Three ways journaling can boost your creativity and your businessWritten by Michele Pariza Wacek
I have a friend who has struggled with her creativity for a long time. She's extremely uncomfortable thinking of herself as "creative." We've been working together on it, and making progress. One of tools that's really helped her has been journaling.From Julia Cameron's The Artist Way to Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down Bones to Linda Trichter Metcalf, Ph.D. and Tobin Simon, Ph.D.'s Writing Mind Alive to numerous other publications, journaling has enjoyed a long history of creative-nurturing along with a host of other benefits. For my purposes, I'm defining journaling as any sort of loose, longhand writing. Whatever thoughts come into your head you put them down on paper. There's no structure, no form, nor concern about spelling or grammar or even legibility. Even if writing isn't your dream, incorporating a regular program of journaling into your life is a wonderful way to jump-start your creativity and cultivate a constant flow of new ideas. Here are three reasons why. 1. Helps you get rid of junk in your head. We all have it. Junk thoughts. Everything from self-defeating comments ("Oh, I'll never be good at that." or "Who told you that you could be a writer?") to "worry of moment" to neurosis of every type to ever-growing, constant to-do lists. Who can be creative with all that noise going on? For that matter, who could even hear a creative thought over all that racket? Journaling is a way to quiet mind. Writing all that junk down transfers it from your head to paper. Suddenly, you find you can actually think rather than simply react. The best part is this quiet lasts long after journaling is done for day. And if you journal frequently, then effect is cumulative. When I finish journaling, I find that I feel peaceful. Calm. Able to focus. The junk is gone, leaving space to be creative. 2. Gives you a chance to try new ideas. What better way to see if a new idea will work than to try it out on paper? You can write out pros and cons, describe a scenario, play "what if" games ("What if my new business was successful?" "What if I tried that new advertising campaign?" "What if I contacted editor at Money Magazine?"). And best part is it's all in a private little notebook that no one will ever have to see.
| | The Three Decisions Writers Must Make Before They Start A Book ProjectWritten by Marvin D. Cloud
First, bad news: there is no magic formula, potion or pill that will turn story idea in your head into a manuscript. Words will not automatically appear on paper. All of necessary elements for a “purpose-driven” book will not fall from sky and converge in your lap as a completed literary work. It is entirely up to you. The burden is on your shoulders. You are one who must do research, interview persons, recall conversations, develop an outline, create a draft, make your characters come to life, and keep readers interested enough to continuously turn to next page. The good news is, you can do it. Remember, whether you believe something is possible or not, you’re right. However, I invite you to follow this compelling model for effectively writing a personal bestseller: M.I.N.E. (Motivation + Inspiration + Narration + Eternization). The right reasons (motivation) move you (inspiration) to capture words on paper (narration) for future generations (eternization). But before you can get full impact of M.I.N.E., there are three commitments that you must make to yourself before you can make any progress in writing a book: 1. Make a decision to write. Since you have already thought about writing a book, there is really nothing else for you to think about. Stop thinking and start doing. Before you leave this page and before you finish this paragraph, make a decision to write. It can change your entire life. If you don’t take new action, you haven’t made a decision.
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