• I only learned about how greet on the phone AFTER I was rude to my flute teacher at age 11. Instead of saying, “Hi, this is Alice. How are you?” I launched into, “When is my flute lesson!” Of course my mom witnessed this shameful episode and I had to call Ms. Kilpatrick back immediately and apologize. To avoid my son going through the same humiliation, I coach him how to greet on the phone before he calls anyone.

• After college I held several low paying receptionist jobs (that’s an oxymoron, right?) and also did a lot of phone recruiting when I was President of the Virginia Tech Alumni Chapter in Charleston. I think making phone calls brings on these flashbacks. I also made a lot of calls when I was a makeup lady, but these weren’t as bad.

• Back when I became a mom over a decade ago, any phone call would bring my kid out of his slumber and turn him into a banshee. So I stopped calling folks and became an email junkie. I still avoid calls when my kids are at home and if this isn’t avoidable, I lock myself up in the upstairs bathroom or garage or car so they can’t find me.

• As a writer and introvert (ha, another oxymoron!) I prefer gathering my thoughts up on paper first before I go all improv on the phone.

• I feel that phone calls can waste time and you can get to the point faster via email. I have my phone on “silent” and if someone leaves a message, that message pops up on my email thanks to Google Voice.

• I screen all of my calls unless that person’s name pops up on my Caller ID. I never pick up out of area calls unless I know them; I’m so afraid of spam. If it’s a “real” person I call them back immediately and know what they need based on their message.

When are phone calls better than emails:

• You can get info fast and not waste time on writing emails or long texts.

• When getting to know clients, phone calls and Skype video chats are definitely better

• Depending on if the other person is a Baby Boomer or a Mature, phone calls do help build rapport and trust. On the other hand, if the person is a Generation X or Millennial, then emails or texts (respectively) are best.

Your Turn:
Do you prefer emails or phone calls and why? I want to hear from you!

As I write these words now, I feel a certain intangible pressure digging into me. It’s the feeling of a looming deadline standing over my shoulder. At times like these, I begin to feel an obligation to engineer something brilliant. Therein lies the problem with writing. As Butler points out repeatedly, you can’t use logic to deduce the perfect words. The core challenge of writing, according to Butler, is the art of inducing a quasi-dream state from which words naturally flow out of you:

“[T]here’s a trance state also that the artist must induce in herself in order to create a work of art. You have to let go of that comforting, distancing voice, you have to then descend into that deep dream space of yours, and that will result in a kind of superconcentration. Psychologists call it the ‘flow state,’ being in the flow. Athletes call it being ‘in the zone.’”

Pressure interferes with creativity, but it’s a funny thing. When you’re on a writing deadline, you might feel completely stopped for a while. Then, the pressure builds up inside you, and you manage to eke out one or two brilliantly crafted sentences without even thinking about it. Writers who regularly face deadlines often rely on these spurts of creativity—along with regular doses of caffeine. Personally, I’ve had to rely on these brief moments when writing clients were waiting for content from me. There have been times when hours or days have gone by, and I just hadn’t had any brilliant thoughts. Anyone who ever attempts to do anything creative deals with some variation of this problem.

If you’re not a writer, and you’ve ever been forced to write something, you know what creative pressure feels like. I once talked to a business owner who told me that he had struggled for an entire afternoon just trying to come up with a single paragraph of copy to describe an event. Perhaps the reason why writing intimidates so many people lies in the fact that no one has sufficiently explained the barriers that a writer has to overcome. Butler makes the mysterious nature of the written word just a little bit easier to understand. He shows why trying to compute the perfect set of words is an exercise in futility—and how the most critical skill set for writing is one that we’re never taught in school.

For me, the single most valuable take-away from this book—and also the hardest pill to swallow—was the idea that sometimes, I have to throw away my best ideas and start over from scratch. “I warn you,” writes Butler, “that my most common recommendation will be: Put this away and never look at it again. Do not rewrite, do not edit, do not fiddle, do not work this over. It came from the wrong place.” There have been times when a seemingly-perfect sentence or paragraph just flowed out of me. I have struggled to shoehorn those words into one piece or another, determined to make them fit somewhere. This applies as much to business as to writing. There were times when I struggled for months trying to implement ideas that I thought were brilliant. I didn’t realize that what I needed to do was return to the state of mind from whence I’d conceived the ideas.

