Anne H. Janzer's Blog, page 5

Writing Yoga: Stretch through writing

Welcome to this month’s writing yoga. Instead of stretching our writing, we are going to use our writing to stretch our beliefs and actions.

For many of us, writing is a form of thinking. That’s what we’re going to do in this simple exercise.

The basic exercise

The exercise this month comes from Julia Cameron, the author of several wonderful books on writing and creativity including The Artist’s Way and Finding Water. This one comes from the book Seeking Wisdom.

In a journal or on a piece of paper just to yourself, write 5 sentences that all begin with, “If I had no fear, I would…”

If I had no fear, I would … If I had no fear, I would …If I had no fear, I would … If I had no fear, I would …If I had no fear, I would …

You can do this with any part of your life, but it’s particularly instructive to do it with your writing.

“If I had no fear, I would … what?” Maybe I’d submit a poem to that journal, or perhaps I’d try to write something achingly beautiful.

So go ahead and 5 times write through that. “If I had no fear, I would…”

Try this variation

I hear so often from writers that they just don’t have time to write. So, here’s a variation that addresses that issue:

Write 5 sentences that begin with, “If I had time to write, I would…” and see where that takes you.

If I had time to write, I would … If I had time to write, I would …If I had time to write, I would … If I had time to write, I would …If I had time to write, I would …What happens next?

Look at the possibilities that you’ve outlined.

Are you surprised by the possibilities you came up with?Do those barriers seem as real?

Doing this exercise can breath new life into you writing life.

You might decide it doesn’t take that much courage to submit something to that journal. Perhaps you can ask for support.

If lack of time is your barrier, maybe these shiny possibilities could help you find half an hour a day or every other day to write.

What would happen then?

Writing like this can help us see the barriers getting in our way—and perhaps poke holes into them.

Does this inspire you to break through a barrier?

If you’d like, share your results with me and the rest of us. Happy writing and happy stretching.

***

Find previous Writing Yoga posts here, or visit my YouTube channel.

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Published on April 30, 2024 14:53

Does curiosity fuel your writing flow?

pencil pointing to a magnifying glass centered over a question mark, to represent curiosity and writing.

“Write what you know.”

Writers hear that advice all the time, but it doesn’t work for everyone.

Faced with this advice, aspiring nonfiction writers think, “I don’t know enough to write a book/post/article on this subject.” And that might stop them.Experts may simply to write down everything they know—resulting in a systematic recapitulation of facts. That can be boring, for both the writer and reader.

To gather courage and dodge the doldrums, activate your curiosity. You’ll have more fun and may improve your writing, too.

The joys of curiosity

Most people find great pleasure in satisfying their curiosity. It’s naturally fun—we are learning animals. Science has demonstrated links between curiosity and mental health, learning, and happiness.

Here’s another benefit of leaning into our curiosity as writers: It may make our writing better.

“No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader”
Robert Frost

We might expand Frost’s quote to, “No curiosity in the writer, no curiosity in the reader.”

If you can spark your own interest in the subject, you’re much more likely to spark the reader’s interest as well.

Curiosity connects us to flow

Curiosity might be a gateway into the flow state — that magic time when you immerse yourself entirely in the writing and lose track of everything else.

When in flow, you lose self-consciousness and fear about the work. You get out of your own head and fully into the work.

Curiosity tips the scales toward flow.

Researchers in Australia ran a study that supports this connection. They asked a group to design water conservation programs—a different type of work than writing, but creative. The study participants then evaluated their curiosity about the project and reported whether they experienced flow while working on it.

People who reported feeling curious were more likely to experience flow. And people who worked in a state of flow suggested programs deemed by third-party evaluators to be more creative.

How can you activate curiosity about your writing project? Lean into that sense of exploration and learning, and see if it pulls you into a state of creative flow.

Activate curiosity about your writing projects

Start with pondering the subject, of course. For fiction writers, curiosity might lead you to a telling detail or texture that enriches the story. If you’re a nonfiction writer, explore the questions that you cannot yet answer.

