Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity
    Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity
    Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity
    Ebook198 pages2 hours

    Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity

    By Karen Andrews

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    There's nothing quite like the satisfaction of putting down in words exactly what you mean to say. But this can often take time and it is not uncommon to have crises of confidence in a project, its prospects or even your abilities as a writer. Trust is required to make it through to the other side of the creative process. Whether you're

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMiscellaneous Press
    Release dateOct 16, 2017
    ISBN9780995350649
    Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and Creativity
    Author

    Karen Andrews

    Karen Andrews is an award-winning writer, author, editor, poet and publisher. Her work has appeared in journals and publications throughout Australia. She has blogged at www.karenandrews.com.au since 2006 and is one of the most established and popular parenting/personal bloggers in the country. She is a two-time finalist in the Best Australian Blog Awards. She is the host of 'The Creative Life' podcast, interviewing Australian writers about their creative process.

    Related to Trust the Process

    Related ebooks

    Composition & Creative Writing For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Time Is Now Writing Prompts and Exercises

      Oct 10, 2018

      Suggested Reading:The Story Cure: A Book Doctor’s Pain-Free Guide to Finishing Your Novel or Memoir (Ten Speed Press, May 2017) by Dinty W. Moore The director of creative writing at Ohio State University and author of a number of books of literary no

      2 min read

    • Article

      Digging Deep Into Process

      Jan 28, 2023

      Digging Deep Into Process
      3 min read

    • Article

      Level Up Your Writing (life)

      Oct 10, 2022

      Truth be told, on the one hand, I’m terrible at journaling. Yet, on the other hand, if pressed to name my creative writing superpower … I’d answer “journaling.” There are all kinds of ways to journal—and one might just become your superpower. Traditi

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Writer’s Bookshelf

      Aug 17, 2022

      As you find your path as a writer, there may be no better support than the wisdom of your fellow travelers. Let these twelve recent and forthcoming books by some of contemporary literature’s most insightful and generous luminaries guide you on your w

      4 min read

    • Article

      Bookish

      May 21, 2019

      There’s no one right way to live a writing life (unless, of course, you never write a word). But how does one start being a writer? Who’s allowed to call themselves a “writer,” anyway? And beyond grammar and syntax, what does a person need to know be

      1 min read

    • Article

      What Physics Can Teach Us About Writing Fiction

      Mar 6, 2018

      Sometimes writing fiction feels to me like that oft-used image of a godlike creator: the man pulling the strings of the marionette, orchestrating each fine movement from above the stage. One string might be character, another plot, a third setting, a

      6 min read

    • Article

      On Writer’s Block: Advice from Twelve Writers

      Mar 19, 2018

      Our Writers at Work series, which spans sixty-five years of interviews with nearly four hundred writers, offers no shortage of advice. Should this multitude seem daunting, fear not! The editors of The Paris Review have combed through the series and s

      4 min read

    • Article

      Unleash the Creativity

      Jun 12, 2019

      Unleash the Creativity
      1 min read

    • Article

      A Good Ending

      Apr 10, 2023

      A Good Ending
      7 min read

    • Article

      How To Make Your Procrastination Work For You

      Mar 25, 2023

      AH, PROCRASTINATION: THE IDLE tapping of pen against paper. The familiar countdown toward a deadline that is hours to passing. A blank mind and an even blanker Word document, the inability to just start gnawing at the back of your brain even as you o

      4 min read

    • Article

      How Surrealism Can Bring A Spark To Your Writing

      Oct 18, 2021

      In one of my first undergraduate writing workshops, our professor informed us that she was only interested in “normal” fiction. When we asked her to specify, her response boiled down to “no orcs.” I have deep sympathy for my professors’ fears of rece

      6 min read

    • Article

      Inspiration Everywhere

      Jun 19, 2021

      Inspiration Everywhere
      7 min read

    • Article

      Prologue

      Nov 13, 2021

      Prologue
      1 min read

    • Article

      How To Generate New Ideas

      Nov 27, 2020

      How To Generate New Ideas
      4 min read

    • Article

      DIY Mfa

      Mar 26, 2022

      DIY Mfa
      3 min read

    • Article

      Making the scene

      Mar 25, 2023

      Making the scene
      8 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Sep 2, 2021

      I’ve been writing novels for more than ten years but only recently decided to become a member of the Society of Authors and wish I had spent a few of the pounds it has cost blundering about getting books published on POD for my friends (and hopefully

      6 min read

    • Article

      Mining Your Life for Story Ideas

      Dec 21, 2021

      As a writing coach and NYU professor who teaches a pitching bootcamp for Writer’s Digest University, one of the first questions a student asks me is “How can I come up with ideas?” Even if you are creative, that part of the pitching process can be ch

