Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

What’s Next? Creative Life Midwife Blog in December & 2022

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Gratitude to the Blog Visitors: woman writing ina notebook and circles of gratitude in this holiday flavored image

During November, I participated once again in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Although I wasn’t perfect in my participation, I would say I improved greatly from past challenges. A big part of that is from the community created by Paul Taubman with the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

Gratitude: One of the Most Powerful Energies there is!

The people who are in the challenge are always a great support, but this year I took some risks in what I posted and was met repeatedly with meaningful comments and connections.

I have connected with some people in the challenge in the past, but this session was special because of the care of each comment participants made and how regularly my posts were shared with their audiences. I cannot thank each of you enough.

Please: if you have a blog consider participating in the next challenge by using the link above or this Ultimate Blog Challenge link right here! 🙂

What’s next? 12 Days of Vlogmas Gifts to Make Your 2022 Creatively Bountiful

I have been thinking of doing Vlogmas AND it feels so big, too big, especially as I didn’t quite make it through the Ultimate Blog Challenge for all thirty days THOUGH I was closer than usual thanks to batching my content.

I decided it would be really fun for me to do Vlogmas in 12 Days beginning on December 4th instead of 30 posts starting December 1 (though I leave room to add if I am having tons of fun and want to continue) and offer gifts – primarily tools I use that people may choose to use also via check lists, journaling pages, actual google docs to copy and things like that. 

Together, let’s delight in our individual and collective creative bount by giving and receiving the 12 Days of Vlogmas Gifts!

These tangible (and virtual) helps will make your 2022 more creatively bountiful than it would be on its own.

Who’s up for that?

Let’s Keep Our Connection Alive in December (and Beyond!)

I will share the posts in the Ultimate Blog Challenge group in December. I like popping in there even when there isn’t a challenge going as a way to stay connected on our “no challenge” months. Saying that’s part of my plan will make me more likely to follow through.

I will also be participating in the December Cornerstone Content Blog Challenge run by Jeanine Byers who I met from the Ultimate Blog Challenge. We have become better friends as the years and challenges have gone on. In the Cornerstone Content Blog Challenge. In December we are focusing on sharing on our Facebook Business Pages AND… truth be told I often repurpose a lot of my content sometimes with slight variations so ther 12 Days of Vlogmas Gifts may show up there on some days, too.

In 2022, I will be focusing on offering Soulful Writing Courses and Soulful Writing Circles in addition to launching other courses focused on intentional creative rebirth. In October 2022 I will be opening the doors to offering Intentional Holiday Circles, Even While Grieving again – and for those who want to process on their own, I am creating a journal now for that very purpose.

THANK YOU for being a part of my 2021 experience!

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Writing Flash Fiction for Fun to Ignite Memories for Life Writing (and even a Bonus Video!)

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I didn’t feel like writing today. I am tired and more than a little bit grumpy AND I knew if I showed up at the page, anyway, something would happen.

I took a prompt from a community I am in and used it differently than expected. I don’t know why I felt like writing some very short fiction, but I did. From writing fiction, a memory of early childhood popped up wanting to be heard.

Show up at the page consistently and writing magic will happen.

I went from not wanting to write to having an a-ha simply because I showed up (even though I didn’t want to show up and write.)

I know not everyone agrees with the belief if you show up at the page everyday, your writing will improve. I believe some writing every day is better than no writing, anyday.

There is gold dust in this advice for me – is there any for you? Here are the steps I took on this day when I didn’t feel like writing.

Step One: Write Very Short Fiction Vignette

Laura felt herself shift slightly in her seat, not consciously meaning to shake off the nagging anxiety as she looked at Maureen’s instagram worthy kitchen. The simple act of pouring a cup of coffee was an artform to Maureen. She didn’t mean to make Laura feel anything but welcome.

“I have loved being here in Salem since Tom and I arrived last Spring,” bubbled Maureen, her words as effervescent as her kitchen decor. “I joined the women’s book club and the progressive dinner we have every month, are you interested to join us?”

