About DavidHancock

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far DavidHancock has created 138 blog entries.

10 Writing Joys

10 Writing Joys

A couple of months ago I put out a blog called 10 Writing Roadblocks. It focused on the struggles of writing, common frustrations, and well, roadblocks that writers can commiserate with. But for anyone who knows me they’ll tell you I’m an insanely positive person – so I just couldn’t leave things there. While the writing process isn’t all Fro-Yo and glitter, there are some incredible moments in the process that are matched by none.

With that in mind, let’s throw on our love-goggles and gush over all the reasons writers love to write. Below are 10 writing joys – some of them quite possibly made you fall in love with writing in the first place.

#1 Who’s Alone? 

This one is hard to explain to non-writers: when we’re completely immersed in our work, it’s not uncommon to come up for air and become shocked that we’ve been alone for so long. Why? Because after playing in an active world surrounded by fascinating characters, it feels quite the opposite! While this is never a substitute for actual human connection, writers could have all the fulfillment they need for the next few days with a laptop and some food.

#2 King of the World!

You have the power to choose whatever you’d like to explore with no limits except for the imagination. What world would you like to visit each day? Who do you want to spend hours and hours with? Instead of that annoying co-worker who talks on the phone too loud (learn to whisper, Frank!), you get to hang out with the most interesting people on your planet.

#3 That’s What She Said

You’ve designed your characters and the world they live in with precision. Your story has been masterfully outlined. And while it appears that you’re the puppet master for this journey, you come to realize that the inmates have started to run the asylum. They say and do things that surprise you, their interactions do not go the way you planned, but they have come to life so vividly that you surrender. You just sit back and let them show you how the story is going to go.

#4 Oh, I’m good…

Writers can be their toughest critics but every once in a while something magical happens: you stumble across something you’ve written a while ago and decide to read it with fresh eyes, just for fun. And as you read it hits you… You’re good. Like really good. The jokes are funny, the characters are original, and that twist ending? You almost didn’t see it coming.

#5 Lemonade Anyone?

No matter how optimistic you are there are certain events in our lives that are hard to understand why they occurred at all – even after the passing of time. Then one glorious day you get to use that traumatic, embarrassing, or confusing situation in a story and the specificity of it is absolute gold. Because this happened to you, you’re able to use it to connect with people on a deeper level, helping them not feel so alone. Then all of a sudden that negative event becomes positive and significant.

#6 Like Honey

This joy is perhaps one of the most therapeutic and exciting (like ‘the honeymoon stage’ exciting). The words burst out of you onto the page and your only worry is that your fingers can’t type fast enough. Everything inside of you pours onto the page and the energy of it all is electric. You go into a trance-like state only to find pages full of words when you snap out of it.

#7 Journaling Joys

Writers have the unique ability to dump their emotions onto the page. While anyone can do it, we have the comfort and experience that only comes from having worked this muscle day in and day out. Unlike writing a book, the writer’s journal is for their eyes-only and can offer a similar experience to sitting with a therapist who just keeps saying, “and how did that make you feel?” Over and over again – without the expensive bill.

#8 Rubik’s Cube

We all know what it’s like to bang our head up against a wall in this process. A story feels doomed because every possible solution just doesn’t feel right. Something’s not working and after feeling stuck for a long period of time you think about throwing in the towel. Until that moment that suddenly happens in the shower, or the car, or in the middle of the night – when you pop up and say, “I got it!”

#9 Freedom of Perfected Speech

How many times have we FINALLY found a perfectly witty response to a conversation that happened hours (or even days) after it occurred? Writers get to live vicariously through their characters, giving them brilliant responses to humiliate their enemy, romance the love interest, or just let them completely and articulately express their true feelings.

#10 Homework

Writing on the couch in our PJ’s with a cup of coffee and some nice music in the background isn’t a bad gig. These days – however many there are for you – should be treasured, as others are quite possibly dealing with a long commute, an angry boss, or loud co-workers (Frank, we’re talking about you!). Writing from home or your coffee shop of choice is an honor and a privilege.

Feel like staying in the love zone? Check out 5 Ways to Fall in Love With Writing Again.

David L. Hancock, Founder
Morgan James Publishing

10 Writing Joys2018-03-28T13:48:14-04:00

Hot New Releases for March 27th 2018

Morgan James Publishing is excited to announce these Hot New Releases for this week!
Each of these are available at your favorite bookseller or online starting this week.

