October Writing Coaching Nugget

Thoughts from my coaching sessions to help you create work -- and a writing life -- you love.

Often, when I flag an open question or a problem in a student’s work, I can feel the tension rise as they seek to solve it. Right. Away. 

It’s uncomfortable to have a missing puzzle piece. Our instinct is to reach for the first solution our brain offers up and try to jam it into place. 

But I also encourage writers to cultivate patience and trust. 

Those gaps are often the points where your work is poised to leap and transform. 

Trust that the answer is out there in the world -- or buried in your memory and intuition -- and that if you prime your subconscious to scan for it, it will reveal itself in good time.

The key to my play, Lizzy, Darcy and Jane, was tucked away in an essay about the Regency courtship practice of exchanging locks of hair — A piece I fortuitously read months into the revision process. It was waiting for me, and I had to wait for it. Waiting was scary -- especially with a production deadline fast approaching -- but the joy of finding the right answer was worth all the self-doubt and fear.

So what can you do stay energized and gently nudge the process forward?

✏️ Exercise. Writers often work out ideas while our bodies are in motion. 

✏️ Go to libraries and bookstores, or pick up random volumes on your bookshelf for inspiration. When you write, you are in conversation with the whole of the human written record. 

✏️Chat with trusted friends and writing buddies - writing is a personal commitment, but a communal pursuit. You were never meant to solve this alone.

✏️ Work on other projects, or other portions of your project. Sometimes, being stuck on one project, enables us to approach others with creative ease. I wrote Cycle -- a maverick comedy about a pole dancer that has been produced around the world -- on a writer's block break from a script I . . . uhm . . . still haven't completed.

Hope this serves someone today!

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PS - Feeling stuck? It helps to talk. Contact me to schedule a complimentary discovery call about how to get your ideas out of your head, onto the page and into the world.

“It has been very helpful getting feedback from someone who is new to what I do and I see you TOTALLY GET IT!”

Jenny Hammerton, author, Cooking with Columbo and silverscreensuppers.com