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When You Can't Write, Give Yourself Kindness

I put 1125 words on my writing tracker last night, which goes by weeks, and realized those were the first words I'd written since November 2. Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why and even before last week's events, I was dealing with grad school research papers and other things that threatened to zap my creativity. But I also knew that I wasn't alone. There's a good chance that if you're reading this, then perhaps you haven't written as much as you've wanted to this month or can't write at all, and that's why I decided to write this blog. Stress, worry, frustration, anger...all of those emotions are creativity zappers. For those of us who are neurodivergent, getting overwhelmed is a real issue, and when we get overwhelmed repeatedly, we start to burn out. So it makes sense if you haven't written as much And I want you to know you're not alone. First, if you can't write, give yourself kindness. Treat yourself with understanding, the way you would if a good author friend came to you and said you can't write. Try to do something to help spur your creativity like rewatching a movie or series that you loved or going back to a favorite author or genre. Understand that emotions can be messy and difficult. We're human, and being human can be tough sometimes. So even though there are deadlines to meet and words to write, be as gentle as yourself with possible. Learning how to be gentle with yourself, I would argue, is one of the most important skills to have as an author today. The words will come; you will write again. In the meantime, if you need support, reach out. The writing community, and I, are here for you. Read the full article

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How To Keep Writing When You Have Unsupportive Family

Unsupportive family members suck when it comes to your writing. Let me share a story with you. I had an aunt who had read one of my very first published books. It was bit of an add series; I'm still not sure it'd do well in the market because it combined two romance genres whose readers I don't think overlap. But my aunt didn't see the book for what it is; she saw the book as a love story and wanted to know when I'd publish more. I did, but never in paperback, but nearly every time I spoke to her, for a couple of decades until her passing she'd ask, "when are you going to stop writing that other stuff and get back to this series? I really liked it." I don't think she meant it to hurt. I believe she truly enjoyed the first book and wanted to read more of it. Readers didn't quite agree, and after a while I became burnt out on the genre before going on to write something else. After a while, I began telling my aunt I'd stopped writing. "Oh that's a shame. That one book of yours was so good. I wish you'd write more." Like I said, I don't think she meant it to hurt, but it did. Certainly I didn't feel as if she saw me (and the book which had magical elements, that she told me she just ignored) and the writing I was doing. It was akin to my mother questioning my move into paranormal romance. "Why can't you write a cowboy book? Maybe with a baby?" Because while I wrote plenty of cowboys, there was no way I could write one of the "secret baby" books she loved. Nope. I'm sure those stories sound familiar and there may even be family members who choose not to support your writing even that tiny bit. it can be difficult to write when you don't have supportive people around you. Your creativity is affected. Your desire to tell people about your books (aka your marketing) is affected. And most of all, it just feels wrong, as if you're doing something clandestine when you write your stories. Sometimes that can be a thrill. There are other times when it can be a drag. So how can you keep writing when you have unsupportive family members? First, remember that it's not about them. It's about you and what you want to do. If you're writing, I'm sure it's for a darn good reason. You have a story that needs to be told, a character clamoring to get out into the world, or perhaps a message or a mission to share. The fact that you may have an unsupportive family member or two doesn't change those things. Second, we all have them. Family can be a good word or it can be a bad word depending on who you're talking to and what the subject is. There's a good chance even the big names you enjoy had people around them that were like "you're going to write what?" or "you do what for a living?". And if their tune changes when the money rolls in, then that's even worse. Because it truly shows that they didn't support that person for themself, but rather for whatever they are doing can get them. Third, find support elsewhere. The writing community can be a wonderfully supportive place. I've found a great community on Mastodon and a search for the tags #bookstodon, #writingcommunity, #WritersCoffeeClub, or other more genre specific ones, not to mention the ubiquitous #WritersOf(Social Media Platform) can bring you into contact with them. Discord is hard for me to remember to open, or look at (probably need to put that on the schedule), but there are several great writing communities on Discord and other places, too. Last, and perhaps I should have said this first, don't let it get to you. The people who aren't supportive of your work are saying far more about themselves and nothing about you, or your writing. Keep on writing, because when you're in the chair (or on the couch or wherever) and getting words down, the only opinion at that moment that matters? It's yours. Keep writing! Read the full article

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Are you excited to sit down and write?