Laura opened her mouth to respond but before she could say anything, Maureen continued speaking, “There’s no need for you to feel out of place. We don’t have many single women in the neighborhood… unless you count Barbara… and she is around eighty-years-old, after all, and a widow but she still sets an incredible table and bakes brownies like nobody’s business!”

Maureen made excellent coffee, dressed beautifully and seemed to be lonelier than she appeared, but Laura wasn’t sure coming over here was such a good idea. She sipped her coffee, attempting to look dainty and interested in the conversational monologue.

“We read “Little Fires Everywhere” last month. One of the primary characters was single and an artist, like you!” Maureen laughed.

“I loved ‘Little Fires,’ too.” she answered. “The Hulu series terrified me, though.”

Maureen’s neck stiffened and her eyebrows knit together. “Oh, I don’t watch much TV. Tom and I prefer reading or playing board games in the evening.”

Laura took a larger gulp of coffee and stopped hiding her awkwardness. Now is the time, she decided, to stop being herself and embody one of her more bubbly, Stepford Wives-like characters from her best selling cozy mystery series, “Crab Apple Cove Coffee Shop Girls”

“Really? Me, too! Do you like puzzles?” 

This lightened Maureen’s face right back into her happy hostess mode and the rest of the afternoon was an uneventful coo-and-awww party about the wonders of how to nurture a relationship with one’s accountant husband. 

At least Laura walked away with a new character sketch for her next novel. When Maureen said goodbye she was convinced she had made a life-long friend.

Step 2: Write a Vignette from your life: a mini-memoir

It’s surprising the memories that rise to the surface through visual imagery and storytelling. When I saw this image I wanted to replicate it in my world at first. Being new to Sussex, I have yet to make any “meet me for coffee” friends – though I trust I will soon.

I remembered as I wrote the fiction vignette how when I was a little girl, my mother was in the Junior League. Oftentimes the children who weren’t in school yet would tag along to the morning coffee meetings where the ladies would discuss their projects.

I think they were doing some sort of entertainment and my mother brought a bling-bling headband that wasn’t quite fancy enough for the character who became Maureen in the story. I remember even as a pre-schooler I realized my mother was hurt and felt less-than under the eyes of her fellow Junior-Leaguer.

Shauna Niequist said, “True hospitality is when people leave feeling better about themselves and not better about you.”

Neither the woman from nearly six decades ago did this for my mother nor did Maureen do this for Laura, even though Laura walked away with a new character sketch!

Step 3: Add some bonuses, like an engagement question and a video:

How can your events be more hospitable to those who attend, even if it is a simple cup of coffee one-on-one in a coffee shop or working with other women at a holiday fundraising event?

You might notice I even used the same graphic for the video cover and the featured image for this blog post. In less than an hour and a half, I have content I may reuse and repurpose – and made a good use of time on a day when I “didn’t feel like it”.

Below the video, you can see a place to join the Writing Group I mention in the video – a space where you may also receive writing prompts and community, the Let Our Words Flow Creative Community. I hope you will join us!

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Turning a Lose-Lose into a Win (or at least a Bit Better.)

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Writing, planning.... is easier when you aren't surrounded by other people. Here I am in a park with my notebook, alone.

How did conflict show up in my writing this week?

Conflict showed up for my writing in how much time I wasn’t able to write, where I was and who I was with, which sounds more like excuses than I wish it did. Time, context and external interference. No one else I was with felt conflict, only me.

This is what happened that prevented me from writing in the week behind us. I was at an AirBnb with family. I wanted to keep up a modified but still focused on creating consistently. I am not sure exactly when things started falling apart, I just know they did. 

It’s funny how resignation works when you don’t show up at the page.

And another day you don’t show up at the page. Resignation builds.

And another day you don’t show up at the page. Resignation gets higher and higher.

Perhaps if I wrote a short story or a scene with these elements, I might be able to step out of myself and study it a bit without shaking my finger at myself, wagging like my third grade teacher, Ms. Pizarro. 

This sounds ideal to me: take what caused me conflicts in my writing and use it to fuel my creativity this week. Win-win-win.

How can you create a win-win with what might have felt like a loss otherwise?

