Archive for February, 2009
Posted on February 5, 2009 - by Sharon Lindenburger
My interview with Sue Shockley, founder of itsyourturnforsuccess.com
Please click the link on my Blog page to hear the interview.
Listen to my interview with Sue here
In the past week I had the great pleasure of meeting Sue Shockley and her wonderful and interesting site http://itsyourturnforsuccess.com
Through the new Coaching Directory on her site, Sue is creating an environment for coaches to connect with each other and for prospective clients to find the type of coach they’re looking for. One of the highlights of Sue’s site is that she is doing a series of recorded interviews, called “Presenting a Talented Coach” to showcase coaches’ areas of expertise. I am very privileged to have been chosen by Sue for one of the series’ interviews. By being the third interview on her new site, I found myself in the company of Bob Doyle, one of the impressive teachers in The Secret, and popular Life Coach Rick German–their interviews are up on Sue’s site, and mine is there too!
Sue and I talked about the process of writing a book, how writing books help coaches, consultants, and thought leaders extend their expertise to reach out to readers all over the world and expand their business, and the state of the publishing industry in general. Sue gave me a great opportunity to talk about what I do, how I do it, and my great passion for the world of books and the sharing of wisdom.
Sue, it is an honor to be one your interviewees! One of the things I plan to do in the near future is to create some podcasts all about the nuts and bolts of writing and the book world. Sue certainly whetted my appetite for this!
Posted on February 5, 2009 - by Sharon Lindenburger
That “P” word
For a writer, procrastination is a form of writer’s block. If you’re sitting there in front of your computer screen or with a blank page open in your journal, and nothing comes to you that you want to put onto that page, chances are you’re going to find something else to do.
You’ll clean the fridge, go out for a coffee, do your taxes, walk the dog. Now all of these may be useful activities but if you’re doing them as a way to avoid writing, they are a mask for your fear of the blank page. Many writers, when they scratch underneath the surface of procrastination, find that they’re having a crisis of confidence. Writing can make writers feel so vulnerable and naked. Some days it seems like self-doubt and writing go hand in hand.
Here is a great way to break through procrastination I learned from Elizabeth Ayres, a superb creative writing teacher in New York. Her book, Writing the Wave, is one of the best books I have ever come across about the process of writing. I love the anti-procrastination exercise in the book. It goes like this:
For example, when I did this exercise, one of my major ways of procrastinating when I’m feeling writer’s block is to go hang out with a good friend of mine who owns an art gallery. I’ll enjoy sitting there, sipping a glass of wine (or maybe two) and effectively play hooky from the words awaiting me on my computer screen.
When I considered the sentence “Writing is more pleasurable than hanging out at the art gallery” here’s the reason my subconscious came up with…”because I’m watching my friend do his job and feeling guilty about not doing mine and so if I do my writing, I’ll be in the same groove he is, getting something done.”
Another way I procrastinate is by going to Starbucks for a latte. So I wrote “Writing is more pleasurable than going to Starbucks for a latte because a latte has lots of calories and though it has a great flavor, it disappears pretty fast, but with writing there’s actually something to show for it, and THEN I can go have my latte.”
Try it. Allow your subconscious to come up with a reason why every way you have of procrastinating is not as pleasurable as writing. It works! It breaks the log-jam and fear, and gets you writing again!
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