Block Doubt’s Phone Calls and Keep Writing! Featuring Kami Garcia
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In this week’s episode, Grant and Brooke focus on that pesky little thing called doubt—ways to confront it, to work around it and with it, and to write through it. Guest Kami Garcia shares how she doubts almost everything about her process, and about her stories, especially initially. She shares ways to slay doubts, and to be prepared for doubt, including how writing partners and accountability and community can get you through the rough patches. Take a little inspiration from the idea that you are not alone if you doubt. We all do. And don’t forget that NaNoWriMo starts on Friday. We hope you’ll be writing with us!
ABOUT KAMI GARCIA
Kami Garcia is the New York Times #1 bestselling author of the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES series, which has been published in 51 countries and 37 languages, with over 10 million copies in print. She’s also written Unbreakable, Unmarked, and The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos. Kami’s first graphic novel Teen Titans: Raven, with artist Gabriel Picolo, is the first book in her TEEN TITANS series for DC Comics, which is available now. And her forthcoming adult series JOKER/HARLEY: CRIMINAL SANITY, is out now from DC Black Label. Kami is a cofounder of the YALLFEST kid lit book festival and she was an elementary school teacher and a Reading Specialist for seventeen years.
The Takeaway
One thing doubt does is it minimizes you. It takes away your creative powers. But you don’t have to let it sabotage you, or hijack your writing process. There was a study done in which a group of people were divided into two groups—one asked to wear lab coats and the other just shabby clothing. What researchers discovered was that the lab coat group went through their day with more gravitas, and they were more productive as a result. This study illustrates how much presentation matters, and why doing silly things, like even wearing hats, as the team at NaNoWriMo does, can support you in your writing process. At NaNoWriMo, there’s been a long tradition of wearing Viking hats, and it stems from this same general idea that we can claim how we show up, and we can empower ourselves to be the writers we want to be—and to dress like the writers we want to be. So put on a cape, a favorite hat, a robe, a vest, chainmail, a gown—whatever it takes to feel like you have superheroic powers.
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