Drawing From The Well - AJG BOOKS

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft.” — Anne Lamott | Happy Thursday Creatives! We’re ten days into NaNoWriMo! In today’s podcast I share some of the lessons past NaNoWriMo participants learned on their journey that’s sure to help guide you to that goal of 50,000 words.

“Unless you live alone and have devoted servants and assistants taking care of all the routine details of your life, you bounce from… the world you’re creating, or re-creating on paper. But few writers have personal assistants or servants, and most have day jobs. So in the end you don’t go crazy. And you don’t give up writing. You juggle, just like everybody else.” — Barbara Abercrombie | Happy Hump Day Creatives! We’re nine days into NaNoWriMo! Today’s podcast is meant to encourage you as you’re learning to juggle between your regular and creative lives.

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” ― Terry Pratchett | Happy Tuesday Creatives! We’re eight days into NaNoWriMo! Today’s podcast is meant to remind you that it’s fine if your writing words that seem worthless or plain terrible because all rough drafts are crap—in fact, that’s the point. Rough drafts are meant to be the first step in helping you see your story clearly.

“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion.” ― Henry David Thoreau | Happy Monday Creatives! We’re seven days into NaNoWriMo! And today’s podcast is meant to help you find your “groove” as you identify the “type” of NaNo-er you are so as to use the right tools to assist you on this wonderful journey of completing your first novel.

“The first words will rarely be your best, and the fear of bad writing often keeps writers from the initial click on the keys. But writing is like jumping into a cold lake: You squirm less once you’re all in.” — Dr. David McDonald | Happy Friday Creatives! We’re four days into NaNoWriMo! And today’s podcast is meant to remind you that passion and excitement will get you started but only a disciplined determination will see us through to November 30 with a 50,000 rough draft to show for all our hard work. And guess what? We have everything it takes to get there!

“You never know what you can accomplish until you try….there is satisfaction in meeting the challenge and finding that you can do it.” —Jenny Garden | Happy Thursday Creatives! We’re three days into NaNoWriMo! And today’s podcast is meant to push you over the edge if you’re still on the fence about whether to tackle this goal or not. Listen to today’s testimony and be encouraged to know that you have what it takes to make your dream of publishing a novel come true.

“I forced myself to write with a new mindset (no editing, not even for misspellings), and the more I just let the words pour forth, the better my story became.” — Jennifer Hester Mattox | Happy Hump Day Creatives! Today is the second day of NaNoWriMo! And the fun has just begun. In today’s podcast, we’re encouraged to embrace a new mindset in regards to completing our daily word count despite the many challenges and commitments we have.

“Bask in the glory of victory. But don’t leave it alone forever. Rewrite. Edit. Fix it. Finish it. NaNoWriMo helps you fill the sandbox. It’s up to you to build castles.” — Emily Echols | Happy Tuesday Creatives! Today is the first day of NaNoWriMo! Aren’t you excited? I know I am. In today’s podcast, I read a bit of advice to get us pumped to reach our goal of a full length novel—50,000 words—in 30 days. Countless of others before us has done it and you can to! Lets start this journey towards victory.

“I can’t raid my past for raw material because my past is so dull, so I have to make it all up, I have to start from scratch, inventing alternate landscapes to fill with invented people and invented narratives.” | Happy Monday Creatives! This week we’ll be drawing inspiration from one of my favorite books, A Year of Writing Dangerously, by Barbara Abercrombie, as well as talking about NaNoWriMo. In today’s podcast, Barbara Abercrombie calls our attentions to our motivations for writing via some wise words from Jim Crace.

"If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person." — Fred Rogers | Happy Saturday Creatives! Today I just wanted to check in with everyone and let you know I’m still here and doing just fine. I also share an uplifting quote from Fred Rogers to remind you that you’re important and that the world needs you and your creative expressions.