I spend the first fifteen days of each month (my goal is 1000 words each day) working on my serial stories I release both under my fantasy pen name, as well as my queer erotic romance pen name. Today marks the transition from portal fantasy to my erotic romance, and it's this kind of transition that keeps my ADHD brain really happy. Sure, I'm sad to leave the unicorns and the budding sweet gay trouple behind, but super excited to get back to my gay shifters and see where their newfound mating bonds lead. You may not be writing about unicorns or portals or even gay shifters, but I have a question for you: are you excited to sit down and write? Like really really excited. Like this excited? via GIPHY Because while you may not be able to sustain that level of excitement every day (Hey, that can be exhausting. I understand!)., being eager to write no matter whether you write at a keyboard and desk, notepad and pen, or jotting a few lines on your phone or tablet as you can, is a good way to keep up a sustainable career. And isn't that what we're all after here? And I'm a firm believer that if we're excited to write our stories that's going to show in our prose we offer to readers, and that will get them invested in the stories, too. If we're excited we're going to want to talk about them on social media (*whispers* marketing) and maybe even come up with future stories (backlist building). It all ties together. I'll be honest, I've never been more excited about my writing and my opportunities for it than I am right now. And while I may be working on telling readers about my stories, I'm at least starting to do that again, and that, dear readers, is why we want to be excited when we sit down to write our stories. Read the full article

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Recovering that Believing In Your Writing Feeling

In order to do most things believing in yourself is a big part of the process, but when it comes to writing books, I think belief is even more important. Think about it. We have these stories in our minds that we put onto the page, and then we believe in them enough to publish in them. Believing in your writing is vital to this work and to your mental well-being. So when you don't believe in yourself, it takes a toll on your writing. The same could be said if you believe in yourself, but don't have faith in your writing. Either way, you need to recover that in order to move forward. So how? One of the most powerful, and at this point said to the point of cliche, sayings in the business world is "know your why". In the case of authors, know why you're writing. And while "I'm making money and having fun" is an acceptable answer, if you're not making money or having fun, then there needs to be a why beyond that. In fact, I'd argue your why needs to go beyond that even if you're making money and having fun, because if you've been in this business long enough you know it has its ups and downs, both in the money and in the fun department. So why did you start writing? Knowing your why is the foundation to having belief in yourself. It helps you remember that you have unique stories to tell, ones that readers want to read. It will stave off imposter syndrome, and it will help you keep going on those tough days. Knowing your why may sound like a cliche, but it doesn't have to be. It can be a powerful tool to help you remember to believe in yourself. Read the full article

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Feeling Like You're Chasing Bouncing Balls?

Having an ADHD brain is an adventure. I'll be reading something for college, become very interested in it (dopamine activation + hyperfocus) and all of a sudden I'm on the library's website looking up footnotes and finding more books to read). Working on my author website is much the same thing. Though I start with one thing (add an opt-in after my excerpt for a weekly blog event) I'll think of half a dozen other things that will be nice and soon my to do list is blossoming. Sound familiar? It doesn't matter whether you call them shining objects, bouncing balls, or use some other term. All those things that come up when we're supposed to be working/focusing on something else can be as frustrating and nerve-wrecking as they are fascinating and exciting. Since I've heard A LOT of business coaches talk about "shiny object syndrome", I'm assuming this also happens to neurotypical people. But since I've always had ADHD, just haven't had a diagnosis, I can't tell you for sure. What I can tell you is that I've made dealing with them a part of my process to help avoid stressing out and getting into burnout. How do you handle those bouncing balls so you can stop chasing them? Corral them! I happen to use Word's sticky note app and jot down the things I want to do or think about to keep them all in one place. You're welcome to use anything from a notebook or bullet journal to a Word document or even a to do app like tasks or Todoist. Whatever works for you. The important part is to get those tasks in one place and written down so you don't forget them. Next, pace yourself. We're not meant to work twenty-four hours in a day or even twelve hours a day, though I know many of us do that between all of our obligations. Make sure you don't put too much pressure on yourself and work through those tasks at your own pace. On one hand chasing bouncing balls can be fun as you figure out more ways to reach readers and interact with them. On the other, they can be frustrating. The important thing to do is ensure that you don't get stressed out and those tasks work for you, rather than you working to complete the tasks. Read the full article

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Episode 25: When To Tackle Projects On Your Own?

