Browsing Tag

infj writer

One of the Biggest (and Most Dangerous) Myths in the Writing Community

One of the biggest things I see all writers struggle with is the idea that creativity has to be hard.

Sometimes I see this in the way a writer works. They might set themselves up on a schedule—trying to meet a high word count every day, for example—at which they are bound to fail. Or they beat themselves up mercilessly for the messiness and flaws that they see in their first draft. Sometimes it’s more hidden, and while the writer might be trying to stay cheerful on the outside while they meet all their rigorous writing goals, on the inside they feel horrible because their inner critic is lashing out at them for not being productive enough, or original enough, or just plain good enough.

When writers who are struggling turn to the online world of writing for help with these types of problems, they usually only find a lot of blogs and articles that reinforce the very feelings that are making them feel so bad about themselves. There is just so much stuff out there telling us that creativity is not supposed to be fun, that creativity is work and you have to treat it like a job, or that we should always have an eye on how productive we are. We should track our word counts, days devoted to writing, number of rejection letters, and that we should take pride in feeling beaten down and discouraged because, on top of everything else, growing a thick skin is also something that a real writer has to learn to do, even if it’s unbearably painful.

This is all complete nonsense. Continue Reading

Are You a Writer Who’s Lost Your Inspiration?

Nothing feels worse than being a writer who has lost all inspiration. Every time you sit down to write you feel like the well has run dry. You feel empty, disappointed, disconnected, and like your inspiration will never come back.

Is it possible to recover from this type of situation?

Even though it feels hopeless when you’re going through it, it IS possible to get your inspiration back as a writer. However, it’s not as simple as using good writing prompts or putting yourself on some sort of schedule to enforce discipline. Inspiration tends to shy away from too much structure and too many rules, so using these types of strategies may only compound the problem. Continue Reading

Are You an Overthinking Writer?

I’ve worked with hundreds of writers over the past eight years and one of the most common problems they report to me is overthinking. They might overthink the idea of their story, how the characters should act, who’s going to read their memoir, if they’re writing their book in the right format, or a dozen other things.

One thing is for sure, when a writer starts to overthink things, the writing goes downhill fast. This is because most of the creative “problems” that arise with writing are not issues that you can think your way out of, and this is so hard for so many people to grasp because we live in a society that tells us that thinking is the answer to everything. And if you’re truly stuck about something, well, you just need to think harder.

But thinking harder doesn’t get us anywhere. In fact, it only makes us feel more paralyzed, more stuck and frozen and scared, and more hopeless. Continue Reading

Are You an Unhappy Writer?

It seems like it would be easy to know if you’re an unhappy writer, right? But it’s a little trickier than just asking yourself how you feel. A lot of writers who are deeply unhappy with themselves, their writing, and their writing lives overall, actually don’t even know how unhappy they are. They’ve been unhappy for so long that it just kind of feels normal to them now.

This was me for a long time.

For many years I didn’t write at all. I was definitely unhappy, but I didn’t actually know how unhappy I truly was, because I had never known anything different. Sure, a long time ago, when I was a kid, writing had felt fun to me. But by the time I hit my late teenage years it had become hard and painful. Every time it felt like an uphill battle. Continue Reading

13 Best Resources for Writers and Creatives of the INFJ and INFP Personality Type

I get emails from INFJ writers and INFP writers all the time asking for recommendations for helpful books, supportive communities, and inspirational sources to help them along on their creative journey. I thought it might be a good idea to put all of my recommendations in one place and in one easy-to-peruse list so all you INF creatives out there can bookmark it and come back to it whenever you need it.

So, without further ado, here is my “best of” list for anyone of the INFJ or INFP personality type who’s looking for healing and/or creative help. Continue Reading