Writer’s Burnout Part 4 (Morning Pages) + Google Plus

NOTE: At the ER. I’ll do my duties as co-host when I can.

Update: I was released from the ER on Wednesday with the diagnosis of a mass on my right ovary. I am much better now. The pain and tenderness had gone away. I am in the process of finding a specialist because everyone recommends I have it removed asap. Thank you for your love and prayers.

GOOGLE PLUS:

With Google+ being taken down come the New Year, Google+ profiles and groups will disappear, and bloggers using Google+ for comments and/or profiles will need to make changes. 

NOTE: Google accounts will not be impacted.

Blogger: If you’re using Google+ for comments, in Blogger, go to "settings," click "posts, comments, and sharing," and scroll down to "Google Plus Comments" and mark it as "No" for "Use Google+ comments on this blog." Which means people will then be commenting directly on your blog. Unfortunately, Google+ comments may disappear from your posts. So sorry!

If you’re using Google+ as your profile, in Blogger, go to "user settings" under "settings" and change the profile from Google+ to Blogger, so when people click on your name/avatar, they'll go directly to your Blogger profile (this is what mine does). You can update your profile by viewing your blog and clicking "View your complete profile" (if the profile gadget was added to the layout) and then "edit profile" at the top of the new page. This is where you can add a profile/avatar image if you don't already have one uploaded.

For Blogger, if it says "(Google)" next to your name in comment boxes, you're good. That means you're logged into your Google account, which will not go away.

Wordpress: You can remove the “share to Google+ button” by going to your Wordpress dashboard, “sharing,” “sharing buttons,” and “edit sharing buttons.” You can also disconnect from sharing to Google+ under “connections.” As far as commenting on Blogger accounts, try changing the “comment as” from “Google” to "Name/URL." That way people aren’t brought to your Google+ profile, which probably won't exist. They'll go straight to your blog/site, instead. The only thing is, you won’t have an image/avatar that way.

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More Tips to Help You START Reversing Writer’s Burnout:

To read my story and all my burnout tips check out:

Writer’s Burnout Part 1 (Speak) Tips 1 - 3

Writer’s Burnout Part 2 (Write YOU) Tips 4 - 8
Writer's Burnout Part 3 (Writer's Meetings) Tips 9 - 11

Writer’s Burnout Part 4 (Morning Pages) Tips 12 - 13

Writer's Burnout Part 5 (Free Your Mind with Walking) Tips 14 - 15
Writer's Burnout Part 6 (One Day at a Time) Tips 16 - 17
Writer's Burnout Part 7 (Don't Force Yourself) Tips 18 - 19
Writer's Burnout Part 8 (Alternative Hobby) Tips 20 - 21

Writer's Burnout Part 9 (Patience) - Tips 22 - 24

Writer's Burnout Part 10 (No stress) - Tips 25 - 26

The Artist's Way / Books for Writers

NOTE: I will be giving away a paperback copy of this book in my October 24th newsletter. Are you subscribed? Make sure you are so you have a chance to enter. Sign Up Here

If you’re not a spiritual person, there are things about this book that you may not like, but there are also things that you’ll benefit from. NOTE: There are mixed reviews. Much of the book I didn’t connect with, but many techniques I found to be smart and clever.

BLURB & BUY @ BOOKSHOP

One of these techniques is morning pages. Julia Cameron encourages you to wake up each morning, and before you do anything (even have the first cup of coffee), write 3 pages of whatever comes to mind. It doesn’t have to make sense or be descriptive. “Nothing is too petty, too silly, too stupid, or too weird to be included.” Even if all you write about are your problems, get it down, because that negativity is lowering your creativity.

Julia discusses our censor. This is where out critic is, and Julie says, “always remember that your censor’s negative options are not the truth.” She prompts us to find a cartoon image of our censor (perhaps the shark from JAWS), put an X through it, and post it where we write.

“Just making the censor into the nasty, clever little character that it is begins to pry loose some of its power over you and your creativity.”

And two pieces of advice that rang true to me: 

“Judging your early artistic efforts is artistic abuse.”

“…you must be willing to be a bad artist. Give yourself the permission to be a beginner. By being willing to be a bad artist, you have a chance to be an artist, and perhaps, overtime, a very good one.”

This book is also a 12-week course “to becoming and discovering your creative self.” Julia walks you through tasks to help you get to know yourself and your dreams, and she pushes you to meet those dreams by taking easy steps. Some of these may seem silly, but I’ve always enjoyed self-help books. I couldn’t do all of the lessons because I got the book from the library, but I did create wish lists.

QUESTIONS: What image would you use for your censor?