I just had lunch with a memoirist friend of mine and we had a great discussion about stoking the flames of creativity. We are both working on a big project right now – she is writing her memoir and mining her past for details, while I am creating a new brand and also mining my past for clues on what it needs to be and what is my fullest expression.

What I’ve discovered has been very interesting. Typically I can write or create anywhere – on my porch, at my dining room table, just inside the bay window by the bird feeder. As long as I have my laptop, writing materials and associated books, I’m set.

But because this project has been bigger and more complex, the process has been different. Each time I work on it, my process has been to “stoke the creative fire” and then, in the midst of the blaze and with inspiration running high, I create. When I finish, the fire dies down, and the next time I work on it I’m back down to stoking the flames again.

The embers are always burning, but what I’ve found is that I’d like a quicker way to start them. As my friend and I nibbled on souvlaki and pita bread at lunch, she shared with me her secret of getting the blaze roaring at record speed — she rented an office.

She found that her more nomadic writing in different spaces was leaving a trail of sparks from room to room. By renting an office space, she says when she enters the door, it feels as if she’s walking inside the book itself. Hung on the walls is butcher paper with lists of positive affirmations, different scenes, motivational pictures that inspire her, etc. She has created an alternate universe that is just for her writing. And when she enters it, she says her body just knows what she’s there to do and on most days the creativity is high upon arrival.

Now I know what you’re saying – how many of us can afford to rent an office space just for our part-time writing? To be honest, this friend isn’t rich, it’s simply that she’s made it a priority. More importantly is that we bring an awareness to our creative space and what environment works best for us.

For instance, I now have a “ritual” box that I take with me when I start working on creative projects. In it, I have various items to help light my fire, such as small pictures that inspire me, a candle, tea bags, a few small rocks and leaves, favorite hand written quotes, and so on. On my computer, I’ve started a journal that captures the flavor of each creative session with my bigger branding project, so I can re-read that when I sit down and not have to wonder where I was or what’s next. All if this leads to the inspiration coming more quickly.

Yesterday I went to write at a coffee shop, and found the tiny Asian woman next to me creating her own space to work. She moved the table, adjusted the blinds, put a napkin under the foot of the table to keep it from wobbling, and then sat down with a mug of tea and satisfied sigh before she began.

It’s not a requirement that we all have, as writer Virginia Woolf called it, a “room of one’s own” in order to write. The muse will come anyway, even if she has to ride in a dirty laundry hamper or whisper to us as we race down a highway. But she loves being wooed every now and again. She adores having a beautiful space and an open heart when we invite her in. And she responds by holding the match for those creative fires…

Writing Pearls: Think about the space where you create, and what you could add to it that would more quickly move you to inspiration? A special painting? A childhood lamp? Or perhaps there’s something you need to remove from that space? Or to fix? What adds to your experience in your writing space and what takes away from it?

As founder of Backyard Pearls, LLC, Carolyn Scarborough helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. As a Writing Wisdom Coach, she supports you through the journey from inspiring idea to published piece in a way that’s joyful, effortless and profitable.

She’s done almost every kind of writing imaginable, including magazine features, newspaper columns, books, journaling — even ghostwriting for Donald Trump! Her favorite sort of writing is the kind where she has to be really present to find the story, so her life and writing are both a constant awakening to a deeper, richer way to live in the world.

To subscribe to Backyard Pearls Newsletter, visit the site here.

Request your complimentary “Getting to Know You” session to start turning your inner whisperings into a published book, blog or article.

You may reprint the featured article, in its entirety, by including a byline and the following information: “Carolyn Scarborough helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. You can get a free audio on overcoming writers block by clicking HERE.”

Frittering. That’s the word my daughter uses to describe what she does when she’s actively trying to avoid doing homework, but so caught up in feeling guilty about not doing it that she doesn’t instead choose something she actually enjoys. In other words, frittering is how we pass time before and after the stuff that’s important. Qualities of frittering include partial attention, semi-numbness and low level satisfaction. For her, this includes staying on Facebook too long, watching shows on her iPhone and texting.

