Our Stories Are Our Ladders to the Stars

June 14, 2016 by 4 Comments

I just watched Donovan Livingston’s Harvard commencement address. It’s truly stunning.

If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching, thrice over.

You can also read the full text online here too.

He spoke to the deepest part of my heart and soul, where it comes to writing, to education, to believing in ourselves and in our children and in our capacity for greatness.

I loved this:

I was in the 7th grade, when Ms. Parker told me,
“Donovan, we can put your excess energy to good use!”
And she introduced me to the sound of my own voice.
She gave me a stage. A platform.
She told me that our stories are ladders
That make it easier for us to touch the stars.

Write your stories.

 

 

 

News

The Sci-Fi Rewrite: I’m DEEP into the sci-fi rewrite I mentioned in my last post. It’s been a fascinating dive into world-building, shoring up plot holes, digging into character, and more. The project is due June 29, so I’m hoping to emerge a bit more from my writing cave then. 

New Logo Design: The fabulous Giulietta Nardone and I have been working on a new logo design for my CalledtoWrite.com website. Donovan’s speech could have been written about many of the images we’ve been working with. I cannot wait to see what we come up with. Giulietta is an amazing artist, writer, muse, and fearless explorer.

Delicious New Ideas: I’m coming with all kinds of new ideas and exciting projects. I’ve been talking with a few of my Circle members about beta testing a writer’s platform building program, among other things. I can’t wait!

Coming Up

Coaching CircleThe next session of the Called to Write Coaching Circle starts on Monday, June 20th and the last day to register and join us is Thursday, June 16 by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

Find out more and register here: http://JustDoTheWriting.com. Join us!

  

fittingwritingintoyourlifeI’m leading a one-week intensive called “Fitting Writing Into Your Life: Becoming a Productive Screenwriter” at Screenwriter’s University starting on August 11th and running for 7 days. It’s a three-part online recorded video presentation from me and plus online discussions, interaction, and support from me. Find out more and register here. *

 

* This is an affiliate link, which means I’ll earn an extra commission in addition to my teacher’s pay, if you register through me.
Photo by Greg Rakozy, used under the creative commons license.
Filed Under: Inspiration, Writing Tagged With: , , ,

What if you don’t want to write every day?

May 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment

As the proprietress of an online program designed to help writers build a daily writing habit, every once in a while someone says to me, “But Jenna, what if I don’t want to write every day?”

My answer is, “That’s okay.”

If….

The reason we advocate daily or near daily writing in my Called to Write Coaching Circle is that most of the time, the writers who come to us are flat out struggling to write  — at all. And it turns out that the more frequently you write, the easier it is to sustain the habit.

Some writers CAN write on a different schedule and it works perfectly well for them. That’s completely fine. I have no objections. Because if you’re someone who can write two to three times a week and keep that going over the long haul, that’s great! Or if you like to go for months without writing and then have no problem cranking out a book without getting burnt out or frazzled, all the more sparkle bright ponies for you. Really.

But if you’re someone who wants to write but isn’t, or isn’t living up to your desired level of productivity and completion, or keeps getting burnt out in binge-writing frenzies, or is wrestling with procrastination, burnout, perfectionism, or writer’s paralysis, you might want to try our daily/near daily approach. It just makes it so much easier to break the patterns you’re stuck in.

The thing is, a tremendous amount of paralysis that can build up for writers. It’s all founded in fear — fears of not writing well enough, of succeeding or failing, of public humiliation or ridicule, and more. All that fear builds up in our unconscious minds and sends us in an entirely OTHER direction than writing. But when we first break that pattern of writing-aversion and turn toward writing again with a small, doable step like writing for five to fifteen minutes, we can build new neural connections that reinforce writing as a positive thing in our lives. And if we do it again the next day, it makes it easier and easier to keep going. And once we build our writing up to habit levels, we start operating out of a whole new paradigm, one where taking a day off here or there doesn’t throw us completely off track.

No matter what though, the bottom line is this: Do what works for you. There is no one right way to write. There’s no one right answer to how to write. Different approaches work for different people. Find yours.

