There are certain qualities we prize in the writing world. One of them is knowledge. It seems like we should know what we are getting ourselves into, right? Who respects a writer who seems aloof and doesn’t know what’s going on? Another quality we prize is humility. Surely we don’t want to become one of … Read more
The history of writing is replete with stories about authors who were rejected, but kept trying until they found success. Here’s just one example. A number of years ago, an aspiring author decided he wanted to write a book about the key personal decisions that determine personal success. Except he didn’t want to write it … Read more
In the Western world, we are used to jumping back in again right after we achieve something. We live in a workaholic culture that says our value is directly tied to our output. If you want to be valuable, you must constantly produce, right? That’s an unhealthy way to look at life. It’s also a … Read more
Over the last few days, we have been talking about developing a growth-oriented mindset. This is a mindset that is not fixed in place, but is instead flexible and ready to grow. After you have prepared by tilling the soil of your mind, planted by keeping track of your ideas, watered your mind by reading, … Read more
In the previous weekday episodes, we have talked about activities that will help you maintain a growth mindset as a writer. We have talked about preparing, planting, watering, and pruning. Now we come to harvesting, which is simply creating the words. The previous actions, if you do them consistently, make it much easier to write. … Read more
As you continue to grow in your writing skills, your connections, and your influence, you will have more and more opportunities. This is both a good and bad thing. Opportunities are wonderful! You can write for more outlets or reach more readers with your own writing. With this expanded influence and connection also comes the … Read more
As we talked about yesterday, you need to have a system where you can plant or store all the thoughts, information, and ideas you will use as raw material for writing. And while that is an important start, you need to water these tiny seeds so they can grow into something useful. We have a … Read more
We have been talking about the importance of a growth mindset. If we look at growth as a natural byproduct of good habits we practice on a regular basis, the first habit is preparing the soil of your mind. The second one is planting. We writers deal with thousands of seeds. Those seeds are ideas. … Read more
Everyone who has ever planted anything knows that you can’t just throw seeds on the ground. You must prepare the soil. Otherwise, the soil won’t be ready to receive the seeds. The seeds will die and all the effort and future potential will have been wasted. Your creative mind works the same way. It can’t … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I hosted my first Daily Writer Retreat in St. Charles, Missouri. Although the Daily Writer Club has been active for nearly two years, I had never considered hosting a retreat until a few months ago. Why? Because I knew it was a lot of work to put together a great … Read more