Author: ahundredtacks

Week #3 – Accountability

This past week for our third interview, James interviewed me! And while there were plenty of goofy laughs and interjections…we weren’t three minutes in and Jim dropped this bomb of a question on me regarding accountability:

Why is that important? Why does it matter to you?

I had been talking about how I’ve been using daily check-ins (AM and PM) with my writer’s group to help keep me accountable to the creative promises I make…not to them, but to myself.

The answer led me down a bit of a rabbit trail regarding the word “confidence.” Years ago, in post-9/11 New York when everything felt shaken, I found myself wondering if confidence was something you were born with or if it was something that could be developed. An Army Ranger friend assured me I could build it…that it mean to “trust yourself” (and in his case, his training). 

Sure enough…I looked it up, and the etymology spelled it out:

“com” (with) – “fidere” (trust).

In short, self-confidence is simply trusting yourself.

Simple…but not easy. Because as I said in the interview, as a writer, there are a thousand reasons to let ourselves off the hook…and usually only one or two reasons to keep those promises to ourselves.

And since it’s really easy to cheat when no one is looking…it’s great to surround ourselves with good friends who hold our feet to the fire and keep us accountable.

In addition to accountability, we talked about:

• Being a slow waker-upper (and why I do check social media first thing in the morning).
• How we set deadlines (and why we don’t always agree on this).
• What I keep in my “toolbox” for when I get stuck creatively.
• Paying attention to natural energy cycles and how they match different creative/collaborating tasks during the day.
• How I use housecleaning to help me shift gears.
• And why I think it’s important for collaborating partners to have their own things going on.

What about you?

We would love to talk with you about your experiences with creating, collaborating, and keeping fun company for the journey! Join us in our private Facebook group where we break these questions down each week, share tools and techniques, and hold each other accountable to the work we have been called to create.

Because we know it’s hard…we want to talk about how!

Tune in to our Facebook page tomorrow when we get to talk to one of our most favorite creators and friends…Rob Nicholson!

Until then, set your alarm for whatever time YOU feel most creative and productive, and then…

Rise and Write!
Grace

9/25/21 by Grace Church
© 2021 Rise and Write with Grace & James
riseandwritewithgrace@gmail.com

Week #2 – Dogs vs. Coffee!

This past week in our second video, I interviewed James…and this is the kind of deep, thinky stuff that came out of it:

What comes first in the morning: dogs or coffee?

It may seem like a silly question…but a quote I posted later in the week shined the light on the delicate balance between habit and originality:

“The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.” (George Lois)

For many writers however, habit is the very thing that sparks creativity. It’s the things we do to warm up, to set the tone, to get us in the right head space to shift into creative mode…and get to work!

In addition to Jim’s morning routine, we talked about:

• What Jim does when collaboration gets hard.
• How he keeps things fun when they aren’t going well.
• His favorite tools and resources for research.
• His go-to technique to calm down and focus.
• What he is reading these days.
• And this nugget: “To me, passion is overused. Fascination and deep interest in a subject (or character) is more important than passion.”

What about you?

We would love to talk with you about your experiences with creating, collaborating, and keeping fun company for the journey! Join us in our private Facebook group where we break these questions down each week, share tools and techniques, and hold each other accountable to the work we have been called to create.

Because we know it’s hard…we want to talk about how!

Tune in to our Facebook page tomorrow when Jim and I flip the coin and HE interviews ME!

Until then, set your alarm for whatever time YOU feel most creative and productive, and then…

Rise and Write!
Grace

9/19/21 by Grace Church
© 2021 Rise and Write with Grace & James
riseandwritewithgrace@gmail.com

Week #1 – Grace & James Start a Website!

Last Monday, September 6th — I set my mind to a new adventure! For more than a year now I’ve been urged to start a professional page: a writer page, author page, or some-other-kind-of-public-facing page.

The problem? I didn’t know what to call it!

I brainstormed names thirteen ways to Sunday and nothing sounded right. To me, it all sounded…false.

It wasn’t until a coaching session with Susy Flory (Everything Memoir), a branding session with Tiffany Jo Baker (All the Things TV), and a hand-holding social media audit with Tonya Kubo (Social Media Consultant), all made possible through a year-long internship with Kathi Lipp (real life author/podcaster) — not to mention a few customer service calls and some major hair-pulling — that Rise and Write with Grace & James ever came to launch! PHEW!!!

And strangely, that’s exactly what I want this site to be about!

Yes, we are writers first: James and I have written over a dozen screenplays together. (We even sold a few!) We are proud members of the WGA and WGC. I have a weekly blog that just celebrated its seventh year (that’s 364 weeks). And we even have a non-fiction book in the works.

But it’s been hard!

And you don’t need us to tell you that…because if you ever told anyone that you are a writer/creator/musician/artist/etc. the first thing they probably said after that I-don’t-know-what-to-say look in their eyes was: “Oooh…that’s hard.”

We know it’s hard! Obstacles abound…but you know the old adage: where there’s a writer…there’s a way!

(Okay, that’s not exactly how that goes…but it’s true nonetheless!)

And thus, our tagline was born…because the hardest part about being a writer or creator (other than the writing and creating) is going it alone, feeling like you’re the only one, thinking that you’re doing it wrong, or that it’s just not meant to be.

And it wasn’t until I met some other writers and creators, podcasters, playwrights, actors, and musicians that I realized it wasn’t just me. It is hard…but each one has a how!

So if you think it’s hard…WELCOME to the club! We invite you and your how to a place where we can workshop challenges, share effective tools and techniques, and hold each other accountable to the work we have been called to create.

This week, we launched our website, started a Facebook page, started a free private group, created our Instagram and Twitter accounts, and updated our blog.

I’m not only username-d and social media-d out…I’m exhausted!

But I did it! And you can too! Join us on this adventure. We would love to talk with you about your experiences with creating, collaborating, and keeping fun company for the journey! Because I assure you, I didn’t do it alone.

Tune in to our Facebook page tomorrow for another awkward video!

And until then, set your alarm for whatever time YOU feel most creative and productive, then…

Rise and Write!
Grace

9/12/21 by Grace Church
© 2021 Rise and Write with Grace & James
riseandwritewithgrace@gmail.com

Welcome to Rise and Write with Grace & James: a place for creators, collaborators, and fun company for the journey! We look forward to talking with other creators and sharing the tools and techniques that get us writing, keep us going, and make it all fun. We look forward to traveling with you…because we know it’s hard. We want to talk about how!

More to come!

Grace & James