T.H.I.N.K. More: The Key to Business Communication Success

Contributor: O’Neil, Jan Dyer

Annotation: T.H.I.N.K. presents business professionals with compelling neuroscience- and psychology-based concepts that improve communication, creativity, productivity, and business relationships.

Think Beyond Value: Building Strategy to Win

Contributor: Flint, David

Annotation: Building winning strategy doesn’t need to be complicated. Think Beyond Value provides a simple, memorable framework to help readers think beyond the value proposition to form sound business and personal strategy. Dr. David Flint’s simple framework is thorough yet practical, and quickly focuses strategic thinking on the issues of most concern to a particular situation. Think Beyond Value uses easy-to-remember terms that resonate with seasoned strategists, while also opening the world of critical thinking to those new to the process. Whether business or personal, the V-REEL framework guides strategic thinking for anyone seeking a clear plan forward.

Close the Deal & Suddenly Grow Rich: The Ground Breaking #1 Bestseller That Can Skyrocket Your Sales Results in 24 Hours

Contributor: Robinson, Marco

Annotation: Close the Deal & Suddenly Grow Rich is the ONLY sales book that reveals exactly WHEN to close the deal using the power of a B.R.A.N.D to transform sales results within 24 hours. Being homeless many times as a child after Marco Robinson’s mum left his father when he was just two years old because of immense debt, he knows what it’s like to sleep on park benches, be bullied from school to school, etc. Close the Deal & Suddenly Grow Rich is a true rags-to-riches story of someone who was willing to fight, never gave up, and became the best he could be at sales. At the heart of Marco’s passion is giving back after his own difficult childhood. In a universal and conversational style, Marco shares his B.R.A.N.D. new concept of 21st century sales and communication technology that transforms sales results within 24 hours and catapults any working professional to the top levels of seven-figure earners at light speed!

Hot New Releases for March 27th 20182018-03-28T15:53:16-04:00

Hot New Releases for March 20th 2018

Morgan James Publishing is excited to announce these Hot New Releases for this week!
Each of these are available at your favorite bookseller or online starting this week.

Teen Ref: A Good Ano Calla

Contributor: Struzziero, Phil

Annotation: A relatable sports story for teen boys that addresses inner conflict, coping with adversity, defining one’s worth, and transformation.

Rock Retirement: A Simple Guide to Help You Take Control and Be More Optimistic about the Future

Contributor(s): Whitney, Roger (Author); Saul-Sehy, Joe (Foreword by)

Annotation: Rock Retirement offers inspirational advice on how to enjoy the journey to retirement to its fullest. Traditional retirement advice usually boils down to saving more, sacrificing more, and settling for less. This approach makes people dependent on systems outside their control, such as the market, economy, and investment returns. The result: people lose power over determining their life. What sets Rock Retirement apart is its holistic approach to helping people take back control and act intentionally towards the life they want. It addresses the fears, hopes, and dreams that people have about retirement, goes way beyond the numbers, and shows them how to balance living well today and tomorrow.

You Can’t Google It!: The Compelling Case for Cross-Generational Conversation at Work

Contributor: Haserot, Phyllis Weiss

Annotation: You Can’t Google it! reveals how to take the stress, frustration, and negative energy out of working with people of different generations so that readers understand and can accomplish their common business development goals–and do it faster with more engaged and committed colleagues and clients.

If Nuns Were Wives: A Handbook on Marriage from the Perspective of a Nun

Contributor(s): Chen, Shani (Author); Carlson, Kristine (Foreword by)

Annotation: If Nuns Were Wives is a handbook for wives on how to thrive in marriage using the perspective of a nun. Formerly aspiring nun, Shani Chen, is now married with two children, but still enjoys learning alongside the nuns. In an unconventional way of delivering relationship advice, Chen takes her reader on a journey into the monastery–transcending dogma and religion–and makes the role of the American wife the new holy temple for relationships.

Behind Closed Doors: Uncovering the Practices Harming Our Children’s Health and What We Can Do about It

Contributor(s): Stanton, Joanne (Author); O’Donnell, Christine (Author)

Annotation: Two mothers bring passion, heart, honesty, and answers to the national conversation on children’s health and the environment.

Hot New Releases for March 20th 20182018-03-22T02:49:46-04:00

London Calling!

