What would a men's dating coach have to say about writing? Quite a bit, actually.

Coach Sam Pond talks about masculine (penetrating) and feminine (receiving) energies. Each of us has a mix of both. He says this about how they apply to writing:

"As a longtime writer, I live on a teeter-totter of these two dynamics. Do I wait for inspiration (receiving) or do I dive into action (penetrating)? The great writing teacher, William Zinsser, once said, “Thinking isn’t thinking. Writing is thinking.” You don’t know what you think until you move your hands over the keys. And he’s right. On the other hand, sometimes it’s best to sit and watch the clouds go by.

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"The idea for this article popped into my head in the middle of the night as non-resistant receiving energy. Writing it right now is penetrating energy.

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"Can you feel the subtle balance in yourself right now? You’re reading so that is receptive. You might feel like arguing with me and that’s penetrative. It’s a subtle flow."

I use this dynamic when I work with writers. Still generating your first draft? Befriend the inner critic as you receive the muse and drip its ink along the page. Trust. Go slow. Last as long as possible. Luxuriate in that energy. Only then is it time to penetrate (revise, or seek an editor).