Trisha Traughber
Write a book that will set you apart: María ...

If you’re a creative, teacher, trainer, or coach, should you write a book? 

And if you do want to write a book, have you asked yourself why?

I’ve worked with many online writers who decided to write books--and when they start asking me their questions, I often respond with a question too. 

“Why do you want to write a book?” 

There is no right answer to that question--only your answer.

And, yes, you’re allowed to have many reasons for wanting to write a book—from being passionate about the subject, to wanting to share something with the world, to ‘just having a book in you.’

Today, I’m really excited to share an interview with María Ortega Garcia on the many reasons she wrote her book.

Write a book that will set you apart: María Ortega Garcia
Trisha Traughber
What keeps you inspired in uncertain times?

Sometimes, when the world seems like too much, I pull a heavy, fuzzy blanket over myself and disappear into a novel. This month, as the world spins, and wobbles, I’ve been reading The Paris Network--our creative community’s book of the month. I invite you to pick up this story (or another great book) and see what happens when you forget your surroundings, your time for a minute…

Suddenly you’re in France, World War II, the occupation. You pop into a bookshop. The owner writes “poetry prescriptions” to keep the townsfolk strong, runs a resistance book club with banned books. Poetry falls from the sky in airdrops. And it’s all based on true events: the banned books, the resistance publishers, the literature and poetry woven into the novel, like “Liberté” by Paul Eluard.

Under the story, there’s a truth that will, no doubt, resonate with you:

Sometimes, literature (or art) is more important than food.

What keeps you inspired in uncertain times?
Trisha Traughber
Writer profiles: Sofia Polykreti: Cultivating ...

Are you someone who works with words? Maybe you teach or translate, write copy in one or more languages?

Are deadlines something you’re familiar with? Do they add a certain rhythm to your days?

If so, you know that time to create, to express yourself, to work on your own projects is an issue.

And you’re probably intimately familiar with that feeling of working all day on a big writing, translating or teaching project…and the challenges that come with transitioning into your creative self at the end of a long day. Even if you love your work.

If that sounds like you. I think you’re going to really enjoy reading this interview with Sofia Polykreti. Sofia is an active and inspiring member of our Tip of the Iceberg Writing Community. She brightens our book chats with her insights, brings her energy to writing workshops and shares her unique work in our forum.

Writer profiles: Sofia Polykreti: Cultivating time to create.
Trisha Traughber
Reconnect to your body--and your creativity.

When is the last time you stopped to think about your body?
As a writer, a creative…a human.

At our Vagabond Voices Creative Community, our inspiration revolves around creative seasons. And…there’s a ‘season’ that is just about the body—remembering you have one and reconnecting to it.

So, whether the season is one where it feels like winter is melting all around you, or summer is going to sleep--whatever side of the globe you’re on, join me today for a celebration of your body. It’s healing, it’s good for your creativity (and good for your writing).

This year, as we enter the creative season of ‘the body’ I’ve got a blog post for you with ideas for tapping into your body for healing and creativity.

And I’ll have a few words of wisdom from a fantastic book I finally finished reading: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, brain, and body in the transformation of trauma. by Bessel Van Der Kolk.

How is a book on healing trauma relevant to our writing and creativity?

Here is what I know:

So many of our artforms, our modes of creative expression actually help us heal.

They are a part of what helps us survive as individuals and cultures.
Even when the unthinkable happens. Or when it’s all around us.
They make us strong. They make us whole.
They bring us together--and they are our human tradition.

Celebrate these with me--whether you’ve experienced trauma or not.
Help keep these creative acts alive and share them with others.

For all of us.

Here are a few ways…

Reconnect to your body--and your creativity.
Trisha Traughber
When there are no words: peace, creativity + ...

Have you been sleepless lately?
Me too.
There was a night last week when I woke up at 3 AM, and could not accept—anything.

It’s the kind of thing that will leave you asking the ceiling overhead, the rafters, the roof creaking in the wind, the sky:

Is it worth being angry at the world?
Does it help anything?
Does it put bread on the table?
Stop madmen in their tracks?

So many questions and one thing I know for sure:
This is what the first creative step looks like sometimes…

When there are no words: peace, creativity + doodle prompts.

reading for writers

Vagabond English: Book Club Picks for Spring and Summer 2021

Vagabond English: Book Club Picks for Spring and Summer 2021

What can be better than diving into a book--holding an adventure of the written word in your hand?

What can take the place of traveling as you turn the pages?

Whether you visit incredible new places, walking strange streets, feeling the dust of the traveler on your shoes.

Or you find yourself returning home--in one way or another.

Or even find yourself traveling within…


What is more beautiful than the exciting and surprising stack of new books waiting for you?

Only one thing I can think of tops the delicious flavor of solitary hours spent in words...and worlds:

Knowing that people who understand you--and your book--are reading alongside you.

Reading for Resilience: Why Good Books Get Us Through...

Reading for Resilience: Why Good Books Get Us Through...

It’s funny, the things I know for certain? They never cease to surprise me anyway. Like reading novels and discussing them with people you trust...and who inspire you.

Earlier this week, I showed up to our writing chats, curled in layers of wool against the cold and armed with tea. It was like a small break from, well, everything else.

We met to talk about Mr. Pip. A beautiful book set during the civil war on Bouganville off the coast of Papua New Guinea. A book that sweeps you up with beauty and resilience in the face of catastrophe.

And that got us all talking about the way stories get us through.

In Mr. Pip, one of the main (and mysterious!) characters, Mr. Watts, reads Dicken’s Great Expectations to the school children as all the teachers have left the island. Ultimately, he draws the entire village into the story, to create something new a new tale that deviates perhaps from Great Expectations...possibly from the whole and exact truth of his own life.

“Do we forgive Mr. Pip for not being entirely honest?” I wanted to know in our book chats?

Do we forgive the author for telling us the story that we need to hear? For handing down the story that makes us strong rather than ‘just the facts?’

Reading for Writers: Find your resilience in a stack of books. (Book Club 2021)

Reading for Writers: Find your resilience in a stack of books. (Book Club 2021)

Pick up a book, smell the paper pages, feel them dampen in the steam of the bath or crisp in the air by the hot fire…but not for long. Soon you’ll feel the sand under your feet, the lull of waves from other shores. You’ll be off on someone else’s adventure. Sure, it’s an escape—but it’s an escape that reminds you what it’s like to be a human on this planet.

An escape that leaves you more compassionate, wiser…more resilient.

Readers who write and writers who read….I bring you our book club picks for the first part of 2021…

Writers, keep the words flowing with blackout and collage poems...

Writers, keep the words flowing with blackout and collage poems...

If you want to really write and feel good about your creative process—rather than find yourself staring at a blank screen, I’ve got two pieces of advice for you:

  1. Read (good, quality writing preferably in books and that YOU like).

  2. Engage in creative reading exercises to keep you unstuck and keep your words flowing (like blackout poetry, collage poetry and ‘found’ poems).

Why use experimental techniques like blackout and collage?

On the most basic level, blackout poetry and collage turn your reading into writing.

It’s a chance to let your subconscious mind wander and travel, play with associations. This is great for your writing in any of your languages.