Ask the Author: Carol Milters
Answered Questions (4)
Carol Milters
- Observing and contemplating life, especially nature.
- Having relatively consistent habits and rituals - I have a writing playlist with instrumental music that I've been listening to for so long that my brain already sets itself in writing mode as it starts playing.
- Paying attention to every little thing and situation in life.
- Asking myself, "what needs to be written today?" It may not be something worthy of publishing, but it sure will be something worth writing.
- Having relatively consistent habits and rituals - I have a writing playlist with instrumental music that I've been listening to for so long that my brain already sets itself in writing mode as it starts playing.
- Paying attention to every little thing and situation in life.
- Asking myself, "what needs to be written today?" It may not be something worthy of publishing, but it sure will be something worth writing.
Carol Milters
This will seem silly, but it's the best advice: write.
Do the work.
- Make sure you sit your but on a chair and that you have pen&paper, your phone or your laptop. Then start from there. Ask yourself: "what needs to be written today?", and something will come up. It can be a grocery list, a poem, a short story, a few lines.
- After that, be mindful of what you want to share with the world. Understand it is not your place to judge whether it will be a hit or not, whether people will like it or not. Your job is to write what is meaningful to you and what you feel may resonate in one person or two. That's already enough.
- Keep the positive comments close to you. We all need validation and we all thrive when our work is acknowledged.
- Know why you want to write. Listen to what's in your heart. And then go.
- Don't be afraid of running out of inspiration. You might have a day or week or month that you won't feel like your work is good, but it will come back.
- Read and listen to other writers, and pay attention to the ones you admire not only as a writer, but as a person.
- Tell your story, share your unique human experience in this world. Your story deserves to be told, and I swear to you that someone out there wants/needs to read it.
Do the work.
- Make sure you sit your but on a chair and that you have pen&paper, your phone or your laptop. Then start from there. Ask yourself: "what needs to be written today?", and something will come up. It can be a grocery list, a poem, a short story, a few lines.
- After that, be mindful of what you want to share with the world. Understand it is not your place to judge whether it will be a hit or not, whether people will like it or not. Your job is to write what is meaningful to you and what you feel may resonate in one person or two. That's already enough.
- Keep the positive comments close to you. We all need validation and we all thrive when our work is acknowledged.
- Know why you want to write. Listen to what's in your heart. And then go.
- Don't be afraid of running out of inspiration. You might have a day or week or month that you won't feel like your work is good, but it will come back.
- Read and listen to other writers, and pay attention to the ones you admire not only as a writer, but as a person.
- Tell your story, share your unique human experience in this world. Your story deserves to be told, and I swear to you that someone out there wants/needs to read it.
Carol Milters
I am translating this book into Portuguese. Besides that, I have already started working on my second book, which will develop into my relationship with work. It will be a long form letter to someone - but I won't spoil it yet!
Carol Milters
While I was recovering from my second burnout, I started this exercise called Morning Pages, introduced by Julia Cameron on her book "The Artist's Way". Through this exercise, I not only reconnected with my lifelong dream of being a writer, but also made sense of so much that was happening to me as I dealt with depression, anxiety and PTSD.
I decided I would write a book about my experience, since there's still so much stigma and shame around people who go through burnout. As someone privileged enough to speak up about the topic, I took it as a responsibility as well.
I wanted to write the book from scratch, but as I went through the Morning Pages, I realised it would be a lot more honest to simply share how I felt while it was all happening to me.
I decided I would write a book about my experience, since there's still so much stigma and shame around people who go through burnout. As someone privileged enough to speak up about the topic, I took it as a responsibility as well.
I wanted to write the book from scratch, but as I went through the Morning Pages, I realised it would be a lot more honest to simply share how I felt while it was all happening to me.
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