Karinwritesdangerously

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”. Guillaume Apollinaire 

Whenever I turn around, I see an article or news item that confirms what we all know: Writing can be life-changing — and a helpful, healing tool. Here’s proof positive:

Craft a happy ending: If you’re feeling stuck and unsure because of a difficult circumstance, taking time to pick up a pen and write out a positive outcome can make you feel better about your situation and even lead to a better conclusion. According to researchers, the very act of writing opens up creativity boosting channels in your brain, expanding your ability to find smart solutions and happier, more fruitful ways of looking at whatever life throws your way.

Scribble away your stress: Taking 15 minutes or so three times a week to vent by putting your pent-up feelings down on paper reduces worry, anxiety, insomnia and other stress-related problems by 30% according to recent studies.

Relax by reading: When you feel tension rising, cracking open a favorite novel or an inspiring holiday story like a Christmas Carol can lower your stress level by 70% within six minutes according to U.K. research. When we immerse ourselves in a fictional world we distract ourselves so effectively from our real-life worries that just the act of reading slows our heart rate and melts tension away!

Read aloud to calm yourself: Reading spiritual writings aloud, like psalms or chants, can slow your breathing to six breaths a minute, according to a leading medical journal. This lowers your heart rate and blood pressure, creating a sense of calm within minutes. 

Power your diet with a pen: If you’re in the mood to slim down, then pick up your pen: Keeping a food diary can help you lose twice as much weight according to a major study of people who dropped an average of 18 pounds in six months. Why? Researchers say just the act of writing down everything you eat will encourage you to consume less. 

Boost your brainpower with poetry: Reciting poetry is a brain booster! The enjoyable, ear-pleasing rhythms and turns of phrase found in poetry spark activity in the right side of your brain, sharpening your memory, focus, and reasoning skills. Rhyming poems work best: The brain’s memory centers get an extra charge from recognizing rhyming patterns. 

Feel happier fast: Want to give yourself a boost all day long? Just send a quick email praising or thanking a friend. According to recent Harvard research, people who wrote a grateful note via email daily for three weeks felt significantly happier. Even a brief online exchange helps you bond with others and offers happiness-enhancing social support.

Our pens, pencils, and pecking have power! So, boost your brain, feel happier, relax — and write on!

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« The one thing you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. »

« Write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure there are any other rules. Not ones that matter. »

« The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before. »
Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is not only an award-winning author, he’s also prolific. He’s written short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, and screenplays. In an online interview he offered inspiring advice:

Where ideas come from: Desperation, deadlines, daydreaming. Ideas often turn up while you’re doing something else. Confluence is a big factor: two things flowing together and converging can trigger an idea. Everyone gets ideas all the time, but most people let them slip away. As writers we “train ourselves to notice when we get an idea” — when we find or hit upon something that might be mined.

First drafts: Neil likes to write by hand in notebooks, because until he puts his work on the computer, it’s “not real” and somehow, “it doesn’t matter,” so it takes the pressure off and frees him up. As he puts it, “No one really cares about your first draft but you. Whatever you’re doing can be fixed.” So get it down and see what you have.

Read outside your comfort zone: Whatever the genre you want to focus on, make it a point to read outside of it. When you read widely, you get ideas, you make connections, you see fresh angles. “Go and learn things” — it will make you a stronger writer. 

Tell your story your way: “There are better writers, smarter writers than you. But you are the only you — so start telling the stories that only you can tell.” 

Bravo, Neil — write on!

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You can never really tell what will come in handy as a writer or where inspiring ideas that give us a jolt of energy will come from. A case in point: “4 Principles of the Wrestling Mindset,” a poster created by Gene Zannetti, a sports psychology expert. When I heard about it, I knew right away it could be adapted to the writing life. So here’s my rewrite:

4 Principles of the Wrestling (Writing) Mindset

#1 I am thankful for the opportunity to wrestle (write).

Having the opportunity to share our stories, fantasies, hopes, dreams, and fears with the world through our writing is a gift. Whenever I write, I light a small candle by my desk to remind me that giving life to words is a time-honored calling that I am blessed to pursue. Gratitude opens the door to abundance.

#2 I am aggressive and relentless.

Right above my computer, I have a sticky note with a quote from Vincent van Gogh: “I attack the page, struggling like a lion.” I keep this right in front of my nose to remind me that writing is not for the faint-hearted. It takes courage. It takes stamina. It takes aggressive attention and pursuit. It takes relentless dedication and relentless willingness to endure frustration, setbacks, and rejection.

#3 I have no fear of losing or making mistakes.