News

My latest news is that I’ve just signed a contract to rewrite a sci-fi feature for a producer, which I’m very much looking forward to. We’re kicking off the project tomorrow. I have a busy 40 days ahead of me!

And on the personal front, my littlest one just turned two yesterday — I can hardly believe it. And my older boy is about to finish 2nd grade. Time really flies.

Coming Up

Coaching CircleThe June session of the Called to Write Coaching Circle starts on Monday, May 23rd and the last day to register and join us is Thursday, May 19 (that’s today) by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Find out more and register here: http://JustDoTheWriting.com.

  

fittingwritingintoyourlifeI’m leading a one-week intensive called “Fitting Writing Into Your Life: Becoming a Productive Screenwriter” at Screenwriter’s University starting on August 11th and running for 7 days. It’s a three-part online recorded video presentation from me and plus online discussions, interaction, and support from me. Find out more and register here. *

 

* This is an affiliate link, which means I’ll earn an extra commission in addition to my teacher’s pay, if you register through me.

 

 

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Why I Don’t Recommend Cramming 15 Minutes of Writing In While You’re Waiting In Line or For Appointments

April 20, 2016 by 2 Comments

There’s this idea floating around that the way to find time to write is to cram writing time into every square inch of your life. Just write while you’re waiting for your dentist appointment! Just write while you’re standing in line at the grocery store!

I don’t think that’s sound advice.

The thing is, we already lead crazy, busy lives. Most of us have plates filled to overflowing as it stands, and cramming writing into every tiny pocket of time feels like it will be the thing that finally breaks the dam.

Writing like a maniac looks like a recipe for burnout and stress to me, rather than a graceful fulfilling of one’s true calling. I don’t know where we got this idea that productivity and just doing more are the same thing. Many proponents of the just find 15-minutes method of writing seem to have bought into this idea.

Having said that, I do advocate writing in 15-minute (or smaller) blocks of time in the following circumstances:

  1. When that’s all the time you actually, truly have to write. Look, I’m a writer, a mom, and a business owner, I get it. There really is only so much time to go around. It’s okay with me if you say, I have to write, this is what I have, so I’m going to make the most of it. But, and this is important: Ideally, you’ll do it in a scheduled, planned part of your day, not as something you race to cram in during a stolen moment somewhere. I wrote a script in 15-minute increments of time, and I’ve got two writers in my Called to Write Coaching Circle who recently finished projects in 15-minute chunks: one mom who wrote her first novel and the other a coach who wrote her parenting book. It’s a perfectly valid way to write!
  2. When you’re building a writing habit. When you’re first setting out to build a writing habit, it pays to start small. Most of us with big dreams to write have commensurately-sized fears that stop us in our tracks and have us come up with all kinds of excuses not to write. Writing in small increments of time helps us sneak past the fear, kick the excuses to the curb, and get our butts in our writing chairs. There’s nothing that says you have STICK WITH 15-minute increments of writing time in the long term, it’s perfectly fine to build up to more once you’ve increased your tolerance for writing (in other words, once the blue meanies stop screaming quite so loudly in your head). Having said that, again, see #1. If that’s what you’ve got, work it, baby.
  3. When you’re re-building a writing habit. If you’ve fallen off the writing wagon, for whatever reason (travel, illness, loss, etc.), you can reboot yourself with a 15-minute writing sprint. If I ever find myself off track with my writing, I usually say something to myself like, “I can at least write for just 15 minutes.” And then I set my timer, and I’m off. Note that I usually don’t write past the 15-minute mark on a reboot day but just use that to get myself into motion again. I’ll often write longer the next day and build back up from there. (The reason not to go past the goal is that you end on a high note and in a positive place for the next day.)
  4. When you actually feel like writing while you’re waiting for something. Rather than feeling like you “should” be writing at every moment, notice when you want to be writing. Lately, as a tired mom of a now 23-month-old toddler, sitting and staring at nothing while waiting in the doctor’s office is a luxury I’m reluctant to give up for just about anything. But pre-baby #2, I happily wrote while hanging out waiting for appointments because I wanted to. In other words, do it if you want to, not because you “should.”