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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How to Find a Writing Practice that Works for You (and recognize it will change over time!)

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I laughed out loud this morning when I read an excerpt from yesterday’s writing practice. I wrote:

♡ Today I want to get over the hurdle of fear, preferably without smacking my face, my ass or my thighs on the way down.

How can I get more honest than that?

For years I wrote in the style of Julia Cameron’s morning pages, but after more than a decade of this practice, I needed to try something new so I borrowed from poet Billy Collins to include a list of 20 things I did the day before.

This works on many levels AND I have gone on to modify this practice more.

Playfully experiment with different types of writing practice rather than giving up entirely.

I happily experimented my way into a writing practice that collects images, sensory observations and day to day using Collins “Yesterday I” with the first five entries honoring “what I did” and the rest following a combination of sensory prompts, listing my desires and also noting what I read (perhaps a good quote or two among blogs, books, etc) and more.

I put my list into a monthly google doc. Everyday when I start working it is the first task. I take each prompt and respond five times to each.

My current, everyday writing practice foundation looks like this:


Here is what my current daily prompt currently looks like.

Yesterday I (action)
^ Yesterday I felt
Yesterday I saw
𝅘𝅥𝅲 Yesterday I heard
🕮 Yesterday I read
⇌↪Yesterday I smelled
♡ Today I want


☆ Today I affirm (and I write an affirmation or affirmative statement. Sometime I use scripture or modify quotes, too.)


╳ Any a-ha’s? (More often than not I don’t have anything to list but when I do, this is a beneficial category. I also think it helps to awaken my subconscious mind to remember and bring them to the front of my brain instead of getting stuck in minutia.)

By the way, I did not get physically injured when I climbed over the hurdle of fear. If anything I rose higher than I might have expected.

I may challenge myself to write what I want to do with fear on a more regular basis!

I know not everyone believes in writing daily or even regularly. For me, it works.

Most importantly when the practice I was using stopped working, I circled back and experimented to find what worked better for me.

Right now I have two distinctive, short (takes less than 15 minutes) writing practices – the one you are reading here and #rolloverandwrite – which is a brief before sleep write (sometimes literally a scribbled sentence) and then soon after awakening I roll over while still in bed and pick up my notebook instead of my phone.

In the latter practice, I have gotten much better at remembering my dreams AND I tune into a lot more of my personal wisdom I didn’t know was there that I use in my work with coaching clients, my blogging, my relationships and even in my social media planning.

How regularly do you write?

Portrait of Writer, Creative Life Coach, Speaker, Group Facilitator and Blogger Julie JordanScott

Julie JordanScott is a multipassionate creative who delights in inviting others into their own fullhearted, artistic experience via her creativity coaching individually or in groups, courses and workshops. To receive inspiring content and videos weekly and find out more about Coaching, Courses, Challenges and what’s going on in the Creative Life Midwife world? Subscribe here:

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.


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Bloggers & Writers: Have fun Creating Content with Writing Experiments

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Blogger cartoon character is being reminded blogging can be fun! I can do it! Writing experiments are playful! I am stronger than my blocks! I am allowed to take a break.

Writing experiments are an easy way to become a better writer through curiosity and playfulness as a channel to writing improvement. Writing experiments focus on results being what they will be, thus ruling out the unfortunate sense of failure that overcomes many writers.

Writers are often curious, passionate and driven by learning how to improve and unfortunately may get discouraged when this leads to something other than the outcome we wanted. With writing experiments, we have freedom to see if something new works without being attached to what is right and what is wrong.

Your English Writing Teacher is NOT in your blogging room.

There are no “red pencil flashbacks” with writing experiments!

Today I actually failed with my ongoing #rolloverandwrite writing experiment. My response? Hey, for 40 days this worked beautifully. Now, how may I tweak it and start over? No beating myself up or deciding to never try again! Instead, a joyful experiment with a tiny change and back at it!

Watch this short video to learn about my most recent writing experiment.