To survive and thrive in the pursuit of our craft requires full effort — and letting go of a focus on winning and losing. We need to take a “win some, learn some” approach to any mistakes we make and see them as stepping stones rather than missteps. 

#4 I never, ever give up. 

Whatever obstacles we face, inner fears or outer demands on our time, believing in our work, we write on! 

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Intrigued by the incredible productivity and cohesion of the team of scientists working on the Apollo 11 mission to reach the moon, Charles Garfield came up with a mission of his own: The young mathematician devoted the next 20 years to studying peak performers. What separates them from everyone else? Based on his research, Garfield isolated six qualities that peak performers share:

1.  They Give Themselves a Motivating Mission: Once the Apollo 11 team achieved its goal, its mission was over and most of its members lapsed back into normal productivity levels. In contrast, for peak performers, their sense of mission is an internal motivator that’s consistently focused and never goes away. They are filled with purpose and want to achieve something bigger than themselves. This motivates them through good times and bad — and inspires them to achieve more and to excel.

2.  They Take Results-Oriented Action: Peak performers don’t wait for favorable external circumstances to act: They don’t wait for the perfect time or situation. Instead, they took purposeful action every day to get the results they wanted.

3.  They Use Self-Management to Achieve Self-Mastery: Peak performers achieve their goals by managing their own process: They look at what’s working and what’s not working and make changes necessary to achieve better results. They are self motivated and manage their own progress.

4.  They Are Team Builders: Although peak performers are adept at mastering their own processes and don’t depend on external motivation, they also have the ability to surround themselves with the right team in order to achieve the results they want.

5.  They Are Course Correctors: Like everyone else, peak performers make mistakes and encounter obstacles. However, when they begin seeing negative results, setbacks, and other indicators that suggest they’re on the wrong path, they use that information to shift gears and take corrective action. They learn from failure and use it to fuel their success.

6.  They Manage Change Productively: No one has a perfect strategy — or operates in a vacuum. Peak performers have the ability to anticipate changes, adapt to them, and then take purposeful action. They know their plans will change due to circumstance, so they focus on intelligent adaptations to whatever changes may come.

What’s most encouraging about Garfield’s findings on peak performers is how normal they are. They don’t have exceptional talent or advantages. What sets them apart? A powerful mission, an internal motivator, a willingness to act, and the ability to adapt to setbacks. How inspiring! No rocket science here! We can bring all these to the page every day as we write on!

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« The sound of the sea, the curve of a horizon, wind in leaves, the cry of a bird leave manifold impressions in us. And suddenly, without our wishing it at all, one of these memories spills from us and finds expression in musical language. I want to sing my interior landscape with the simple artlessness of a child. »

Claude Debussy

Let’s tap into our inner well of enthusiasm, ignite our passion, and bring ardent desire to our work! To help us on our way, some sparkling gems ponder and act upon:

“You can do anything if you have enthusiasm…. Enthusiasm is the spark in your eye, the swing in the gait, the grip of your hand, the  irresistible surge of your will and your energy to execute your ideas…. Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress! With it, there is accomplishment. Without it, there are only alibis.”   Henry Ford

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Your energy and enthusiasm rise and fall in direct proportion to your expectations”  Ed Agresta

“Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.”  John Wesley

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill

“You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.”  Colette

“When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.”  W. Clement Stone

“Charge your future! As you recreate this positive force in your life, take big, massive leaps into your future. Be imaginative, bold and brave! The results may surprise you.”   Jim Allen

“Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second.  Give your dreams all you’ve got and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.”  William James

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.”   Maya Angelou

“Make no small plans for they have no power to stir the soul.”   Niccolo Machiavelli

Inspired and enthused, let’s all write on!

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« An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. » Victor Hugo

Born on February 26, 1802, Victor Hugo is known for his novels Notre-Dame de Paris and Les Misérables. He was also a poet and dramatist. He studied law, but was always drawn to writing and was encouraged by his mother to follow his passion. His wise words:

“There is nothing like a dream to create the future.”

“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.”

“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.”

“Laughter is sunshine, it chases winter from the human face.”

“The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved.”

“As the purse is emptied, the heart is filled.”

“He who does not weep does not see.”

“People do not lack strength; they lack will.”

“Where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.”

“Our mind is enriched by what we receive, our heart by what we give.”

“A mother’s arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.”

“Curiosity is one of the forms of feminine bravery.”

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”

“It is from books that wise people derive consolation in the troubls of life.”

“Thought is the labor of the intellect, reverie, it’s pleasure.”

