{"id":9055,"date":"2020-02-27T07:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/?p=9055"},"modified":"2020-02-26T13:52:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T20:52:19","slug":"finding-time-to-write","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/finding-time-to-write\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Time to Write"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Guest Blogger Bella Mahaya Carter writes about:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Cure for Writer\u2019s Block: Write without \u201cWriting\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of my students and clients tell me that they have a hard time finding the time to write. This is totally understandable. Our lives are busy. We have obligations and commitments we must fulfill, or face tangible consequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing is not like this. Nobody knows or cares if we don\u2019t write.\u00a0
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But people who have the urge (calling) to write and don\u2019t act on it often experience dissatisfaction, even angst. They feel like they have an itch they can\u2019t scratch.\u00a0Part of the problem\u2014what keeps people from sitting down to write\u2014is their own imagination. They\u2019ve made up stories about what \u201cwriting\u201d is\u00a0supposed\u00a0to look like. They assume they need to carve out huge chunks of time. They believe that they have to feel energized or inspired. They might envision their writing hurting people they love. They may worry they lack talent. They\u2019re convinced they have to know what they want to say, despite the fact that writers often have no idea what\u2019s on their minds until they\u2019ve written.\u00a0
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Drop Your Limiting Stories and Write Where You Are<\/strong>
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When you realize that these inner voices are keeping you from doing what you say you want to do\u2014write\u2014you get to\u00a0show up exactly as you are. This means you accept yourself and your circumstances, and instead of feeling like you have to stretch into some impossible, imagined version of yourself as a writer,\u00a0you take \u201cwriting\u201d off its pedestal, cradle it in both hands, and invite it into your crowded, messy, busy life.\u00a0
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Ask yourself these questions:\u00a0How can I make writing fit within the\u00a0real world\u00a0that is my life? How can I create\u00a0just a little bit of space\u00a0to write? Can I sit down and scribble in a journal for twenty or thirty minutes once or twice a week?\u00a0\u00a0How about fifteen minutes once a week?\u00a0Start small.\u00a0
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Some people don\u2019t think this qualifies as writing, but experienced writers know better. Small efforts taken over time become large. Minutes become hours, so have at it: dump thoughts out of your head and onto the page. Romp around. Have fun. Take your shoes off. Strip naked. No one\u2019s watching and there aren\u2019t any rules. Until you start to take this process seriously, at which point you might want to hit the pause button
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Writing Is Not Heavy<\/strong>
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Author\u00a0Jack Canfield\u00a0tells a story about his spiritual teacher pointing to a boulder in the woods and asking, \u201cIs that heavy?\u201d Jack replied that of course it was, to which his teacher said, \u201cIt\u2019s only heavy if you pick it up.\u201d Trick question? Maybe, but it serves as a lesson for writers:\u00a0Don\u2019t pick up and\u00a0carry\u00a0heavy thoughts that prevent you from writing.
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If you show up for yourself in this way\u2014even\u00a0once\u00a0a week\u2014you\u2019ll be writing without \u201cwriting,\u201d and effortlessly developing a practice. I advise people to work by hand at this stage, which ignites the heart-hand connection<\/strong>. Intimacy flourishes when we bring pen to paper. Author\u00a0Natalie Goldberg\u00a0says, \u201cJust because you can drive a car doesn\u2019t mean you should stop walking.\u201d Take one step at a time. Feel your way.
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Type and Edit Your Work<\/strong>\u00a0
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Once you\u2019ve developed a \u201cwriting without \u2018writing\u2019\u201d practice, you may want to expand that by devoting a small amount of time each week to typing up what you\u2019ve scribbled, editing as you go. When you feel like you\u2019ve shot your creative load with any given piece, set it aside. When you allow time to pass and come back to your work, you see it with fresh eyes. Edit some more. You\u2019ve no doubt heard the expression \u201cwriting is rewriting.\u201d
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Create Lists<\/strong>
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Keep lists of (a) journal entries that feel relevant or alive in some way that you\u2019d like to develop, (b) typed and edited pieces in process, and (c) places to send your work when it\u2019s ready.
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To recap, you\u2019re basically just showing up a couple times a week to scribble and play in your journal, and also devoting\u00a0one\u00a0hour a week to typing, editing, and developing ideas that surfaced during your playtime scribble session. With these two practices in place you are \u201cwriting without writing.\u201d But really, you\u2019re writing! Congratulations! Keep going.
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My dad used to say, \u201cIf you love your work, you\u2019ll never work a day in your life.\u201d I\u2019d like to add: If you don\u2019t think of what you do as \u201cWriting\u201d with a capital \u201cW,\u201d if you shift your thinking about what it means to write and\u00a0be\u00a0a writer, and allow yourself to have a good, long scribble, rant, or rave, free from ego demands or expectations, you will be living the \u201cwriting without \u2018writing\u2019 life\u201d\u2014and loving it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note from Marlene:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Write Spot Blog<\/a> as over 475 writing prompts<\/a> to spark your writing and places to submit<\/a> your writing. Good Luck!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bella Mahaya Carter<\/a><\/a> is an author, creative writing teacher, and empowerment coach, who helps writers (and others) experience greater freedom, joy, and peace of mind.

She believes in the power of writing to heal and transform lives, and views publishing as an opportunity to deepen self-awareness, nourish meaningful connections, and delight in peak experiences while being of service.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bella has been teaching and coaching for over a decade. Bella coaches\u00a0authors<\/a> one-on-one who are ready to take a deep-dive into their writing, or need help with a book proposal, or are navigating publishing decisions, book launches, promotional activities, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her memoir, \u201cRaw: My Journey From Anxiety to Joy<\/a>\u201d won a silver medal in the Mind, Body, Spirit category at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards,\u00a0sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association.\u00a0Aspire Magazine\u00a0selected Raw for its \u201cTop Ten Inspirational Books\u201d for June 2018, and Independent Publisher called it an \u201cIndie groundbreaking book.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note from Marlene:<\/strong> I highly recommend this book.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the publication of her memoir, Bella has become\nan Anxiety-to-Joy<\/a> coach. Readers reached out to her for\nhelp and she couldn’t turn them away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis work has chosen\u00a0me\u00a0and it\u2019s powerful. I\u2019ve gone from being a person paralyzed by an anxiety disorder\u2014afraid to leave my house\u2014to someone who teaches others how to holistically heal anxiety! I never planned this; life unfolds in mysterious ways, and I\u2019m both honored and grateful to be of service in this way.\u201d
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Bella\u2019s Blog<\/a> explores intersections between the writing life, spirituality, and personal transformation and growth. She writes about how to stay sane and joyful as a writer, from inspiration to publication, and beyond.\u00a0She is concerned with the whole-person\u2014body, mind, and spirit. Her posts include information about self-care, nourishment, mental health (especially anxiety), and more. She is a healer.



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Guest Blogger Bella Mahaya Carter writes about: A Cure for Writer\u2019s Block: Write without \u201cWriting\u201d Many of my students and clients tell me that they have a hard time finding the time to write. This is totally understandable. Our lives are busy. We have obligations and commitments we must fulfill, or face tangible consequences. Writing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[104],"tags":[732,1296,1190],"class_list":["post-9055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-bloggers","tag-bella-mahaya-carter","tag-raw-my-journey-from-anxiety-to-joy","tag-writing-freely-just-write-writing-prompts-the-write-spot-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43Dj8-2m3","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9055"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9059,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9055\/revisions\/9059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}