Examples of writing experiments may include writing X for #number of days. I wrote at leasy one haiku poem for 377 consecutive days, for example. NaNoWriMo is a form of writing experiment. Some AuthorTubers borrow writing routines of favorite authors to see how it works in their lives and then share on YouTube.

Writing experiments are not about failing what you are trying, they reinforce any feedback being constructive feedback. Not Bad Writer/Good Writer. Not “I’m no good” instead, “Its all good!”

A New Way to Define Success as a Writer and Blogger

If you are putting words on the page, you are a success. Maybe my next writing experiment will be to try a week of writing badly or writing ridiculously or writing melodramatically. Normally, that would be horrifying! With writing experiments it is fun and may lead to learning something I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.

And now it’s your turn –

What writing experiment would you like to try? Remember, passion not perfection. Curiosity and playfulness will help all your results feel good. Ask questions in the comments or send me an email.

Let’s have fun with our next writing experiments!

Julie JordanScott is a multipassionate creative who delights in inviting others into their own fullhearted. artistic experience via her creativity coaching individually or in groups, courses and workshops. To receive inspiring content and videos weekly and find out more about Coaching, Courses, Challenges and what’s going on in the Creative Life Midwife world? Subscribe here:

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Top 7 Writing Micro-Goals for Creative Entrepreneurs

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I’ve seen this happen with more of my coaching, healing arts and creative entrepreneur clients than I can count – and I have even done it myself. We plunk down at our desks at our designated writing times and absolutely nothing happens.

Here’s the thing: creating a small, micro-goal specifically aimed to help you with consistent content creation is deceptively simple. Try one of these on for a week. If it doesn’t appeal, try a different one for seven days. Repeat as necessary.

My secret success is from having one solid “writing not for content but for exercising the writing muscle” practice, for me it is a daily stream of conscious journaling in the morning, and then have a second micro goal I mix up and serve differently, like a writing buffet.

Watch the video here and read below for more details for each tip.

  1. My newest accidental micro-goal is a daily #RollOverandWrite. That’s it. Wake up, roll over and pick up the notebook you placed at your bedside before you went to sleep and write a few sentences.
  1. Write an affirmative intention daily in the morning. “I am capable of writing effective blog posts.” “People enjoy what I write.” “My sales letter is both effective and engaging.”
  1. Exercise for 20 minutes and write immediately after. Set up your writing space before you go for your walk, job or attend your zumba class. If you work out someplace besides your home, bring a notebook with you and write in your car or at the gym or at a picnic table in the park. Your subconscious is watching to see how important your writing is to you by the consistent time you give it.
  1. Journal/free write for a set amount of time or set number of words/pages each day. You may write as few as 250 words (approximately one page) or for three minutes. The amount of writing matters less than simply flowing with your writing rather than attempting to mold it or edit as you go along. That comes later – and believe me, if you can get the words on the page to begin with, editing will come easily.
  1. To practice writing concisely and with the most writing “bang for your buck” write a daily haiku, six word story or American Sentence poem. Any of this “very micro writing” will help you be use your best words. It will help you write compelling copy and/or characters with a more curated conversational style than you may usually write. It will teach you to cut out unnecessary words that often bog down our readers.
  1. Write a 5 item gratitude list before you go to sleep. You may also make a list of “What went well today” or “5 Good Things that happened today” list. Thesetrain your brain to focus on what is constructive and helpful in your life. A bonus is the subject of each item on the list may easily become a blog post, a social media post or a chapter in a book or poem.
  1. Use a timer to write 5 minutes a day for 5 consecutive days, #5for5BrainDump style. You may try unprompted or prompted writing. In the Let Our Words Flow Creative Community we have prompts and videos to guide you as you practice this – plus it is free to join the group which also has a thriving community, lots of tips, video teachings and daily discussion for creative entrepreneurs.

Julie JordanScott is a multipassionate creative who delights in inviting others into their own fullhearted. artistic experience via her creativity coaching individually or in groups, courses and workshops. To receive inspiring content and videos weekly and find out more about Coaching, Courses, Challenges and what’s going on in the Creative Life Midwife world? Subscribe here:

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Writers: How You May Use Fear of Failure to Fuel Your Success in Going Live

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Think about your response to this question before you continue reading:

How often have you given up before you had any real evidence that you might not succeed at whatever your most recent sense of close-to-failure might be?

