As I write this, I am sitting in my car in a parking lot, waiting for my library branch to open. (And no, that isn’t my library. I wish!) Why am I not sitting in my cozy home office, complete with all the joys of a writer’s surroundings? Because I have several rapidly approaching deadlines, […]
Kristi Holl
How Healthy Are Your Boundaries?
Writers want and need healthy boundaries. We won’t ever have perfect boundaries, but we can have healthy boundaries. There are basically four kinds of boundaries: healthy boundaries damaged boundaries collapsed boundaries walled boundaries Let’s compare these kinds of boundaries to a room in your house. What Kind Are You? Healthy boundaries would be like living […]
4 Essential Types of Personal Boundaries
Is carving out time to write a perpetual problem for you? If so, there’s a good chance that it has something to do with the boundary busters in your life. Writers tend to be more sensitive creative types. That makes it possible for us to write from the heart, to create characters that readers care […]
Why Writers Need Boundaries
In days of old, ancient cities were built with high walls around them. They were there for protection from enemies. Watchmen at the gates let in safe people and kept out the varmints. Strong walls and trustworthy sentinels allowed residents inside the town to carry on the business of living in a safe and productive […]
Warning: Stop Shifting and Drifting
Have you ever noticed that we never drift in good directions? If you want to accomplish anything, it has to be by choice. “Drift” is our default setting when we allow outside distractions to capture our attention. Have you drifted away from your writing goals set earlier this year? Looking Back Recall the last time you […]
Writing for the Soul: Success!
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the 30+ check-in reports I get every day from the four “challenge groups.” We are writing on thirty different projects, in more than twenty states, across many time zones. Many are grandparents, but a few are juggling their writing with nursing babies. How can such a diverse group of writers support each […]
Give Yourself the Slight Edge Today!
Can writing just 15-30 minutes a day really amount to anything? Even over the long haul? Absolutely! And that’s why I’m running these two writing challenges in April. It started when I read a book called The Slight Edge. It’s not a writing book per se. But the subtitle tells you the book’s premise: “turning […]
Choose Your 30-Day Challenge
Will you be ready to start a 30-Day writing challenge on April 1? (And no! This is no April Fools!) You may sign up for the early morning (Harnessing the Unconscious) writing challenge. Or you may sign up for the Writing on Schedule challenge. Or feel free to sign up for both! Nuts and Bolts […]
Writing on Schedule
As I mentioned in “Harnessing the Unconscious,” Dorothea Brande claimed in her classic book Becoming a Writer that there were two distinct types of writing you must master if you hoped to have a career as an author. Whether or not both are necessary is up for grabs. However, I do know that both types […]
Harnessing the Unconscious
If you already write fluently, for hours at a time, and you can write at will whenever you choose, you don’t need today’s idea. However, if developing and then maintaining a daily writing schedule keeps eluding you, you’re in the right place. This post describes the first type of accountability challenge for April. Back to […]