Part Wild: A Writer's Guide to Harnessing the Creative Power of Resistance

by Deb Norton

Overview

“A must-read for any aspiring or seasoned writer.” —Huffington Post

We all have the call to create. The question is…why don’t we answer it?

We all come pre-loaded with a creative spark that drives us to innovate, explore, express, and make our unique contribution to the world. Often, though, that drive doesn’t get us very far down the road before it runs right smack into resistance—the mysterious force that thwarts creativity.

But resistance needn’t be the enemy of writing—or any other creative endeavor. Deb Norton’s Part Wild provides fun and practical ways to turn resistance into a creative asset.

Whether it presents as doubt, perfectionism, or Deb’s favorite: a chorus of withering inner critics, the power of resistance can be leveraged to launch the creative process with real momentum. Once we harness resistance, we can let our creative impulses off the leash.

Norton has turned a decade of sold-out writing retreats and private coaching into a process for powering up your creative ideas. In Part Wild, she shares dozens of illuminating and effective practices and quick-start prompts that are guaranteed to get us out of our heads and onto the page.

Just as The Artist’s Way gave millions of readers permission to explore their creative side, Part Wild shows writers of all levels of experience and skill how to harness the electrifying power of resistance and get writing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501129162
Publisher:	Atria/Enliven Books
Publication date:	09/06/2016
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Deb Norton is a writing coach for screenwriters, novelists, and nonfiction writers globally. She leads writing workshops internationally, is a master teacher at Hedgebrook, and teaches immersive retreats in story structure and archetype for writers and novelists. After graduating from the master’s acting program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, she spent an eventful ten years dutifully pursuing her acting career before her desire for a deeper connection to Story led her to pen her own plays and screenplays. Her full-length play, The Whole Banana, has been optioned for a movie. She lives in the Northern Sierra Mountains in California.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Introduction xiii

How to Use This Book xxi

Part I Resistance Training: Building Strength and Flexibility 1

Chapter 1 Inspiration-Fickle Muse 3

Practice #1 Don't Hold Your Breath 5

Practice #2 Provision Your Process 8

Chapter 2 Imagination-Shy Mind 17

Practice #3 Give Your Thoughts Some Privacy 18

Practice #4 Induce Daydreaming 20

Chapter 3 Distraction-Money Mind 25

Practice #5 Point Your Mind 26

Practice #6 Don't "Just Do It" 30

Chapter 4 Perfectionism-Picking and Polishing 37

Practice #7 Blow By the Pebbles 38

Chapter 5 Worry-Shoulding and Iffing 45

Practice #8 Live Strawberry to Strawberry 46

Chapter 6 Fear-Playing It Safe 49

Practice #9 Disobey and Investigate 51

Chapter 7 Boredom-Where Did the Love Go? 55

Practice #10 Kick It Up a Notch 56

Chapter 8 Expectation-Cursing the Gods 63

Practice #11 Channel Hercules 64

Practice #12 Know What You Are Fighting For 67

Part II The Nature versus Nurture of Resistance: Trading What You've Been Taught for What's True 69

Chapter 9 Time-Hoops and To-dos 71

Practice #13 Get a Healthy Sense of Entitlement 73

Practice #14 Come Out as Creative 76

Practice #15 Tame the Temptations 80

Practice #16 Take Down the Tower 81

Chapter 10 Memory-Swiss-cheese Mind 85

Practice #17 Change Your Mind about Memory 87

Practice #18 Get Trigger-happy 91

Chapter 11 Truth-Fear of Lying 91

Practice #19 Lay Down the First Layer 98

Practice #20 Dig into Change 104

Chapter 12 Dark Matter-Fear of Whining 107

Practice #21 Be the Shaman, Not the Shame 108

Practice #22 Make Your Medicine 111

Chapter 13 The Unknown-Looking for Proof 117

Practice #23 Don't Wait until You Are Ready 119

Practice #24 Plight Your Troth 121

Chapter 14 Voice-What Is It and How Do I Get One? 125

Practice #25 Discover Your Limitations 127

Chapter 15 Gifts-Picking and Choosing 131

Practice #26 Hike Your Own Hike 132

Practice #27 Be an Eager Receiver 135

Chapter 16 Legitimacy-Getting Real 141

Practice #28 Make a Seat at the Table 142

Part III Resistance is Fertile: Let the Sunshine In 147

Chapter 17 Inner Critic-flagging and Doubting 149

Practice #29 List and Separate 151

Practice #30 Get the Story 156

Practice #31 Create a Hostile Environment 161

Chapter 18 Outer Critics-Feedback and Noise 167

Practice #32 Train Your Ears 168

Practice #33 Cull and Cultivate 172

Part IV Live La Resistance!: Brining On the Revolutiona! 175

Chapter 19 Vulnerability-Burning Brighter 177

Practice #34 Play with Fire 178

Practice #35 Attend to the Coals 181

Chapter 20 The Champion-Being Held 187

Practice #36 Use Your Powers for Good 189

Practice #37 Meet Your Greatest Resource 191

Practice #38 Hand Over the Reins 193

First and Last 199

The Part Wild Guide to Writing in Packs 201

Bonus Prompts 209

Body Map 223

Acknowledgments 225

Editorial Reviews

"Deb Norton's writing is infused withso much heart and compassion and her unique sense of humor and curiosity is infectious! This book inspired me to PLUNGE!"

Didi Conn

"Norton provides over three dozen practical exercises and prompts to help writers overcome their inner critics and channel their energy toward new levels of productivity.

Poets & Writers

Writers, you’ve got a new BFF—Deb Norton! Read her book and do what she says; you will not have writer’s block again. Seriously.”

Ellen Sandler

Personally, I found myself reaching for a pen long before each chapter’s end.

BookPage

"Resistance is a natural part of the creative process. It is the tension that births new life. I am so grateful to Deb Norton for her brilliant work with resistance; she has helped to transform the complexities of the creative process into functional, effective practices…that work! Part Wild: A Writer's Guide to Harnessing the Creative Power of Resistance is more than a book on creative writing, it is an essential guide for creative living."

Dara Marks

"Part Wild: A Writer’s Guide to Harnessing the Creative Power of Resistance is like having a personal writing coach at your disposal twenty-four hours a day. Stuck, blocked or in hiding, there’s something in this volume guaranteed to free you from the fear that binds and suppresses your best impulses. It will transform you from the writer you wish you were, to the writer you’ve always known you could be."

Lyn Greene

“Part Wild shines with several ideas about how to banish [the inner critic] from your own mind.

Psychology Today

"When you get stuck in your writing—and I’d give a 99.9% for sure guarantee that you will—take hope. Somewhere in Part Wild you will find just the right suggestion to get you moving. Deb Norton is the highest leaping cheerleader a writer could wish for!

Nina Rothschild Utne

"This is a wise, delightful and powerful book, unlike anything else of its kind I’ve come across. It’s written by a writer for writers, and you can feel that compassion and rigor on every page. Norton shares practical ideas with grace and ample lashings of humor. Writers of all kinds will find this a godsend.

Ellen McLaughlin

...a must-read for any aspiring or seasoned writer.

Huffington Post