How many of us look forward to making mistakes and worse than that, how many of us look forward to failure?

Keep reading: this is important.

Successful Power House Sara Blakely Aims for Failure

Sara Blakely, founder and creator of Spanx Shapewear,  credits her tenacity amidst failure to her father’s attitude. 

She wrote,  “We’d sit around the dinner table and he’d ask, ‘What did you guys fail at this week?’ If we had nothing to tell him, he’d be disappointed,” she said. “He knew that many people become paralyzed by the fear of failure. My father wanted us to try everything and feel free to push the envelope. His attitude taught me to define failure as not trying something I want to do instead of not achieving the right outcome.”

I teach writers how to successfully go live (live-streaming) the easiest ways possible. I love going live myself, so this is a natural extension of that love and then I discovered many have challenges because they are afraid to make mistakes.

What would happen if you made making mistakes fun?

I even made a video about it for you – watch the video here.

Sarah Blakely has continued her quest of mistakes, failure and embarrassment. You may read of her latest conquest here.

Now it’s your turn: More on Success & Making Mistakes

How do you feel about making mistakes?

How might you use fear of making mistakes to fuel your future successes?

Comment below to continue the conversation!

Julie JordanScott is a multipassionate creative who delights in inviting others into their own fullhearted. artistic experience via her creativity coaching individually or in groups, courses and workshops. To receive inspiring content and videos weekly and find out more about Coaching, Courses, Challenges and what’s going on in the Creative Life Midwife world? Subscribe here:

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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How to Use Simple Writing Warm Ups: 5 Easy Ideas to Try Now

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Musicians and athletes understand what some writers don’t understand. Before musicians do their primary work – singing that intense musical piece or performing before an audience or before an athlete runs (or swims or bikes or walks)  the race, one must warm up one’s “instrument” the voice or the body.

The same is true with writing.

It is a rare case when the first words we write are the best of what we write. 

Why should a writer use writing warm ups?

Consider the writing warm-up as an “on-ramp” to the rest of your writing. We have to get onto the on-ramp in order to build up speed for driving on the highway and getting to our next destination. 

Writing Warm Ups Allow Us To…

  • Reconnect with previous writing
  • Get focused on the task, mission or purpose of each particular writing session.
  • Provide a “Starting Point” that is better or more clear than the confusion when the writing session begins. 
  • Stretch our “writing muscles”. Playing with words that we aren’t attached to being good or right or perfect helps our later words improve.
  • Experiment: make your warm up into a game you may use to try new and unexpected things. You may find these experiments turn into some of your best ideas of all. If you didn’t do warm ups, you would have no space for such frivolity.

Writer Lindsay Price said, “I use warm ups especially when I don’t feel like writing. Instead of walking away from my desk, I do an exercise. Nine times out of ten by the time I’m done my warm up, I’ve changed my tune.”

How do writing warm ups work?

As I started writing this, for example, I was reminded of a test taking strategy that always resulted in a better grade: I would read the entire exam before I made a single mark on it.

Why?

If I knew the answers to the questions, there would be no problem in quickly checking those off, but for the questions that were tricky, it gave my subconscious mind a chance to “find the answer for me”. By the time I had zipped through the easy questions I knew I had right, my brain had warmed up to take on the more difficult questions.

In case you are not sure about how a writing warm-up may help you, I invite you to do a writing experiment using warm up exercises.

