Writing Through Physical Pain

When my kids were toddlers and in grade school, I was wired shut for eleven weeks after two jaw surgeries. I’d had some health problems over the years, but being wired shut topped them all. I couldn’t talk to my four small children or even call a friend. I was dying to talk, but couldn’t. […]

To Survive as a Writer: Finding Margin

Certain Type A personalities seem to thrive on overloaded lives, but most writers don’t. Our best ideas – and energy to write about them – require some peace and quiet, some “down” time. To get that, we must rebuild margin into our lives. Defining Margin What exactly is margin? According to Richard Swenson M.D. author […]

Overloaded Lives

Do you have any margins left in your life? Or is your life marginless? For a long time, I’ve known that something was wrong. People everywhere, of all ages and walks of life, are frazzled. People are anxious and depressed. And why is that especially important to writers? Because tired, frazzled, anxious, depressed writers don’t […]

Tug of War in Finding Balance

In the Margin book, Richard Swenson, M.D. talked about the tug-of-war in our everyday lives and the challenge of finding balance. The Balancing Act I don’t know about you, but I feel a constant tug-of-war between choices. Should I work now, or relax a bit? Should I take action, or should I think about it more? […]