      4 min read

    • Article

      Magic, Or Math? The Appeal Of Coincidences, And The Reality

      May 8, 2017

      This week on Hidden Brain: coincidences. Why they're not quite as magical as they seem, and the psychological reasons we can't help but search for meaning in them anyway.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Bookish

      Sep 10, 2019

      “Learning how to shape your ideas into well-crafted pieces of writing is essentially learning how to think critically and creatively at the same time,” Tara Mokhtari writes in the introduction of The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing, now i

      1 min read

    • Article

      Better writing NOW

      May 6, 2021

      Better writing NOW
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Pocket Guide to Pantsing

      Jun 12, 2023

      The Pocket Guide to Pantsing
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Trust the Process

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Trust the Process - Karen Andrews

      trust-the-process-cover.jpg

      by Karen Andrews

      Karen Andrews is an award-winning writer, author, editor and publisher. Her work has appeared in publications and literary journals throughout the country. Her blog (karenandrews.com.au) is a two-time finalist in the Best Australian Blogs competition. She is the host of The Creative Life podcast and lives in Melbourne with her family. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram at @KarenAndrewsAU and on Facebook at KarenAndrewsAuthor.

      Also by Karen Andrews

      On The Many Shapes Bodies Will Take

      Crying in the Car: Reflections on Life and Motherhood

      Miscellaneous Voices: Australian Blog Writing #1 (editor)

      Surprise! (Illustrated by Kim Fleming)

      Karen Andrews

      Published by Miscellaneous Press

      PO BOX 679

      Eltham Victoria 3095

      Australia

      contact@miscpress.com.au

      www.miscpress.com.au

      Published October 2017

      Text copyright © Karen Andrews

      The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

      This book is copyright. All rights reserved.

      Products or services that are referred to in this book, or may be visible on the cover image, may be either trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher and author make no claim to these trademarks. The website URLs in this book are correct at the time of going to press, but the publisher cannot accept responsibility for their ongoing availability or content.

      ISBN 9780995350625 (pbk)

      ISBN 9780995350649 (ebook)

      A National Library of Australia CiP entry is available

      Cover design: Sandy Cull, gogoGingko

      Cover photo: Karolina Grabowska / Kaboompics

      Author photo: Sarah White

      Internal typesetting: Martin Rowley

      Printed by McPherson’s Printing Group

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      1. Find your true ‘why’

