Welcome to Our Little Creative Corner of the Web!
About Creative Words
After spending twenty-plus years editing manuscripts for hundreds of authors, all the while knowing I was meant to do more—that I longed to do more—I’ve finally taken the plunge. I’ve expanded my editing business to include coaching services and/or mentoring services and manuscript feedback.
Of course, there are a lot of other authors, agents, and editors providing these services online, so what makes me different?
First, I remember when I decided to write my first novel. That was over twenty-five years ago, and I recall the excitement and uncertainty as if it were yesterday. These days, they call it Imposter Syndrome. Symptoms of this debilitating condition include asking yourself questions like:
Who am I to think I can write a book? Does this story suck? Does my writing suck? Am I wasting precious time I would be better off spending with my husband/children/aging parents/best friend/dog? Am I a fraud? Should I just quit?
The answer to those questions is no, no, no, no, and heck no. Never quit. If you love writing, then keep writing. Very few people are born with the innate ability to craft a bestseller the first time they put their butt in a chair and start to write. The rest of us have to study writer’s craft and practice what we learn every day. We have to participate in critique groups (if you’re not, you should. At the very least, find a critique partner), and we have to revise and then revise again. And the authors who can afford to will sometimes hire a coach, take an online master class, or pay for a manuscript critique. If you visit my services page, you’ll notice I charge a little less for my service than many other editors and coaches do. My goal is to allow access to professional assistance to as many authors as possible, regardless of their financial circumstances. If you’re interested in learning more, drop me a line at jill_noble-shearer@creativewords.me. I’d love to hear from you.
The Link Between Creativity & Mental Wellness
For many years, I’ve had a suspicion that there’s a connection between creativity and mental wellness. Right around the time I started thinking about expanding my business, I started researching this mental health-creativity connection, and I wasn’t surprised when my suspicions were confirmed. According to various studies, creative people are much more susceptible to depression, anxiety, and even things like bipolar disorder. But I uncovered a lot of great news, too, and I found it all so intriguing, that I decided to integrate topics on author self-care into this site. I’ll be blogging on different topics, quoting different studies and statistics, but best of all, I’m going to try several of the suggestions doctors and therapists say we can use to increase our creativity and enhance our mental well-being, and then I’ll be sharing details about my experiences here on the blog. If you’d like to join me and become more proactive about maintaining a healthy mind and spirit, please leave comments on those posts.
I’m really hoping we can build a small, supportive community here.
The second thing I have in the works is an entire section of the site devoted to teaching older children and teenagers creative writing. The benefits of the exercises and activities I’ll be talking about soon are just as helpful for people of all ages. And with the uptick in depression and suicide among teenagers and young adults in the United States, I feel like I might be able to create some useful tools to help some of them cope. At the very least, they’ll learn a valuable skill that’ll stick with them.
And that’s all. For now.
I hope you’ll bear with me while I create some content and courses, write a few blog posts and guides, and get this new venture off the ground.
I know you have a lot of choices when it comes to where you spend your time online, so thank you for dropping by Creative Words. If I can do anything for you, please get in touch by using the email address on the contact page.
