Community and compassion are a writer's basic needs

I know the melange of feelings well—I want to write, I’m not sure how to get writing into my regular (already crammed life), I’m not sure what I’m doing is any good, (I suck at this). We writers, especially in the early days of a project, can be really unkind to ourselves and I coach my clients on self-kindness and getting out of their own way more than anything else. You’re in good company, I promise.

These thoughts wake us up in the night, stir our bellies, and embroil us in self-doubt spirals. My loving advice (I need this too)…get yourself with others that are in their early days of adding “writer” to their bios.

I believe that community and compassion are the dual foundations for endurance in writing. I designed my mastermind The Story House so that a select group of writers could walk the path together figuring out the “Why” of their books in a highly curated container with me. Openly working on your writing while others do it beside you offers you all the benefits of their curiosity to validate what is meaningful, interesting, and compelling enough for a book. But starting here isn’t for everyone.

The finest way I know to practice self-compassion in writing is to be held by someone who has been there and is an expert in moving through it with you.

I have a suggestion—dive into a compassionate process developed by my work wife/bestie Heather Doyle Fraser at The ComPASSIONATE Writer and let that gentle nourishing place lift you from inner whisper to writing most days. Heather’s 6 week program is foundational. (I’m trying to get in myself!) A new cohort is start in a few days, and I’ll see you there.

more of my Uncomfortable Truths About Writing here..