You're thinking about publishing a book, or perhaps starting a subscription story, or maybe a newsletter, or some new social media. But when do you use existing publishers, software platforms and packages, and when do you decide to do it yourself (self-publishing, open source software, etc.)? This is a pretty broad question, but one that's vital to the publishing world today. You have so many options? Which do you choose? Well, I can't answer those questions for you, but what I can do is talk you through why you want to think about this and give you some things to consider. And if you still have questions? Reach out! As an author technologist, this is what I love to do. Read the full article

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Unpacking The False Dichotomy Between Assistive and Generative AI

NaNoWriMo created a shitstorm (of their own making) when they released a statement on AI driven by their sponsorship by ProWritingAid, which has been used as an automated grammar checker, but now has unspecified AI features. (Pivot to AI) In this statement, NaNoWriMo says not using AI is ableist and classist. Whoa! Stop the presses, hold your horses, and sit the hell down and let disabled authors speak. I have so much to say about this statement, but first, let's make something abundantly clear. Assistive AI which includes speech-to-text and automated grammar and spelling checkers IS NOT the same as generative AI wherein you tell a bot to write something for you and it composes it whole cloth. And equating the two while invoking the ableism card is a complete and utter disservice to disabled authors everywhere. Companies which do this (and I'm including Ream in this because of their AI debacle a month or so ago) are using disabled authors to try and make their awful business decisions look better. Full disclosure, I am very much against generative AI, especially as it's being used within the neurodivergent community to make us sound more neurotypical. It's a form of masking, which is also a blog for another site on another day. I'm also against using generative AI to write and publish stories. And let's be clear, the whole point of NaNoWriMo is a personal challenge to write 50,000 words in a month. Sure, a lot of us have gone on to publish our NaNo stories, but we took pride in the writing of them, from our brains to the paper or the screen. We didn't push a button and let some bot regurgitate several tens of thousands of words, based on other people's writing often without their consent or payment and then go "yipee, we won!" Because I, and most authors I know, would not consider that "writing" anything. Programming, yes? Possibly? But not writing. Assistive AI on the other hand, is a useful tool that helps authors get their own thoughts and ideas into a final form. If I use Word's spell check editor, which I do, I am looking at each suggestion individually, comparing it to my known grammar rules (it's often wrong, and getting worse the more they feed random writing into it) and deciding if I want to use the suggestion. That's how I used ProWritingAid back when they first started, and frankly, why I quit using them, because they were having the same issue with their suggestions being incorrect back then. I don't think it's gotten any better. I type 100 words per minute, so speech to text just pisses me off, but if I typed slower, then I'd use speech-to-text to dictate my books and there's nothing wrong in doing so. I'm reading this in my mind as I type; there's no difference in speaking it out loud and saving my aching hands. Assistive AI has it's place and it's uses, and again, I don't know of anyone who is claiming that authors across the board, disabled or not, shouldn't use it. Which brings us to the classism and ableism claims, to which I cry BOGUS! Let's address the classism first because that's the easier of the two. I'm an editor. I also note that my prices are probably less than most people are expecting, but still ensure I make a living wage. But also, I live in an area with a low cost of living, don't have kids to support, and there are other factors in play in my pricing, the foremost being I believe everyone deserves a damn good edit that won't break the bank. But some people can't afford editors. I get that. Being able to drop four or more figures (of which mine are decidedly in the low three figures) on an edit is not for everyone, and it's not classist to say it. I sure as heck couldn't afford that at the moment, and I understand that not everyone is blessed to live in a grammar god, like I do. *smiles* What is classist is to think that the only editors worth paying charge four or more figures per edit. Saying "you get what you pay for" is classist, because there are editors like myself with decades of experience who don't charge an astronomical sum of money. And let's also be clear while we're talking about classism, the rate you charge isn't indicative of your worth. I know I'm worth a lot more, but again, see my cardinal rule "people deserve an awesome editor who charges reasonable rates" *waves* I have openings too, so if you need an editor, reach out. So let's talk about the ableism here. Making disabled people the scapegoat, using our accommodations to excuse your bad behavior, is the same ableist crap abled-bodied people pull when they don't want to take responsibility for their actions. In the academic setting many professors push back against accommodations or even admitting that their policies are ableist because "if I let one student do it, then I have to let everyone". No.