Your writing is your biggest dream. Treat that dream with reverence.

Rather than squeezing writing into the interstices of your life, take a look at its importance to you and give it a proper place in your day. This might mean taking a good hard look at the way you’re prioritizing your time and what you’re choosing to do with it instead of writing, and it might mean getting creative about how you’re scheduling yourself, but I’d much rather see you having moments to breathe AND moments to write.

Let me know what you think.

Coming Up

Coaching CircleThe May session of the Called to Write Coaching Circle starts on Monday, April 25th and the last day to register and join us is Thursday, April 21 by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. Find out more and register here: http://JustDoTheWriting.com.

  

fittingwritingintoyourlifeI’m leading a one-week intensive called “Fitting Writing Into Your Life: Becoming a Productive Screenwriter” at Screenwriter’s University starting on April 28th and running for 7 days. It’s a three-part online recorded video presentation from me and plus online discussions, interaction, and support from me. Find out more and register here. *

 

 

* This is an affiliate link, which means I’ll earn an extra commission in addition to my teacher’s pay, if you register through me.

 

 

Filed Under: Productivity, Writing

Free teleclass: Setting Motivating Writing Goals & Intentions

March 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment

The fourth and final class in my free Master Your Creative Productivity series was last night and the recording is now available! 

If you missed the series, you can still sign up to get the recordings, which will only be available for another week, through Friday, April 8. You’ll get instant access to the recording archives when you register.

Here’s what we’ve covered in the class series:

Part I: Powerful Tools to Help You Write Productively

  • Defining what being productive means.
  • 3 writing productivity principles.
  • 5 time principles to help you be more effective with EVERYTHING you do.
  • 7 writing productivity power tools you can put to use right away.

Part II: The Anti-Creativity Cycle and How to Break It

  • Defining perfectionism and 5 thoughts about the role perfectionism plays in our writing lives.
  • The Anti-Creativity Cycle of perfectionism, procrastination, and paralysis and a laundry list of ways it shows up.
  • Other creative blocks and obstacles like impostor syndrome, fear of success and fear of failure, and more.
  • 15 solutions and antidotes for the Anti-Creativity Cycle and other creative blocks.

Part III: Keeping Your Creative Energy Vibrant for Optimal Writing Productivity

  • The trick to managing the emotional ups and downs of a long-form writing project.
  • Simple but important ways to take care of your physical body AND your creative mind.
  • 3 energy boosting strategies.
  • 3 nifty techniques to balance and recharge your energy.
  • 5 creative recovery skills for whenever (or if ever!) you get off track.

Part IV: Setting Motivating Writing Goals & Intentions

  • 5 ways to set yourself up for success with your goals in advance.
  • Smart goal setting that works.
  • Reverse engineering your writing timelines.
  • The power of a plan for revisions.
  • Using intentions to supercharge your writing sessions.
  • How to set motivating rewards and celebrations.
  • BONUS: Managing distractions.

I’ve been getting terrific feedback from the writers who have participated and I’d love to have you take advantage of this opportunity too. You’ll find that the series is packed with practical tools and strategies you can put into place right away to help you boost your productivity as a writer.

 

[otw_shortcode_button href=”http://programs.calledtowrite.com/creative-productivity/” size=”large” bgcolor=”#006666″ icon_type=”general foundicon-right-arrow” icon_position=”left” shape=”square” text_color=”#ffffff”]Get the Recordings Here[/otw_shortcode_button]

  

Filed Under: Announcements, Creativity, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Free Teleclass: Keeping Your Creative Energy Vibrant for Optimal Writing Productivity

March 23, 2016 by Leave a Comment

The third class in my free Master Your Creative Productivity series was last night and the recording is now available! We had some technical line challenges so I rerecorded the call and the fresh, much better quality recording is now available. It’s super exciting to see our list of registered participants continue to grow — we’re up to almost 120 now.