For nonfiction writers, these questions might include:

Is there new research on the topic? (That question led me to the study on curiosity and flow.)What’s changing in the world that might affect my topic or reader?What might readers be curious about? Be curious about them, too.

Consider paying attention to the writing process itself:

Is there a humorous angle I can take on this topic?What kind of metaphor will help people better understand?What would happen if I try a different medium? (Does this need to be a book? Blog post?)What happens when I read it aloud?Can I find a way to make it 10% more compelling?

Explore and have fun. You may just find that your interest engages the readers as well.

Writing Yoga: Witty Taglines

Welcome back to the monthly Writing Yoga, where we stretch and strengthen our writing craft together.

This month, experiment with humorous taglines related to your life. Write as if you were a marketing copywriter, selling the thing you’re writing about. But instead of writing for sales, you’re writing for smiles.

Here’s a famous example: Garrison Keillor’s description of his fictional town, Lake Wobegon: “Where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.“

Subjects to try

Start with something easy:

Your job/role (like a LinkedIn headline)Your workplace (“Anne’s office: Where ideas come to life and pens disappear“)Your hometown (think Lake Wobegon)

If you get inspired, write a tagline for a stretch of road you drive or your favorite old car. Look for subjects you enjoy, with faults you recognize and tolerate. Or write a tagline for a situation exasperates you, as exasperation is a great entry point for humor.

What makes it funny?

One of the defining characteristics of humor is that it sets and then defies expectations. The tagline does this very efficiently. The format itself sets an expectation of marketing hype, then your words gently deflate it.

Word to the wise: If you make fun of other people, be gentle, not harsh. Self-deprecating humor is safest.

3 reasons to write witty taglinesShort descriptors make you choose your words with care.This exercises the ‘humor’ muscle in our writing, which many of us neglect.It’s fun. Don’t we all need more joy and creativity in our lives?

Give this exercise a try this month. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments, or send them to me by email.

Take the Next Small Step

Two Pairs of Skis Overlooking Snowy Mountain Range

“A mountain is just a series of hills.”

My father said this to me me this as we stood together atop a long and intimidating ski run. No doubt someone had told him the same thing.

I was willing myself to tip over the edge, without success. He pointed to a spot past the first headwall and said he’d meet me there. Section by section, we made our way down the slope, plotting the short run ahead of us.

The saying stuck with me over the years, although I have stopped downhill skiing. (It works for hiking, too!) I return to it whenever I face a large project—writing or publishing a book, moving, anything that feels overwhelming. All I need to do is tackle the next small step.

This approach shuts down whatever’s freezing me, whether that’s fear or confusion.

Whenever you find yourself frozen or stuck on a big project, look for the small hills.

Getting around the defenses

Imagine that you’ve done all the research for a book and cannot make yourself start in on the draft. Or, you have an idea, but cannot commit to starting it. Or perhaps you’ve written something, but going through the publishing process seems like too much.

What’s really holding you back?

Most of the reasons fall into one of three buckets: lack of time, feeling unworthy (Imposter Syndrome), or fear.

Let’s start with lack of time—the least emotional.

Don’t have enough time to write a blog series or a book? Fair enough. What if I asked you to find 20 minutes today to do some freewriting? Could you do that? And tomorrow? And the next day? I know plenty of folks who have written books while holding down jobs, parenting, and more. They understand the magic of the next small step.

Feel like an imposter? Like you’re not a “real writer” or have nothing worth saying?

You’re not alone. But rather than confronting it, let’s bypass it.

What if you spend time writing down the things you do know? What if you research and explore more? What if you structure those thoughts or share ideas with other people? Do the next thing, and you will expand your expertise.

How about fear, or Resistance with a capital R?

Yes, putting creative work out in the world is threatening. You don’t have to publish right away, only start. Know that you’ll have time to revise, to polish, to get feedback. Eventually, with a little support, you will have something that serves other people. Helping others is worth facing down a little fear.

