The 7 Secrets of the Prolific - Hillary Rettig

The 7 Secrets of the Prolific

By Hillary Rettig

  • Release Date: 2011-11-17
  • Genre: Writing Reference

Description

Can't finish your written work?

Can't start it?

Constantly missing deadlines and opportunities?

The 7 Secrets of the Prolific has the solutions you need! In it, author Hillary Rettig shows how fear, scarcity, ambivalence, and other inner obstacles trigger a Disempowerment Cascade that can derail even the most dedicated and experienced writer. How perfectionism plays a more serious role in underproductivity than most writers realize. And how some criticisms and rejections can linger, hidden, for years and even decades, undermining your productivity.

Then she shows you how to interrupt the Cascade, recognize and defuse the perfectionism, and recover from the criticisms and rejections so that you can regain your energy and commitment and do more great writing than you might have ever thought possible.

Unlike the superficial and gimmicky solutions some other books offer, Hillary's are based on a new way of looking at yourself, your work, and the world. She developed her method over more than a decade of teaching at some of the country's premier literary and cultural organizations, including Mark Twain House & Museum, Grub Street Writers, and The Loft, and while coaching hundreds of successful creative, business, and academic writers.

The 7 Secrets of the Prolific also features unique and timely sections on writing for the Internet (and coping with its hypercritical culture), and how to respond to the many clueless and/or challenging comments and questions people direct at writers (e.g., 'When will you get that thing done?'). And the section on Values-Based Time Management will help you reclaim time for your writing (and other priorities) you never knew you had.

Whether you write for work, school, or fun, The 7 Secrets of the Prolific will help you become the productive, fulfilled, and joyful writer you always wanted to be.

Reviews

  • Helpful for procrastinator/perfectionist artists and others as well

    5
    By gcoghill
    What started for me a casual investigation into tips for my procrastination revealed how it is more of a symptom of deeper issues rather than a superficial cause of non-productive behavior. Coupled with perfectionism, it resonated with me on a very fundamental and unexpected level. Retting' book opened up some new understanding on both of these topics, and particularly for me as a creative person (a visual artist). Retting offers very specific tactics and solutions to overcome these toxic obstacles. Some of the chapters are very writer-specific but even these can be "translated" to your career or passion. One doesn't even need to be a creative type to benefit from the information in this book. She also gives a very thorough and direct overview of procrastination and perfectionism, and how they feed off of each other and create this very unhealthy mindset. I've been immersing myself in the iProcrastinate podcast episodes, which have been my introduction to all of this and from a very scientific and research-oriented angle. Retting' book surprised me by the depth and scope of the topic, and also at the very specific solutions and tactics to help overcome these negative traits. Highly recommended. You may like me have an uninformed notion of what procrastination and perfectionism really are. What I thought were annoying personality quirks have revealed themselves to be a very limiting mindset and very unhealthy behaviors that I was totally unaware of. Retting' book is an excellent introduction to both, as well as being a practical guide for undoing that damage.