writing journeys

Encouragement Pages-05/13/2022

We are almost at the halfway point of the year, and this is a time of reflection for me. It always has! I think about the plans I have made, things I have completed, and stuff that I forgot to do.

But the great thing is that I get to reflect! I get the opportunity to revisit things, to readjust deadlines and follow through with the things I quit as well!

But now is the time to reassess, to count the wins, and pick up the pen and try again.

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris

Encouragement Pages: 05/11/2022

Follow the miniseries The Burden Of The Pen on I Breathe Fire by clicking here.

Dear Writer:

I know that writing is going to be hard. And the more that you are willing to share your writing journey, the more your work or voice is recognized, the more people are going to demand that you say something. The more the world outside and outside your bedroom door like/respect what you have to say, then they want you to say it more often.

Beware of the people whom want you to talk all the time but never encourage you to listen.

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris

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May 2022: OWN THE LOSSES

The most irredeemable thing to a writer, the thing what we chase is time. It’s always going to be time! And for a writer, there is nothing more maddening that losing time.

Time.

It’s always time.

As a writer in order for you to come to grips with the time you have lost, ask three questions:

1.) What things could I have been doing?

2.) When you should be writing, what do you find yourself doing?

3.) What is stopping you from writing?

Own the time you have lost. That you have squandered and that you have wasted.

Own this. Learn from this. Do better.

Encouragement Pages: 05/06/2022

From the Rough Patches, I want you to take three things which will serve you well (I promise):

1.) What were you doing before the Rough Patch started?

2.) What worked the best for you to get out of the Rough Patch?

3.) What do you plan to do that will help you come out of the Rough Patch sooner?

I know this seems redundant, but this will absolutely help you in the future.

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris

Encouragement Pages-05/04/2022

Note: Watch for the show titled: The Rough Patch on the podcast The Writers’ Block tomorrow (May 5, 2022). Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Play.

Sometimes, the hardest part is to get through the rough patches.

These rough patches can include time, subject matter, and even confidence. Every writer goes through these rough patches! But they are not impossible to negotiate.

Don’t give up just because it got rough. The best thing to do is to remember that rough patches are cyclical-not permanent.

I believe in you.

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris

Encouragement Pages-05/02/2022

There is a power in pressing through.

In a video done by Shonda Rhimes, she reminds us that it is okay to write the bad stuff, that is how you get through to the good stuff!

It is okay that the bad stuff comes first! That is part of the process as well!

It will come. I promise it will.

But, you have to keep going.

I believe in you.

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris

April 2022- OWN THE WINS

I will be honest with you: writing is one of those arts that will only get better every time you use it. Every time you rely on it. Every time you trust it, and within it.

One of your deepest wins as a writer is to embrace that title! I am pressed to remember that a writer is two-fold:

A writer is something you are.

A writer is something you become.

It indeed feels like a complex thing, but it isn’t. Owning your title of writer is freeing–it really is. It allows you to embrace all that is complex about you, and bring that complexity to all that you would create.

Self-possession and self-realization are always wins.