Morgan James London: Expanding Representation & Distribution

Morgan James Publishing would like to announce the opening of our new London office on St Martin’s le Grand. Situated in the heart of London’s financial district, two blocks east of the London Stock Exchange, the office will serve as the headquarters for Morgan James throughout the UK. We are looking forward to discovering and collaborating with all the wonderful English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish entrepreneurial authors whose cultures have made amazing contributions to the publishing industry with their rich literary history.

Morgan James would also like to announce greater distribution throughout the UK, thanks to a recent partnership agreement within the IPS Global distribution network. This new relationship will allow us to use long-established distribution channels utilized by over 200 mainstream publishers throughout the UK, resulting in greater efficiency, value and representation for Morgan James Publishing.

Lastly, to fulfill our goal of creating valuable, mutually beneficial relationships, we would like to introduce our newest team member in London. This is a big deal for us as we have been wanting, and waiting, for the right timing and the right people since 2004 when we first established London as a future growth point for Morgan James, Tony Lynch.

Tony is an entrepreneur, who has an international business development coaching and training company called Keep Thinking Big. He has been featured in Inc in the ‘100 Great Leadership Speakers for your next Conference’ as well as being a TEDx speaker. Tony has spoken in many different countries as he works with business leaders to enhance their team engagement, performance, productivity and profitability.

London Calling!2018-03-16T20:09:31-04:00

Meet Christine Handy of Walk Beside Me in North Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Handy, author of Walk Beside Me.

Christine, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. My story started after I was diagnosed with breast cancer and completed chemotherapy. It was then that I knew I needed to share my story and create a platform to reach a wider net of people to mentor, help and give hope to. I wrote and published my first novel called Walk Beside Me in 2016. Shortly thereafter, I published articles in the USA and in Europe on ‘Walking Through Cancer’.

I became a best selling author right after my book was published and subsequently became a radio personality on my platforms and also became a motivational speaker. I am also a Fox Radio News breast cancer early detection advocate. I travel on a national level to speak to wide audiences not just about my journey but also about the importance of walking through life with people that will carry you forward through the good, the bad and the in between. We truly are who we surround ourselves with and because of that we must choose wisely our friends and companions. My motto is always there is purpose in pain but it’s a choice to use it to help others. My book is now in its second publishing and I have another novel on the way.

[Continue Reading]

Meet Christine Handy of Walk Beside Me in North Beach2018-03-16T13:54:52-04:00

Writers, You Know You’re Procrastinating When

Writers, You Know You’re Procrastinating When…

I find it wildly amusing that I procrastinated on this blog. This blog about procrastination. I was going to start it in the morning, but then got caught up in some emails. My stomach started to growl and I knew I’d be much more efficient with food, so I left the house for a quick brunch. When I got back home my friend called from out of the country, so I just had to answer and make sure she tried out my favorite restaurant. Now, before I know it, it’s 3:30 pm and if it weren’t for those annoying deadlines, I’d most definitely put this off until next week.

They say ‘write what you know.’ If that’s the case, all writers should write about this. Procrastination is so common that it feels like a natural part of the writing process. Read on to determine if you’re procrastinating or simply seizing opportunities to be proactive in other areas. Or if you’re in the mood to have your toes stepped on.

