It’s the first Wednesday of the month and time for another posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

We have new neighbours who have no respect for boundaries — especially where it comes to noise. They have loud parties (starting early afternoon and lasting well after midnight) which involves horrible music, bass so low you feel it in your chest, and raucous noise from partygoers. They’ll turn down the volume when someone complains, only to crank it up again a couple of minutes later. The police is no help. (Go figure.) It’s making my weekends miserable. My brother had dug out an old set of noise-cancelling gamer headphones for me, but they only help as long as I’m at my computer. I’m thinking of making a faery bargain and get rid of the whole lot of them…

Anyhow, on to other news.

Autumn sometimes makes me feel less creative and I wanted to pre-empt a writing slump. When I saw this book (the title and cover caught my attention), I decided to read it.

About the Book

Find Your Unicorn Space: Reclaim Your Creative Life in a Too-Busy World by Eve Rodsky

From the New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play comes an inspirational guide for setting new personal goals, rediscovering your interests, cultivating creativity, and reclaiming your Unicorn Space.

With her acclaimed New York Times bestseller (and Reese’s Book Club pick) Fair Play, Eve Rodsky began a national conversation about greater equality on the home front. But she soon realized that even when the domestic workload becomes more balanced, people still report something missing in their lives–that is, unless they create and prioritize time for activities that not only fill their calendars but also unleash their creativity.

Rodsky calls this vital time Unicorn Space–the active and open pursuit of creative self-expression in any form that makes you uniquely YOU. To help readers embrace all the unlikely, surprising, and delightful places where their own Unicorn Space may be found, she speaks with trail blazers, thought leaders, academics, and countless real people who have discovered theirs everywhere–from activism to artistic endeavors to second careers.

Rodsky reveals what researchers already know: Creativity is not optional. It’s essential. Though most of us do need to remind ourselves how (and where) to find it. With her trademark mix of research based, how-to advice and big-picture inspirational thinking, Rodsky shows you a clear path to reclaim your permission to have fun, manifest your own Unicorn Space in an already too-busy life, and unleash your special gifts and undiscovered talents into the world.

Check it out on Goodreads.

My Review

I picked this one up because I liked the colourful cover and the title intrigued me.

Though my life choices and career choices have left me quite privileged (I can focus on creativity as much as I want), this book reminded me to have fun. It also reminded me that not all creative pursuits need to be profitable (looking at the stories I’ve written for fun that won’t be published). I fought long and hard to own my unicorn space, and I feel for the women who are guilted into believing it takes away from “worthier” causes.

I liked being challenged by the question: Is your creative ambition audacious enough? “Audacity” is my word for 2026.

I made many annotations of things that resonated with me.

“Tap into your resilience. Your superhero narrative.” This is my favourite quote.

Highly recommended.

More Thoughts

Though the book is probably skewed more towards married women (with children) who find it difficult to find time for themselves, I did find that a lot of the book resonated with me.

I have found myself doing admin work in my writing business that can really wait until a later date, but I’m still doing it to check it off my to-do list. I have been stricter about not doing this since reading ‘The One Thing’ (see last month’s post), but it still slips through.

A reminder to cut the superfluous stuff.

This one is so important. Any interruption can pull one from the task at hand (and it takes so long to get back to where you were). I have a sign on my study door to remind people to not interrupt me. The dogs pretend that they can’t read…

This comes back to your “why” where it comes to writing. Once you know why you’re doing it, you can share your vision clearly with others.

That perfect creative space, which so easily eludes most of us, can be found. I know that when I stop trying to write what I think others want to read, and just write what I want to read, the writing is so much easier.

Marketing has it’s place. We are writers: we write.

We’ve all had projects that went nowhere because of fear. Let’s move past it. Let’s give those books the chance to be enjoyed by others.

This is a scary one. We work so hard to achieve our dreams, but what happens when that dream changes? Can we pivot? Are we willing to pivot for the new dream?

I love this quote from the book. It reminds me, reminds us, that change can happen for that new dream.

Just like how I had this idea ten years ago of who I’d be today, I have a vision of who I’ll be in another ten years. And I know much younger me will think I’m a badass… someday. LOL

This is so true. I’ve experienced it myself. Sometimes the only thing that keeps me sane is my writing. I’m sure it’s the same for most of you.

What are your thoughts? Any creativity tips you’d like to share? What have you read recently? Check out my For Authors page for more author advice.