In case you’ve missed the first three classes, you can still sign up for the four-part series (we’re continuing tomorrow with Part IV on Tuesday, March 24 at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time). The important thing to know is that each class stands on its own, so it’s perfectly okay to jump in at any point in the series.

You’ll get instant access to the recording archives when you register and you’ll also get the call-in information for the next class. 

Here’s what we’ve covered in the classes so far:

Part I: Powerful Tools to Help You Write Productively

  • Defining what being productive means.
  • 3 writing productivity principles.
  • 5 time principles to help you be more effective with EVERYTHING you do.
  • 7 writing productivity power tools you can put to use right away.

Part II: The Anti-Creativity Cycle and How to Break It

  • Defining perfectionism and 5 thoughts about the role perfectionism plays in our writing lives.
  • The Anti-Creativity Cycle of perfectionism, procrastination, and paralysis and a laundry list of ways it shows up.
  • Other creative blocks and obstacles like impostor syndrome, fear of success and fear of failure, and more.
  • 15 solutions and antidotes for the Anti-Creativity Cycle and other creative blocks.

Part III: Keeping Your Creative Energy Vibrant for Optimal Writing Productivity

  • The trick to managing the emotional ups and downs of a long-form writing project
  • Simple but important ways to take care of your physical body AND your creative mind
  • 3 energy boosting strategies
  • 3 nifty techniques to balance and recharge your energy
  • 5 creative recovery skills for whenever (or if ever!) you get off track.

Each of the first two recordings are 60 minutes each and include 15 minutes of Q&A time at the end of the classes. The recording for the third class does not include the Q&A time since it’s a do-over recording.

TOMORROW, Thursday, March 24, for Part IV, we’ll be covering Setting Motivating Writing Goals and Intentions, plus I’m adding a bonus section on managing distractions.

Join us!

[otw_shortcode_button href=”http://programs.calledtowrite.com/creative-productivity/” size=”large” bgcolor=”#006666″ icon_type=”general foundicon-right-arrow” icon_position=”left” shape=”square” text_color=”#ffffff”]Register for the Series & Get the Recordings Here[/otw_shortcode_button]

 

And don’t miss our New Member Special!

New Member Special 

Filed Under: Announcements, Creativity, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Free Class: The Anti-Creativity Cycle and How to Break It

March 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment

The second class in my free Master Your Creative Productivity series was last night and we had a terrific time! With over 110 writers now signed up for the program, I’ve loved getting to work with the writers who’ve been able to be there live so far and I know more will be listening to the recordings.

In case you’ve missed the first two classes, you can still sign up for the four-part series (we’re continuing next week with Part III on Tuesday, March 22 at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time).

You’ll get instant access to the recording archives when you register and you’ll also get the call-in information for the next class. 

Here’s what we covered in the first two classes:

Part I: Powerful Tools to Help You Write Productively

  • Defining what being productive means.
  • 3 writing productivity principles.
  • 5 time principles to help you be more effective with EVERYTHING you do.
  • 7 writing productivity power tools you can put to use right away.

Part II: The Anti-Creativity Cycle and How to Break It

  • Defining perfectionism and 5 thoughts about the role perfectionism plays in our writing lives.
  • The Anti-Creativity Cycle of perfectionism, procrastination, and paralysis and a laundry list of ways it shows up.
  • Other creative blocks and obstacles like impostor syndrome, fear of success and fear of failure, and more.
  • 15 solutions and antidotes for the Anti-Creativity Cycle and other creative blocks.

Both recordings are 60 minutes each and include 15 minutes of Q&A time at the end of the classes.

Next Tuesday, March 22, for Part III, we’ll be covering Energy Strategies and Softer Skills to Keep you Operating at Peak Performance, and Recovery Skills for Whenever (or If Ever!) You Need Them.

Join us!