Writers, You Know You’re Procrastinating When…

  • You Exercise. After not working out for months, you decide now’s the time to get back in the gym –right in the middle of a scheduled writing session. Unfortunately, it’ll take a while to renew your membership, get reacquainted with the staff, and to figure out all the equipment.
  • You eat. Again. You ate half an hour ago but as you sit there looking at the computer screen, you realize that you could really go for some cookies. Man, you don’t have any – looks like you’ll have to drive across town to get the ones you love.
  • You rearrange furniture. Your space has looked the same for years but for some reason, all the furniture in your living room feels wrong today. After an hour of playing interior designer, you’ve exhausted yourself from all the heavy lifting and need a break.
  • You start conversations. You’ve complained about your roommate talking your ear off, distracting you from work. But today, you knock on his door, pull up a chair, and ask him how that date went three weeks ago.
  • You check social media. You hop on Facebook – just to check a quick message – and an hour later you’ve learned WAY too much about an acquaintance from the 3rd grade. The good news is her husband is now back on his feet after losing such a good job with benefits and Jenny (her oldest) just got a band scholarship. “Like.”
  • You start spring-cleaning. Suddenly, the dust on top of your ceiling fan drives you mad. But in order to clean the top of the fan, you must be prepared to clean everything that falls under it. And that rug needs to be moved before you do it. In fact, it could use a good shampooing.
  • You make calls. After putting off that conversation with your grandmother, you decide it can’t wait a moment longer. While you’re at it, you might as well check in on Uncle Eddie and Aunt Karen (the talkers in the family).
  • You become an accountant. All of a sudden you have a burning desire to go through your receipts with a fine-tooth comb and categorize them according to date. No, wait… Item. No, wait… Amount. This is gonna take a while.
  • You organize. You start organizing random things that you didn’t even know needed it until now. Gmail inbox folders. Phone contacts. Paper clips. You’ll be able to work after everything is in order, whenever that perfect day comes.
  • You nitpick. You’re ready to work, but something isn’t right about your pen – it’s not writing the way you’d like it to. And your paper doesn’t really feel creative. You’d rather have a nice notebook for this project. Time to go to Staples for all the necessities (that you already have).
  • You create drama. There’s a little temptation to start mischief with your friends, significant other, or family member. You know what pushes their buttons and you’re suddenly in the button-pushing mood. “No Sarah, I didn’t say you have a bad haircut, I just said it wasn’t my personal favorite.”
  • You over-edit. You get so fixated on a certain word or phrase in your project that you spend half an hour deciding if you should use a dash or a semi-colon.
  • You go down the Internet hole. Now is also a great time to research the history of the semi-colon and to take an online survey that goes into detail about what your punctuation choice says about your personality.

Any of these sound familiar? Let me know if I’ve missed one!

David L. Hancock, Founder
Morgan James Publishing

Writers, You Know You’re Procrastinating When2018-03-14T13:22:50-04:00

Hot New Releases for March 13th 2018

Morgan James Publishing is excited to announce these Hot New Releases for this week!
Each of these are available at your favorite bookseller or online starting this week.

Beyond Positive Thinking 30th Anniversary Edition: A No Nonsense Formula for Getting What You Want

Contributor(s): Anthony, Robert

Annotation: 30th Anniversary Edition! A common-sense approach to achieving success in one’s life. Offers workable, step-by-step methods and positive visualization techniques to help readers personalize goals, trust creativity, transcend old beliefs and limitations, and transform positive thinking into positive action.

Your First CFO: The Accounting Cure for Small Business Owners

Contributor: Prior, Pam

Annotation: If you kill your bookkeeper, who will write the bail check?

Are you paying good money for an accountant and bookkeeper, but still lack enough confidence in your company’s financials to answer critical money questions?

Do you sit up at night processing and reprocessing unresolved questions about how to keep your business on a solid financial footing or nurture it to the next level?

Do you feel like you’re flying blind and fast with your finances and have no sense of the terrain ahead?

Your First CFO is a step-by-step blueprint for using the tools and people you’ve already paid for to shine a spotlight on your business finances so they make sense to you.

Your First CFO will transform your current stress and uncertainty about bookkeepers, accounting, and finance into a foundation of steady confidence about the future of your business.

After the Miracle: Illusions Along the Path to Restoration

Imprint: Morgan James Faith

Contributor: Hampton, David B

Annotation: What happens when the miracle of sobriety shakes up the way we’ve trained the people in our lives to treat us as opposed to what we need from them now? Where do we turn when getting what we’ve prayed for messes up everything we thought we knew and believed? After the Miracle: Illusions On the Path To Restoration addresses the illusions we have as we begin to break the cycles in our lives and face the reality of what healthy living will really cost. David Hampton poses a realistic view of what the path will be to a new way of being for everyone concerned After the Miracle.

Feel Good Again: A Game-Changing Guide to Creating Wellness, Energy, Joy and an Enthusiasm for Life

Contributor: Goggin, Linda

Annotation: Is waking up with fatigue, aches, and pains getting old for you?

Your lab-work is “normal”. Your doctors shrug their shoulders. And you?re left wondering where in the world your energy and vitality could possibly have gone, especially when you?re trying to ?do all the right things.? Dr. Linda Goggin invites you on a lively journey to Feel Good Again, because robust good health is your birthright and YOU deserve to feel fantastic!

Feel Good Again is an easy-to-read, information-packed guide on the road back to regaining your health, energy, and enthusiasm for life.

