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- “The Words” – a story of a blocked writer telling a story about a plagiarized story.
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Tag Archives: writing habit change
I’ll be teaching a Continuing Studies class at Stanford University, beginning September 24th
I am pleased to announce I will be teaching a five-week class through Stanford’s Continuing Education Program beginning on Monday, September 24, 2012 entitled: “Overcoming Writing Blocks and Procrastination.” Registration begins in late August. This class will be limited to 30 participants … Continue reading
Posted in Common Writing Block Problems, Feedback and criticism, PhD and dissertation/thesis writing issues, The Blocked Writer's Book of the Dead, Tips for overcoming writer's block and procrastination
Tagged anxiety and writing, avoid writing, Mental Health and writing, writer's block, writing advice, writing habit change
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The Tibetan Book of the Dead weighs in on Procrastination
“O procrastinating one, who thinketh not of the coming of death, Devoting thyself to the useless doings of this life, Improvident art thou in dissipating thy great opportunity; Mistaken, indeed, will thy purpose be now if thou returnest empty-handed (without … Continue reading
PhD writing block blog posts
Many graduate student Internet surfers find this blog when they enter search terms related to working on their PhD and dissertation. I know there is a lot of pain and anguish that goes into completing a doctoral program, and several … Continue reading
“I want to write, but I don’t write”……is this because you “contain multitudes.”?
The potential causes of writing blocks are multitudinous. We humans are complex, multifaceted organisms who are occasionally, or frequently, pushed and pulled by contradictory impulses. Such as wanting to write and not doing it. Walt Whitman offers something helpful in … Continue reading
Did Dirty Harry actually say “Make my day, punk. Write something now!”?
Many blocked writers have told me that they can only write when there is a gun to their head. The gun is typically a deadline that generates abject fear and unspeakable dread. I find it interesting that word ‘deadline’ has … Continue reading
Many a blocked writer languishes on the “Procrastination Wheel of Suffering”
Above is a visual depiction from my book of the process of procrastination. It is a summary of the patterns I frequently see in blocked writers, and based loosely on the Buddhist “Wheel of Samsara,” which depicts the cyclic, self-perpetuating nature of human suffering. … Continue reading
Posted in Common Writing Block Problems, Mental health and writing blocks, The Blocked Writer's Book of the Dead, Tips for overcoming writer's block and procrastination
Tagged procrastination, procrastination wheel of suffering, writer's block, writing advice, writing deadlines, writing habit change
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Julia Cameron, “The Artist’s Way”, morning pages and writing blocks
Julia Cameron’s best-selling book, The Artists Way, is packed with good ideas for struggling artists of all stripes, one of which is the “morning pages.” Simply put, Cameron recommends a practice of writing three stream of consciousness pages every day. … Continue reading
Not so elementary, Watson: Sleuthing the origins of writing problems
Regarding writing productivity problems, I believe it was Sherlock Holmes who said,”It’s not so elementary, my dear Watson.” If he did not say these precise words, he should have. As with any unsolved mystery, sometimes we need to study the … Continue reading
Buddhist mindfulness meditation might help your writing productivity, but it’s easy to procrastinate about meditating too
Numerous western writers have been inspired in their work by Buddhism. The list includes authors Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginzburg, Natalie Goldberg, Robert Pirzig, Alan Watts, Peter Mathiessen…and many more. Whatever connection these authors found between Buddhism and their … Continue reading
Better writing productivity through chemistry? Marcus Boon’s “The Road of Excess”
Marcus Boon’s book,“The Road of Excess” chronicles the chemically induced altered state habits of a number of famous writers. Boon discusses the history of anesthetics, narcotics, psychedelics, cannabis and stimulants within the literary world. The stimulants are the drugs he … Continue reading
Posted in Common Writing Block Problems, Famous writers, The Blocked Writer's Book of the Dead, Tips for overcoming writer's block and procrastination
Tagged coffee and writing, depression, Famous writers, Mental Health and writing, motivation to write, writing blocks, writing drugs, writing habit change, writing productivity
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