Developing a Writer’s Mindset

Developing a Writer’s Mindset

Why Can’t I write my Book? Developing a Writer’s Mindset It is not often that writers lack ideas or technical ability to ‘write the damn book’. Often the reasons are psychological and can be greatly assisted by putting some effort into creating your very own Writer-Friendly Mind. Who needs this? It is not only those writers driven with a desire to write a novel that they have burning inside of them who are struggling with their books – or those who, having achieved the success of publication are now under pressure to do it again. It can be the new writers or commercial or academic writers. If someone wants to be known as an expert in their field; the ‘go to’ person, everyone’s favourite on LinkedIn – then it helps to have written a book “ah, yes, I mention this in my book”. The room gasps. All eyes turn to look at her. She’s written a book! Your Writing Mind This is where it can help to consider the idea of mindset and what you can do about it. You may have heard of the theory of mindsets (Dweck, 2006) which focused on the possibility of growth through learning and struggle. This well-researched concept sees people as malleable – which is further supported by research evidencing that our brains remain plastic ‘neuroplasticity’ and that we continue to develop and grow and can put in place practices to assist this process. What does all this mean for you and your book? In his brilliant book, the Science of Storytelling, Will Storr begins “We know how this ends. You’re going to...
How Can I be a Better Writer?

How Can I be a Better Writer?

Sarah sits alone at her desk, it is dark outside and her desk lamp seems to make the glare of her failure even greater; the suffering of a writer is a lonely, painful, unspoken one.  Often plagued by self-doubt, highly skilled at procrastination and with very tight shoulders to boot, she gets up and paces around the room.  The last coffee did not provide inspiration as she had hoped but merely induced feelings of anxiety.  ‘I am never going to be able to do this.  I’m no good at this.  Who am I kidding, I am a terrible writer’ are the words she uses to articulate her response to the emotions and sensations she is feeling.  Does any of this sound familiar to you? Here is the good news You do not need to try and rid yourself of those ‘negative’ emotions.  Struggle is a natural part of life and each of those negative thoughts probably has a positive partner.  Sarah doubts her work because she cares about it.  She procrastinates because she is afraid – again showing that this is important to her, so much so it is frightening. So, what do we do with this perpetual struggle then? Imagine you are in a boat sailing towards your perfect life on an island where everything that you want is there – all of your goals, all that you most long for.  Now, on that boat are some demons, they will not hurt you but they are very very frightening.  As you sail towards the island, as soon as you get near, the demons appear – terrifying you and...