One Big Writerly Confidence Boost

Pic: PatMcD via Wikimedia Commons

This post was first published in the Grub Street Daily, where Lana offers "Writing Boosts" for writers under a different name.  Contact Lana at: foxlana (at) gmail.com with questions about Grub Boosts or one-to-one arts coaching.

There is an unsupported rumor that positivity is for dummies.  Well, I can tell you this:  In my career as a teacher, writer, counselor and coach, I have never seen artists improve with such gusto as we do when we can see what is workingin our writing.  But how can we really notice what is working, when we need, so badly, to improve our craft?

Many years ago, when I was at teacher training college in Britain, a lecturer drew a square on the board with a dot in the middle of it.  He asked us all, “What’s inside the square?”  When we replied “a dot,” he asked us what else.  Of course, we said there was nothing, but oh how wrong we were!  “There is space,” he told us, “lots of space.  But you’ve been conditioned not to see it.”

His point?  We focus on what we are taught to notice.  And in our society, we tend to notice what is broken (the dot), rather than what is working well (the space). So when a trainee high school teacher only points out where a struggling student is going wrong, the student often believes that they have done nothing right.  They see their work as being unworthy, rather than assuming that they are doing some things well.

As writers, we can learn from this.  When a workshopping experience involves a great deal of constructive criticism, we try to listen, absorb, take notes.  Such professionalism enables Grub instructors and students to focus, quite rigorously, on how a piece can be improved.  This is, of course, what we most want to know—how we can better our work.  In fact, such a passionate focus is one of the reasons why Grub writers achieve such great results.

But when we can’t identify the positives in our own writing, and only see the niggly “dots,” we can feel overwhelmingly burdened.  Many of us put down our pens or abandon a powerful project – the very things we must try not to do.  Besides, it is a well-evidenced theory that “success” is predicted by tenacity and commitment.  So when you are feeling blocked and unsure, where can you go for support?

Well, Grub Street is now offering one-to-one Boosts with yours truly.  These are one-on-one sessions in which we will look at your writing or writing career, focusing on what is really working, as well as how you can constructively grow.  This doesn’t mean that I’ll just be saying, “Wow, good job, keep going!”  My background in education, mentoring and psychology means that I am used to being very specific about what you are doing well:  “Look how you are using rhythm and flow to build the pace and tension here,” I might say.  “Can you see that?  No?  Well, let me show you how this is working.”  We will also look at what you can do in order to improve your work/increase your platform/expand your career etc.  And you’ll be surprised by how much better you can feel when you are clear about what you are doing well.

In addition, we offer Career Boosts as well as Writing Boosts, in order to help you create achievable goals and plans.  And if you aren’t sure whether Boosts are for you, why not dip a toe in the water – I offer half-hour Boosts as well as full-hour sessions.  Another option is to book a series of half-hour or one-hour Boosts, a few weeks apart, to give your development some structure.

After all, writing is too high a calling to be ditched because of doubt.