Sandy Nathan's YOUR SHELF LIFE

The much-in-demand executive leadership coach with impressive and impeccable references—let’s call her Diana—wanted to put some of her wisdom down on paper. She hoped not only to bring in additional dollars, but also (her real goal) to help clients and other readers benefit from the tough life lessons she had learned.

So, Diana wrote a book, a good one. She was an excellent storyteller, able to pull persuasive and universal messages out of her experiences.

She began with an epigraph, a quotation from a major writer with whom, for many reasons, a person in her position should have been very familiar.

And Diana misspelled that writer’s name.

Fortunately, she had decided to spend the money to have her book proofread before sending it on to a publisher. When I returned the manuscript, her reaction was immediate: “Just your catching the misspelling of that name was worth every penny.”

I wrote an introductory article on unlocking writers block a few weeks ago. (The one illustrated with photos of us trying to get a horse into a trailer.) After three weeks of vacation in New Mexico, I’m home and happily and productively working on the rewrite of Mogollon, sequel to my award winning novel, Numenon. […]

What’s writer’s block? Essentially, it’s psychological resistance, lack of personal development, egotism, and/or self involvement and importance. “My work is so important …” Hand wringing. Angst. Pain.

On the other hand, you may not be able to write because the time isn’t right. You and your book idea ain’t cooked enough.

LET’S GET DEEPER INTO WRITER’S BLOCK:

First off, check out the article about teaching Corcovado to load and unload from a trailer from our ranch web site. It presents the fundamental lesson of this post: YOU CAN’T MAKE A 1,200 POUND ANIMAL WITH A BRAIN THE SIZE OF A WALNUT DO ANYTHING. IT HAS TO WANT TO.
Now, simply replace Corco with yourself as you work through your block.