Write Brain: Recent Episodes
Mette Ivie Harrison
How to get your brain "right," so you can write, a podcast on the psychology of writing; how to deal with fear, the internal editor, writer's block, life block, and everything else getting in the way of you writing.
Why I think it's important to commit to an hour a day. Even if I'm not currently able to do that myself.
One of the most frequent problems I see in first chapters is flashbacks. Here's why I think you shouldn't do them there.
Some extremely opinionated thoughts about how to decide what pov character/s to use and what tense is right.
I've lived at least 3 lives as a writer, and I describe my various schedules and goal-setting procedures in each of them, including in my life now where I have a full time 9-5 job to work around, as well as evening and weekend work as a writing mentor.
Why you should stop obsessing about the first page before you've done about 10 drafts. You're only going to know what the right first page is when all the other pieces are in place.
This little chat will make you EXCITED to work through the murky middle. It's all about the dark night of the soul and making things worse.
After helping hundreds of writers with books, here are the top 4 ways I suggest to fix plot, character, and other issues.
Not Writing? Here are some solutions to the top three problems keeping you from your writing.
One of the biggest things new writers forget to do is add emotional reaction for their character each time something happens. Without this, the reader won't have their own emotional reaction.
Fiction or non-fiction, you need to write in scene to make it feel real to the reader and to make them remember it.
How do you run a marathon? 100 steps at a time. How do you write a book? 100 words at a time. Small goals make your brain shut up about how impossible and scary it is.
Why aren't you writing the book you're meant to write? Here are 17 quick reasons I think you aren't getting to it.
You can't outsource your pattern for creativity. It only comes from within. How to learn to trust yourself? Practice failure.
This is just another form of procrastination, so you don't have to face the fear of failure.
Your brain thinks that writing a book exposes you to a catastrophic life or death (of the ego) event and it will do everything it can to protect you from the fear of failure by telling you not to write. If you quit first, you will never fail. Or so your brain thinks. Some tricks here to deal with this, because it's going to be a lifelong battle.
For more about my mentorships, go here: www.metteiviementorships.com
Sometimes you have to let go all of the work you've put in on a project in order to reach for the even better version of it.
I'm trying to let go of writing tame books and throw myself into the wild storm of creativity.
The hardest part of being a writer is arguably waking up every and having the confidence to go back to the work that isn't quite there yet. You have to believe in it, and yourself.
The fantasies about being your own boss are just that--fantasies. Another side of the difficulty of the creative life.
How wanting my ego to be stroked via my creativity is getting in the way of the real work.
Musings on what makes art great and if we're required as artists to make our suffering into beauty.
Getting excited about a crazy new project is "the thing," that fix we creatives always go back to.
I'm working on going from a measuring/counting mindset with my work to a more holistic one. That means I'm taking a long time to actual put hands to the keyboard and get words in. I'm trying to become the person who will write the books I want to write in the future.
Updates on my life the last 5 months and what just happened to me creatively! Good news!
I'm trying to find courage to move forward in this difficult journey of art and creativity.
I used to say I didn't believe in writer's block. Now it turns out that was just because I hadn't written anything that vulnerable before. And it seems it's all I do now. Anyway, this may be depressing. All about when it takes months to get two inches along in a project because of emotional baggage.
These are affirmations I need to hear about my work. It matters. You can do it. There is a bigger picture. You are uniquely suited to do this.
My career has been a process of writing more and more personally, and that has meant having a thin skin. How to manage this as a professional, as well.
Sometimes the best thing you do as a writer is quit on a book that isn't speaking to you anymore.
I figured out why I was feeling the urge to quit. I'm terrified of my current memoir project, which I've been trying to get the skills, wisdom, and courage to finish for 14 years. And I still don't know if I'm ready. Maybe you have a project like this?
I'm taking a year off new projects. I just pushed myself too hard and need to take a hard break to reassess. The podcast will probably continue, though.
There are reasons to be afraid of writing. I talk frankly here about real losses following the publication of The Bishop's Wife.
Your work is important. Your voice matters. There is a reader who will only connect to your book.
Everyone feels like one particular book is the worst. It usually isn't, except while you're writing it.
Talk about myths of hard work and success, plus the real truth about effective limits of creative work.
Reflections on 20 years in publishing and how this is NOT the career I thought I wanted.
Good dialogue means understanding that characters aren't talking about what they seem to be talking about and often don't understand their own motivations.
What to do to avoid gnawing your hands off or annoying your agent to death while your book is on submission.
Are you anxious about making dinner? Probably not. You have low expectations, so you just get out the ingredients and put them together. It doesn't have to be perfect, right?
Let's not forget the really simple, obvious things that can help anxiety including therapy, medication, exercise, food, sleep, and changing toxic relationships.
What if you gave yourself permission to write down all your ideas, not just the good ones? What would happen? Would it be bad or good?
How can it be less selfish to stop looking for validation outside of yourself and look inward instead? Well, it is.
A daily five-minute practice designed to help with anxiety and center me back in my work.
A bit about my spiritual life in the last ten years, and how it has informed my creative life.
Ever been in the midst of a revision and had that sinking feeling that it's not salvageable?? Or that you're making it worse? This episode is about that. And no, I have no answers. Just commiseration.
Thoughts on moving from discovery writing to outlining, how far to take outlining, and when to throw out the outline.
How can we learn from athletes about how to deal with fear in creative performance?
(this is continued from part 1)
How do athletes deal with fear of performance and what can other creative types learn from them?
(This podcast was cut off and is continued in part 2)
Looking back at 2008, I am astonished at how much I've achieved in 10 years. And how much I've changed. I'm not the same person in so many ways. My writing career has changed entirely.