Trust the process

To use this strategy, you have to know how to break writing into its smaller steps. Don’t sit down and say, “It’s time to write my book.” That’s enough to send anyone screaming for the hills. Say, “Today I’m going to do one thing that will further the book.”

When you trust the process, you can write something rough or ugly because you know you’ll get to the revision and editing step. When you trust the process, you can start exploring ideas that may take your further than you are today.

This “next small thing” approach gets you past the hurdles. Sure, you may move slowly at first, but you may also discover yourself picking up momentum.

March Writing Yoga: Strong Sentences

Watch the video or read it below.

Welcome to the March Writing Yoga. This month we’re getting back to basics.

If you’ve ever taken a yoga class, you’ve probably done the Mountain Pose. From the outside, it looks like you’re simply standing still. But, you’re standing with intention, with posture and alignment. The mountain post is the foundation for other, more complex movements.

The writing equivalent of the Mountain Pose is a simple, strong sentence.

This exercise is a variation of the One Sentence per Line exercise in The Writer’s Voice. That exercise was inspired by Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg, which I highly recommend. It’s fun to read, and will make you look at sentences differently.

The simple sentence exercise

Find something that you’ve already written, like an email, a social media post, or a few paragraphs of a chapter or report. It need not be long.

Rewrite it with one sentence per line. Use simple, short sentences.

Each sentence should have a subject, an action, and perhaps an object of that action. No dashes, no semicolons, no colons. No clauses that qualify what you’re saying. Prune each sentence to one essential idea.

Does your first pass sound like a children’s early reading book?

The dog has a bone.

The dog likes the bone.

If so, try again. You may need to rearrange the ideas ideas or clarify your thoughts.

A clear sentence structure exhibits clear thinking.

Simple and beautiful

So, why do this? Verlyn Klinkenborg would say that we must master the fundamentals of sentence structure before building more elaborate sentences.

Let’s also enjoy the beauty of the sentences for their own sake.

Short sentences can be powerful. They break complex ideas into their atomic parts. You feel the rhythm pulse through the words of the sentence.

Think of this as the basic posture you need for everything else in your writing.

This month, keep revisiting this exercise. As you write something, think, “What if I tried this one sentence per line exercise? How would that change what I write?”

Let me know if it makes a difference for you.

What kind of planner are you?

(DepositPhoto)

How would you describe the way you plan your writing projects? Do you love research and outlining? Hate it? Get stuck at this phase?

If you struggle to start, maybe the problem is with your process, not the project.

Practical tips for every planner

Fiction writers describe themselves as plotters or pantsers. Plotters create the plot before drafting, and pantsers see where the story takes them. (They write by the seat of their pants.)

Nonfiction authors tend to plan first, as the writing often builds on supporting research, interviews, and stories. Book proposals include a well-developed plan and outline. The plan precedes the work.

The nonfiction authors I work with bring their own personalities and preferences to the outlining and planning process. There is no single, ‘right’ way. Each has risks and trade-offs.

Advice for planning enthusiasts

Some people relish planning and outlining. They love experimenting with systems, getting things organized, and making order out of chaos.

It’s great to love planning. The danger is that you can love it too much.

Planning feels fun and safe. If writing seems scarier, you may avoid it. Or, you might spend so much time planning that by the time you’re ready to write, you’ve lost all enthusiasm for the project.

How do you know if your love of planning has strayed into procrastination? Here are a few clues:

You spend more time tinkering with outlining systems than outlining.Your desk is cluttered with color-coded note cards, sticky notes, and storyboards for projects that you’ve never started.

One author shared with me her 12-month plan for writing a book. She reserved the first two months for researching tools that she might use to write her book. That felt like procrastination, not planning.

Planning extends beyond outlining.

A plan sketches a path to the completed work. Map out the outline, line up the research, and schedule the writing—keeping your planning enthusiasm in line with the project!

Advice for perfectionists

Some people want everything completely structured, outlined, and mapped out, point-by-point, before writing. In writing, perfectionism can cause more problems than it solves.