Get Up and Grow: 21 Habits of Successful People

Contributor(s): Matlock, Duke (Author); Martin, Dave (Foreword by)

Annotation:

Get Up and Grow is about developing habits that foster personal and professional growth in four critical areas: spirituality, success, health, and margin. In six chapters, Get Up and Grow will enable you to shift your paradigm and create a culture of growth and investment in your life. By utilizing your mornings as opportunities for development, Get Up and Grow will change the way you view success and will create the space to see exponential growth.

Hot New Releases for March 13th 20182018-03-13T19:54:36-04:00

The Top Three Reasons My Office Rejects Submissions

So you got a rejection saying the submission isn’t right for us? That’s a typical decline, isn’t it? Frustrating, I know. But it’s typical because it’s so common. Let’s look at the top three reasons my office sends rejection letters.

  • The submission isn’t right for us. When you receive this letter, you may feel as though we blew off your work and chose a pig-in-a-poke excuse because we had to fill in a blank. But in fact, this is the number one reason we must decline many submissions. Why?

1. The author didn’t research to discover we don’t represent the category in question.

2. We don’t think the topic will find a place with the editors we know.

3. The author took a chance by thinking we might make an exception for him.

  • The market is too tight. Unfortunately, we must turn down many excellent submissions that at other times, we might have been able to accept. We must consider our knowledge and understanding of the current market when evaluating any and all proposals. And though this may seem unfair to the talented author, one major reason to engage a literary agent in the first place is for her knowledge of the current market. Besides, you may meet a different agent who knows three editors looking for a book on The Breath Mint and Garlic Diet. If that’s your book, wouldn’t it be in your best interest to work with an agent who knows those editors?
  • We just didn’t like it. You can shout “That’s not fair!!!” from the rooftops and we’d agree. This is the most unfair reason to send a decline. And this is why we try not to admit this in our declines. But look at it this way, do you want your agent to be so lethargic about your work that he says to editors, “You don’t want to buy this, do you?” And since there are A LOT of agents, another agent – one who loves your work and is eager to represent you – is a better fit. That agent may even be a different agent in the same agency.

So there you have it, the reasons we must reject some manuscripts. There are other reasons, but these tend to be the most common.

Source: The Top Three Reasons My Office Rejects Submissions

The Top Three Reasons My Office Rejects Submissions2018-03-08T19:06:21-05:00

Hot New Releases for March 6th 2018

Morgan James Publishing is excited to announce these Hot New Releases for this week!
Each of these are available at your favorite bookseller or online starting this week.

Remember Who You Are: Achieve Success. Create Balance. Experience Fulfillment.

Contributor(s): Stafford, Paula Brown (Author); Grimes, Lisa T (Author)McGovern, Gail (Foreword by)

Annotation: Remember Who You Are provides an authentic look at key concepts today’s career women can benefit from and put into action immediately–it’s virtual mentoring.

Creating Signature Stories: Strategic Messaging That Energizes, Persuades and Inspires

Contributor: Aaker, David

Annotation: Stories are orders of magnitude which are more effective than facts at achieving attention, persuading, being remembered, and inspiring involvement. Signature stories–intriguing, authentic, and involving narratives–apply the power of stories to communicate a strategic message. Marketing professionals, coping with the digital revolution and the need to have their strategic message heard internally and externally, are realizing that a digital strategy revolves around content and that content is stories.

Creating Signature Stories shows organizations how to introduce storytelling into their strategic messaging, and guides organizations to find, or even create, signature stories and leverage them over time. With case studies built into every chapter, organizations will realize the power of storytelling to energize readers, gain visibility, persuade audiences, and inspire action.

Grief Interrupted: A Holistic Guide to Reclaiming Your Joy

Contributor(s): Stiles, Corey (Author); Delisi, Rick (Foreword by)

Annotation: Grief Interrupted shows grieving parents the possibility of being happy again after the death of a child.

The Power of Perception: Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, and the Gender Divide

Contributor: Andrews, Shawn

Annotation: The Power of Perception explains the perceptions that prevent more women from leading global businesses, and includes strategies to counteract these perceptions for women, men, and organizations.

The Lost Astronaut: Search for the Golden Thread

Imprint: Morgan James Fiction

Contributor: Coning, D J

Annotation: The Lost Astronaut features themes of resilience and integrity through a futuristic story of a young astronaut who must find the will to forgive to save Earth.