 

[otw_shortcode_button href=”http://programs.calledtowrite.com/creative-productivity/” size=”large” bgcolor=”#006666″ icon_type=”general foundicon-right-arrow” icon_position=”left” shape=”square” text_color=”#ffffff”]Register for the Series & Get the Recordings Here[/otw_shortcode_button]

 

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Creative Blocks, Creativity, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , , ,

Free Class: Powerful Tools to Help You Write Productively

March 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment

The first class in my free series, Master Your Creative Productivity, was great fun last night. With almost 100 writers signed up for the program, it was terrific to get on the line and share these tips about how to write more productively.

In case you missed the live call, you can still sign up for the four-part series (we’re continuing tomorrow, Thursday, March 17 at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time). You’ll get instant access to the recording archives when you register and you’ll also get the call-in information for the next class. 

Here’s what we talked about in the first class, “Powerful Tools to Help You Write Productively:”

  • Defining what being productive means.
  • Three writing productivity principles.
  • Five time principles to help you be more effective with EVERYTHING you do.
  • Seven writing productivity power tools you can put to use right away.

Tomorrow, for Part 2, we’ll be covering the Anti-Creativity Cycle and how to break out of it, as well as covering other obstacles to productivity that trip us up.

Join us!

 

[otw_shortcode_button href=”http://programs.calledtowrite.com/creative-productivity/” size=”large” bgcolor=”#006666″ icon_type=”general foundicon-right-arrow” icon_position=”left” shape=”square” text_color=”#ffffff”]Register for the Series & Get the Recordings Here[/otw_shortcode_button]

 

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Creativity, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , ,

Free Teleclass Series: Master Your Creative Productivity

March 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Registration is now open for my free four-part Master Your Creative Productivity teleclass series that starts on Tuesday, March 15.

In the class series we’ll cover:

  • Powerful Tools to Help You Write Productively
  • The Anti-Creativity Cycle and How to Break It
  • Energy Strategies and “Softer” Skills to Keep You Operating at Peak Performance
  • Recovery Skills For Whenever (If Ever) You Get Off Track
  • How to Set Motivating Writing Goals & Intentions
  • … and much more 

Find out more and register here: http://programs.calledtowrite.com/creative-productivity

I’m looking forward to “seeing” you in the class series.

Jenna

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Creativity, Writing Tagged With: , ,

Find Your Three Big Rocks

March 3, 2016 by 11 Comments

I mentioned in a recent post that I’ve written “in the past” about choosing your “three big rocks” for the year. Turns out “the past” was 2007 (!), so I thought it was worth sharing again. 

I believe this idea has tremendous validity in our overly busy world.

Turns out, when we focus our efforts on the important things we want to accomplish and create with our lives, we are more productive and we are happier.

The Three Big Rocks concept has been spread by Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

I’ve heard it told a number of different ways. Here’s an abridged version:

A time management expert places a large wide-mouthed jar on the table, and then puts several large rocks carefully into the jar. When the jar is packed to the top, he asks, “Is this jar full?”

Everyone watching says, “Yes.”

He says, “Really?” He adds pebbles into the jar and the group watches as they work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.

Then he asks again, “Is this jar full?”

By this time, the group is skeptical. “Maybe not,” they say.

“Good!” he answers. He adds sand to the jar and it fills in the spaces left between the rocks and the pebbles.

Once more, he asks, “Is this jar full?”

“No!” they shout.

Once again, he says, “Good!”

Then he takes a pitcher of water and pours it in until the jar is full to the brim.

He then looks at the group and asks, “What do you think is the point of this Illustration?”

One eager beaver raises her hand and says, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit more things in.”

“No,” the speaker replies, “that’s not my point. The Truth is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you will never get them in at all.”

We have to pick out what our “Big Rocks”, organize our priorities around those, and only then look at what else we want to add into the remaining interstitial spaces of our lives.

No more of this “I have to take care of [8 million small things] before I can put my attention on my writing.” Trust me, it doesn’t work. Where you put your attention is what you get more of. 

I’ve learned to put my focus on only three big rocks for any given day, and for the year as a whole as well. 

Writing, of course, is always one of my big rocks. I manage to get MOST of the little things done as well. And the rest of them? Well, they aren’t usually that important.

For this year, my three big rocks are my kids, my writing, and my business.

