Do you know the write you?

And yes I misused "write" on purpose to get my message across. This past month I've been talking about dog training on my Special Needs Dog Care Examiner column as a part of National Dog Training month. And now today I've been prepping my lesson plans for my upcoming Writing Moms Workshop and it occurred to me that writing, dogs and parenting has one major thing in common- do you know yourself?

This is an area that every professional no matter what you do can grow in. I'm currently rereading "Emotional Intelligence" while reading "The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights" both by author Daniel Goleman. i normally wait to talk about books, if I'm going to, after reading them but both of these books really take the concept of knowing yourself to a common sense level. I really believe in understanding your emotions, environment and desires and incorporating all of them into discovering the best routine for you.

Such understanding can be applied to all area of your life. Yes, even dog training because if you don't know yourself how can you control a dog?

For writers though, knowing yourself can really help you develop a pattern of when to do various tasks. For example, I know that I write better in the morning so that is when I work on my WIP's. The rest of my day is divided among various tasks along with chasing my very active toddler. I use the evening hours to work of revisions, social media and prep for the next day.

What have you done or read lately that has helped you better know yourself? How did you apply this to make you a better writer, parent, or person?

Announcements:

My Writing Moms Workshop starts this Monday, March 5. Registration is still open.

I had some great opportunities to guest blog for some great author’s and friends last month.

The ever-changing writing process at author Colin Falconer’s blog

Finding Inspiration from Unlikely Sources at author Kristen Lamb’s blog

Being a flexibly, trained writer at author Rachel Harris’ blog

Woof Wednesday: Doggy assistant, excuse or both? At author Amy Shojai’s blog.

Who Dares Wins Publishing offers fantastic writing craft and industry Write it Forward Workshops. Be sure and check them all out here.