“He who opens a school door, closes a prison.”

“To love another person is to see the face of God.”

Bravo, Victor! And now, inspired and emboldened, let’s all write on!

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Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury: Always great for a shot of artistic adrenalin:

“So I collected comics, fell in love with carnivals and World’s Fairs and began to write.

And what, you ask, does writing teach us?

First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that it is a gift and a privilege, not a right. We must earn life once it has been awarded us. Life asks for rewards back because it has favored us with animation.

So, while our art cannot, as we wish it could, save us from wars, privation, envy, greed, old age, or death, it can revitalize us amidst it all. 

Secondly, writing is survival. Any art, any good work, of course, is that.

Not to write, for many of us, is to die. 

We must take arms each and every day, perhaps knowing that the battle cannot be entirely won, but fight we must, if only a gentle bout. The smallest effort to win means, at the end of each day, a sort of victory.”

Bravo, Ray! Inspire on!

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I don’t know where you are right now, but here in Montclair, New Jersey, we’re experiencing a thrilling adventure…a major SNOW DAY! I know, I know, for some people this is a trial, but for me, it’s a treat. When I was a kid, I considered “SNOW DAY”  two of the most glorious words in the English language. It meant NO SCHOOL! HOT CHOCOLATE! PLAYING CARDS! GOOFING AROUND! READING BOOKS!

I can still see my beloved sister Judy reading one of her favorite stories, Snow Bound with Betsy. Could there be a more perfect book title for a snowy day? Sometimes I wish I had a copy of that book. But then I realize that I don’t need one— just the title is so evocative, it summons up happy memories in an instant. Books are like that, aren’t they?

I’m not spending the day in a snow fort made of blankets the way we did when I was a kid, but I am all set to enjoy my snow day. Luckily, I don’t have to travel. I’ve got plenty of work. And I’m well provisioned — an absolute snow-day must. Hot Chocolate! Hazelnut Coffee! Fire Wood! They’re all on hand — everything I need for a fun and productive snow-bound interlude.

Sometimes it’s a gift to have a “time out” — a day where the outside world waits quietly on your doorstep. A day where you can plan and dream, ponder and write. It’s the perfect time to let your imagination soar. May we all be safe and protected, and warm and cozy. Write on!

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On special days—and every day is a special day!—it’s wonderful to count our blessings. I’m so grateful for and appreciate my fabulous family and friends, my work as a writer, which I cherish, and all of my creative fellow scribes, who inspire me every day. I thought I’d take a few moments to say thank you.

Thank you to my amazing family! and to my awesome friends! I’ve always been so blessed to be encouraged and supported by my beautiful family and friends, who’ve nourished me with love and ideas and inspiration on every step of my writer’s journey.

Thank you to my friend and mentor Dr. Rob Gilbert, whose wonderful Success Hotline* means so much to me. I listen to it every day. Rob’s motivational mission inspired me to launch my KWD motivational blog for writers in honor of my beloved mom Dorothy and my sister Judy. I wanted to share my love of writing and to offer inspiration and encouragement to my fellow writers. The writing life is wonderful, but it can sometimes be lonely and I hope to bring some light to it.

Thank you to my KWD kindred spirits for reading my posts and sharing my posts and your writing journeys with me. Whenever I receive a comment, I feel so happy and blessed. It gives me a huge boost to know that I’ve shared something — a quote or an idea or a strategy — that brightens your day and, hopefully, gives you a shot of energy so you can keep going and push past whatever obstacles you’re facing. Knowing that you are reading KWD motivates me to keep going as well, so we are helping each other.

Thank you to my inner spirit, my writing muse. When I launched KWD, I had a few random ideas for a handful of posts. But as my intention to continue grew stronger, my sources of inspiration blossomed (see Idea Magnet). Everywhere I turned, fruitful new themes seemed to pop out at me. I learned something very powerful from this: Our creative well is never dry! Many times, sitting down to pen the day’s post, I’ve had no clue what I was going to write — yet something always bubbled up inside me or jumped out at me. The more we ask of ourselves creatively, the more we have to give—what a wonderful discovery this has been for me!

And a huge thank you to all storytellers, past and present. Sharing your struggles and triumphs has been such an enlivening experience: Above all, it has shown me the kind of grit and discipline I need to make my own writing dreams come alive — not just on the page, but out in the world.

Thank you, one and all! I hope to keep going and growing as a writer and to bring more inspiration to ever-more aspiring authors as we all write on!

*Check out Dr. Gilbert’s Success Hotline (973-897-3937)—so inspiring!

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