The risks: I’ve known authors to delay writing for a year or more while they gather more interviews, more stories, and a better framework. When the year is done, they don’t find starting any easier. The outline is never good enough, complete enough, compelling enough.

I shudder to think how many great works have never come to fruition because the writer was waiting for a perfect plan or bullet-proof proposal.

Structure often reveals itself during writing

The best outline is like a flexible travel itinerary. It gets you on the road and safely home again, while giving you the chance to explore and discover new territories.

Laptop, notebook with word Discovery and a simple map.

(DepositPhoto)

In my survey of nonfiction authors, only four percent said their finished work precisely matched their starting outline. (Those four percent are probably true planning perfectionists!) The rest let the process reveal better paths.

Your outline needs to be good enough to get you safely on the road, while leaving room to explore.

Advice for creative freestylers

Perhaps you identify with the pantsers of fiction—you like to see where the writing takes you. Maybe planning seems dull or stifling.

The risks: This approach can lead writers into all kinds of trouble—including getting stuck 70,000 words into a draft going nowhere. It’s hard to write an effective book (especially a nonfiction one) without structure.

One blog reader sent me this question:

When working between writing the story and planning the story, in that cloudy gray area, how do you balance the two objectives — giving the planning equal weight to the actual writing? (Without throwing your keyboard across the room, that is.)

You can hear the frustration of the creative spirit there!

Planning is itself creative

Treat planning as part of the creative process. Do whatever you need to do to get that creativity flowing: conversations, coaching, deep thought, and of course, writing. Ask questions. For example:

How can you approach your subject differently?What structure will reveal levels of meaning to the reader?Can you find a foundational metaphor that connects with people?

If it helps, think of yourself as an impressionist painter, like Claude Monet working on a giant canvas of Water Lilies. Up close, he layers on more paint with short brushstrokes. Then, he steps back and sees if it’s working and matching his vision.

Perhaps you commit to stepping back every 2000 words or every chapter to survey the structure and vision. Embrace it as part of your process.

If you’re stuck in the planning, identify your own tendencies. Try working against your usual type and see if it frees up the work or gets you unstuck.

More about planning

Read the research about nonfiction book authors and outlines.

Planning is only one step in the writing process. Download a seven-step “writing recipe” from The Writer’s Process.

Read the blog pot Research or Procrastination?

Rather watch a video? Find this post on my YouTube channel.

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Published on February 20, 2024 12:05

February Writing Yoga: Stretch those verbs!

Watch the video or read below:

It’s time for February’s Writing Yoga: a stretch exercise that you can turn into a strengthening exercise.

This exercise comes from a book called Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. I’ve had this book for a long time and recently revisited it and found this exercise to share with you.

First, stretch!

Fold a piece of paper in half vertically.

On the left side, write the heading NOUNS, and on the right side, write VERBS.

Under nouns, list ten nouns. They could be anything at all, including:

Objects around youThings out in the worldSubjects you write about frequentlyPick 15 occupation-specific verbs

Think of an occupation. Goldberg suggests chef. I thought of a driver, driving a ar.

Write a list of 15 verbs related to that occupation.

For example, a chef might chop and saute and sear. A driver might swerve and signal and coast.

Now link the nouns and verbs

Once you’ve done that, open up your paper and write sentences, linking the nouns with the verbs. You’re probably going to have to stretch to write the sentences because you weren’t thinking of those nouns and verbs working together when you made the lists. That’s the stretch part of the exercise.

You often end up with something poetic or insightful in an unexpected way.

The strengthening exercise

I stumbled upon the strengthening part of this exercise because I left my list of verbs sitting next to my computer. Later, I was working on revising a post, wondering how I could make it more interesting or compelling. My eyes went to that list of verbs and I thought, “Aha! Maybe I can put a word related to driving, like swerve or coast, into my post about writing.”

Take those active verbs and layer them into your writing practice.

Here’s the beauty of this exercise: you don’t have to stop with one list. You can make a new list every week.