Challenge: Experiment and play to see how writing warm ups work best for you

Here are five warm-up exercises to try. The rules of writing engagement are:

  1. Do not warm up for longer than 5 minutes. 3 to 5 minutes is ideal.
  2. If you try one technique and it doesn’t work, choose a different technique. One not working doesn’t mean writing warm ups aren’t good, it means that particular writing warm up didn’t work
  3. Have a plan or purpose for your writing after the warm up. For example: “I will write 1000 words of my novel” or “I will work on my sales campaign for the next hour.”
  • Writing Warm Up 1: Free Flow, Stream of Consciousness or Automatic Writing: these are synonymous. Simply write without editing, judgement or forethought. Let your pencil float across the page or your fingers tap on the keyboard or scan the screen. This is my personal favorite warm up.
  • Writing Warm Up 2: Use prompted writing – the best single prompts include “I remember”, “Yesterday I….”, “If things were perfect, I would…”, “What would be wisest to do next is…” and the sensory prompts – “I see, I hear, I smell, I taste, I touch, and the sixth sense – I feel (intuitively or emotionally.)
  • Writing Warm Up 3: Take 60 seconds to write a complete description of an ordinary object that can fit in your hand. Experience the object fully – feel it in your hand but lift it to your face, feel it against your cheek, smell it, compare it to similar sized objects. Write everything down, take note of the tiniest details. Warning: this may change your relationship with the things you own. 🙂
  • Writing Warm Up 4: Explore where a quote takes you. If you don’t collect quotes, google “Quotes about (insert your favorite subject of the day.) Choose a quote, copy it into your notebook or document and add, “This makes me think” and/or “this makes me feel” and see where the thoughts and feelings take you. You may find it takes your main character someplace, too!
  • Writing Warm Up 5: Write about your favorites… whatever. You can even make a jar with papers listing “movies, teacher, sci fi films, poems, athlete, musician, book, genre of book, comedian, city to visit” or whatever your likely favorites may be. If you spend a week or ten days focusing on your favorites, you will likely have a week to ten days of more pleasant writing experiences.

Which writing warm up will you use first?

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, Writer, Speaker and Mom extraordinaire who loves working with creative entrepreneurs, artists and healers to get their words written on the page, spoken in their videos and shared across social media platforms with confidence.

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Meditative Writing from the Senses: Witness Your Life with Writing to Feel More Empowered and Courageous

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We write for many reasons. No matter what your reason is – or whatever form of content you plan to create – the best way to get to the heart of your message is to begin writing in a free-flow, meditative or stream of consciousness style.

Use Meditative Writing to Discover What You Think, Know and Understand

When I write either a first draft or a bit of timed meditative writing, what I discover often surprises me. It is like what novelist Flannery O’Connor said, ““I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” If you want to write a blog post or a video script or a sales page, the same skill set works. The same practices work. Today, we are focusing on witnessing your life via the senses – clearly and simply.

How to start writing from the senses

Instead of writing “It looks good” or “I think it is pretty” look carefully at the subject of your writing either in your minds eye or physically. From this experience, write something like this:

“The bright purple irises fill the glass vase with the twine tied in a bow.”

“There was a hint of vanilla in the chocolate chip cookies” or

“He was over six feet tall, which made my five foot four inch frame feel tiny.”

Yes, there is some opinion in that final sentence, but do you see how it is supported in fact?

PRACTICE: What would you write about this picture? Colors? Textures? (from items like this you have in your home)? What sounds do books make?

Feel free to share in the comments and we can dialogue there or send me a message to practice more.

A writing prompt image with a picture of books, a coffee cup and plants to inspire writers by using their senses for meditative writing.


Write with sensory details- write from what is specific and concrete.

Be with what sensory – be with specific and concrete details.

Once you hold the sensory experience – what you see, hear, touch, smell, feel – then you may delve into the sixth sense – what your intuition tells you and eventually what meaning you make from life experience and witnessing your life experience.

PRACTICE: USE THE PHOTO PROMPT ABOVE AND CONNECT THE DESCRIPTION WITH AN EXPERIENCE FROM YOUR LIFE. YOU MIGHT WRITE ABOUT THE LAST TIME YOU SHARED A CUP OF COFFEE OR TEA WITH A FRIEND OR A BOOK CLUB EXPERIENCE OR YOUR FRIEND WHO ENJOYS AND COLLECTS SUCCULENTS.

Throughout this week, we will be sharing strategies to help you write more freely using techniques that will help you write better – whatever genre you have chosen to write within. Come back to discover more about how to improve your writing!

