I wonder if this winter is ever going to end. I wonder if my kids will still be making up snow days in July. I wonder why my soon-to-be 7 year old daughter added “jetpack” to her birthday list. I wonder when I’m going to find the time to work on my novel. I wonder…
Author Archives: KatFrench
Rework, or the Humility of Saying “Well, That Effort Sucked.”
I feel like I should preface this post by saying that this isn’t a post about the book Rework. While I’m sure it’s an excellent book, and probably covers ideas worth thinking about here on Thoughtwrestling, I really wanted to talk about … well, rework. As in, “having to do something over again, because it…
Does Practice Make Pro? Ask a Chinese Mother or Steven Pressfield.
I read a thought-provoking article on WSJ.com today, about the radically demanding parenting style of Chinese mothers. This paragraph in particular stuck out for me (emphasis mine): What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you’re good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own…
11 for 11: Ways to Change Your Perspective
A couple of months ago, one of my pastors asked for sermon ideas for 2011 on Facebook (apparently, pastors are seriously into the whole “planning ahead” thing.) That was my first attempt at thinking ahead to the new year. All I could really come up with was “It’ll be the tenth anniversary of September 11.”…
You Made It to December! Now what?
Welcome to December, Thoughtwrestlers. Whew! We made it! If you were participating in any of the various writing marathons going on during November, how did you do? Did you complete your goal? What have you gained from the process of completing such an enormous task? If not, was it still a worthwhile endeavor? What have…
Is Your Fear Holding Your Imagination Hostage?
As I’m plowing through the third week of NaNoWriMo, I’ve been surprised at how difficult it has been to pull scenes, characters and settings out of my imagination. It’s a bit rusty, and the struggle to apply some creative WD-40 to those mental cogs got me thinking. We focus a lot here on the cognitive…
Dispatches from the Trenches of Fiction: Week 1
Greetings from the frenzied land of NaNoWriMo! As you know, November is evidently the Official Month of Setting 30 Day Goals You Have No Hope of Attaining. In addition to attempting to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, there are people attempting to write daily blog posts for 30 days, and Mark is…
Doing Many Things Well, and Doing One Thing At A Time
I have decided to once again attempt to finish a novel in November for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), because I am clearly insane. I’m a wife, a mom to two kids and a pug, a blogger, and a full-time social media nerd. That constitutes a pretty full plate by anyone’s reckoning. So why would…
Jump Start the Daily Writing Habit in 21 Days
Whether you want to write, fiction, nonfiction, poetry or prose, the best way to get better at writing is to do more of it. Creating a daily writing habit is a simple step that almost every writing coach and expert recommends. It takes 21 days to make a new activity a habit. There are a…
Say Yes to Editing (and No to Your Biggest Creative Roadblock)
If you asked most creative people to identify their biggest hurdle to increasing (and improving) their creative output, most would tell you “I just don’t have enough time.” It’s the easiest excuse to make, because people will rarely argue with you about it. We’re all too busy right now. We get it. As if juggling…