If everybody is watching football one Sunday this month, you might make a list of 15 football-related verbs, looking beyond the obvious tackle and fumble. Perhaps you look out the window and you see a bird and ask yourself, “What are 15 things that birds do, like flap and splash and murmurate?”

Keep generating lists of active verbs and then leave them lying around. See if you can weave them into your writing, strengthening your writing voice.

Want to explore further?

Check out January’s Writing Yoga exercise.

See more monthly challenges on YouTube.

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Published on February 06, 2024 11:00

How to Handle Edits Like a Pro

red pencil tied into knot to represent resistance to editing

Ever felt disgruntled or defensive after receiving editing feedback? You’re not alone.

We’ve all felt resistance to edits.

Journalists often have to adapt to different editors’ preferences. J.T., a journalist and subscriber to this blog, asked this question:

Can you address writing for different editors? Each one wants something different, which can be very frustrating.”

Even collaborating with a single editor can feel personal; let’s explore why.

Common gripes

Whether editors are part of our jobs or we hire them ourselves, we often worry that editors might:

Delay publicationCost money (if you’re hiring the editors)Dilute our voice

We like to imagine that aside from a few inevitable typos, our work needs minimal changes. We dream of hearing, “This is perfect. Run it as is!” Yet, if that happens, we miss an opportunity for growth.

Discomfort with editing may begin in school, where teachers scrawl messages and grade our skills.

In that context, any feedback lands as implied criticism. That’s not the editor’s goal.

The real purpose of an editor

The editor serves the reader, the publication, and the writer.

Their priorities may vary. Some defend the publication’s voice at the expense of individual styles. Others try to develop writers. But all editors should serve the reader, even if you disagree with how they go about it.

When we hire editors for our own work, we do so to support the readers and ourselves. If we listen with an open mind, we discover ways to improve our craft.

Approach editing feedback as a learning opportunity.

What does this change tell me about what the reader needs?What does it tell me about my writing voice or style?Does it serve what I’m trying to accomplish here?

Take care when rejecting a suggestion. If the editor didn’t “get” what you were trying to do, the reader may not, either.

From resistance to resilience

If you resist editing, adopt the right mindset and brush up your communication skills.

Approach editing with a growth mindset. Be curious. Remember that you’re serving the reader. The comments aren’t about you, or your writing skills, but about the piece. Hunkering down defensively behind your words doesn’t advance that goal.

Then, communicate what you need or expect from the edit.

If you hire editors: Be clear about what you want. Match the editing to the phase of the work:

Structural advice and fit to purpose—development editingWording flow—line editingGrammar, phrasing, and accuracy—copyediting

I asked Hannah de Keijzer, author of the new book How to Enjoy Being Edited, for her advice on working with editors. She writes:

Beyond hiring for the appropriate level of editing, you’ll enjoy the editing process more—and feel less defensive—if you’ve put in the time and effort to find an editor you click with. You might ask yourself:
Do the questions the editor asks about your work, either in conversation or in their sample edit, make it clear they’re honoring your voice and your goals?Do you understand each other well over email and in early conversations? That’s a good sign that you’ll understand—and be relatively comfortable working through—their edits, too.What style of feedback has been easiest for you to receive in the past? Find out if the editor can communicate some of their edits in a similar way.Are you on the same page about the level of explanation you’d like to receive alongside the edits?”

If your editors hire you or control your work, clarify what type of editing they expect to do on the piece, and what they want to see. They may not have the time to explain each edit, but should be willing to describe their approach and philosophy.

Using edits to your advantage

When you get the changes, take a breath. You might read them quickly, then wait overnight to let your defensiveness dissipate before acting on them.

If it’s not clear, ask why they made a change: Is it a preference? An accepted style for the publication or industry that you should learn?If you don’t agree with a suggested correction, you can learn from the signal that something wasn’t working there. Find another option.Don’t be afraid to stand up for your vision of the piece.

