Discover 6 powerful strategies for writers to build resilience and bounce back stronger from rejection and setbacks As writers, we all face rejection at some point or another. Very often, we face rejection repeatedly. I would argue that how successful we become as writers is largely dependent on how willing we are to put our…
All posts in Mental Health
Six Strategies to Shut Up Your Mean Inner Critic (So You Can Get on and Write)
Is this making you procrastinate? Today, I want to address one of the most common issues I hear from writers: their mean inner critic keeps convincing them not to write. Most of us have an inner critic, a judge, a mean voice inside our heads who persuades us to procrastinate far more than we’d like.…
How to Handle Difficult Feedback – Four Tips for Writers
I’ve got a great topic to discuss today: how to handle difficult feedback. I’ve had to deal with difficult feedback more times than I can remember. 😭 You too? There’s always the urge put the damn thing away and move on to something else until you feel braver, right? But what if you never feel brave enough? What…
Rejection, Failure & Near Misses. And Everything I’ve Learnt Along the Way.
Let’s talk about rejection. Really?! And failure. And near misses. Eek! It’s kind of embarrassing, isn’t it? Talking about the things that didn’t work out. But writing is incredibly competitive if you want to be published or produced. Of course, we don’t want to believe this when we’re just starting out. The truth is, even when we…
Get Focused with a Writing Ritual
4 writing rituals to boost your confidence and focus Recently, when talking to one of my clients, I was asked if I knew anything about creating writing rituals. I love talking about writing habits, but I’d never really thought about writing rituals before. The question intrigued me and I decided to look into it. When we…
Get in the Right Frame of Mind to Write Fast!
Let’s talk about getting into the right frame of mind when you sit down to write. On days or weeks when I have a lot going on, I don’t always manage to do this as quickly as I’d like. Some days my brain feels distracted and jumps around my mental to-do list. I feel the urge…
Even More Tips from the London Book Fair [Part 2]
Key takeaways from 2 talks at the London Book Fair 2023 – Writing & Resilience and Spotlight on Children’s: How to Get Noticed in a Crowded Market As I said in my last article, I had the pleasure of attending the London Book Fair this year. I sat in on some great panel discussions on…
10 Lessons Writers can Learn from the Science of Happiness
I’m fascinated by psychology. I guess that’s common, being a writer – it’s our job to understand the human psyche. One of my pet topics is the Science of Happiness, also called Positive Psychology. I love it so much that I chose it as the theme for my kids’ animation series, Happy Go Hopscotch. It’s proved…
4 Simple Strategies to Help You Handle the Pain of Rejection
How do you handle the pain of rejection? I find it very uncomfortable. My thoughts start to race. I get angry – I want to strike back. Then I start swimming with self-doubt – I feel like a total loser. It’s horrible. So, I was fascinated to learn that there’s a scientific reason for this. It…
Writing While Grieving (or Struggling with Some Other Equally Painful Experience)
It’s been a few months since my last post. Sadly my Mum passed away very unexpectedly earlier in the year, so, it’s been a tough couple of months. However, shortly after her death, I landed myself a big new animation writing job (something I’d applied for a couple of months before). Wonderful news – but…