Butler’s prescribed techniques pertain specifically to the craft of novel-writing. If you have no interest in ever writing a novel, but find yourself intrigued by the idea of entering “the zone,” I would suggest reading From Where You Dream, but with a bit of a twist. If you are willing to temporarily imagine yourself as a novelist for the duration of the book, you will begin to see insights about how to apply the material to your own career or business efforts. If that’s too much of a stretch for you, then think of yourself as a spectator watching a sport. Some sections of the book show transcripts of Butler critiquing his students’ work. If you make a little bit of effort to imagine what it might be like to write fiction, that will help you understand the powerful and mysterious nature of the waking dream state that Butler discusses.

If you’re in sales (and let’s face it; we all are), you’ve probably noticed that people make buying decisions based on emotion, not logic. The path to becoming a novelist is similar to the path to sales mastery—in that both the novelist and the salesperson have to continually reinvigorate their imagination. Showing a customer the logical reasons to buy something will not motivate a sale—it’s about telling a compelling story that they want to be part of. It’s about evoking desire. It’s about setting a scene that makes people want to come closer and see more.

If you’ve ever wondered how great writers manage to craft brilliant prose, From Where You Dream is the best explanation I’ve found. Admittedly, the subject is nearly impossible to describe directly, but Butler gives you a greater appreciation for where to focus your time and energy. He will also show you that you are capable of more than you thought. This book offers a maddeningly short glimpse into the world of pure possibility. It won’t give you the answer, but it will give you new questions. That’s what a good book should do.

Dave Baldwin is a writer who lives and works in Raleigh, North Carolina. You can find more of Dave’s writings on his blog about writing, creativity, and business.

Thank you, Dave Baldwin for another fantastic post about how tips from a noted novelist can help you overcome your writing blocks. Enjoy and be inspired! And if you’d like to know more about the craft of writing fiction, check out my new webinar series STARTING TOMORROW:

How to Write the Next Great American Novel with Alice Osborn
Location: Webinar Series

Class meets three times on Tuesdays: May 14, 21 & 28, 2013

Time:  12-1:15pm EST

Tuition:  $55 

Register HERE

Fiction begins with the main character wanting something so badly it hurts. Your job as a writer is to make life very difficult for your main character so a fresh and inventive plot and story will emerge without cliché. We’ll discuss the craft of fiction, which includes point of view, setting, dialogue and figurative language. Alice will give in-class prompts to strengthen and support your work. All levels of fiction writers are encouraged to attend. Alice is an experienced fiction book editor who has guided scores of novelists on the traditional and independent path to publication. If you miss the “live” class, you can listen to the recording later!

This month, I read a book that completely changed my outlook on writing, business, and life in general. From Where You Dream by Robert Olen Butler is a practical discussion about the art of writing a novel, but the principles that Butler discusses apply equally to every kind of writing—and they translate to other disciplines as well.

As I write these words now, I feel a certain intangible pressure digging into me. It’s the feeling of a looming deadline standing over my shoulder. At times like these, I begin to feel an obligation to engineer something brilliant. Therein lies the problem with writing. As Butler points out repeatedly, you can’t use logic to deduce the perfect words. The core challenge of writing, according to Butler, is the art of inducing a quasi-dream state from which words naturally flow out of you:

“[T]here’s a trance state also that the artist must induce in herself in order to create a work of art. You have to let go of that comforting, distancing voice, you have to then descend into that deep dream space of yours, and that will result in a kind of superconcentration. Psychologists call it the ‘flow state,’ being in the flow. Athletes call it being ‘in the zone.’”

Pressure interferes with creativity, but it’s a funny thing. When you’re on a writing deadline, you might feel completely stopped for a while. Then, the pressure builds up inside you, and you manage to eke out one or two brilliantly crafted sentences without even thinking about it. Writers who regularly face deadlines often rely on these spurts of creativity—along with regular doses of caffeine. Personally, I’ve had to rely on these brief moments when writing clients were waiting for content from me. There have been times when hours or days have gone by, and I just hadn’t had any brilliant thoughts. Anyone who ever attempts to do anything creative deals with some variation of this problem.

