The Inner Piece

Hello and welcome to the blog from A Mind of One's Own, where I'll provide hype-free information for writers who'd like to find practical ways to approach their work differently.
As this is the first blog from A Mind of One's Own I'd like to outline my intentions and also some of my assumptions in providing these services.
What I have in my mind is to provide services that are exploratory and collaborative - designed to respond to the specific circumstances, attitudes, mindsets and requirements of the individual writer, rather than providing some pre-ordained one-size-fits-all structure.  This service is not at all about the technical aspects of writing - rather about the inner workings of a writer's mind.  About the relationship between writers' habits of thought and behaviour and how these determine writers' experience of their creative work.  About the way a writer manages the uncertainty, doubt, fear and self-criticism that for many goes with the writing territory.  This service is about working with writers to find new responses to old triggers.  To facilitate relief from mental anguish,  to invoke new perspectives and create new strategies for those seeking different approaches.
In providing these services, I acknowledge that the term writer encompasses an incredibly diverse group of individuals, a great proportion of whom have no need or interest in the sort of services that I am developing.  However, I am also aware that for some, the struggles of the mind are experienced as extremely challenging - perhaps the greatest challenge a writer faces in getting words onto the page, let alone published.
As novelist Claire Messud said in an interview* when she was in Australia for the Sydney Writers' Festival, 2013,  "......I think so often the things that hold us back.....some of the things that hold us back are external constraints  but a lot of the time they're constraints that we've set up for ourselves, that we aren't even aware we're deploying.  We don't even know we're holding ourselves back.  But I think often that's the biggest problem that we have." 
I don't pretend to have, nor am I seeking to provide, all the answers. My professional training, experience and practice suggests that individuals tend often to have the answers to their own challenges, if only someone will ask good enough questions.  My ongoing quest is to ask good enough questions.
Thank you for reading A Mind of One's Own blog, The Inner Piece - I'm looking forward to getting to know you.  If you are a writer it would really help me if you'd let me know about the sort of head-freeing services that you would find valuable.  Please get in touch if you have a comment, would like information about any of these services, or would like to subscribe to the blog.
I hope it goes without saying that I wouldn't dream of sharing your contact details with anyone other than members of my team who will also treat them confidentially.
Best wishes,
Alison
Alison Manning
A Mind of One's Own
e. [email protected]
w. www.amindofonesown.com
p. 0428 835 304 (international +61 428 8335 304)

* ABC Radio National Books and Arts Daily with Michael Cathcart, broadcast on 22nd May 2013