      2. Honesty requires bravery

      3. Read shorter texts

      4. Pay attention

      5. Be a note taker

      6. Find solace in nature

      7. Ask questions

      8. Be curious

      9. Experimentation will always yield rewards

      10. Think about formative texts

      11. Mine your past

      12. Never downplay intuition

      13. Recognise your ambition

      14. Dig deeper with research

      15. Genuineness is key

      16. Let it come to you

      17. Be aware of trends

      18. Get out a dictionary

      19. Crack open a thesaurus

      20. Can you finish this sentence?

      21. Play is important

      22. Be grateful

      23. Balance is key to sustainability

      24. Observations

      25. Look for inspiration, but don’t procrastinate

      26. Write what you want to write

      27. Never think you are unworthy

      28. Use different tools for thinking and plotting

      29. Listen to podcasts

      30. Try audio books

      31. Rediscover classic texts from childhood

      32. Just finish

      33. Self-care is faster than recovery

      34. Keep to a schedule

      35. Own the time with music

      36. Don’t confuse energy with passion

      37. Read

      38. Do a writing course

      39. Know there will be tedium

      40. It starts with voice

      41. Nothing is ever wasted

      42. Don’t fall into the comparison trap

      43. You don’t have to start at the beginning

      44. Create your own opportunities

      45. Feel the hurt

      46. Consider rewriting

      47. Share your work judiciously

      48. Acknowledge crucible moments

      49. Dialogue is character

      50. Question your comforts

      51. Empathy is essential

      52. What do I do about writer’s block?

      53. Use a challenge to stoke your creativity

      54. Mind maps are cool

      55. Learning to say ‘no’

      56. ‘Fine’ isn’t finished

      57. Sit with silence

      58. Rejection will happen

      59. Always be professional

      60. ‘Real’ work versus ‘busy’ work

      61. Consider joining social media

      62. Don’t apologise for things that don’t require apologies

      63. It’s okay to change your mind

      64. Support your local public library

      65. Listen to feedback

      66. Celebrate your first draft…

      67. …while remembering there are more to go

      68. Be a light for others

      69. Pitching yourself is important

      70. Turn off your phone

      71. Does the world need another book?

      72. Ask for help

      73. Consider crowdfunding

      74. On letting go

      75. Fiction as refuge

      76. Join a writers’ centre

      77. Enter competitions

      78. Attend writers’ festivals

      79. Forgive the resisters

      80. How do I pitch to a publication?

      81. How do I ask if I’m going to get paid?

      82. Join a writing group

      83. Celebrate achievements with cheat pages

      84. Panel moderation preparation is critical

      85. Editors are golden

      86. Have a manuscript assessment

      87. What is a writing residency?

      88. Should I speak?

      89. What about teaching?

      90. How do I self-publish?

      91. How do I get a book distributor?

      92. How do I approach an agent?

      93. Should I have a book launch?

      94. Take time off

      95. No one will care more than you do

      96. Own your dilettantism

      97. Remember storytelling is important

      98. Accept your imperfections

      99. Remember the fun work

      100. If the work has heart then size doesn’t matter

      101. Trust the process

      Appendix

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction

      I’ve been lucky enough to work across a whole range of creative fields, as a writer as well as in the arts and publishing industries. As a blogger, I’ve seen the growth of the digital space and the opportunities it presents. As a small publisher I’ve published books and made the agonising decision to give up on others – most are still in my head, and a couple are taking up space in a filing cabinet drawer. I’ve written for traditional publications in various forms (including articles, essays, poems and short stories). I’ve been an editor and I’ve handed my work over to professional editors.

      But it is in my role as a teacher that I’ve encountered so many people, from teenagers right through to retirees, looking into writing as a way to explore their creative sides. Sometimes they find themselves at a loss as to how to begin, or don’t know the ideal way to continue. This book has been written to help. Within these pages are 101 tips and exercises I’ve divined through my experience thus far, many of which I wish I knew back when I was starting out as a writer. There is not one perfect process: methods might need altering according to day, mood or circumstance. Intent is what matters.

      Trust the Process can be read from start to finish, following the general arc of the writing process. Or, you can dip in and out, depending on what it is you need – perhaps a tip, a writing exercise, or the thoughts of another writer. Some of these guest contributions are excerpted from appearances on my podcast, The Creative Life, or from earlier interviews, and have been edited for clarity and length. If you would like to hear the extended versions, I encourage you to search for the episodes on iTunes or on my blog.

      We live in an age of content creation; bloggers, freelancers and authors alike will recognise the demands of submitting, pitching, marketing and self-promotion. For this reason, I have also included tips on what it is like being a self-publisher. While those particular tips might not seem relevant to writers uninterested in that path, many do want to know more about it, and their curiosity is rewarded with a deeper appreciation as to what lies on the ‘other side’. Also note that there is an Australian focus to this book which I cannot deny, as I am hesitant to speak outside the realm of my experience. That said, I have tried to be as universally appealing as possible. There’s still a lot to learn that’s relevant to international readers.

      Ultimately, I want to be seen as more than a ‘content creator’. Artists, writers, bloggers – we go by many names and we operate in a very similar fashion.

      Are you ready?

      If you’re reading this, then the answer is ‘yes’. Let’s go.

      1.

      Find your true ‘why’

      I’ve had lots of conversations with creative people over the years about their short- and long-term plans. I get a range of answers: among the bloggers, their attention is often on whether or not to develop a product or a service, or to put on an event. The goal of writing a book is very common.

      And then I ask why.

      On occasion, the person is stumped, and when pressed comes up with a vague ‘It seems like the next, best course of action,’ or ‘I just thought I’d give it a go.’

      These conversations often occur around the time of big conferences or festivals where there’s an infectious air of can-do-ism. I understand that energy; it can dazzle. But your true ‘why’ should always be tied to an important internal goal and not be extrinsically motivated.

      I almost fell into that trap when I was setting up my podcast, The Creative Life. In the eighteen months prior to launch, I’d watched other writers and bloggers I respect setting up their own podcasts, often in collaboration, and hit the ground running. I wanted to do the same, but it took that long to fully work out how my podcast would integrate with my blog, which remained my number one priority. Parallelism just isn’t for me – in this instance, I didn’t want to feel like I was losing time, and podcasting takes up a lot of it. Once I’d found the ‘how’, the rest fell into place: the name, the focus, the structure. I’d already thought it through. I could focus on the ‘why’: helping bloggers and writers with their creativity.

      There are ‘project whys’ and ‘blue-sky whys’, those questions that come to us in the middle of the night, those nagging doubts. For me the issue isn’t so much whether I should or ought to write – I can’t see myself doing anything else. The answer often lies in finding form. Figuring out whether the thing I’m puzzling over ought to be a poem, essay, story, blog post or something else brings clarity.

      Find your true ‘why’ and trust that the right form will find you.

      2.

      Honesty requires bravery

      I once admitted that I feared my blogging past had made me less employable. This admission was not to a close circle of girlfriends, nor my husband – no, it happened at an event at which I was speaking. The words bubbled up and out through the microphone before I even realised I was saying them. Suddenly, they were public. I recounted the struggles I’d covered on the blog: severe post partum anxiety, a history of eating disorders, health issues and even my father’s death. Somehow, I got through the talk and left the stage, but rather than be proud of my attempts to document these challenges,

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1