checked 17 boxes. SEVENTEEN.

I’m facing Resistance.

You’re facing Resistance.

Resistance? What’s That?

According to bestselling author Steven Pressfield in his groundbreaking work The War of Art Resistance is the mental and emotional pushback we feel when we dare greatly by being creative. It is our unconscious mind protecting us from what it thinks is the danger of emotional vulnerability. It shows up in all the ways in that checklist above, and more.

Resistance is a bully. It will stand in your way and stop your writing. It will knock you down and hurt you, emotionally, even physically.

Resistance strikes nonfiction and fiction authors alike. (Memoirists, are you listening?) Writing a nonfiction book is still a creative endeavor and will expose you to the same fears.

It will stop you from writing using the tools you checked off in that list above.

It’s Not Just You & I

“I was ashamed. I have spent a good many years since—too many, I think—being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction and poetry who as ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent.”

“. . . in my heart I stayed ashamed. I kept hearing Miss Hisler asking why I wanted to waste my talent, why I wanted to waste my time, why I wanted to write junk.”

Who was this loser?

Stephen King. Stephen 350 million books sold King.

This is a quote from his On Writing which, although not precisely instructional, is the most inspiring book I’ve read when it comes to staying the course as a writer.

This is the quote that gave me my writing life back. (I’ll tell you that story someday if you like.)

Our inborn desire to have our work respected can lead to problems if we put what others believe about our “God-given talent” ahead of what we choose to write. It’s one of many ways Resistance twists natural feelings into quicksand.

What’s a Writer to Do?

You cannot defeat Resistance once and be done with it. It’s part of our mental and emotional makeup. What you can do is make it irrelevant. Note that I don’t say “ignore it” because you can’t ignore a bully. But if you defuse them, do things to take away their power, they are no longer a threat. Like the bully at school (or, frankly, in the office) they still show up every day. But we don’t have to keep giving them our lunch money.

Being a writer is hard. You don’t have to do this alone.

Too many writers face the emotional struggle to write without proper support. After years of writing about it, I’ve created a forum to help writers and artists deal with writer’s Resistance.

It’s not going to be a collective moan-fest or chat-fest. It’s a guided learning environment, a community of writers making a safe place for some “you’re not alone” emotional support. It will also cover practical and actionable tools and processes to get you writing and keep you writing.

Membership is $5 per month or only $25 for the whole year. Questions? Comments? Shout ’em out below and I’ll answer every one.

Battling Writer's Resistance (via @JoelDCanfield ): Click To Tweet

How To Develop Creative Receptivity

April 2, 2018March 23, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Nicky Blue, @itsnickyblue ‏

‘The conscious mind may be compared to a fountain playing in the sun and falling back into the great subterranean pool of subconscious from which it rises.’ — Sigmund Freud

When I lapse in dedicating time to developing creativity in my life, I end up becoming very driven by reactive thinking. What I mean by this is, my thinking process seems to get governed by existing ideas, prejudices and familiar anecdotes. It feels as though I am mainly operating at the level of the conscious mind. An assumption arises that ‘I’ am in control of the creative process. I have these ideas in my head, which I manically splurge onto a page. This can be productive in getting things done but I find it can produce quite mediocre work. Aspiration for creativity is that it taps into something much deeper. When I give time to my developing my creative process, I realise this is very possible.

There are of course, days when creativity flows through me and there seem to be no limits to my productivity. I kid myself life will always be like this. Then one fateful morning, I wake up and sit in front of the computer and nothing, diddly squat. It feels as if I don’t have a creative bone in my body. It took many cycles of this to admit to myself an obvious truth. The creative process takes work, dedication and time. It is an investment I have to make in order reap the rewards later down the line.

‘Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness: ecstasy.’ — Rollo May.

A lotus will not produce flowers without the right amount of light, water and nutrients. Similarly, we need the right conditions for our creativity to bloom. Where I wanted to focus my attention, is the place that lies at the basis of all artistic endeavours, creative receptivity. I spent a long time experimenting with different creative exercises and spiritual techniques. After a while it became apparent to me there were some common themes to building creative receptivity. I have grouped these themes into three stages:Continue reading

Taking Note

March 9, 2018February 20, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life

by James Mullen

Turner Field in Atlanta, June 1995, I scribbled a note on my knee just before the first pitch:

Mike Deveraux, former legendary Braves player, is sitting behind us. The man next to him asks him to extend his hand as far away from his body as possible so he can take a close-up photo of the finger that has his World Series ring. Deveraux is gracious, smiles, but asks the man if he wants a photo standing with him as well. The fan says no, he just wants a photo of the ring. Mike Deveraux was a big reason the Braves won the Series. I only hope the guy with the camera doesn’t see any adult movie stars during the game.

Red Smith, the legendary NY Times sports writer, reportedly said that writing involves sitting down with a typewriter and opening a vein. But before the bleeding starts, I think certain aspects of writing can be fun, and those aspects will be different for each of us. I hate outlining and knotting up the plot threads. You may love doing that. I enjoy diving deep into the settings and characters, and you may find that tedious or difficult.Continue reading