I almost missed ANOTHER month of the IWSG! But I’m posting during a break in psychotherapy clients.
Thank you to Ninja Alex for developing this supportive author meme.
I’ve been embroiled in some good stuff with my psychologist career lately, so writing/blogging has taken a back seat. My fourth novel has been under contract for a while with Omnific Publishing, and I can’t wait to start with the edits. I finally started writing my next novel — a New Adult romance with sports and politics — but I only have about 500 words so far.
I could get really insecure about this hiatus in writing, saying things like:
“I should have started another novel by now.”
“The NA genre is hopping and I should strike while the iron’s hot.”
“Maybe I’m being lazy.”
But I don’t think these judgments will help anything. Instead, I’ll use the NONJUDGMENTALLY mindfulness skill. According to Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., the nonjudgmentally skill is:
* See but DON’T EVALUATE. Take a nonjudgmental stance. Just the facts. Focus on the “what”, not the “good” or “bad”, the “terrible” or “wonderful”, the “should” or “should not”.
* UNGLUE YOUR OPINIONS from the facts, from the “who, what, when, and where”.
* ACCEPT each moment (this doesn’t mean you like it or agree with it).
To practice this skill, I’ll examine the facts, like “I feel anxious that I’m not writing frequently right now” or “The psycho part of my psycho author career has needed more time recently”.
Have you experienced an ebb and flow in your own writing career? How do you deal with judgments and insecurity?
Jennifer Lane Books 