by Marcia Yudkin Having coached scores of writers over more than 30 years, I’ve observed that they often struggle for two reasons: They tend to fight their inborn tendencies rather than accommodating them, and they have an overly rigid idea of how writing needs to take place. Have you triedContinue Reading
Can you find just 30 minutes to write? Your life is crazy. It’s hard to find time to write. We’ve all been there. True time management requires a number of skills, and a thorough knowledge of the self. You have to understand your own weaknesses when it comes to wastingContinue Reading
The giveaway has passed, but these handwarmers are still highly recommended! The sky is glowing at Writing and Wellness! About three years ago, I wrote a post about some handwarmers my mom had found for me at a farmer’s market. They were handmade, and she thought I might find themContinue Reading
Working from a home office has equaled some weight gain due to lower activity levels, but I do use the apps My Fitness Pal and Runtastic to track daily calories when I want to lose a few pounds. It’s easy to delude one’s self and not think about how unhealthyContinue Reading
Are you a highly sensitive writer? Do you know what “highly sensitive” is? I didn’t until I read The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron. Wow. What an eye-opener. If you’ve ever been told that you’re “too sensitive” and you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend you do.Continue Reading
Living with manic depression and anxiety, the biggest physical challenge for me being a writer is finding a healthy balance between being still, managing anxiety, exercise, and writing. I also have sciatica, so back strengthening exercise is extremely important. It can painful to sit for long hours at a time.Continue Reading
I’ve been reading lately about laptop dangers. I do all my fiction writing and blog writing on it, and I take it with me everywhere. My desktop gets a great workout on my freelance projects and submissions, but for just about everything else, I’m on my laptop. Imagine my dismay,Continue Reading
My left hand likes to protest typing, as loudly as possible. Five years ago, I went to a physical therapist for lymphedema that resulted from surgery for breast cancer. While undergoing physical therapy, I mentioned that my hand had been hurting a great deal—I thought it was related to theContinue Reading
How can you attain optimal creativity in your writing life? It’s all about motivation. Think for a moment: What motivates a person to want to climb Mount Everest? The task is difficult, near brutal, and several people have died doing it. I wondered why someone would spend all the moneyContinue Reading
When I was writing my first novel, I gave little thought to my physical health—how I was sitting, the postage-stamp size of my desk, if in fact squinting down at a screen with hunched shoulders was a good idea. I had two small children and an urgent need to getContinue Reading
Are you in a writing funk? You may not have noticed it creeping up on you. Then one day, you’re no longer excited about your writing. You may go so far as to say that you don’t really care if you write or not. What’s going on? Should you beContinue Reading
by Ulrike Selleck When I was five years old, I drowned. While my friend and her mom desperately tried to fish my lifeless body out of the water, I actually had the most amazing, beautiful, light-filled, and cozy experience. I experienced where I lived, who I really was, had been,Continue Reading