On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog, author Jeanne Kisacky shared advice on accepting and processing criticism. Here’s an excerpt from that post:

When you receive the critique, don’t just dive in as soon as you get it. Set aside a quiet chunk of time, sufficient to get through all the critique in one session (if possible), and then just read the comments. You will feel emotions while you read the reviewer’s responses; some positive, but many possible negative ones as well. I have been angry, delighted, depressed, affronted, despondent, entertained, even incensed after reading criticism. It’s normal. Criticism is hard to take. Tackling edits while in the thrall of that emotional response is a great way to get off track and subvert the tone of the writing.

Once you’re done reading the comments, set them aside and do something, anything, other than re-reading your draft or trying to start revising. Go for a walk. Do the dishes. Do some gardening. Do whatever activity lets your mind wander. Do this for a day or two, or for as long as it takes for your brain to process the criticism. Let the criticism sink in, let it percolate. This breathing space lets you weigh what you wanted the book to be against what you just found out wasn’t working. It also gives you the chance to refine your own understanding of your work, so that you don’t lose the heart and soul of it while revising based on someone else’s comments. In my experience, if you jump right into revisions, chances are you are going to go some wrong directions, because you need the time to internalize their comments and figure out how to fix the stated problem your way, not their way.

You can read the rest of the blog post here.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

When I was a high school freshman, a 260-pound freshman girl showed up for track and field tryouts right alongside me. Her name was Sara, and she was only there because her doctor said her health depended on it. But once she scanned the crowd of students who were on the field, she turned around and began walking away. Coach O’Leary saw her, jogged over, and turned her back around.

“I’m not thin enough for this sport!” Sara declared. “And I’ll never be! It’s impossible for me to lose enough weight. I’ve tried.”

Coach O’Leary nodded and promised Sara that her body type wasn’t suited for her current weight. “It’s suited for 220 pounds,” he said.

Sara looked confused. “Most people tell me I need to lose 130 pounds,” she replied. “But you think I only need to lose 40?”

Coach O’Leary nodded again.

Sara started off as a shot-put competitor, but spent every single afternoon running and training with the rest of the track team. She was very competitive, and by the end of our freshman year she was down to 219 pounds. She also won 2nd place in the countywide shot-put tournament that year. Three years later, during our senior year, she won 3rd place in the 10K county run. Her competitive weight at the time was 132 pounds.

There was a time when Sara was convinced that it was impossible to lose weight because, in her past experience, it had never worked out the way she had hoped. She had failed a few times and eventually lost faith in herself. But with consistency — with the right daily habits and willingness to try again — she restored her faith and achieved the “impossible.” And when Sara showed up to my poolside birthday party in Miami recently, I smiled when I overheard another guest compliment her on her bathing suit and physique.

Of course, Sara still works really hard — she chooses wisely — every single day to maintain what she has achieved.

And, so do I…

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In a recent Writer Unboxed blog post, author Harper Ross shared the following advice on how to weather the emotional ups and downs of the writing life:

There’s a Japanese art called kintsugi where broken pottery is repaired using gold. The cracks aren’t hidden. They’re highlighted, honored, and made beautiful. That’s a lovely way to think of the writing life. It’s not about being unbreakable. It’s about letting your setbacks become part of the story… and then getting back to work with a little more sparkle in your seams.

Here’s what that looks like for me.

Rejection

It’s inevitable that, at some point in your career, you’ll face less-than-glowing beta or critique feedback, unanswered queries, and page requests that result in polite rejections. Each one lands differently, but every rejection stings.

My process for overcoming defeat? I grieve. For an hour, a day, or even a week, depending on the weight of the blow. Then I remind myself: this is one person’s opinion, not a universal verdict. With distance, rejection becomes what it really is—data. Sometimes useful, sometimes not. Always temporary.

I also try to reframe things by empathizing with agents and editors: of all the books I’ve read, how many would I bet my career on? Maybe forty. And yet, I’ve loved hundreds more. That’s how subjective this business is. Somewhere out there, your future reader is waiting for exactly the story only you can tell.

So, I dust off my ego and write anyway. Because my voice matters—even when some people don’t hear it yet.

Jealousy

Nothing quite matches the ache of seeing someone else get what you want. The deal. The review. The spotlight. I’ve felt it. I’m not proud—but I’m not ashamed, either.

Jealousy is just information. It reveals what you hunger for. If you can resist letting it fester into bitterness, you can use it to clarify your goals and fuel your next step. Envy, repurposed, becomes motivation.

Waiting

Nobody tells you how much of this “author’s life” is just…waiting. For responses. For edits. For launch dates. For signs from the universe.

Coming up in this industry during the age of instant everything, I find myself acting like a flustered teen when confronted by even a mild delay in getting a response. To combat my impatience, I’ve started to rebrand those lulls as bonus hours. That simple mental shift motivates me to walk the dog, call a friend, bake cookies, or binge-watch something ridiculous and delightful. Not only do those activities make the waiting bearable—they also refill the creative well. That last part is critical for the hard work of writing the next chapter or next idea.

Creative Drain

Creativity isn’t a faucet you turn on and off on a whim. It’s a fragile ecosystem—and publishing can be a storm. To protect it, you need boundaries.