Deep Creativity: Inside the Creative Mystery

Contributor(s): Shamas, Victor (Author); Maker, June (Foreword by)

Annotation: Deep Creativity reveals the findings of Victor Shamas’ 30-year exploration of the creative process. Rather than observing creativity in others, he delved into the experience directly in order to uncover hidden truths and break free of common misconceptions. Deep Creativity turns fundamental assumptions about creativity on their head while offering fresh perspectives on the scientific method, fractals, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, plate tectonics, mind and consciousness, hero myths, the life cycle, sleep and dreams, mothers’ intuition, the nature of wisdom, peak experiences, and even the Gospels. Written from a research psychologist’s perspective, Deep Creativity portrays the creative experience as a bold adventure filled with passion, turmoil, inspiration, sacrifice, sheer joy, self-transcendence, and unconditional love.

Principled Profits: Outward Success Is an Inside Job

Contributor: Albert, Bobby

Annotation: If you’re like most leaders, your hard work isn’t translating into the results you desire. Maybe trying harder is not the solution.

What if you could achieve more than you ever thought possible -by changing your approach to leadership?

Former CEO and serial entrepreneur Bobby Albert has lived, learned and taught leadership – for decades. In Principled Profits, Bobby reveals the Paradox of Effective Leadership that transformed his leadership and catapulted his organization to unprecedented success. The proven principles laid out in this book provide a road-map for any leader who is willing to step out and lead in a bold new way. Once you learn how to tap the passion and knowledge residing in your team, you too, will be positioned for extraordinary growth.

Bobby Albert offers the eager leader a proven path to growth and significance.

The Fibromyalgia Coach: Feel Better, Change Lives, and Find Your Best Job Ever

Contributor: Stackelhouse, Tami

Annotation:

Feel Better, Change Lives, and Find Your Best Job Ever!

Looking for a fibromyalgia-friendly career that will help you feel better instead of worse? Could your job be keeping you from you getting better? Do you feel like you aren’t ready to file for disability, but can’t keep up at work either?

In her second book, The Fibromyalgia Coach, Tami Stackelhouse tells the story of her lifelong search for the perfect career. A fibromyalgia patient herself, the author credits becoming a Fibromyalgia Coach with helping her stay focused on feeling better when it would have been easy to give up. She says, “Healing is a full-time job.”

The Fibromyalgia Coach will guide you into finding your best job ever – a career that will help you feel better while making a difference in the world around you! What if you aren’t losing your mind and can manage brain fog symptoms simply?

Hot New Releases for March 6th 20182018-03-07T20:32:35-05:00

10 Writer Roadblocks (You’re Not Alone)

10 Writer Roadblocks (You’re Not Alone)

You’re a solution-oriented person. While there’s not always a perfect answer for every situation, you know there’s a Rolodex of tools at your disposal to help eliminate any mountain in your path – or at the very least, to climb over it. But no matter how positive of a person you may be or how much of a cheerleader you are to your friends, everyone has those days when they can’t stomach the motivational, “keep your chin up” mentality. We know it’s right, we know it’s helpful, but unless we’re in the right frame of mind to have our chin lifted, it’s unwarranted, annoying chatter.

Sometimes we just need to know we’re not alone. Because writers lead such solitary work lives, the biggest comfort might not always come from a glossy solution but from taking solace in knowing that the roadblocks, feelings, and frustrations we’re going through have been experienced before.

So in the spirit of community, here are ten writer roadblocks that all scribes can relate to, with the solution being the relating itself.

#1 Procrastination

No matter how talented, successful, or motivated an artist may be, he or she has experienced procrastination. You know you’re procrastinating when you end up doing tasks that have been on your to do list for months: organizing files, cleaning out junk drawers, getting a jump start on taxes…

Disciplined writers have learned to identify this trap and fight their way through it but rest assured, you’re not the only one who decided that instead of writing, now would be a great time to update your Christmas card list (in June).

#2 Deadline Anxiety

Nothing puts a weight on creativity like a ticking clock. “Could you create a fantastical world, unique characters, and a compelling conflict? Oh, and could you have that turned in by 5pm EST?”

Writers who have been in the game for a while have the luxury of knowing that they always get it done – that’s been their experience. But the anxiety of how the project will be completed often remains a mystery – even for seasoned pros.

#3 Falling Out of Love

You’ve invested countless time and energy on a current project. The light at the end of the tunnel is shining. You know if you just roll up your sleeves and work a little longer you’ll reach the story’s finish line. But something happens around this time. You start to daydream about other stories and brainstorm about other characters. You come to the realization that you’re just not excited to tell this story anymore.

