333 Permission Slips for Writers and Other Creatives: Your Gentle Support Companion
This book is for writers who want to be more courageous, authentic, and kind to themselves when they get stuck, frustrated, or overwhelmed. I want this book to give you a new way to talk to yourself when fears or doubts arise, and in moments of loneliness, confusion, or despair.
How long does it take you to write a book? How long does each stage of the process usually take?
With my last three books, I tend to draft the manuscript by hand in the summer months, sitting outside. I seem to self-edit and work with my beta readers in the fall, then work with my editor and book artists in the winter-spring, and share the book in the summer. Each season gives the book the energy that it needs.
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What is your favourite type of character to write?
My last five books were non-fiction and self-help, but when I was younger, I really enjoyed writing a book for children with the main character being a naughty and brave little cartoonish creature. I imagine that I would enjoy writing this kind of funny, cartoonish characters for children's books.
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What do you do when you find yourself in a bit of a writing rut? Is there any strategy you find works for you to help the words start flowing again?
As a writing coach, I am privileged to be working with many diverse writers, so I learn from each one of them about their process and approach. This fuels mine, and I'm always enjoying different experiments in my writing process because the ease and joy are non-negotiable. I would sometimes read a page in a book by a writer who inspires me, and that restarts my engines fairly instantly. Writing is the love of my life, and I struggle to struggle with it. I am very curious about writer's block and have identified 15 culprit thoughts that usually cause writer's block.
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What is something you wish you had known earlier on in your writing career?
I wish I had known how much fun writing could be when we begin to write from a place of courage and honesty. My inner critic used to be so loud and obnoxious that all I could feel was stress and worry about how my words will be received by others. Writing was a tight and narrow place full of self-judgment, self-criticism, and anxiety. I missed the point. And the point is the joy of creating and sharing ourselves in openness, and vulnerability. This fosters both a genuine connection and a strange kind of freedom.
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What is your favourite writing resource?
My community of writers, virtual and physical. It's our live gatherings and vulnerable sharings over the years that propel each of us forward, challenge our thinking, invite us to play and experiment. I also love reading writing craft books by Julia Cameron, Natalie Goldberg, Bonni Goldberg, Peter Elbow, Ira Progoff, Stephanie Dowrick, Susan Zimmermann, etc.
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What's next for your writing?
Somehow, after years of writing books for writers, I feel a need to take a pause. I feel called to use my voice more than my quill, so I'm going to pause with writing and focus on turning my new book into an audio book first. And then I want to start speaking more and to explore writing poetry. I'm happy to remain suspended for a while and to see what inspires me to take the next step.
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