If you’re not a writer, and you’ve ever been forced to write something, you know what creative pressure feels like. I once talked to a business owner who told me that he had struggled for an entire afternoon just trying to come up with a single paragraph of copy to describe an event. Perhaps the reason why writing intimidates so many people lies in the fact that no one has sufficiently explained the barriers that a writer has to overcome. Butler makes the mysterious nature of the written word just a little bit easier to understand. He shows why trying to compute the perfect set of words is an exercise in futility—and how the most critical skill set for writing is one that we’re never taught in school.

For me, the single most valuable take-away from this book—and also the hardest pill to swallow—was the idea that sometimes, I have to throw away my best ideas and start over from scratch. “I warn you,” writes Butler, “that my most common recommendation will be: Put this away and never look at it again. Do not rewrite, do not edit, do not fiddle, do not work this over. It came from the wrong place.” There have been times when a seemingly-perfect sentence or paragraph just flowed out of me. I have struggled to shoehorn those words into one piece or another, determined to make them fit somewhere. This applies as much to business as to writing. There were times when I struggled for months trying to implement ideas that I thought were brilliant. I didn’t realize that what I needed to do was return to the state of mind from whence I’d conceived the ideas.

Butler’s prescribed techniques pertain specifically to the craft of novel-writing. If you have no interest in ever writing a novel, but find yourself intrigued by the idea of entering “the zone,” I would suggest reading From Where You Dream, but with a bit of a twist. If you are willing to temporarily imagine yourself as a novelist for the duration of the book, you will begin to see insights about how to apply the material to your own career or business efforts. If that’s too much of a stretch for you, then think of yourself as a spectator watching a sport. Some sections of the book show transcripts of Butler critiquing his students’ work. If you make a little bit of effort to imagine what it might be like to write fiction, that will help you understand the powerful and mysterious nature of the waking dream state that Butler discusses.

If you’re in sales (and let’s face it; we all are), you’ve probably noticed that people make buying decisions based on emotion, not logic. The path to becoming a novelist is similar to the path to sales mastery—in that both the novelist and the salesperson have to continually reinvigorate their imagination. Showing a customer the logical reasons to buy something will not motivate a sale—it’s about telling a compelling story that they want to be part of. It’s about evoking desire. It’s about setting a scene that makes people want to come closer and see more.

If you’ve ever wondered how great writers manage to craft brilliant prose, From Where You Dream is the best explanation I’ve found. Admittedly, the subject is nearly impossible to describe directly, but Butler gives you a greater appreciation for where to focus your time and energy. He will also show you that you are capable of more than you thought. This book offers a maddeningly short glimpse into the world of pure possibility. It won’t give you the answer, but it will give you new questions. That’s what a good book should do.

About Dave:

Dave Baldwin is a writer who lives and works in Raleigh, North Carolina. You can find more of Dave’s writings on his blog about writing, creativity, and business.

Are you ready to immerse yourself  in a weekend of writing without interruption in the mountains of Western Carolina? Writing does involve commitment and blocking out time to get stories, memories and characters down on paper. What if you were to grab your power so you can dream and accomplish your dreams of writing your story? Sure you can read books, take classes at night, but it’s only when you truly get away from your everyday life will you have the chance to cement your writing passion to make it a part of your life in the future.

If you want to live the “Writing Life,” then read on!

Dream It, Do it: Women’s Writing Retreat with Alice Osborn

Bend of Ivy Lodge, Marshall, NC outside of Asheville, NC

3717 Bend of Ivy Rd. Marshall, NC 28753

Fri-Sun Aug 23-25, 2013

Early Bird $495 (till Wed May 1) **Ask about the installment plan!–$125 per month for 5 months–**

$695 after until spaces are filled

Private, Double rooms

 Please note: If you cannot attend this retreat after you’ve submitted your fee, a credit will be given for my next workshop/retreat

Register HERE 

Watch this video: Women’s Writing Retreat with Alice Osborn

More Info on this Retreat:

Together over the course of this weekend, we’ll delve into our stories of defining moments, healing and self discovery through writing exercises, guided meditations, readings and discussions. There’ll be plenty of time for reflection and individual writing during the day, and on Saturday night we’ll share our work over marshmallows and fellowship. Bend of Ivy Lodge is an intimate retreat setting surrounded by woods, rivers and streams that will foster community and creativity. Relax by the waterfall, hear the call of herons and walk the many trails on the converted tobacco farm property.