Equality is not equity. And let's be honest, those assistive AI tools like spell check fall into the first box, because everyone uses them and they're kinda okay for every body. Same with dictation or speech-to-text. Those of us who are disabled often don't get the accommodations we need, and again, that's a rant for another blog and probably on another site. But let's just say my November as a neurodivergent person with chronic pain is not the same November a neurotypical able bodied has, and neither of our Novembers are the same as a single mother trying to write a book and deal with her children without any spousal or family support. In short, none of this has been about the tools we use to help us write, but rather creating a false dichotomy so that way those who don't want to do the hard work can still pat themselves on the back and consider it a job well done. So let's cut the crap and quit saying that just because disabled people use a handicapped parking space that it's okay for the able-bodied person to drive through the front of the damn store so they get "equal access". Assistive technology isn't being taken away. It's not being banned. If anything, your generative AI technology is making assistive technology worse because AI rapidly aids in enshittification of anything tech. And most importantly, please stop creating a false dichotomy. Disabled people are tired of being thrown under the bus to make you feel better about your shittier decisions and lack of access. It's just making y'all look bad, oh and here's the more important thing that NaNo would like you to ignore. You have to paste those novels into their system in order to "win". I don't suppose they've told you what they're going to do with those novels, or who they're going to feed all that data to. And that, is a question worth asking. And no, it isn't ableist or classist to do so. Read the full article

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Writing at the Intersection of Story and Creativity

Welcome to my first blog at Author Yogi, where I help authors nurture their creative nervous systems so they write with more creativity and less stress. My focus is on neurodivergent authors and others who are not well served by our current publishing paradigm. If you feel like what's being sold as the current publishing and writing advice doesn't fit your life or the way your brain works -- you're in the right place! Ancient yoga philosophy talked about the division between matter and consciousness, with matter being our brains, bodies, and the physical world around us, as well as the processes, like emotions, driven by them. Consciousness on the other hand is the spark that animates us, the "special sauce" inside us that some call their muse or creativity, and others might choose the word soul to explain. Whatever you call it, as authors we're constantly weaving the words of matter (our fingers on the keyboard, for example), with our consciousness, to create stories that we enjoy. And, let's be honest, we hope our readers will love them, too. For authors this interplay of matter and consciousness can be thought of as the story and inspiration (or muse). The spark of inspiration, whether that's a setting, a plot twist, or a character's situation, is what drives us to write, and how we transmute that into words, a story, and eventually a book or other finished product. Being an author yogi means driving this transmutation with our whole authentic selves to transcend everything which weighs us down creativity. You know, the stuff that causes "stress". As a neurodivergent author (only recently realized and diagnosed), I know all about this "stuff". There were things even back in the mid 2000s when my writing career was really getting going that didn't sit well with me. I didn't know why at the time, and there were other authors that really questioned my choices. And yet, while I could go down the road of have beens and should haves, I also know that the choices I made contributed to my writing career lasting over twenty years, and I'm hoping for at least twenty more! As we get to know one another, we'll be exploring those things which get in the way of our transmuting inspiration to story and learn how to bring our authentic, whole selves to our writing, and more importantly share that whole self with the world, or at least the people who enjoy our stories and our communities. So welcome to Author Yogi, where my goal is to help you become one with the story. Read the full article

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Finding synergy between being a technologist and a word weaver

In technology, there's a dichotomy between those who are "computer people" and those who don't consider themselves technologically inclined. Among the authors I speak with, this usually leads to their brushing away opportunities or systems for their business (and if you claim it on your taxes, then it's a business) rather than dealing with the frustration. However, I've found that as an author technologist, I'm discovering that technology has the ability to enhance my creativity, to make my job as a word weaver easier, rather than more difficult. And I say that as someone who works in technology who has been known to laugh, shrug my shoulders, and say "It's a computer. Turn it off and back on again and see if that works." Now, I'm not talking about AI or autocomplete/automatic suggestions, or any thing that does the work for us. I believe that work created by actual humans, rather than mashed together from an amalgamation of different works and then spit back out by a computer, will always be superior. Sure, about half the time the suggestion that Word or Gmail gives to complete a sentence is correct, but it's not because I'm working on some fiction story or great magnus opus. Instead, the fact that Google can complete a sentence is because we say, "I look forward to hearing from you" or any number of benign, repeatable, throwaway phrases, thousands of times a day. So when you start to type "I look..." into your email, Google says "aha, I know what that's going to say" and finishes it for you. An author technologist is someone with a passion for technology, who uses it to help themselves make the business side of their writing easier. There's a synergy between the creativity of finding a specific software solution (For example, I'm currently experimenting with and on the hunt for open source website analytics, to get my data out of the hands of Google.) and the creativity needed to sit down and write this blog post, or get another 1000 words on one of my many WIPs. Being a word weaver doesn't just mean print, or digital text, either. For me it's part of my work hosting the shows on the MuseCharmer Network and finding technology, like the platform I use to distribute our podcasts, that works best for me and helps me to own all my data and processes. It may seem odd to find someone who is as much a technology coach and virtual assistant as they are a creativity coach, but to me, the two go hand-in-hand. I'd love to hear your thoughts about this. How do you use technology to stay more creative? Read the full article

