Write with TLC

Recently while looking for a way to address my waning ability to focus, I remembered a presentation on ways to get back on track when one's writing suffers I'd been asked to give a few years ago. I dug through my files and found it. As I read it, I realized many of the items could apply to anyone, not just writers, who felt overwhelmed, stuck, or discouraged while working on a project, but I also realized I've developed new techniques since.  So, before we start, let's take a moment. I'd tell you to close your eyes, but then you couldn't read the next part. Take a deep breath and exhale. Another one. Let go of your day. Focus your thoughts on a project that you're struggling to complete. Don't focus on the why, just on the project itself. Imagine it completed and how you feel. Imagine abandoning the project and how you feel. Imagine working on it and how you feel. Now, I suggest you close your eyes as you imagine all that again while you slowly inhale an...

Sometimes we're going about life and all seems to be running smoothly. The bills are paid. Work is going well. There's even a few dollars in the savings account. Family and friends are healthy and happy. Pets are doing well. We even have time to play. Life is working. We relax. We think "I could get used to this." Then boom... boom... boom... Life interrupts itself. Still, we're certain we can handle what's coming our way. This one thing and that one. It throws our schedule all wonky, but it's temporary. We can handle it. We know we can. We set up systems and plans and schedules because we know that's the best way to keep on track or at least stay close to on track. But... Life has other ideas. The next thing we know, our priorities have completely shifted and we're doing good to keep the basics done because life has decided all our planning is a joke. Life sets out to prove that all those ways we learned to cope with the expected unexpected won...