Lisa Tener

Book Writing Coach

Writing

How Award Winning Author Dr. Vint Virga, Featured in the New York Times, Applies His Work Skills to Writing

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book cover for 6 figure book dealTwo of the most exciting parts of my work are when a client gets a publishing offer for their book and when a client gets recognized for the amazing work they are doing. Both of those things happened this week. While, I can’t reveal the publishing offer before the contract is signed, I can share Dr. Vint Virga‘s New York Times debut.

Vet Behaviorist Dr. Vint Virga, author of The Soul of All Living Creatures, which won a Nautilus Award in May, is featured for his work in today’s Sunday New York Times Magazine and you can read it here.

The Times featured a digital version of the article  on their home page this week, along with a moving video about Dr. Virga’s observations of three different animals–a giraffe with an eating problem, a sea lion having an eye exam and a tegu learning to climb through a tunnel.
I asked Vint to share a bit of the magic with us, as well as his insights on writing.
Me: Congratulations on this extraordinary feature in the New York Times Magazine, along with the digital enhanced digital coverage that includes a moving video about your work with animals at the Roger Williams Park Zoo.  How did the piece come about?
author vint virga
Vint: I first met Alex during the course of my first fellowship at MacDowell.  At dinnertimes and evening readings, as we talked about and shared our books, Alex took a keen interest in my work with animals.  Once we returned from New Hampshire to our routine lives, Alex approached me with his concept for the story. Roger Williams Park Zoo graciously allowed him to join me on my routine rounds to view the animals in their environments and watch their wonderful commitment to animals in action.
Me: Did you use some of the same observational, scientific and intuitive skills you use when observing animals in writing your book? Or did you have to turn off aspects of the more scientific brain to write at times?
Vint: I found writing my first book a fascinating struggle of learning how to set aside my inner critic (which is constantly nagging) and the scientist inside of me (which is always questioning and second-guessing) to allow the creative side of me to flow.
When writing each chapter and again in revisions, I would make a deal with myself not to edit too much while I was writing, so the creative side of my brain could flow.  Still, consistently my writing is guided by the same voice and perspective I bring to my work with animals — watching and noticing and trusting my instincts.
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Vint shared three of the most powerful skills for writing–paying attention, making observations and tapping into instinct and intuition–listening within.
Dear Reader, are there skills you use in your work that you either need to turn off for writing, or that help you be a better writer? Please share your comments below.

Editing Tips from Writing Class

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your book writing coachI’m in the midst of editing manuscripts and providing feedback for participants in my Bring Your Book to Life Program and it’s thrilling to witness the variety, the wisdom and the diversity of voices!

I thought I’d share a editing tips that are coming up consistently and that might help you with your writing.

1. Write to a Specific Person: imagine a specific person in mind when you write. You might even picture this person in your mind. They can be real or imagined. Your writing will automatically become more engaging and conversational when you do this. When you write to a mass of people, often the writing possesses less vitality and creates a distance between you and your reader. My pet peeve: Don’t write “many of you” when addressing your readers. Readers imagine your voice in their head and connect in a one to one relationship. Reading “many of you” takes them right out of that intimate connection.

2. Use Active Verbs; Avoid Passive Ones: Don’t worry about this in a first draft, but in your initial edit, you’ll find that if you take out 90% of the passive voice (verbs like is, was, has, had, are, etc.)  the active verbs (listen, jump, shift, rest) provide more energy to your writing.

3. Show, Show, Show: I know you’ve heard this one before, but if you want your writing to come to life for your readers, employ the different senses, use stories and anecdotes, even statistics, used well, can paint a picture and show rather than tell.

Another editing tip? Perform one or more rounds of editing by reading aloud; you’ll catch different issues from reading in your head. I’m keeping it short today–go forth and write–or edit!

Writer’s Block: How to Get Unstuck & Make the Writing Flow

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angel guide Bridget EngelYesterday, Bridget Engel, a participant in my Bring Your Book to Life® Program, shared a particularly brilliant and helpful insight for writer’s block, or any instance where you are questioning your ability to write a book.

Bridget had been feeling challenged that day and coached herself to an answer from her inner guidance, in her case, her angels, similar to the work I teach people to connect with your “muse.”

Her inner voice simply offered this:

“Act as if no one has ever written about this topic before and you know what to say.”

I thought it was great advice and decided to open tonight’s Bring Your Book to Life® teleseminar  with this idea. And the more I thought about it, the more rich and profound it seemed.

