Resistance
Nanowrimo is not anywhere near, and I am focusing on a variant of the “morning pages” exercise of “The Artists Way.” I am writing 1000 Words a Day in the morning, and have been doing this for a few weeks.
At this point, I can say that what really stands out is what Julia Cameron calls “resistance.” In particular, this means the various weird things that happen to block the writing process. I am not talking about writer’s block in the ordinary sense where someone has trouble getting started.
While writer’s block can be part of “resistance,” often it is physical, such as suddenly feeling sleepy, or external, such as a dog getting into the trash precisely at the moment that you start to write.
Whatever it is, Julia Cameron has nailed down an important concept with her idea of resistance.
Another great book that I highly recommend (in case you haven’t already read it) is “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. It’s all about overcoming resistance and working through your creative blocks. It’s just a short little book, but it’s probably one that every artist should read at least 3 times a year. I’m a huge fan of “The Artist’s Way”, I’m actually working through it on my blog (I’m on week 7). That’s excellent that you’re writing 1000 words a day. The morning pages are probably my favourite part of the program. I use the website http://750words.com to do my pages. I can just type faster than I can free write. Great Blog! I’m glad I found this.
Have you done Nanowrimo before? I want to do it this year, but I’m a little bit intimidated.
Christine Bissonnette
April 5, 2013
I completed Nanowrimo in 2006 with a novel that was about graduate school and loosely resembled the kind of story embodied in “The Road to Wellville.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wellville I have some other stories that are radically different from that one. So far, I am not tied to one particular genre, but I have a tendency to write stories that are a bit like Jonathon Kellerman. http://jonathankellerman.com/
That said, I will check out your recommendations. I have looked at your blog: are you still pursuing acting?
seerovum
April 6, 2013