I’m pretty pumped about Sunday – and I hope you are too.
Normally my offline day, this Sunday I will be launching my first online course.
Called Nine Simple Steps to a Solid Writing Practice, it’s one that I’ve poured my heart into and that, I hope, will serve many would-be writers (like you?) who can’t quite get to the page – or who get there and then run quickly away, or who get there, spend six months working on a novel and abandon it before facing the first draft.
I’ve been there, many times, and have even been a wee bit there this fall.
So creating this course has also helped me – it’s reminded me of what I know as a creativity coach and it’s pushed me back to the books about writing that I love and the teachers who’ve taught me so much.
Teachers like Eric Maisel, creativity coach and writer, who I’ve studied with and who has this to say about writing and resistances (I keep this quote on my phone so it’s handy when I need a reminder):
…one crucial key to dealing with … resistance is raising whatever it is you claim to want to get done—lose weight, write your novel, etc.—to the “high bar” place of life purpose choice. It appears not to be quite enough to “want” to loss weight or write your novel: that intention needs to connect to a picture you are holding of what is genuinely important to you.
If nothing is—you won’t lose weight or work on your painting. You must decide about your life purpose choices; and until you do decide, it isn’t at all clear that you are living with sufficient purpose. If you are dealing with troubling resistance, try the approach of identifying your life purpose choices (your art making among them, no doubt!) and committing to living all of them.
If writing is part of your life purpose, why not take a chance on this course?
Nine short lessons (plus a bonus step) and accompanying assignments will lead you through creating a place to write, finding time, the importance of self-forgiveness, how to settle into creative work, learning to look back at a scary draft after you’ve written The End and a lot more.
As I do with any workshop I teach (check out some testimonials), I’ve focused on clearly expressing what I’ve learned about resistance, anxiety, going deep into the creative dream, finishing projects and more, and I’ve provided meaningful, creative exercises to help you put-into-practice what you’re learning.
I’ve shared about my own writing (and life), spoken about what’s worked and what hasn’t, and even talked a bit about my inspiring mom and her difficult journey to becoming an amazing visual artist.
So, seriously, if you want to start writing or write more, if you want a (gentle and contemplative and steady) kick in the butt, take this course.
What have you got to lose?
Scratch that: what have you got to gain?
I can answer that (from experience): finally getting to the creative work you’ve always felt called to do, making room for deeper meaning in your life. Plus, getting your story down on paper, committing to it and even finishing a draft (and not just to shove it in a drawer or leave it lingering on your hard drive).
This Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. CT, you can take advantage of a launch-day deal of fifty percent off (which ends at 7 p.m.). What this means: for less than the cost of dinner-and-drinks, you can start your Monday morning with a return to your creative work – and yourself.
Sign up to my blog to get more details (drop your email in that form to the right) or head on over to the course page. And come on by on Sunday to check out a sample lesson and get re-connected with your writing.