Act as if no one has ever written about this topic: Imagine the kind of passion you feel as you contemplate sharing something completely new and fresh, and how it feels to have the freedom not to worry about what others have said about the topic. So often we begin to critique, edit and censor ourselves even before we type in the words or write them out on paper. Or perhaps we cross out the words as we write them, thinking, “No, that’s trite. It’s been said.”

That kind of thinking stops the flow. It puts you in your left brain and shuts down  the more creative right brain that’s essential for creative flow. If you leave that editing task for later and just allow ideas to flow, you’ll have a much easier time writing.

Let’s look at the second part of her advice:

 

writing coach Lisa Tener
Writing in the Zone by the River in Wakefield, RI

You know what to say: When you imagine–or even tell yourself–you know what to say or write, you can experience confidence. Often, we make a negative projection that immediately affects our experience. Something like, “Who am I to act like an expert?” or “I don’t know how to make this sound fresh,” or “No one’s going to be interested in this.” How’s your muse, or creativity, going to respond to that kind of self-talk?

However, this positive projection, “You know what to say” impacts your experience and sends a supportive message to the writer within!

When you let go of your inner critic and affirm positive messages, you support your creativity, rather than shut it down. But what if you don’t quite believe the positive affirmation? That’s where Bridget’s wording is especially helpful: “Act as if.”  Another way to put it is “Imagine.”  Just imagine what it’s like to know what to say. Pretend. Imagining and pretending immediately engage that creative aspect of your personality that creates a state of flow.

juliaandgriffin
Julia Griffin

You can even try a phrase like this: “What might it feel like to know what to write? What might it feel like to write in the flow?”  This is something I learned from Julia Griffin. Rather than say an affirmation you don’t believe, use your curiosity and ask, “What if…” or “What would it feel like?”

When you imagine, you make space in your writing practice for surprises, too. Your not striving or trying, you’re more playful, spontaneous and open. Try it and share how it works for you. Or feel free to comment with a tip you received from your inner guidance or a fellow writer.

How To Make My Writing More Creative? Fun? Playful?

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willett free library
my magical little library (though no more snow yesterday)

What can feel worse to a writer than being bored by your own writing?

On my way to the library yesterday to write with my friend Bonnie, I took a project I’ve been playing around with thinking it would be the easiest thing to work on. It was–as long as I didn’t care about quality. The writing came out all blah, blah, blah.

So, today, when I met with my writing coach via phone this afternoon, I asked her to walk me through the exercise I lead my clients through–my “meet your muse” visualization.

meadowI usually lead my clients in an imaginary journey from meadow to forest to a small building in a  clearing where the muse is waiting, but my muse had other ideas. My muse showed up uncharacteristically as a white unicorn as soon as I stepped on the path in the meadow. I asked my muse (the unicorn) how to make my writing more fun, compelling, creative and playful.

I wasn’t quite sure whether to hop on the unicorn’s white back or not, but as soon as I did, we rocketed to another galaxy to the center of a star. Yes, all that energy, power and light made up the star, but at the center I found only space, quiet, stillness.

stardustThe message: I needed to make space in my life–not just for writing, but stillness, being, down time, time in nature and time to dance, to climb rocks, to sing, as well. Without this respite, stillness and rejuvenation, I couldn’t tap into the creative juice on demand.

My lackluster writing was just a symptom of a cluttered  and overly-busy life. When my coach asked me if there was a word that came to mind about the type of time my muse wanted me to make, I said, “Love time.”

Love–a bit trite, perhaps, but also the cure for all ills. Stillness and nature create the space for love to creep into every crevice of our lives–into the marrow of our bones, the very thoughts we  think, our appreciation for life itself. Love fills. Love refuels us with magical ingredients like unicorn tears and stardust.

Our culture focuses so much on productivity, but true productivity–producing and creating our absolute best–requires more of us than doing. It calls us to first do nothing.

5 Things I Do to Support My Writing Habit…And You Can, Too

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writing habitI meet people all the time who tell me they’ve wanted to write a book for many years–five, ten, seventeen…but they haven’t gotten to it yet.

And yet, I work with people every day who write their books and publish them.  In fact, I just got an e-mail from a Bring Your Book to Life® Program graduate  who is ready to write her next book, after the award-winning success of her first one.

The secret, of course, is in your writing habit and how committed you are. And that means showing up every day. Sometimes we get caught up in the reasons we’re not showing up. That doesn’t work.

I’ve updated this post as of 10/28/21 to share some new opportunities to reinforce your writing habit.

