Every Monday morning, I go LIVE on Facebook to talk about the creative mindset. Following the gorgeous quote by Anais Nin – Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage – I talk about fear, cultural and family conditioning, and, of course, courage in this first video.
Remember Sherrie McCarthy from Creative Mermaids? The author and creative mermaid afloat with her family somewhere in the world (I believe she is in Tobago right now!)? She is back, and this time with her brand-new the Creative Spirits podcast, which she hosts together with Kate Darnell.
Sherrie is a passionate believer in the power of creativity to heal and when she is not writing about samurais and yokai as Lynn Francis, she is instead encouraging and helping others make their creative dreams come true through her coaching and nonfiction books and, since recently, the Creative Spirits podcast!
Kate is a published author, meditation teacher, spiritual guide, and moon goddess, loving life in Australia. She describes her first book Letters To A Tibetan Monk as thoughts shared with a fragment of her soul. Kate is on a mission to support women to live in true alignment with their heart and soul’s deepest desires. Kate’s business Gumboots by the Sea spiritually guides women in healing, empowerment, online meditation classes, and online group and individual moon mentoring. Her passion is to infuse positively, abundance, flow, magic, love, and joy in as many women’s lives as possible.
The Creative Spirits podcast is about embracing the NOW and celebrating, living, being, and having it all as spiritual and creative beings—no matter how messy or crazy your world may seem. Together, we encourage and empower creatives to live a creative and spiritual life by sharing our real-life experiences as we invested in our own healing, claimed out titles as writers, and embraced spirituality, all the while remaining true to us, the mess, and our own stories.Read More →
After my first NaNoWriMo, and experiencing first-hand how motivating it was to see my daily progress, I was desperate to find a good way to keep track of my writing once November was over. First, I printed a calendar and kept track through that, but I soon forgot to write down my word count, especially on those nights I stayed up late, had to walk over to my bookcase, grab the calendar…
Once I realised an actual calendar wasn’t working for me, I tried to create my own Excel sheet, and while I was trying to get those formulas right (Excel isn’t really my forte), John Robin, the author of the Your Daily Journal: 100 Day Starter, mentioned his Awesome Daily Writers Spreadsheet in our NaNoWriMo accountability group, and did I want to join that perhaps? I’ll admit I still don’t understand the way the Spreadsheet keeps score, but I always add my word count at the end of a writing session now! I do still struggle with writing every day, which you will see if you join us, and which John never fails to remind me of 😉
The Awesome Daily Writers Spreadsheet is an alternative to NaNoWriMo for writers who want to write a bit every day and not stress over word count. It helps writers see the big picture and seed a habit that defines a career, not just get through a novel.
In a D&D-style scoring system, you’re rewarded experience points based on what you write each day, which add up to raise your level over time. You can see what other writers on the sheet are doing, which often gives you that added motivation to spend more time writing than you’d otherwise think to.
Most competitive spreadsheets involve minimum word counts. For example, the Magic Spreadsheet requires a minimum quota of 250 words / day, which increases every time you ‘level up’ (inevitable as you keep writing). In many writers, this creates a sense of guilt or competitiveness that throws the whole balance of life out of whack.Read More →
Hello, everyone!
Yes, I moved the interview to this week instead of last week, because I was busy updating my website and mailing list so that they are in line with the GDPR regulations that are coming into force…tomorrow!
I’m all set now, and ready to introduce you to John Robin, author of the recently published Your Daily Journal: 100 Day Starter
After working for many years in academia and adult education, John left his job to pursue his dreams as a writer. Having cut his teeth as an editor at a small publishing company, John decided that, while he worked hard to prepare his debut novel, he would build a book production business to help connect self-publishing authors with editing, cover, design, and marketing services based on the traditional model. He presently is the creative director, senior editor, and production manager for his company and oversees a team of twelve.
As a writer, John’s commitment to the craft has put him on course for a debut epic fantasy novel, A Thousand Roads (January 9, 2019). He also enjoys writing nonfiction, as an instructor for the lifelong learning website Highbrow, and recently as author of Your Daily Journal: 100 Day Starter
When he’s not writing, John enjoys reading, listening to educational podcasts, playing chess, recreational mathematics, drawing trees or maps with pen, creating vector graphic artwork (mostly fractals), working with textiles, playing classical piano (especially Beethoven and Chopin), long distance running and strength training, gardening, long walks, serially watching his way through TV series’ in the evenings, board game nights with friends, and of course…pandering to the whims of his cat, Wizard, who is the true muse behind his stories.
about?
Good Friday, everyone! Can you believe it’s April already? Can you believe we’re almost halfway through the first NaNoWriMo of the year already?! I swear, the older I get, the faster time runs by. Anyway, let me introduce you to Jannie Mitzeiko Harvey, who is so generous to share with us something no writer can do without…
Flexible like a bamboo, adaptable like water, and always in pursuit of quality work and innate personal happiness—these are among a few things that describe Jannie. With the mantra of ‘Time can never be turned back’, combined with her passion for reading and writing, she supports overwhelmed authors with their administrative and marketing tasks so they can focus on what authors love to do: write!
During her spare time, she plans on her next travel, fangirls over her favourite Japanese idol group, Arashi, and saves money for her cat sanctuary. Check out her website here, or follow her on Facebook.
Hi! I’ve recently created the Project Development Planner for Writers. It’s a planner specifically designed for the writer. I offer it for free, which is my way of giving back to the community.
