Lisa Tener
Book Writing Coach
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In a bit of a divergence from my customary marketing and publishing focus, here’s a poem I hope will inspire you:
your muse calls to you
across a great, rocky chasm
you look down
feel queasy
look across
but see no bridge
still
your muse calls
your heart stirs
yearns
pulls you
and
without thinking
you step forward
into thin air
and grow wings
One of my future book writing students (she’s registered for the May class) called to say she’s a bit stuck. Going through the preliminary material, she found herself feeling a bit hazy about her book, and conflicted about her goals:
As we spoke this morning, I realized we needed to take a step back. Her problem stemmed from the fact that she had no sacred space for writing. She’d moved six months ago and complete chaos reigned throughout her new home–from boxes piled in rooms and hallways to floors that required a complete overhaul.
We both recognized that little progress could take place until she developed a sacred, clear, inviting, inspiring space for creativity, including writing.
While you might not have quite the herculean task of moving a whole household, some of my recommendations might support your own process:
1. Clear the space with intention: open windows, burn sage or another aromatic, cleansing herb, sing songs, dance or do whatever it takes for you to clear out old energy and bring in new energy that resonates with your intention. Burning herbs may sound airy-fairy, but remember that your creative side loves metaphor, symbols and creative practices.
2. Clean out the old: What needs to go to make this space support creative flow? Can you donate it? Sell it? Put it in the basement for now?
3. Plan your space: What will you do in this space? What will make it feel like a sanctuary for creating and writing? What artwork, furniture, colors and other objects will inspire you?
4. Schedule your time: Go right to your planner or calendar and schedule specific dates and times for organizing and creating sacred space. Treat this appointment just like any other important commitment.
5. Get support: Recruit a friend, hire a recent college grad, or ask your super-organized sister to help you. It’s so much easier to take on the task of clearing, cleaning and organizing a space with someone to help. If you need to pay for help, think of it as an important investment in your writing life and future.
I’d love to hear how you’re creating sacred space for yourself. Share your commitments, accomplishments and suggestions.
Last week in book writing class, management coach and HR consultant Carrie Beers shared how she found herself amidst intense turmoil at a time when she needed tranquility to foster her creative process. While having her home re-done, she’d temporarily “stored” boxes and piles everywhere, particularly in her office which seemed an uninviting place for inspired writing.
She remained determined to meet her commitments and work on a chapter of writing, but the environment seemed unlikely to support creative flow. And then…in the middle of all the chaos, she came upon her notes from my workshop “Writing in the Zone” which she had taken last year.
Carrie read through her notes and reconnected with her muse–that creative inner energy that seems all-knowing, wise and abundant. In the first workshop, her muse had seemed a bit more distant–vague–just a feeling and colors. But that subtle connection alone helped her to get in touch with the sense that it was finally time to begin writing her book.
In her office, surrounded by boxes, Carrie realized she needed to find a calmer space in her home to write. She retreated to her sun room and connected with her muse, a now familiar figure in white, “always waiting for me, never walking away or towards me.”
Her muse encouraged her to quiet her mind. She handed Carrie a sea shell
and encouraged her to listen and let the book unfold.
I’m always impressed with the clarity and simplicity with which our muses convey information. Somehow, when the answers come, we don’t just get the understanding in our minds. Our hearts and very souls begin to own the answers. They become real, tangible and, therefore, easy to take root in our lives and our writing.
If you’re local enough (Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut), I hope you’ll join me for a half day of inspired writing, learning my 5-step system for inspired writing, connecting with your muse in new, powerful ways, and making headway on a project or embracing a new project–maybe one you don’t even know about yet.
I’ll be teaching writing in the zone at All That Matters in Wakefield, RI on Sunday, February 28 from 12;30-4. If you can’t make it, feel free to ask any questions about writing in the zone on this blog–or tell me your writing challenge and I’ll suggest a solution!
This morning I asked my muse–my inner creative being–how he wanted me to start my day. He suggested a walk along Newport’s Cliff Walk. Even before I got there, as I drove across the Narragansett Bay, along the Newport Bridge, I received clarity about a client’s project. Seems I ‘d been approaching it from the wrong angle.
On the walk, I received several ideas for blogs and articles, and I felt much more connected to my creativity. As I heard the waves crash along the cliffs and got sprayed from below, I felt energized by the exercise and endorphins.
