About Joanne Scharer
“You’re a writer…”
I hear this all time, along with the implied suggestion that any writing task is undaunting to me. What makes people think that, because I am willing to embrace myself as a writer, writing is easy for me? Let me let you in on something, it is not. It is the most wonderful, powerful thing I do, whether for work or for play, but it is definitely not easy.
Strong Inner Critic. Perfectionism. Self-doubt.
I know these well.
They have been my close companions at times over the years and admittedly they still like to cozy up to me when I am feeling scared. I feel most scared when I’m vulnerable, when I’m letting people see me, really see me. When I’m letting them read my soul expressed in the written word.
I am learning to accept these companions, radically accept them, as simply part of the process. Not good. Not bad. They just are.
I have come a long way from being terrified of sharing my writing at the first Amherst Writers and Artists writing workshop I participated in to now leading workshops and encouraging people to trust themselves, their intuition, their words, their voice. I can only do that because I have learned, am learning, to trust my own.
Through writing and mindfulness, I am learning to listen to my voice, to trust my creativity, to pay attention.
My clients find my approach freeing and refreshing. I understand the immense weight and frustration of writer’s block. I understand the overwhelming desire to express. I understand the love/hate relationship with writing. I understand the fear.
My own writing and desire to serve led me to become certified as an Amherst Writers Artists writing workshop leader, coach, and affiliate and to start All Writing Matters.
It’s not just about writing, it’s about life.
About All Writing Matters
At All Writing Matters, we believe in:
The Five Essential Affirmations of the Amherst Writers and Artists method:
- Everyone has a strong, unique voice
- Everyone is born with creative genius
- Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level
- The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writer’s original voice or artistic self-esteem
- A writer is someone who writes
The Process: Embracing the process will keep in you the moment and allow you to let go of the “hows” while you move forward in your writing and in your life, perhaps without even knowing it.
Self-acceptance: The more you accept where you are in your process, the more power you have to take action, to create, to truly live. Accepting the critical voices, the perfectionism, the writer’s block, the fear, allows you to flow around the apparent obstacles, to shape them, and learn from them.
Mindfulness: This does not mean thinking too much. In fact, thinking too much can get in the way of your writing, your efforts to create. Mindfulness is simply paying attention. Paying attention to what is going on around you and within you so that you appreciate each moment of this wild and wonderful life.
I chose the name All Writing Matters because I believe that everyone is a writer, even if they have never picked up a pen. When we tell stories, communicate our feelings, or share the details of our days with others, we are still writing; the pen is our voice, the paper is the wind. All writing matters…whether it’s journaling, noveling, poetry, scribble, letters, dreams, memoirs, etc.—each word that spills out of the pen (or onto the computer) or floats around inkless in the soul has value and meaning, even if no one else ever sees or reads it. All Writing Matters encourages people to claim their voice as writers and most importantly as individuals, inviting them to trust themselves and the words that are restless within them.
Learn More about All Writing Matters services here.