Following on swiftly from yesterday’s sluggish start to my blogging year, here’s something a bit more positive and useful.
A) A picture of a happy pig.
B) A list of five ideas and links that may inspire you and help you find your creative groove if that’s something you’re struggling with right now:
1. Writer Revealed: head over to Instagram for daily five-minute writing exercises from professional writer and creative writing tutor Liz Ferretti, who has helped hundreds of writers reach their creative potential. Liz’s intuitive and gentle approach encourages people to discover what kind of writer they are and what works for them.
2. For The Interested: This blog and newsletter, created and curated by writer Josh Spector, is like a curiosity shop for ideas and unusual and interesting topics and issues sourced from around the web. There’s always something to inspire, to encourage readers to dig deeper or see something from a different perspective. Crucially, it’s full of material if you’re stuck for ideas.
3. How To: Not Give Up: in this blogpost, I give my own tips on how to keep going when things get tough. This one explains why showing up regularly is the key to productivity. Obvious, but the best ideas usually are. And yes, I am currently following my own advice LOL.
4. The Terrified Writer podcast: You are not alone! If you haven’t already, download or stream any one (or all ten) of the first series of The Terrified Writer podcast (formerly Life Is Scary). The link takes you to iTunes, but it’s also available here and on Soundcloud. On it I discuss fears, creativity and a whole load of stuff completely unrelated, sometimes with myself and sometimes with guests. So take a break, have a listen and feel reassured that it’s not just you!
5. The Artist’s Way: yes, I do bang this drum quite a lot, don’t I? Well there’s a reason for it. If you’re sick of hearing about it and would rather stick pins in your eyes than hear me prattle on about it AGAIN for the 45 millionth time, I get that. If this is you, allow me to present Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Which I may have also mentioned, but perhaps only about 22 million times. Look, the point is, books like this are like Marmite. They’re full of goodness but you only need them in small doses. Or something like that. Anyway, they’re helpful, they’re effective if you follow the exercises. But they’re not for everyone so I’ll shut up about them (for the rest of this post, at least).
Good luck with your writing, or whatever your creative endeavour. I’d love to know what inspires you or what helps you to get back in the saddle after a break so please do leave a comment below or get in touch via email.
Thank you so much for stopping by and reading. Ax