Now, just to be clear, before I started writing this newsletter I heated up a cup of tea. And watered the plants. And refilled the dog’s water bowl and put on some chapstick and googled how much fat is in a Starbucks scone. But that’s not frittering. That’s settling. (It’s amazing how helpful language distinctions are when one is rationalizing). So what’s the big deal, you may be saying as you read this. A little frittering never hurt anyone. The problem is that when we look at “what we don’t want to do,” the list includes everything from cleaning the toilet with a toothbrush, to things we actually do enjoy once we begin, like writing.

In other words, everything that isn’t simple and pleasurable and easy to begin. So outside of eating ice-cream, that leaves pretty much everything else. And if we fritter between these activities… well, you get the point. If we look at how we want to spend our lives and put it in two columns – on one side, things that are meaningful and on the other, things where time passes with barely a blip on the aliveness scale, most of us would want to have more things on the first side.

So, given our proclivity to fritter, what’s a human to do?

As I write this, I’m noticing my dog lying down by the window, his breath fogging up a corner of the glass. He appears to be resting, but when I look closer I see that he’s actually eying a squirrel out the window. His body is relaxed, yet his attention is focused. Although it doesn’t appear to be the case, he is engaged.

So when we look at these normal frittering activities, perhaps a small step in the right direction is some degree of engagement? There’s surfing the internet in a way where we are checked out and time is passing, and there’s surfing in a way that perhaps we are still noticing the feel of our bottom on the chair, or the way the tips of our fingers both hit and slightly hug the keyboard at the same time. We may not jump from full-out frittering to full-out fabulousness, but we can take a moment to be conscious. To notice, without judging, what’s going on. And who knows, maybe when we do that, we might surprise ourselves and close the keyboard and get on the phone to book salsa classes because we’ve always wanted to. You never know where one step towards engaging with ourselves might lead……

As founder of Backyard Pearls, LLC, Carolyn Scarborough helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. As a Writing Wisdom Coach, she supports you through the journey from inspiring idea to published piece in a way that’s joyful, effortless and profitable.

She’s done almost every kind of writing imaginable, including magazine features, newspaper columns, books, journaling — even ghostwriting for Donald Trump! Her favorite sort of writing is the kind where she has to be really present to find the story, so her life and writing are both a constant awakening to a deeper, richer way to live in the world.

To subscribe to Backyard Pearls Newsletter, visit the site here.

Request your complimentary “Getting to Know You” session to start turning your inner whisperings into a published book, blog or article.

You may reprint the featured article, in its entirety, by including a byline and the following information: “Carolyn Scarborough helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. You can get a free audio on overcoming writers block by clicking HERE.”

I was at a pool party the other night and, as I was floating with another woman on the infinity edge of the pool and watching the sun set over the hill country, we started chatting about writing. I asked what she’d been working on, and she said keeping up with her blog. But when I asked the name of the blog, her face flushed a bit and she stammered that it really was a blog she did just for herself and a handful of close friends and relatives. A secret blog.

I see this often with clients. They’ll have their “public” writing, and then they have their secret journals and blogs where they write simply for the benefits of expressing themselves.

As we talked, my pool buddy explained how when she writes in the safe environment of her secret blog, she accesses a “higher, wiser part of myself.” It’s a place of discovery, of playing with possibilities, and of birthing stories that want to emerge from her so she can experience them and let them go. She feels that writing for the general public wouldn’t give her the freedom to really express herself.

I was honored that she chose to share with me the link to her secret blog. What I found there was writing from the heart. From sharing a moment watching baby birds leave the nest with an 18-year-old daughter about to “leave the nest” herself, to explorations in faith and intuition, these indeed were wise, poignant musings.

While I’d encourage her to swim with bigger audiences one day, I certainly understand that simply the act of writing them is “enough.”

In “The Book of Awakening,” author Mark Nepo says, “It seems the more we express, that is, bring out what is in, the more alive we are. The more we give voice to our pain in living, the less build-up we have between our soul and our way in the world. However, the more we depress, the more we push down and keep in, the smaller we become.”

