Bethany Henry: Writing & Wellness

From poison to spinach puffs- this Disney story has it all. Winning a handful of  awards  and a cult-like following,  The Emperor’s New Groove  is a shining gem we can learn from as storytellers and writers. The only question in this offbeat animated classic is where to even start? (This post does contain some spoilers. Sooo you should probably go watch the movie if you haven’t seen it already 😉 ) 1. Be yourself From the first “Boom Baby” entrance of Emperor Kuzko, this movie is clearly moving along to its own beat. A movie about a talking llama? With a Theme Song Guy, a secret lab roller coaster, and a plot-relevant trampoline? These don’t fit any preconceived formula for a children’s story that I’ve heard of. This story clearly doesn’t fit the conventional molds. It wasn’t written because “that’s what sells” or “that’s what’s in this year.” This film has its own style and its own charm. If The Emperor’s New Groove wasn’t so different (and sometimes downright stran...

Are you setting goals for your writing? Ever heard of SMART goals? I was introduced to SMART goals a few years back when I worked as a case manager and I haven’t shut up about them since. They’re just that great! A lot of people out there will tell you that goals are important.  A goal is how you turn a dream into reality. Goals get things done. This is true. But are you setting the right goals? Don’t panic on me here. I think goals are awesome and you should be excited about them no matter what format (or lack of format) they have. But today I want to share with you how  SMART goals can help us to clarify what we want and create higher odds that we will succeed in getting it. Sound good? Let’s take a look. Basically SMART Is an acronym used to create goals that are  Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant,  and  Time-bound. I’m going to unpack these a bit so we can dig a bit deeper into what exactly that means, but first I want to give a shout out to Ge...

Wouldn’t it be nice to have hours upon hours to cozy up with our writing? To spread our notebooks across the grass and write the day away, or maybe claim a spot at the local coffee shop until the barista knows our drink order? Honestly, sometimes I dream of having even five minutes to myself. There are a million and three things clamoring for my attention daily. Dishes, dinner, places to be and things to do. Besides general life craziness, I have two small children who are frequently wriggling their way across my lap when I sit down to write. (I blame all my typos on them haha.) Your to do list may be different than mine but I bet that the business is the same. So how do we write when we simply don’t have time?  We call ourselves writers (and we should!) but how do we actually go about writing? As the ancient philosopher Lao Tzu said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” On our writing journey we go one step at a time.  One minute at a time if that’s...