Lessons
Class Introduction
09:01 2Why is Writer’s Block Even a Thing?
10:15 3Redefining Writer's Block as Avoidance
08:32 4How to Start Writing
12:12 5Make Writing Your Home
15:24 6Dealing with Overwhelm, Indecision and Guilt
05:47 7Source Your Creative Direction
09:13 8Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
06:40Lesson Info
Source Your Creative Direction
How to source your creative direction. So that all sounds well and good, right? There's the yogi in me again, giving you a non-committal answer about what to do, how to overcome your avoidance. So I wanna give you guys an exercise that's gonna look familiar, our blueberry donut. This time, instead of thinking about the external layers of energy in which we're living, we're gonna go through this process, again, pretty quickly, so you'll come back to it later, it's in the bonus materials. To think about the individuals, the people, the human beings, so first the influencers and the big deals, who could be creatives, they could be artists, they could be writers, who you admire, who you naturally gravitate to. What we're doing in this process is gonna become clear as we go on, is finding some creative direction through that mysterious thing called voice. But first, I want you to write down really quickly, who is someone that you really admire? Is it a Dalai Lama, we have a Buddhist in the ...
audience. Is it someone like Oprah? Is it my favorite poet Rumi? Is it an MLK, Junior, we just passed his birthday? Is it an author? Is it an aspirational figure in other words? Who's someone that you deeply admire? And just write that name down, just become aware of it really quickly. We're gonna come back to it. Now, moving a little bit closer to your own spheres of influence. Think of somebody who's in your circles, and by your circles, I mean almost a little bit closer to your living space, your workplace environments. It could be a peer, it could be a friend who maybe runs parallel to you in your industry or in the writing genre that you really appreciate and admire. It could be a blogger to whom you subscribe. Newsletter. Somebody who's maybe not as widely known, but someone who you're like, "I like their voice. "I like how they show up, I like what they represent." You feel gravitationally pulled to their example. So jot that name down, just heightening the awareness. And then let's go all the way down to the micro level again. Everyday examples, so these don't have to be movers and shakers, these don't have to be people in history books, these don't even have to be people who are writers or creatives in a parallel or adjacent field as you. Could be a parent, could be next-door neighbor, could be someone who maybe is a quiet leader. Maybe someone who's example you really admire, you feel yourself kind of naturally drawn to them, you're gonna emulate their behavior. What we're doing is, we're working through this process, guys, of getting out of our heads, feeling like our writing is an isolated experience, where we're going it all alone, we have to figure out everything ahead of time, we have to figure out our direction with our writing, with our self expression, from the start. Instead, we're just taking a look around. Who are the people that we admire already? Everyone from the writers, the creatives, the artists who stand up and mean something to us individually, all the way down to the people in our everyday lives. For me, I know my mom and my dad are huge examples for me, they always have been, and really becoming aware of the qualities, of the values that they have long-embodied reflected back to me a lot about what I value personally and how I want my, how I want to live my life, and also how I want my writing to sound too, which makes sense, right? So, taking a look at your list of people, you probably have a few, here's another writing prompt for you. I want you to take a look at the list that you've created with those three or four people, and I want you to ask yourself, what one or two or three core feeling states, values, how do these people make you feel? How do they inspire you to be your whole true self? And what do they show you that you naturally admire about how people move in the world and how they show up? And what their words, their impact, their messages have? Again, they don't have to be movers and shakers on the global level, they could be people that are in your every day life. So how would you define those qualities? Think of single words and values, like love, connection, community, confidence, tanache, bravado. What are some other words that are coming to mind for you guys, wanna should 'em out? Courage. Ambition. Attentive. Ambition. Ambition. Honesty. Honesty. Gentleness. Gentleness. Fearless. Fearless. And guys, this is the writing prompt, to take with those words, these values, these feeling states that you already admire, you probably are trying to consciously or subconsciously model your life in these ways, in turn, it probably stands to reason that the content, that the voice of your writing would maybe benefit from putting on these frames, these glasses to observe how you're directing your writing, your words, because if my top values are artistry and beauty and spirituality, for example, it's probably safe to assume that I'm gonna want my writing to be, or to feel for me, to feel for readers, artistic, to have some trace of beauty, some element of spirituality. That's the congruence, it's how I'm already trying to live my life, it's what I already value about people in the world, so the examples to whom I look, I'm trying really hard with the grammar. Looking up to people, (audience laughing) we'd say in Rhode Island. Been lookin' up to you a-wicked-lot. (audience laughing) So these core feeling states or values reveal, what do these core feeling states or values reveal to you about your potential direction, your writing style, or your voice? This is a little bit of a streamline path into finding your direction through feel. What feels good? What feels right? Over time, as you allow yourself to express, as you dabble, as you play, as you explore with these values or feeling states, I know with certainty that you're gonna find a greater sense of direction, because our feelings really do inform us of the desire. And you may not have that from the start, from the jump, to plug it into your Google Maps, to know with certainty you're gonna be there. It may feel a bit more winding, it may feel a little bit uncertain at times, but as you trust the feelings, allow the feelings to inform you, and allow those feelings to be like the guideposts or the metric, not word count goals, but the feel. Write into the feeling and share those words with, well, you don't even need to share it, but if you do, you can trust that it's gonna be valuable to someone who's just like you, 'cause you already value that about what's out in the world and how people are putting that out there. Could we pass the mic back to our friend in the front and ask, what's your takeaway? The mic's coming up behind ya. How are you feeling about this as a potential source of direction for your writing, using feel as this unofficial, but very personal metric for going somewhere without knowing where it's going? Yes, it's giving me an action. Courage is the word that initially came to mind, having courage. That was like the... And by the way, I also call these voice values. These are the values or the feeling states that probably comprise your authentic voice. So courage is gonna be important, so you can use that, again, as like a guidepost to aim for, but also as a barometer after having written, can look back and say, "Is this courageous?" Not in a way of being self-deprecating or beating yourself up, but asking yourself, "Are these words, is this story, is this message "embodying courage in such as way "where I feel courageous for having written it?" Right. It's a great one. Did you have any other words that came up for voice values? Productive and fun. And fun! Courageous and fun and productive. I like it. Beautiful. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. All right guys, how you guys feelin'? Make sense? Ya eel the creative direction coming in? We're blowing through this, here, I've given you a lot to download, a lot to unpack, but we're making our way up, we're ascending from that base-level needs to a sense of taste, voice. This is what your artist voice, your writing voice is really gonna start, or how it's gonna start to unfold and develop, is by giving yourself the sense of feel, wanting, and desire that really makes you feel authentic in your self expression.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Free Bonus Material
Ratings and Reviews
Jessamine Storm
I love Dave's style of teaching. He comes across as very warm, real and welcoming with a good dash of humour. I've read many books on writing, studied English and taken writing courses for over thirty years. What Dave does is to find the gift in the resistance to actually heal the source of writer's block. This is not just a course about writing, but about living a life with increased freedom and joy.
a Creativelive Student
Terrific teacher uncovers what is stopping you from writing. Feel encouraged, hopeful, ready to own the word "writer.". Thank you Dave!
jane ursillo
This instruction offers a unique approach using common sense tools to help conquer creativity roadblocks for the writer. Excellent speaker who knows his stuff.