Here are some things I do to commit to my writing and reinforce the writing habit. You may want to choose some of these too.

book cover
One of my “writing buddies” wrote this book in my Bring Your Book to Life Program

1. Scheduling writing time with two friends–we meet; we write. I love the sense of community and camaraderie as a counterbalance to the solitariness of writing itself. And I love bringing the accountability into it. Can you bring a friend into your writing commitment? Or is there another way to support your accountability?

2. Writing in the mornings before beginning work: this is a way to claim writing as a priority. Am I perfect? No. In fact, today I didn’t write until evening. But the morning writing has definitely improved my productivity and commitment overall to the “writing habit.” Do you have a specific time of day to write?

3. Attending Writers Conferences or Virtual Workshops. I’m offering my Get Your Writing Done Program starting Nov. 4, 2021. In this out-of-the-box virtual workshop we employ the TENER Method for Creative Flow to enter into a state conducive to inspired writing; then we write! No staring at a screen in “zoom room” state. Instead we move, write, move–just like you’d do in person. FUN! Find out more here.

4. I’ve been working with a writing coach for a year now (make that more than seven years!). I even taught her my meet-your-muse exercise, so she can do for me what I do for my clients. I love having a champion who believes in me. I share some of my rawest writing with her and love that I can do that. Stuff I’m unsure about.

5. Experimenting. I’m not 100% sure which project to pursue so I’ve given myself permission to experiment with several and see where it takes me. Sometimes the path is linear, but it’s okay when you’re meandering and exploring. Writing, after all, is a creative act. Do you need to give yourself some freedom, space and flexibility around your writing so you can get more clarity?

Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my Stevie award-winning Bring Your Book to Life® Program  which begins in 2022. I’ll be offering a steep discount during the Thanksgiving Holiday Sale. If you’re looking for guidance, accountability, support and community to finally get that first draft started and completed, do check it out!  

So, what works for you to in committing to your writing habit? Is there something new you want to try? I’d love to hear from you–please comment below.

How to Write a Memoir: Answers to Your Questions from the Call

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book writing classbook writing teleseminarWow, we had a great call on how to get started writing a book on Tuesday. We received 224 comments and questions when people registered. So, as you might imagine, we hardly scratched the surfacing in answering in our 1 hour call. Over the next few weeks, I’ll answer as many questions as I can, grouped by topic. If you find your topic, but not your question, just ask as a comment below and I promise to answer. And feel free to ask new questions as they get sparked!

Stephany asked, “How to Start a Memoir?” Well, without knowing your story, I can’t completely guess, but let’s just say start with something that will grab your readers–one of the most dramatic moments in the book is a good spot–even if that means backing up and telling much of the book as flashback. Another option is to start somewhere that reveals quite a bit about one of the characters (perhaps you) and gets readers curious to know more. Specific and quirky details, a powerful “voice” and strong characterizations will all help draw readers in, Stephany.

David asked, “For biographical books… autobiography or novel? Pros and cons?” Kate and Carmen asked similar questions. We could spend an hour asking this alone, but here’s the short version:

1. Memoir is probably slightly easier to sell (and promote).

2. Novel is slightly harder to write (in general).

3. Novel will allow you to change anything you want so you are not so wedded to “the truth.”  It can also protect people that might be more easily identified in a memoir.

4. A novel can protect you from a lawsuit, though there is no guarantee—run it by an attorney if you are concerned.

Hope that helps. Any of my writer/editor colleagues want to chime in on this one?

Rosa asked: “Can you talk about the process of writing the memoir…it is certainly not a linear process but every part of the story is powerful and necessary. Also, how to approach flashbacks when writing this type of work…Thank you.”
Rosa, It’s easier to write a story that’s fairly linear, but flashbacks can certainly add texture to the story. Here are a few tips:

1. Start at a point of drama: this will draw in your readers. You can start with a dramatic point for a few pages or a chapter and then go into the deeper past where you want to begin the telling of the story.

2. Don’t nest a flashback within another flashback or readers will get lost.

stuart horwitz3. My colleague Stuart Horwitz once said something like, “You can have a flashback but don’t fall in love with the past so much that the reader loses the sense of the reading present.” So, most of the story should take place in the “linear” arena and the flashbacks should not get too long that the reader loses their sense of where they are.

4. Make sure that everything in the book supports the theme. If you’re writing about your spiritual journey, a story about your sister’s wedding that does not relate—no matter how funny or entertaining, for instance—may not fit well with the theme. Leave it for another book or a blog post. Don’t force something that doesn’t fit.

Please, share your questions below on how to write a memoir and I will answer. Other questions? Feel free to ask or wait until I get to that subject over the next couple weeks…

Missed the call? Listen here to Jump Start Your Book.

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