Sometimes, you’ve simply got to write for the editors. (I’m looking at you, journalists.) Even then, examine the changes to understand why they’re happening. And yes, editors might simply have personal preferences. Don’t we all?

Pro problems: Working with multiple editors

Communication issues can multiply with more than one editor. As in J.T.’s case, editors may not even agree with each other.

For advice on this sticky situation, I turned to my friend Chip Scanlan, an award-winning journalist who teaches and coaches journalists and writers, and author of Writers on Writing.

As a seasoned journalist, Chip understands the issue. “It’s awful to try to meet standards that shift like sand under your feet.”

And he emphasizes the importance of controlling the only thing you can—yourself.

Of course, everyone has worked with editors who are jerks. But that’s on them. As writers, we can only control our own responses. Sometimes you have to shrug off bad editing, maybe resolve never to work with that editor again, ask for a new editor or even go someplace else to work. But making a good faith effort to collaborate with an editor, having an open mind about their responses and toward their ideas, can mean the difference between failure and happy success.”

Learning to love (or accept) editing feedback

red pencil shaped into a heart to represent loving editing

Editing makes your work better. And, adopting these three practices will make the process easier.

Communicate clearly with editors—don’t be afraid to ask questions.Approach editorial suggestions with a growth mindset. What can you learn from them?Practice servant authorship: focus on the end goal of serving the reader rather than protecting your ego.Want to go further?

Still not convinced about loving being edited? Here are a few things to read:

Read Chip’s book Writers on Writing

Read Hannah’s book How to Enjoy Being Edited

Read my short post Yes, You Need and Editor. Here’s Why.

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Published on January 16, 2024 12:00

Writing Yoga: Warm Up in Nature

Welcome to the Writing Yoga exercise for January. This is part of a monthly series of exercises to stretch and strengthen your writing skills.

January: A Writing Yoga Warm-Up

Before we do any physical workout, we should warm up our muscles. Sometimes our writing needs a warm-up, too. The first Writing Yoga exercise this year is warming up by tuning into nature and writing based on what you notice.

Greet the natural world

Look out the window. Step out of doors. What do you see, feel, and hear?

If it’s too cold to step outside, gaze at a photo of a natural landscape. What do you notice? How does it make you feel? How would you describe it to someone else?

Does it trigger a memory, or help you find a metaphor?

Start writing. Looking to nature often gets the words flowing.

A daily writing boost from nature

Our language and metaphors evolved from the natural world around us. Nature is an unending source of inspiration and renewal.

Plus, there’s research that shows that spending time in nature has powerful psychological benefits. It’s a stress antidote. Even looking at pictures of nature can lower blood pressure, accelerate healing, and improve your mood. Who doesn’t want that?

Why not make it part of your writing practice?

How to use this exercise

Try turning to the natural world every day this month in your writing. You can do this is many ways.

Jump-start your journaling. I often start my morning journaling by noticing the view out the window—observing the quality of morning light, the fog nestling in distant mountains, the state of the plum trees, the water in the bird bath.

Liven up your everyday writing. For fun, start including short, natural descriptions in emails: “I write this as the mist clears from the mountains…”

Embellish your fiction. If you’re a fiction writer, a pointed observation about the natural setting can establish mood quickly.

If you return to this warm-up repeatedly, you will hone your descriptive skills and tune your attention to detail.

Try it and let me know what you think!

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Published on January 02, 2024 12:03

Making Room for New Beginnings

Image: DepositPhoto

Have you ever cleaned out a closet — clearing away unwanted clutter, giving away old clothing, reorganizing — only to have it fill up again in six months?

If you want to live with a clean, organized closet, you have two options:

Move to a home with a giant closet and hope it outlasts youGet disciplined about what you add and what you give away

It’s easy to add things to our closets, our calendars, our lives. Taking them away is harder.

Every day is a 24-hour closet.

If you want to add a new project or role your life—writing a book, spending time with a grandchild, learning a language — you’ve got to clear space for it. That means letting something go, paring down somewhere.