If a negative review sends you into a days-long negative spiral, avoid checking your book’s Goodreads page. If each political volley reported in your Bluesky feed sends you hiding beneath the covers, limit exposure to social media with apps like Freedom. Stuck in a story rut? Write nonsense scenes just for fun. The best antidote to burnout isn’t a new productivity hack—it’s joy.

Community

I’ve written before about the power of community, but it bears repeating: I wouldn’t still be here without my writing friends. The ones who cheer the wins, sit with the losses, and read the messy drafts without judgment.

Find your people. Writing may be solitary, but survival is not.

If you’re in that murky middle—rejected, exhausted, or just plain stuck—you’re not failing. You’re feeling. You’re human. And you’re still here. Hopefully, some of these tips will keep you going!

Source: Writing Unboxed

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog, award-winning author Julie Carrick Dalton shared several examples of creative cross-pollination. Here’s an excerpt from that post:

I’ve always admired writers who abide by the butt-in-chair ethos. You know who I’m talking about, the writers who get up every day at 5 am, or who dedicate themselves to a regular writing practice that sustains them.

But this article is for the rest of us, all of us other writers who can’t always adhere to a regular writing discipline, because we crave creativity in other places – in the kitchen, art studio, dance floor, or garden.

Consider this your creative hall pass: step away from the laptop, embrace your other passions, and know that every pursuit—whether it’s painting, dancing, or growing herbs—can supercharge your writing and nourish your spirit.

I spend a lot of time in my garden where I grow dozens of herbs, flowers, and fruits that I harvest, dehydrate, and blend into teas. Some of my best writing ideas arrive when I’m elbow-deep in chamomile, or when I’m blending up the perfect balance of mint, lemon balm, lemon verbena, and bee balm to settle a loved one’s upset stomach.

I often indulge my tea-blending hobby when I’m having a tough time writing. I used to think of it as a distraction, a form of procrastination—but I’ve decided to reframe it as creative cross-pollination. Sometimes, the boldest move for our writing is a strategic retreat—leaning into a new kind of making, so ideas can sprout in unexpected places.

Read the rest of the post here.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In her latest book, Dear Writer, New York Times bestselling author Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements. Here’s an uplifting excerpt:

During the four years when I was sending out my second book manuscript, The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison, I did revise it. With each rejection, I made adjustments: added poems, pulled poems out, changed the order, even changed the title more than once. And I did continue to send that manuscript to the same contests every year.

At times it felt like the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. But in publishing, even if you send the same poem or chapbook or book manuscript out again and again to the very same places, it’s actually not the same. The readers and screeners are often different. The editors and final judges are often rotating. The selection of other manuscripts yours is up against changes, too. All of this to say: There are so many variables that go into why a poem or book gets taken, and why others don’t, beyond the quality of the work.

Keep trying, reassessing, and trusting your gut. When it’s time to let go, move on. Push forward with confidence. Know that we need more from you.

And what else do we need? More literary journals and magazines, not fewer. More publishers, not fewer. A wider community, not a narrower one.

Source: Dear Writer by Maggie Smith, p. 212

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

British author Lucy Mitchell has a delightful blogging voice that brings a smile and a thought-provoking pause to my day. I have bookmarked several of her posts for future reference. Here’s one of my favorites:

Book ideas are strange things. Some turn into books, some disappear during the drafting stages and some act as a catalyst for something else in your life. I believe book ideas come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. The job for you, the writer or author, is to work out which one you are dealing with.

I can put all the book ideas I have had over the years into the following camps.

Book ideas that come into your life for a season.

This camp is full of the ideas I have had for books over the years which have not gone anywhere. Let me tell you this is a busy place. They all flew into my writer brain at high speed and left pretty much after I’d tried to get to know them. My writer relationship with them was frantic and passionate. However, they were simply creative flings.

Book ideas that come into your life for a lifetime.

This is a tough camp to get into. These are the ideas that became actual books. They are a hardy bunch who managed to stay with me through the months and years of painful drafting. There were times I wanted to delete them and run away but these ideas were persistent and never gave up.

Book Ideas that come into your life for a reason.

Now, this is my favourite camp. This is where things get interesting. As this is a busy camp, I have split it out into 3 sub groups.

The book idea that acts as the catalyst for a life change.

This is the book idea which comes into your life to spark some sort of life change. The act of writing the idea triggers something deep inside of you. These ideas are like inner keys to parts of you which have been locked up for years or have never been opened. In this camp we have book ideas which come into your life to help you become a writer and follow a new creative path. Book ideas which come into your life to signify a relationship or friendship wasn’t working. Book ideas which come into your life to show you that maybe your life is heading in the wrong direction. I have experienced a lot of these.

The book idea that teaches you something about writing.

Some ideas for books come to teach us something about our writing. A lot of the time these ideas don’t bring success. Failure is a great teacher. There are always lessons to be learned in failure and it’s because of these ideas. We now know who to blame. Ha ha! They were sent to teach us that our plot sagged, our characterisation could have been improved, there were no laugh out loud moments and our attempt sucked.

The book idea that morphs into a brilliant book idea.

These ideas are the unsung heroes. They come into our writing lives, lead us down one path and then transform before our eyes. Suddenly you realise they are showing you something else. Something bigger and better.

If you are struggling with a book idea at the moment figure out the reason why it has come into your writing life.

You can follow Lucy’s blog here.