Which kind of reader are you? The kind who hates spoilers and is rabid about requiring “spoiler alerts” to protect you from accidentally discovering the ending or plot twists?Or are you the kind of reader who likes leaky plot spoilers. Or at least doesn’t mind learning about them.In case you...
What is Inspiration Anyway? A good working definition is: the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. My Own Humongous Inspiration It was 1970. San Francisco. I was visiting the public TV station, KQED, to research an article about a female producing group, Femmedia, who...
Steven Koch’s wisdom for writers is the same wisdom for all of us—honoring our natural dis-ease when we feel uncertain. It’s normal, part of all creative endeavors, all relationships. Life itself.The secret fear of fiction writers is that they are deficient, deficient in the ability to make up a story....
When we are writing, we are usually alone, even if we are in a crowd of Starbuck sippers. That’s an example of physical aloneness.But there’s an even greater aloneness. It’s the aloneness that comes with having no way, and no one who can tell us what is “right” and keep-able,...
Here is the false belief: “After I have more confidence, I’ll be able to do _______easily.” (Fill in the blank)That belief is the exact reverse order of cause and effect and a perfect example of “the tail wagging the dog,” and “the cart before the horse.”As a therapist, I see...
Do you ever ask yourself that question?What makes it possible to actually finish a piece of writing? I have so many friends and colleagues who doubt their ability to actually finish a writing piece. I hear, “I have seven short stories (or two novels, or lots of poems) that I...