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Three Things to Know Before Submitting a Story

Now that I'm looking at short fiction markets again, I'm starting to look at a lot of publishing house websites. There's a lot of good information out there about things to check for before submitting your work such as the rights requested, the publishing experience of those working behind the scenes, etc. And before I go any further, I want to encourage you to read and follow Writer Beware (WriterBeware.blog) as this has been an EXCELLENT and long-standing resource that will help you spot scams and those who wish to prey on authors. However, there are three things writers should know beyond the details about the market before they submit the story.

Writers need to know:

- What is your intention for the work? - How would the work be best served? - How does the work fit in with your other stories? Let's look at these in order. What is your intention for the work? I think it's safe to say that many authors, if not most of us, want to earn as much as possible from our work and have it read by the widest number of people. However, there are some stories we write that seem to have a life, and a destiny, of their own. Perhaps that story is the vehicle which you hope to achieve publication in a pro magazine. Having a plan for the story will help you to know where, and when, you want to submit it. Next think about how the work would be best served. Some stories serve as vehicles to introduce people to your work and your worlds. In this case, submitting them to a publication where you can find new readers would be a good option. Other stories may tie in closely with our work and be better suited to reader magnets or as free offerings to existing readers. Knowing where the work fits in with your publishing plan and what's already been produced will help determine the best fit for your story. This ties into how the work fits in with your other stories. It's important to know the details of any publisher you send your story to, including what rights they use, if/how they pay, and who the primary people are behind the business. However, by answering the three additional questions here, you can ensure your story is best served by your publishing plans. Read the full article

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Some of your books make it seems like you believe in actual literal magic, do you? ()

I can write down a few words and make people thousands of miles away, whom I have never met and will never meet, laugh tears of joy and cry tears of true sorrow for people who do not exist and have never existed and never will exist. If that isn't actual literal magic I don't know what is.

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thank you @lgbtqnation love is real

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Removing This One Thing Can Help You Beat Writer's Block

When authors talk about writer's block they discuss it as a fait accompli...something that they're just destined to experience. It's part of being an author, or is it? While there are many reasons why a story or character may not flow onto the page as easily as we want, what often is attributed to writer's block can be traced to a single thing. The good news is once you learn how to look for signs of this one thing in your writing life, you'll see it in other areas of your life. And as I talk about in an upcoming episode of the Holistic Author Show, removing this one thing can also help ease burnout and stress. What is it? Dissonance. I could parrot the dictionary definition of dissonance. If you're a longtime reader of my blogs, that's actually the place where I like to start. But that also wouldn't be quite explaining how dissonance affects our writing, and our life in general. As neurodivergent authors, we often wear masks when dealing with other individuals, whether virtually or in-person. Putting on those masks takes energy. That energy has to come from somewhere, and in my experience ,it comes from our creativity and our ability to accomplish the tasks we want to do. I feel like the musical definition of dissonance works here too. The clashing of sounds that's unpleasant on our ears also happens in our mind. It's the clashing of tasks, the clashing of our environment, our masks, and our true selves. Like someone standing behind you and banging cymbals in your ear, or the tuneless clang-clang of the monkey toy playing symbols, it keeps you from being able to focus. More importantly for authors dissonance makes it difficult for us to draw on our well of inner creativity and storytelling. It doesn't matter if we're writing nonfiction or fiction. I've sat and stared at a paper I was enthusiastic to write for college and my mind simply turned to static and I've also had the same thing happening when diving into the fictional worlds I've created and love. I'm old enough to envision this as the "snow" on a television set.

Old TV turned on to show static, or "snow". What is this dissonance? It's when we have conflicting needs in our environment and within ourselves. For neurodivergent authors, it can often be the challenge of feeling as if we should mask our true selves, while trying to reveal those same true selves through our writing. It can be sensory needs, or not taking breaks between tasks. Wherever we find our inner and outer needs conflicting, that's dissonance, and where at all possible, removing it from our minds and our lives has beneficial effects all around. Want to talk more about this? Reach out! I'll be opening some spaces for affordable author coaching soon! Read the full article

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Order of Creation Chapter 1

Following the death of his parents, Albert has a lot to process. His uncle, while supportive of the boy, has some suspicion about his sister's death. Find out how they tackle things in the first chapter of Order of Creation

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Tales of Ardonna Booktree