For today, my three big rocks are working on this blog post, working on my script, and writing two testimonials for my beloved coaches.

What are yours?

Powerful questions to ask yourself:

  • What are the three most important things I want to accomplish today?
  • What are the three big things I want to create or accomplish this year?
  • What truly matters to me in terms of how I spend my time?
  • How well are my choices matching up with what matters most to me?

You might also like this article I wrote for ScriptMag on the subject of being too busy to write.

 

Happy writing!

 

 

Filed Under: Creativity, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , ,

The Antidote to “Blank Page” Paralysis

February 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Does staring at a blank page paralyze you?

Here’s how you can work around it.

It’s a common vision of a writer’s life. Sitting and staring at the blank page, waiting for inspiration to come. But in my opinion, it’s a terrible strategy for a certain breed of writers.

From my experience working with so many other writers, the ominous blank page can be incredibly paralyzing. It usually triggers paroxysms of perfectionism, because we feel that we must come up with the perfect line, the perfect way to begin, or the perfect topic. And if you’ve been hanging around here for any length of time, you’ll know the vicious cycle of perfectionism, paralysis, and procrastination is one of a writer’s greatest enemies.

Oddly enough, I’m pretty sure I’d be paralyzed by a blank page myself, but I never allow myself to be confronted by one.

If you’re someone who feels frozen in the face of all that white space, here are some strategies to help you get into the flow of writing, whether you’re blogging, writing short pieces, articles, or stories, or working on full-length long-form masterpieces.

  1. Begin with an idea. Sounds super simple, right? It’s not always so easy to do (we can talk about generating concepts another day), but once you’re in the habit of writing, you’ll find that coming up with ideas is less cumbersome that it might be now. When I’m starting a project, I’m walking around thinking about it for hours or days before I sit down to write. Because I blog on a weekly-ish basis, I have a constant stream of ideas coming into my head, so I pretty much always have an idea of what I’ll be writing about when the time comes. If I don’t have an idea for a blog post, I’ll often ask the writers around me for ideas. There’s always something up, somewhere!

    Alternatively, if I’m starting a script, I’ll be honing and crafting the concept in my head and on paper before I sit down as well.

  2. Immediately empty your brain onto the page. Once you’ve got your idea and it’s time to sit down to write (you do have a time to write, yes?), do a “brain dump” onto the page. If I’m working on a blog post, this means kind of spewing out the ideas I’ve got on the subject onto the page, randomly or in order, it doesn’t matter, as well as coming up with a working title (often temporary) that becomes the “container” for the piece. Usually I’m imagining myself talking to all of you, so that helps too — it feels like I’m writing down the conversation we’re having in my head.

    If you’re blogging and struggling at this point, you might even want to write down and answer a question, like, “Where do my readers struggle with this?” Or, “What would be most inspiring for my readers on this subject?” to get you going.

    If I’m working on a script, I have a kind of formula that I complete, and it starts with capturing any ideas I have for the logline and story concept, so I begin with getting those onto the page along with anything else I “know” about the story as well.

  3. Turn to structure. From there, start organizing your project. With blog posts, since I’ve written down the ideas, I start organizing them into a natural order or flow that occurs to me. It doesn’t have to be perfect, I think of it as a work in progress, just like my working title.

    If I’m working on a script, this is where the heavier-lifting comes in. I have a set of parameters I “fill in” (that’s the formula I’m talking about in step two). I detail my main characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts. I break out major plot points. I outline scenes.

  4. Fill in from there. Once you’ve got your structure, just start filling it in. If I’m writing a blog post, this means fleshing out and refining what I’ve started with. When I’m working on a script, I import my scene outline into my screenwriting software, and then fill that in.

    This way, I’m always “filling in” and responding to what I’ve already set up for myself, rather than starting from a “blank” anything, so I never feel lost or paralyzed. Well, maybe not NEVER. :) But much more rarely.

So if staring at a blank page for you is difficult, use these ideas to get something (ANYTHING!) onto the page to get yourself jump-started, and go from there.

Happy writing!

Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: , , , ,
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