The 7 Secrets of the Prolific

ABOUT Hillary Rettig

Hillary Rettig
I'm Hillary Rettig, author of The 7 Secrets of the Prolific: The Definitive Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Writer s Block (Infinite Art, 2011) and The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way (Lantern Books, 2006). Besides writing, I also  More...

Description

You are not lazy, undisciplined, or uncommitted!

Procrastination, perfectionism, and writer's block are habits rooted in scarcity and fear. If you know the seven secrets of the prolific, you can "magically" recover all the energy, discipline, and commitment you thought you had lost.

Author, coach, and workshop leader Hillary Rettig characterizes, in great detail and depth, the major causes of underproductivity, including: procrastination, perfectionism, resource scarcity, time scarcity, an ineffective writing process, bias, ambivalence, internalized oppression, traumatic rejection, and exploitative career paths.

Then she tells you how to conquer each. The solutions are:

1. Identify and Overcome Perfectionism
2. Abundantly Resource Yourself
3. Manage Your Time
4. Optimize Your Writing Process
5. Understand and Claim Your Identity as a Writer
6. Cultivate Resilience in the Face of Rejection and Harsh Criticism, and
7. Create a Liberated Career.

Those are the 7 Secrets of the Prolific! And whether you write fiction or nonfiction, or poetry, screenplays or something else - or whether you write for business or school - those secrets will help you speed your output, lower your stress, and bring you joy and fulfillment.

Special sections include:

*writing on the Internet (and how to withstand the Internet's harsh culture)
*coping with the many clueless and/or challenging comments and questions people direct to writers (e.g., "When will you get that thing done?") and,
*Publishing Without Perishing, a special Appendix just for graduate students and other academic writers.

I'm Hillary Rettig, author of The 7 Secrets of the Prolific: The Definitive Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Writer s Block (Infinite Art, 2011) and The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way (Lantern Books, 2006). Besides writing, I also give workshops and do coaching that helps people overcome their fears and blocks, and improve their productivity. On the personal side, I'm an activist, vegan, novelist, and lover of life and dogs. I'm also a foster mom of four teenage Sudanese refugees (a.k.a., Lost Boys ) and a kidney donor. If you re a prospective foster parent or kidney donor, email me and I will support you however I can. When I was young, I mainly wanted to do two things: write and help. As an adult, I find that the more time I spend in pursuit of these goals, the happier and more productive I am. I am a late bloomer who didn't start coming into her own, professionally or personally, until she was in her forties, and so I understand first-hand the despair that can come from feeling like you re not living up to your potential. But I also now know that blocks are often easily overcome once you stop blaming yourself for being lazy or undisciplined and start looking at the roots of the problem. And so, my main message to others is often, relax, it s gonna be fine. I believe deeply in the power of perseverance, the amazing possibilities of reinvention, and the benefits of living consciously. Life can be difficult, but it is always deeply fascinating. I was born in the Bronx, and now live in East Boston, a terrific community filled with friendly people and interesting ships. Although I love hiking in the country, I am definitely a city person.

"This book is fantastic. I use what I learned from it whenever I sit down to write."


"The book not only lays out a clear and comprehensive path for overcoming such problems, but it is also filled with literally hundreds of little tips to help you get and keep moving on your writing projects."


"I struggled with writer's block and Hillary's sound and practical advice helped me overcome my fears and resistances."


"Even that I sit down to write, every day, is partly due to what I learned from Hillary and this book."


"As others have noted, I really did feel like Hillary was writing just for me!"