Maybe you’ve changed. Maybe your story’s changed. Whatever it is, you’re ready to move on to the next project before you’ve completed this one. Then the age-old question becomes, “to scrap, or not to scrap?”

#4 Distractions

It’s your big writing day and the whole project is mapped out. This is the day you’re going to dive in and only come up for food and water. It’s a crucial time for your project and the pressure is on to be wildly productive. Then, as if the universe is testing you, here comes the parade of distractions.

Your friend goes through a breakup and needs to talk. The Internet goes down.  Judging by the noise outside, there seems to be an episode of “Cops” happening in your neighborhood. Whatever the case, everything that hasn’t needed attention for months is suddenly screaming at you on this day.

#5 Odd Hours

Those who have the luxury of setting their own hours know that this freedom is a blessing and a curse. As hard as you’ll try to keep a set schedule, any artist knows that when inspiration strikes, you better be ready.

A creative streak will inevitably come that’s thrilling from start to finish – unfortunately it ends around 4am. Then, before you know it, you’re not sure if what you just ate was breakfast or lunch. Your hours are way off and as much as you want to feel like an adult with an “early to rise” attitude, you’ve now experienced the calm that only 2am provides and are secretly looking forward to your next “after hours” writing streak.

#6 Rejection

Possibly the worst part of being a writer, rejection is something we must all learn to deal with. And while we learn to handle it better and better each time, it doesn’t mean the feeling of rejection gets easier.

Nothing can take the wind out of our sails faster than when someone doesn’t “get” the project that makes us feel so darn alive. How can they not appreciate that funny twist at the end? How do they not feel compassion for my protagonist? A great deal of work goes into creating these worlds so when someone rejects them – for whatever reason – it stings. And it happens to the very, very best of us.

#7 Behind on Life

You’ve had the opportunity to dive into your project for a few days or weeks and feel extremely accomplished. You come up for air, excited to see daylight and friends again, then get hit with a pile of mail, messages, and mundane grown-up tasks. These are usually manageable and only slightly annoying when they’re spread out, but all together they feel like punishment for your creative vacation.

Showering and washing the t-shirt you’ve stayed in for the past three days is a start, but now you have to buy groceries, get an oil change, and be placed on a “brief hold” with some kind of insurance company for half an hour. Welcome back to society.

#8 Killing Babies

You’ve gotten feedback on your book from respected colleagues and to your dismay, one of your favorite things in the story needs to be taken out. You were so proud of that moment! In fact, it was one of your favorite parts in the entire story.

That moment, joke, or character perfectly captured your voice and represents what you’re trying to do in storytelling. Why must you take it out? Because a handful of trusted people are having the same experience with it and at the end of the day, your story is for your reader, not you. The harsh reality is that while your moment is wonderful, it takes away from the overall story and you must kill your darling.

#9 Clueless

You’ve been so excited about this project. You’ve raved about it to your friends and colleagues. You feel like the timing is perfect for the world to hear this tale and your voice and skills have effortlessly poured onto the page. Finally, your talent is being utilized in every way possible!

After all your edits, you sit down to enjoy this story as a finished product when a panic starts to bubble up inside…  You have no earthly idea if it’s any good. You’ve spent so much time rewriting, cutting, and crafting moments that it’s impossible for you to see it with fresh eyes. All you can do is now is hope and pray your efforts weren’t in vain.

#10 It’s Already Been Done

You’re just bursting at the seams to share the idea you’re working on. It’s universal with a creative twist, and has riveting characters to follow along through the journey. You’ve devoted every waking hour toward crafting this world when an article in the Hollywood Reporter comes out. It’s your story! Except it’s not.

Someone else, with a lot of money, is making the same thing. Their story is so similar to yours that you begin to wonder if your phone was tapped. Every writer knows (and fears) that these things happen all the time. Now every time you tell someone what you’re working on, they say, “Oh, your story is like Stephen King’s story!” And you say in a bitter tone, “No… His story is like mine.”

Like any relationship, writing has its ups and downs – why not be transparent about all our experiences? When you are ready for a little solution-oriented positivity and want to rekindle that flame with writing, try these 5 Ways To Fall In Love With Writing Again.

David L. Hancock,
Founder, Morgan James

10 Writer Roadblocks (You’re Not Alone)2018-02-28T17:00:32-05:00
Go to Top