How Can You Flourish in Your Writing Practice?
Even though I truly believe all of life is the writing life, I have to return to this idea and mantra again and again because it’s too easy to think we’re not doing it right, that we should’ve written instead of doing that other thing we were doing when we weren’t writing.
But this idea is still true, and we can return to it anytime we need to.
All of life is the writing life because everything matters.
Here’s more from my forthcoming book, Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life…
“All of life is the writing life. While we aren’t actively writing, we are being formed to be the people we will be when the time to write again presents itself.”
“Regardless of whether we write on a particular day, everything counts. The angst, rejection, failure, dread, joy, delight, wonder, fear. Every moment of every day and every night is forming who we will be when we write again.”
“I’m not saying you don’t need to write. Writers write. But everything else counts too, so you might as well honor all the things of life as genuine components of the writing life.”
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If you want to learn more about the connections between the soul and creativity, this book is for you.
Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life is coming September 3 and is available for preorder wherever you buy books.
Everyone who preorders the book can receive early access to the digital Advance Reading Copy AND a complimentary invitation to my online course exploring the idea that All of Life Is the Writing Life.
Thanks so much for being here. Thanks for thinking a bit about what it means for you to flourish anyway.
And much love to the creative souls. May we flourish anyway and keep reminding ourselves that EVERYTHING matters to our creative life and process.
💚Charlotte
P.S.
See the latest FREE Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment offering here.
See my most recent doses of art at A Daily Dose of Art.
Check out my All of This & More podcast here. (New episodes coming soon!)
Charlotte Donlon is a writer, spiritual director, and gatherer whose work centers on helping people explore themes of belonging, artful encounters, spiritual growth, and how to Flourish Anyway®, even when life is full, busy, or chaotic. Her work has woven together themes of belonging, art, and soul exploration for more than 25 years. With a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing (2015-2018) and a certificate in spiritual direction (2018-2020), Charlotte guides writers and other creative souls in developing sanctuaries of acceptance and connection.
A Christian in the Episcopal church who believes the tenets of the Nicene Creed, Charlotte employs a universal framework of belonging and connection in her spiritual direction work. She fosters meaningful, soulful conversations and gatherings that are welcoming to all—regardless of faith tradition or spiritual inclinations.
In 2020, Broadleaf Books published Charlotte's first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other.Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life is slated for release by Here Below Books in September 2026. Three volumes of Charlotte's "Guidebooks for the Soul"—Take More Retreats, The Great Belonging Project, and Belonging Through Art—will also be published in 2026.
As the founder of several initiatives, Charlotte has established herself as a thought leader and an authentic presence at the intersection of creativity and spirituality. Her essays have been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, and The Millions, among others. A new essay about art conservation, Joan Mitchell, and mystery is forthcoming with Image journal.
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Flourish Anyway® is Charlotte’s online hub for all of her writing, spiritual direction, small press, gatherings, and other offerings.