A Creativity Summit for Healthcare Professionals, Healers and Anyone Looking to Reduce Burnout or Stress and Enjoy Life
It’s always exciting to hear from writers I’ve worked with in the past. This week, Hisla Bates, MD wrote to let me know about her creativity summit: Healer Heal Yourself! Reduce Burnout, Discover Your Creativity While You Heal Others. As Dr. Bates wrote me, “It is a summit that will inspire you to infuse creativity into your work and your day. Art and Creativity are healing modalities that can bring more joy and happiness to your life.” Summits are a great way for aspiring and emerging authors/writers to grow their community, develop an email list of engaged subscribers and connect… Read more
Teaching Book Writing Under Novel Conditions
Teaching Book Writing Under Novel Conditions I’ve been resting my shoulder and arm due to what I finally discovered is a rotator cuff injury. I’ve been afraid to see any doctors given the risk of being in a medical-related facility. So I put off calling my doctor for three weeks. I know, a bit crazy, but also somehow careful, right? I still hadn’t discovered Google Docs voice, so I typed the occasional email one handed and did little other work besides supporting the emerging authors in my book writing program, which has been an education in itself. Many of the… Read more
Can We Still Be Celebrating in the Time of Pandemic?
No matter how old I get, I always look forward to my birthday. I love celebrating, being celebrated, connecting with friends and family, and I love presents. It helps that my birthday is in the spring when the first daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, and tulips break ground and bloom. This year, my eager anticipation felt muted by current events and thoughts of the hardships many people are going through. The night before my birthday, at the end of a conference call, my colleague Joshua Home Edwards announced my birthday. It felt good to be recognized. Knowing that this year might feel… Read more
Book Title, Audience and How Niche is Nice
Do you have questions about your book title, the audience for your book, and how niche or broad to go? Last December, in the bonus call for my Fast Track Your Book Proposal course, participants got to ask their questions of Michael Larsen, co-author of How to Write a Book Proposal (now in its 5th edition). The highlight of the call was when Mike gave specific advice to each person on the call. He had some great ideas for book titles and gave a good reminder that, when coming up with a title, “Don’t sell the problem. Sell the solution.”… Read more
Tips for Clearing the Mind of Negativity in Order to Create
We often need to clear our minds of negativity in order to create. As writers and creatives, the negative thoughts that hurt our creativity tend to focus around perfectionism, self-doubt, not feeling “good enough,” worry about what others will think. “No one will want to read this.” “It’s not original enough.” “It’s boring.” “I can’t do this; it’s too big a project” The truth is, though, that we are creative beings, meant to create, and these thoughts block our very vitality and life force. So, what can you do to clear your mind? “Mental Detox” Kristin Meekhof offers a variety… Read more
You Are Invited to a FREE Creativity Workshop
Ready for a free creativity workshop? As you may know, I’m working on a book that helps you consistently access a state of creative flow. And I’ve refined by 5 Steps for “writing in the zone” to incorporate my new insights. At a focus group meeting, two long-term clients suggested I call this new iteration the “TENER Method” for creative flow. The whole group gave that a thumbs up, so I sat with it and it grew on me! And now, I’m ready to share it. For free. In a creativity workshop. On Zoom. I don’t want to wait for… Read more
9 Ways to Connect with the Creative Muse
Do you know how to consistently connect with the creative muse? Probably my favorite activity in working with clients is guiding them in my signature “Meet Your Muse” guided visualization. We journey from meadow to woods to a clearing and a little building inside which the muse, a symbol of their creative source, awaits. Questions for Your Creative Muse We come with questions: Which book to write? Who are my readers? What’s blocking me and how do I get unstuck? How do I find my voice? How to get over my self-doubt? Is this the right timing (to write it,… Read more
5 Ways to Get Unstuck: In Writing, Creativity and Life
Looking for Ways to Get Unstuck in Your Writing, Creativity or Life? This time of year, in the Northeast, it’s especially easy to get creatively stuck. It’s cold outside. We hunker down, watch more TV, skip yoga class, eat chocolate… I’ll write tomorrow. I’ll exercise later. And it’s downhill from there. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Winter can be an especially inspiring time if you know how to get unstuck. How? 5 Ways to Get Unstuck #1: Change Your Environment I do my book coaching, teaching and much of my editing from my in-home office that doubles… Read more
