The Seated View

Some people claim there is no such thing as writer’s block. That all you have to do is sit down and keep writing and that claiming you’re blocked as just procrastination or avoidance. I beg to differ. Sometimes, it seems as if the writing part of your brain is hibernating. Writer’s block is a vicious circle. When you feel blocked, you don’t write and when you don’t write, it exacerbates the writer’s block. Writing is a muscle — the more you write, the better you get at it — and it gets atrophied when you don’t use it. Here are some tips for breaking through the block. via GIPHY Get bored If there’s a lot going on in your life — stress, chronic illness, small children, a day job — can get in the way of the creative process. Because your head is busy. I once saw a documentary about the spaces in which writers work and one man had a small beige room with a brown veneered desk facing that beige wall. Nothing else. Because distractions would do just what the...

Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness is now available in paperback on all the Am azons. Did you know I have a new book out? Could be hard to miss, what with me barely mentioning it. Okay, so I haven’t shut up about it, but it’s still theoretically possible that you might have missed the festivities. No? I wanted to tell you a bit about the background of Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness. It all started with a series of blog posts I wrote last year. In late November 2015, I got the bright idea of doing a sort of Advent calendar here on The Seated View. The goal was to help people with chronic illness experience less stress leading up to the holidays so they could actually be conscious for Christmas dinner. I enjoyed writing the posts and based on the feedback, people enjoyed reading them. After the holidays, I entertained the thought of turning it into a book for this holiday season, but then things...

I spent this past weekend noodling around with words and a great time. So I thought I’d wax rhapsodic about five things that I love being a writer. Living the dream I’ve wanted to be a writer since I knew what one was. After taking a sidetracked into higher education and a “real” day job (and following that, a long period of unemployment), my big flare smacked me upside the head and I came to my senses. And now, I get to do and be something I’ve dreamt of doing since I was a small child. I’m finally living the dream. And it’s every bit as wonderful as I’d imagined when I was four years old. I am a lucky, lucky woman. The creativity Every day, I get to play with words and make up stories. It means spending a lot of time in your head, playing with ideas and invisible friends. Essentially, you get to be a kid all day (the grown-up part is writing it all down with correct grammar). Spending my life creating is pure joy. It also keeps very weird dreams at bay. It isn’t ...