Okay, I'm going out on a limb here...
Recently I paid for an hour's session with creativity coach and author Eric Maisel. We discussed where I move to next, and whether I really wanted to be a writer, kindness as a core value, art, and whether I'd find more creative pleasure in another pursuit like writing and illustrating picture books.

He gave me really good advice, including just focusing on three things at a time, and being happy with doing enough.

1. My teaching, which is where I earn 80% of my income. He suggested I create 6 workshops that I present face to face. Although face to face courses scare me shitless, I really enjoy them, and I love teaching.

2. He suggested I just dive in and do some picture books, learning as I go along, and having creative fun.

3. Choose one social media platform only and focus on that. Forget about the rest if you don't like posting on them.

Then he said something really interesting.( I tend to feel I'm a failure as a writer because although I have published so many books, I still don't make anything like a living from it.) He said I should focus on the fact that I've had more success than 95% of writers and I should become a cheerleader for struggling writers, being as supportive as I can (within limits, obviously).

Now if there is one thing I do know about, it's the struggle to get the words on the page, to keep going, to do what scares you, to wrestle and wrestle with a story until one of us gives in.

So I thought, why don't I have a challenge on this page, each month? I could run a lucky draw, and the winner would get a free (short) assessment of a 1200 word piece of writing.

What do you think? Good idea?
If so, how should I run it? What sort of challenges would you like to work on? (they'll be tough challenges, but tiny, so not overwhelming.) Let me know. ... See more