For me, even the act of journaling adds vibrancy in my life.  A pattern I’ve spotted is that the more I pause to write and reflect, the more awake I am in everything in my life – including my eating, noticing beauty and even how I brush my teeth. This “secret” writing enlarges me.

My pool buddy will know if and when it’s time to share what she’s written… meantime, it’s energizing her in ways that help her float in life rather than getting pulled under. As we bobbed in the cool water, watching the sun dip lower and lower, we were both appreciating that moment… and perhaps will write about it in our secret journals. Or in a not-so-secret newsletter!

Writing Pearls

• Is everything you write published for an audience, for your eyes only, or a mix? What blend would help you feel fully expressed with your writing?
• What tie-in is there between what/how often you write and the amount of aliveness you feel? Do you feel any different just after you’ve written?

As founder of Backyard Pearls, LLC, Carolyn Scarborough helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. As a Writing Wisdom Coach, she supports you through the journey from inspiring idea to published piece in a way that’s joyful, effortless and profitable.

She’s done almost every kind of writing imaginable, including magazine features, newspaper columns, books, journaling — even ghostwriting for Donald Trump! Her favorite sort of writing is the kind where she has to be really present to find the story, so her life and writing are both a constant awakening to a deeper, richer way to live in the world.

To subscribe to Backyard Pearls Newsletter, visit the site here.

Request your complimentary “Getting to Know You” session to start turning your inner whisperings into a published book, blog or article.

You may reprint the featured article, in its entirety, by including a byline and the following information: “Carolyn Scarborough, The Book Whisperer, helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. You can get a free audio on overcoming writers block by clicking HERE.”

Have you ever tried writing when it’s felt less like flow and more like… pushing play-doh through an extractor? That’s how I felt a few days ago. I sat down to write my newsletter and words came out in messy clumps on my paper. Nothing fit together, and nothing felt easy.

Luckily, I’ve been writing long enough to know that there’s always a better way. I could doggedly stick with my plan and force out the words… or I could step back and tune in.

So, I started getting curious about why the writing wasn’t coming more easily. As I mindfully folded clothes, I noticed an achiness in my body and a tightness in my forehead. Thoughts were racing through my brain. As I slowed down my breathing and watched my thoughts a bit, bingo, there it was.

I’ve been opening my coaching practice into some new and untested areas, stretching the boundaries of where I’ve been and taking interesting turns at places. So, when I sat down to write, what showed up was confusion (What direction am I going, What else am I meant to be?) and old marching orders (Write about this writing topic that’s been on your list for weeks). With all this murkiness about what I really wanted to express, no wonder I couldn’t write!

I also realized that my “buzz” wasn’t going to come from any of the tired topics I had planned to write about. As I did some breathing, the words appeared — Beginners Mind. I was trying to force writing from places I’d been, instead of writing from the freshness of where I was standing in the moment. Where I was standing was in the midst of transition, which can be seen as negative and stressful or the precipice of something exciting. In that moment, being an expert held little interest to me. As Zen Master Shunryo Suzuki says, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”

Being an “expert” felt boring, and my writing reflected that. Even worse, it sounded artificial — like I was talking about something from a part of me that wasn’t authentic. What felt so much more inviting and freeing in that moment was to release all that and give myself permission not to know. To just write from “here I am and who knows what will come out.” I trusted that the right message would appear – for me and my readers. As soon as I did that, the writing began…

Writing Pearls:

At times, we all find our creativity clogged with old thoughts and habits. Perhaps it’s time to get the Drano and clear the pipes?

What in your life are you ready to release? What identity/habit/thought have you held onto for so long that it’s become boring and flat and inhibits you from full expression? What would happen if you approached your writing with beginner’s mind, being fully in the moment and noticing what bubbles up?

As founder of Backyard Pearls, LLC, Carolyn Scarborough helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. As a Writing Wisdom Coach, she supports you through the journey from inspiring idea to published piece in a way that’s joyful, effortless and profitable.

She’s done almost every kind of writing imaginable, including magazine features, newspaper columns, books, journaling — even ghostwriting for Donald Trump! Her favorite sort of writing is the kind where she has to be really present to find the story, so her life and writing are both a constant awakening to a deeper, richer way to live in the world.