How to Write a Book Quickly — and Make it Exceptionally Good
In my Bring Your Book to Life® Program, I teach how to write a book quickly. A quality book, of course. And quickly is a relative term. We’re not doing it in a weekend! Start at the Beginning to Write a Book Quickly I just love beginnings—getting in touch with the vision of a book, thinking deeply about future readers, seeing what’s possible. So, I’m having a ball meeting with the participants in Bring Your Book to Life® as they embark on an 8-12 week journey of writing their books swiftly, many planning to complete a first draft by the… Read more
Answers to 32 of Your Book Writing and Publishing Questions
In the past couple of weeks, I held two book writing and publishing seminars (Bring Your Book to Life® in 2020) to help participants get started on their books (or get reinvigorated on a book project that’s stalled). Thanks to Sam Bennett for hosting one of them! I received over 35 varied and excellent questions about writing and publishing books and could only answer a handful on the calls. And I promised to answer the rest on my blog. Ready? Here we go… “When to write?” There’s no one answer to this question, but writing very first thing in the… Read more
Harvard Medical School’s CME Writing and Publishing Course
Many of the most successful authors I work with have attended Harvard Medical School’s writing and publishing course. And you may have read my recent interview with the course director Julie Silver, MD, who shared many of the areas that the course is branching out into, such as writing and publishing op/eds, podcasting and how to ramp up your speaking career. In today’s post, I interview past attendee Carla Naumburg, PhD, author of How to Stop Losing Your S**t with Your Kids, and three other excellent books on parenting. Enjoy Dr. Naumburg’s insights on the power of this course for… Read more
“How Do I Connect with My Creative Muse?”
Karin’s creative muse showed up as a bee How to Connect with the Creative Muse In many of my private consultations and classes, including “Writing in the Zone” and “Bring Your Book to Life(R),” I lead participants through a guided visualization to “Meet Your Creative Muse.” What’s a Muse and Why Connect? Think of your Muse as the creative aspect of yourself, that inner source of creativity that just “knows things.” Your Creative Muse knows from deep inside your heart and soul, beyond all the constraints and perceived limitations of the ego. I love this work with the inner Muse…. Read more
8 More Reasons to Write a Book This Year
. If you’ve follow my blog, you may have read my post or free ebook, 40 Reasons to Write a Book. 8 More! For the new year, and in preparation for next week’s “Bring Your Book to Life in 2020” free training call, I came up with a few new reasons to write a book. I hope they inspire you. You can find the obvious reasons (and some nifty, out-of-the-box reasons as well) in my free downloadable ebook, 40 Reasons to Write a Book. Here’s some new inspiration: To get in touch with the essence of your mission and message…. Read more
Conversing with the Creative Muse
If you’ve worked with me or followed my blog for some time, you’ve probably heard me talk about the muse—an archetype for our creative source. You may have also experienced the guided visualization I sometimes take writers through to receive clarity about their writing and creativity, experience a creative breakthrough or determine their next step. I call the exercise, “Meet Your Muse.” I often ask my writing coach to take me through my Meet Your Muse exercise so I can easily access my deeper answers about my work. A recent example came just days after leading Leadership Coach Amanda Madorno… Read more
Author Cara Bradley on Speaking, Podcasting & the Doors that Open for a Published Author
Browsing recent posts on LinkedIn, I came upon Cara Bradley’s podcast. It’s always exciting for me to see what happens after a client’s book gets published. It’s especially so when the author dives into book promotion and related activities with the kind of gusto Cara Bradley brings to it. I asked Cara to share her experience both to inspire you, and also to help you think about the kinds of activities that might go into your promotion plan and the business plan for your book. Some of Cara’s advice plays well into some of the content of your book as… Read more
Life, Writing and Presence Amidst the Holiday Mayhem
A couple of weeks ago, my office looked like this: And my kitchen table looked like this: Can you relate? If not to the mess, at least to the feeling of overwhelm that comes with it during the holidays? Especially if you’re also working on writing a book! I’d scheduled with Jess for an extra cleaning/organizing day that week–one to do her usual house cleaning and the second to address and stuff holiday envelopes, wrap and pack gifts (and the all important labeling due to my messy handwriting), and help make those surfaces (table, desk, floor) visible once again…. Read more