Opportunity costs

Everything you do has a cost and a benefit. The benefit, I trust, is clear. The cost is trickier to spot. It includes not only the time you spend on the activity, but also the other things you might have realistically done with that time. (Economists call this opportunity cost.)

Time spent on mundane work tasks without much value is time you’re not spending on more valuable or joyful activities. Like writing.

Making room for important work may require letting go of other, seemingly worthy activities. At least for a while.

For example, let’s say you want to write a book in the next year. And, you’re also working on building an Instagram following and writing guest posts for other blogs. On any given day, which of those activities is likely to get your attention and time? The one that offers a more immediate reward—posting on Instagram or someone’s blog. And the longer term project doesn’t progress. You may need to temporarily dial down the other goals.

Perhaps another, lingering project consumes much of your time. Can you bring it to a conclusion, or should you abandon it? Deciding when to quit is an important skill. The best time is usually earlier than you think, if it means that you start on a more important project sooner.

Don’t let the fact that you’ve put so much into it already keep you grinding away on something you wouldn’t choose to start again. That’s the sunk cost fallacy and it’s hard to shake.

What are you willing to part with—even temporarily—to make room for writing?

Letting go is hard

What if your life feels full already and there aren’t a lot of easy, obvious candidates for reclaiming time?

You may need to dispense activities you enjoy or projects you like. That can feel painful. (Like getting rid of that sweater you never wear but you loved when you bought.)

If you try to do everything, your life will feel like that overstuffed closet.

Image: Depositphoto – This is not my closet!

Find ways to dial back, gently, in service of your larger goals.

Start small. Even a big writing project can take shape with as little as 30 minutes a day. Don’t underestimate the magical power of a consistent writing practice.

Then, look for ways to preserve and protect that time. Here are a few options

Put guardrails on your social media time. (I’ve reclaimed the small amounts of time previously spent on Twitter/X.)Unsubscribe from emails or options that don’t help in meaningful ways. (You can resubscribe later if you miss them.)Block writing time on your calendar that cannot be filled with calls or meetings.Embrace JOMO

Here’s a mindset switch that may help if you find it hard to miss out on social media or other things. Replace Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) with Joy of Missing Out (JOMO).

Every time you unsubscribe or say ‘no’ to something that would distract you from your goal, celebrate it. You’re really saying “Yes” to the important work.

A couple years ago, I started a “No” notebook and made a note of every time I said “no” to a request that wasn’t a good fit for my goals. (I need to restart that.) Reward yourself for the strength by tracking it.

It can feel tremendously freeing to let go of things you’re doing for the wrong reasons.

Finding a balance

As you reallocate time for your writing, protect the sources of your health and creativity. Don’t steal time from these:

SleepExerciseTime with family/friendsRestorative activities: time in nature, reading, relaxing

If you’re not sure where you can find time to write, download this Time Audit sheet from The Writer’s Process Workbook. Look at how you’re spending your time now.

Does anything surprise you?Does the way you spend your time align with your values?Have your values shifted, without being reflected in your time?

If you do this work, you can probably carve out a bit of time for something that will give you joy.

Dive deeper (if you have the time)

Check out Annie Duke’s excellent book Quit on the power of quitting something at the right time.

Find more writing advice in The Writer’s Process Workbook.

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Me, too. I've been delving into how to optimize my writing practices for creativity and productivity, and I'm sharing what I've learned.\r\n\r\nSign up to get once-a-week posts by email.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"6":{"honeypot_save":""},"7":{"label":"Text","default_value":"<a href=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp.png\"><img class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3252\" src=\"http:\/\/annejanzer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/emaillogowp-150x50.png\" alt=\"email logo wp\" width=\"150\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a>Want to read more\u00a0posts like this?<\/strong><\/em> Sign up to receive writing posts by email, every other week.\u00a0You'll also receive a guide to overcoming common barriers to writing.","desc_el":"div","class":"","show_desc":"0","desc_pos":"none","desc_text":"","conditional":""},"8":{"label":"First 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Published on December 12, 2023 13:51