I returned home and coached a client through several challenges, helping her trust her inner guidance when it told her something different from what we both expected. My time in nature made it easy to listen, support and trust.
When I turned to the writing project I had literally put off for months, I completed the dreaded project in a mere two and a half hours. When I think of the hours I spent worrying about the project, I wish I’d just gone for a seaside jaunt the last time I tried to work on it.
It’s tempting to start out in business mode–beginning my morning by answering e-mails, editing someone’s book chapters or making phone calls, but my days are often more productive (and synchronistic) when I start out on the beach.
This Saturday, I attended a Hay House event in Boston where Cheryl Richardson asked for volunteers who wanted laser coaching. I shot up to the microphone and shared my challenge–overworking.
As Cheryl coached me, it became clear I needed to spend time in nature every day and I made the commitment to do that for the next 30 days. Sunday, during gale force winds, I climbed to the top of the rocks on Whale Rock Point in Narragansett and watched the waves crash against the granite cliffs. My pants got soaked, but I stayed out there for a good 15 minutes climbing on the rocks and singing. It felt good and powerful to keep my commitment despite the weather.
Today, I got how everything works better when I start with nature–my writing, my business, my flow of money, my coaching. I’ve scheduled my walk in for the rest of the week. How about you?
My private clients and book-writing students often ask me if there’s a best time to write. Yes, there often is, but that perfect time varies from person to person. If you want to find out the best time for you, try early morning, mid morning, mid-afternoon and evening. See which seems to be your most creative time.
Do you have to write at the same time every day? Many people find that writing at the same time each day makes them more productive. Honestly, since I write so much, at all times of day, I find I can write just about any time of day as long as I’m not too tired. But, if you don’t write all day long, it can be most powerful to write at the same time each day. That way, your creative mind and muse get in a creative groove.
Morning tends to be a powerful time to write, because the mind isn’t cluttered. You’ve just been sleeping and you’re close to that creative sleep/dream energy, full of symbolism and layered meanings. Perfect.
Evening can be productive, too, if you can put aside your concerns of the day–work, meal planning, conversations, people–and clear your mental and emotional slates for writing.
Some people feel peak energy mid-day. If this describes you, go for it.
What about writing in the middle of the night? A student in my Bring Your Book to Life Program found herself waking up in the middle of the night to write. She enjoyed the flow of ideas, but she paid for it the next day when she dragged herself to work. This happened several days in a row. What to do?
As we spoke, it became clear that her jam-packed days made it hard for her muse to settle down and write. She often didn’t have the time and, when she did make time to write, she felt rushed. Once she made time for her muse during the work day, set some boundaries, and took a few items off her plate, she didn’t need to wake up in the middle of the night to write her book.
In tonight’s book writing teleseminar, one student asked how she can consistently get into the space for her writing to flow. Writing at the same time of day can help that. So can creating a ritual for writing. What ritual might get you into a creative, inspired state?
Share your comments: What time of day works best for you and why?
Ask your questions, too.
What to do when your writing loses momentum? Trap yourself.
If you’re not accountable to anyone to get your writing done, it’s easy to get off track. Often, all it takes is being accountable to someone to get back in the game and write again.
Teaching a class has been great for me. Every week my book-writing students make their commitments for the week. I’ve begun to share my commitments as well and, as a result, I’ve transcribed several chapters from notebook to computer, written one new chapter, and edited several chapters. Woo-hee!
How do you identify an easy way to be accountable? Here are 5 different ways:
1. Get yourself a writing buddy. Call or e-mail each other with your commitments. Follow up regularly to affirm that you’ve done what you said you’d do.
2. Join a writing class. A writing class automatically makes you accountable. And since you’ve put some money on the line, that can motivate you, since you don’t want to waste your investment.
3. Start a writing circle. Post a sign at your library or on the internet and get a group together to provide feedback and support. This is a great option if you can’t afford a writing course or writing coach.
4. Hire a writing coach. A writing coach can help you stay accountable and also help you improve your writing, make productive decisions in your writing, and write the best book you can
5. Commit yourself now, today, right here on my writing blog! Just put your commitment in the comments section. On Thursday I’ll blog again and ask for your progress. Check in again Thursday to report. The pressure is on. Let it work for you.
Go ahead, please share what you’re going to accomplish by Thursday. What days are you going to write? What exact times? Share it now as a comment.
Then schedule the writing in your calendar or blackberry! Enjoy the accountability.
