finding your voice Archives - MUSE • Leslie Keenan

Why you might subconsciously sabotage your writing – and what to do about it.

I have found in working with writers over many, many years, that underneath perfectionism and procrastination over why their manuscripts were never finished, is a deep subconscious fear. It is the fear of being rejected by other writers, or a circle of friends, who aren’t succeeding. This might sound laughable at first, but there’s a deep reason for it. It turns out that in order to survive as a species, humans have had to rely on the larger group. We literally have it bred into our bones to fit in…read more

What Hansel and Gretel Taught Me About Writing

When I am writing in flow, which is what I always aspire to do, it feels like such a relief. At last, the words are coming and I can’t get my thoughts down fast enough. But then, inevitably, my time to write ends. And then the next time I show up, that excited energy is long gone; I don’t remember where I am or what I want to write next. Often, it’s so tempting to go back to the beginning and re-read to enter back into my piece. I’ve learned…read more

Trust, and Just Show Up

from my most recent newsletter… Are you still writing when you show up and nothing happens? You know, those times when you are all prepared to write and your fingers are on the keyboard and you are staring at the blank screen, and nothing happens? The other day in class, one student was berating herself during check in. “I sat there for a whole hour and didn’t get anything done.” I hear this a lot during check ins. “I showed up but I just struggled.” “I showed up but only…read more

Going Deep

From my End-of-Year Newsletter, 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I want to revisit a topic I brought up back in July (“The Value of Doing Nothing”). It seems even more important and appropriate as we turn into winter, the fallow time of the year. The topic is this: the importance, no – more than that – the absolute, vital necessity of going deep in order to do our creative work. By going deep, I mean really having enough time to immerse yourself deeply in your work, or to discover what in fact the…read more

The Value of Doing Nothing

Posted by Leslie in Time, Writing

From my Newsletter, Late Summer 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In our busy-busy; go-go culture, spending time idly, perhaps even staring into space, is not thought well of. In fact, if you went by what people say in the press, you’d think having some alone-time is highly suspect. When reporters couldn’t follow Obama at all times on the campaign trail, because, gasp, he wanted to have some moments alone, they didn’t understand why. And yet, for creativity to emerge, we need some down-time for it to formulate itself, or for us to access…read more

Writing: Visual or Auditory?

From my Newsletter, June 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I had an interesting discussion with a student in a recent class. Someone had made editing suggestions that she wasn’t sure about, and she wanted me to review them. As we went over each suggested change, I realized what was going on. My student tends to write from a more auditory position, and the feedback was from a more visual perspective. Some of you may be familiar with Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP). As with many things I know, I first learned of it through publishing…read more

From First to Second Draft: The Journey Continues…

From my Newsletter, Spring 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A student who finished her first draft (yeah!) asked me, How should I approach doing the edit? If you’ve taken my and others’ advice and let yourself just write out the first draft to the end, there are a bunch of things you have to look at in the edit which will produce the second draft. First, structural things. Are there places you know things need to change? What things do you know now that you’ve finished the draft that you didn’t know in…read more

Completing That Book: The Seven Stages

From my Newsletter, Winter 2008 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A student sent me an email. She’d been working on her manuscript a long time, and I’d asked her if she’d gotten it done. She said she was surprised that it was almost done but there were more things than she thought involved in finishing. I told her, well there are always stages to “doneness,” and it helps to realize that there are at least seven completion points. She immediately asked, oh, can you tell me what they all are? This is my answer….read more

Editing 101: How Much, What Kind, and When?

From my Newsletter, Fall 2007. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A couple of clients have been asking me how you know what level of editing to do when. They were all non-fiction people, but I think these guidelines apply to both fiction and non-fiction. However, with fiction, you may not get to the putting it together part until you’ve already done a first draft. When you are putting together a book, you want to work from the top down, so that you don’t find yourself getting really detailed in a piece that may not…read more

The Seven Basic Plots

From my Newsletter, May 2007. Last newsletter I promised a fuller description of my new favorite book, “The Seven Basic Plots” by Christopher Booker (no kidding, that’s his name!). It’s published by Continuum in paperback and it’s over 700 pages long. (See the link below if you are interested in purchasing it.) Whether you’re working on fiction or a memoir, it’s helpful to think in terms of plot, so here’s the synopsis. The Seven Basic Plots Are: –Overcoming the Monster (think Jaws) –Rags to Riches (David Copperfield) –The Quest (Odysseus)…read more