To subscribe to Backyard Pearls Newsletter, visit the site here.

Request your complimentary “Getting to Know You” session to start turning your inner whisperings into a published book, blog or article.

You may reprint the featured article, in its entirety, by including a byline and the following information: “Carolyn Scarborough, The Book Whisperer, helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. You can get a free audio on overcoming writers block by clicking HERE.”

School are wonderful places… and for writers, too often the scene of crimes against creativity. I don’t know how many people I’ve seen in my coaching practice who have been unable to write or to enjoy it when they do because of something that happened to them in school. (And yes, schools also are places that can inspire writers as well).

Usually it goes along these lines: An enthusiastic writer turns something in to the teacher, whether a creative piece or an essay on the History of Western Civilization. The teacher, probably tired and cranky after a long day, is sitting at home grading papers when her own teen storms out the door to smoke cigarettes. Angrily, the teacher picks up the paper… and vents. She doesn’t just grade it, she adds a comment like “Whatever you do, make sure you don’t take up writing as a profession,” or “I’ve seen chimpanzees write better papers than this.”

Not helpful.

The student reads the paper, takes the comment personally, and that’s it. They have just enough doubt in their own ability (who doesn’t in school?) to believe the comment. Then they continue through the years finding “evidence” to back up the belief that they can’t write, which is just how the mind does things. We like to prove ourselves right, even if it’s painful and untrue.

Then, they show up at my door X number of years later because, despite that blow, an inner writing voice has been quietly trying to get their attention. And it’s been knocking at the door a long, long time.

Another version of this is the budding writer who turns in something highly creative… and it’s strangulated by grammar rules. So they start learning to jump through grammar hoops rather than creative hoola hoops.

Then there’s the academic who has gone on for advanced degrees and was taught a rigorous, stylized method of writing. Rather than learning to open and write from their passion, they make each word work. Hard. Each sentence has to stand at fancy angles to look smart, and be obtuse enough to impress. Their inner editor rides them with a whip the whole way.

Usually it doesn’t take long much coaching for a client to get beyond these wounds and start writing in a way that feels more natural and fun. But if you’re looking for a few tricks to try on your own, try:

• Take the thought, such as “Mrs. Blarneybum said my writing was worse than chicken scratch,” and imagine what her life might have been like. Instead of seeing her as the all knowing God she obviously wasn’t, humanize her. Imagine her getting home after a long day. Taking off her shoes and massaging her bunions. Eating cold Chinese food leftovers. And then sitting in her threadbare recliner to grade papers… and not seeing past her own pain or arrogance as she graded your writing. Just as you couldn’t see your writing objectively, neither could she.
• Don’t see writing as black or white, good or bad, acceptable or not. See it as shades of gray, and then get a paint brush, a dollop of yellow and red, and jump in and play. Do some word cartwheels. Don’t let your editor in, just have fun and don’t judge. Isn’t that why you want to write anyway, to perhaps get a message out WHILE you’re frolicking?
• Keep in mind that if you can talk, you can write. Period.

As adults, away from the grades and criticism, it’s our time to dip into the joyful, creative part of the writing process. If you’ve been waiting to write, don’t wait any longer – take the leap and see if you don’t just fly…

As founder of Backyard Pearls, LLC, Carolyn Scarborough helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. As a Writing Wisdom Coach, she supports you through the journey from inspiring idea to published piece in a way that’s joyful, effortless and profitable.

She’s done almost every kind of writing imaginable, including magazine features, newspaper columns, books, journaling — even ghostwriting for Donald Trump! Her favorite sort of writing is the kind where she has to be really present to find the story, so her life and writing are both a constant awakening to a deeper, richer way to live in the world.

To subscribe to Backyard Pearls Newsletter, visit the site here.

Request your complimentary “Getting to Know You” session to start turning your inner whisperings into a published book, blog or article.

You may reprint the featured article, in its entirety, by including a byline and the following information: “Carolyn Scarborough, The Book Whisperer, helps people tap into their inner wisdom, then share it with the world through books, blogs and articles. You can get a free audio on overcoming writers block by clicking HERE.”