Julie JordanScott has been writing since before she was literate by dictating her thoughts to her mother and then copying in thick crayons onto construction paper. She was a pioneer in epublishing and continues to reach readers through her blog, bestselling books, greeting cards and her essays and poems in anthologies. Join her for one of her upcoming #5for5BrainDump programs or an upcoming writing circle or writing for social media programs.

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Writers & Procrastination: 3 Ways to Be More Productive Now

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Photo of a woman, looking out a window while holding onto a cushion. She is a writer, procrastinating. She needs to write, but won't. Erica Jong believes it is fear of judgement that stops her.

“All I want to do today is get some writing done!” I said excitedly this morning. It was as if I was giving myself a personalize Writer’s Pep Talk! I was smiling, I was earnest, I almost had a plan and a schedule!

Why then was I sitting in my driveway checking twitter at 4 pm after I dropped my daughter off at her film shoot?

I knew I didn’t have a lot of time to waste, so why was I on twitter, checking out the tweets using the hashtag #amwriting? I might not have noticed this was strange until I saw myself typing into my phone “I’m doing so well at procrastinating I checked who used #amwriting so I can “network” as a writing warm up?”

I rushed into my house and decided to google “writers and procrastination”. 

Interesting to see how an academic institution differs from a professional website, I thought, before I realized, “I am still not writing.”

How often does this sort of thing happen to you?

During the pandemic I have reinvested in my interest in hiking. I started walking regularly for my health and hiking is another extension of that. I could do all the right prep work: research the best trails for beginners, , buy hiking boots, talk about hiking, drive to the trail and arrive at the trailhead early in the day,  but if I didn’t actually get out of my car and put my feet on the trail, I wouldn’t really be a hiker.

Something changes when we actually follow through on what we say we want to do.

There are moments when we have to be our own writing coach check in with ourselves as we tweet and realize “I am writing a tweet to connect with other writers maybe because I am lonely, but why don’t I use ‘networking with other writers” as a reward once I actually write.

Here are three easy ways to settle your racing, procrastinating mind and sit at your keyboard and write something useful and productive instead of tweeting, ordering the next “how to write” book on Amazon or sending a direct message to your writing buddy to check in about how much you want to (yet aren’t) writing.

  1. Set up a reward system for your writing time. If you say you are going to write at a specific time, WRITE – and have a plan to reward yourself. Say, “I will work on Chapter 3 of my novel at 11:00 am until 11:30 am. I will reward myself with 10 minutes on twitter. Set your timer and USE it. Repeat with different times and rewards. Find the time allotments that work best by experimenting and playing with your schedule.
  2. Give yourself the gift of a writing warm up. If you have a particular subject or assignment, before you begin working specifically on that subject, give yourself 5 minutes (again, use a timer) to do a free write, stream of consciousness writing warm up. CAVEAT: when five minutes are up, write 5 sentences that include affirming your intention, your abilities and gratitude.  Those five sentences may sound like this: “I am so grateful I have this opportunity to write today. Russell values my writing work and praised my blog post about refugee camps in times of Covid19. I feel confident this new work about influencing grandparents to actively engage their gamer grandchildren will make a difference in the world. When I am done, I will walk around the block and then come back and prepare for another writing session. I am a capable writer.”
  3. Let go of the need to have anything precisely the same every time you write. “I can’t write because I don’t have my lucky blue mug to keep me company.” News flash: it isn’t your blue mug that is lucky, it is your butt in your writing seat, consistently getting words on the page that makes you lucky.

Did you notice what happened? Earlier today I said, “All I want to do today is get some writing done!” and now I have. I managed to stay away from twitter, I managed to not worry that I am separated from my coffee maker and I even didn’t throw my shoe at the loud noisemaking box someone else in my Covid19 too crowded space insists on keeping on constantly.

How did your writing go?

I have a lot of new ideas about ending writer’s procrastination and there may be more articles on this topic being published soon! Be sure to follow me on social media (links are above) and/or join the private Word-Love Writing Community on Facebook where we not only talk strategies and insights, we also regularly host writing sprints and community brain dumps and more, just for you.

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