Participation limited to 15 women writers of any genre and experience. Please submit a one-page writing sample with your registration to Alice Osborn so I can best accommodate your experience at this retreat. You’ll be treated to six organic vegetarian meals and snacks! And we’ll feed you before you leave the retreat on Sunday. Bring your hearts, your pens and paper! All writers receive a 30-minute consult with Alice Osborn.

SAVE $200 OFF OF THIS RETREAT TODAY!

THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO DREAM IT AND DO IT!

Spaces are filling fast and now’s the best time to make your reservation for an awesome weekend.

Register HERE 

Author AlexSandra Lett

What transpires when a writer can no longer write? This is what happened to me in January a few months ago. While I have always looked forward to the post-holiday revitalization to reignite my creative juices and recharge my body, mind, and spirit, this year the relief did not come. Starting 2013 with my usual optimism about taking time to write, I lacked the energy and enthusiasm to create.

Car crash!

In an e-mail to my good friend Jane Norton, I noted: “I have nothing to say.” She responded with: “Then start there.” Jane encouraged me to be honest with my readers and reveal that I was sick and struggling, but I simply could not bare my soul.

AlexSandra the Queen of Reinvention recently spoke to dozens of groups about drawing upon passion and purpose to follow one’s dreams. She offered stories and strategies for shifting to a higher level of living. Now I wondered what is the meaning of my life, what is my mission?

AlexSandra the Great Promoter successfully finished offering many workshops on how people and businesses could market their products and services to audiences in 2012. Now how could I muster the drive to implement the tactics to boost my own business?

 TO BE HONEST I was tired of being tired. I longed to feel passionate about my life and Work again. I always capitalize Work because for me it is my divine purpose and my sacred mission.

While focusing on finding answers for my overwhelming fatigue I realized that it was more than chronic pain from my car accident in November 2011. I discovered that I was experiencing burnout…defined as a state in which an individual has feelings of exhaustion often combined with doubts about self-worth in terms of personal and/or professional talents.

Without energy and imagination what difference could I make in the world?

While I have always needed writing as a way of seeking answers for who I am, who other people are, what they say, and why they act a certain way, I also want to understand human beings and tell their stories.

I felt discouraged and defeated because if I could not write, if I couldn’t create, if I could not spin stories what was I good for?

SEEKING ANSWERS for my writer’s block I started rereading The Artist’s Way, A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, written by Julia Cameron with Mark Bryan and published in 1992.  Believing that creative expression is the natural direction of life, the authors lead readers through a comprehensive 12-week program to recover their creativity from a variety of blocks, including limiting beliefs, fear, self-sabotage, guilt, addictions, and jealousy.

The first step in the program is to write by long hand three pages every morning—called “morning pages”—because this exercise allows the participant to dump junk out of the mind and to release trivia that is bogging down the brain. It is important not to judge the material no matter how bad because this is not literature but therapy!

This technique opens up possibilities for exciting ideas and eventually makes writing habitual.

Writing morning pages can inspire anyone in any avocation or vocation—whether a homemaker or business executive, an artist or attorney—to become more creative and gain clarity.

In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron states: “These daily morning meanderings are not meant to be art. Or even writing. I stress that point to reassure non-writers working with this book. Writing is simply one of the tools.”

After three weeks I began to write prose easily again, however I have not been ready to publish any of my challenges related to health and creativity until now.

So writing the morning pages is one of my successful strategies for breaking through blockages to stifled creativity. It is a critical component in inspiring my Work and healing my burnout, therefore improving my health and enhancing my life. I look forward to sharing more ideas to promote aliveness in future columns.

More about AlexSandra

AlexSandra Lett is a professional speaker and the author of Natural Living, From Stress to Rest, A Timeless Place, Lett’s Set a Spellat the Country Store, Timeless Moons, Seasons of the Fields and Matters of the Heart, Timeless Recipes and Remedies, Country Cooking, Customs, and Cures,” and Coming Home to my Country Heart, Timeless Reflections about Work, Family, Health, and Spirit.

AlexSandra can be reached at 919-258-9299 or LettsSetaSpell@aol.com or via her website.