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Posted: January 22nd, 2008 at 1:47am By: Janet Conner
Writing about Writing, Part 4
Is this the year you finally write your book? Hooray for you. Do you hear that? It's me, standing in your corner, clapping and cheering: Yoo hoo! But a book. It can seem so big, so time-consuming, so daunting. Where to begin? With all due respect to Shakespeare, that is the real question: Where do I begin?
If you've been considering writing a book, you've undoubtedly heard lots of answers to that question. Should you start with the concept? No. Branding? No. Outline? No. How about with some research? A review of what's already out there? A visit to the bookstore? No. No. No. These are all good and necessary activities, along with writing a knock 'em-sock 'em proposal, developing a marketing plan, and finding an agent and publisher. But none of these are Step One. Step One has nothing to do with books or writing — at least, not on the surface. Step One is an inside job. Step One is "Set your intention."
"Well, duh," I can hear you saying. "I've had this desire to write a book for ages, and now it's reached the itch stage. I'm determined to do it. And I'm determined to do it this year. Isn't that the same thing as intention?" Well, no.
Consider your book for a moment. What is it? Words, yes, lots and lots of words, but in their essential nature, what are words? What do they convey? Well, if they're good words, meaty words, stimulating words, they spark ideas, images, feelings. And what are ideas, images and feelings? Energy. Words are energy that, stirred inside you, coalesced into thoughts, moved through your mind and your hands onto the computer and then, through the miracle of printing, appear on the pages of your book. When people read your book, they experience a transfer of your thoughts to their minds, your feelings to their hearts, your energy to their energy.
So don't think about starting your book at the word level. Back up a bit to the energy level. Don't worry about the words. They will come, and they will come with a whole lot less effort when you work in sync with the vast energy at your disposal.
You probably have the belief that your book is "your" idea and it's in "your" head and "you" have to write it. And, hey, if you want to write a book that way, you can. You can read up on how to write a proposal (Michael Larsen's "How to Write a Book Proposal" is my favorite) and follow the instructions and start cranking out words. But know this: It's hard, hard work. Consider for a moment that there might be a better and much easier way.
You could set your intention. Don't knock it. Intention is no small thing. It's not an airy-fairy idea relegated to the spiritual or religious realm. It is actually the trigger that starts everything in our universe in motion. Don't believe me? Check out Lynne McTaggart's "The Intention Experiment." She's a best-selling journalist ("The Field") who explains what for you and me can be pretty obtuse science, but somehow when Lynne writes about it, we "get it." I consider Lynne my personal translator for Einstein and his deep-thinking ilk. Just a couple of chapters into the book, I got the message loud and clear that intention is the creative force of the universe. In experiment after experiment, Lynne reported that intention had immediate and measurable impact on people, plants, animals and globs of molecules in a lab. I always get a big kick out of understanding, or trying to understand, the science, but in the end, what I really want to know is "How can I use this information?" Or more specifically, "How can I use this information to help me write a great book?"
So when I sat down to write my book last summer, I decided to turn myself into a guinea pig for what I was learning about intention. I made intention Number One. And not just on day one. I set a sharply focused intention every day for four straight months. It was so effective that I didn't stop when I turned in the manuscript. Instead, setting my intention is now a daily personal habit and the underlying foundation of everything I teach, whether it's how to communicate with the voice within ("Writing Down Your Soul"), how to create and manifest what you want ("The Year of Your Dreams"), how to heal a broken heart ("Spiritual Geography"), or how to write a book.
I'll share my process with you, but once you've got the idea, be sure to develop your own process — after all, it's your intention.
Begin by writing your "Daily Writing Blessing." (That's what I call it, but you can call it anything you like.) Then, say this blessing or intention-setter out loud at the beginning of every writing session. It will settle and focus your mind and attract the information, ideas, energy and assistance you need to write the book you want.
My writing blessing has three major statements: 1) I am a writer, 2) I am a partner, and 3) I am a daughter of God. Your major categories might be completely different. Although you are not restricted to the "I am" format, try it, because "I am" is the single most powerful thing you can say. Just make sure that whatever comes next is truly something you want to manifest.
I start my day standing in front of a shelf in my office that I call my "writing altar." On it are the things that speak to me: a small glass angel my mother had on her writing desk, her crystal rosary (there's enough prayer energy in those beads to handle every problem I've ever had or ever will have), a small blue bowl for the shiny pennies that are somehow always in my path, an absolutely perfect dragonfly who decided to die at my front door the first week I started my book, a candle, and my writing blessing in a cheap plastic stand. I light the candle, take a deep breath, spread my arms, and prayerfully say my writing blessing.
The first part goes like this: "I am a writer. Today I write. I write of the divine connection, the power of words, and the presence of Spirit. I write in union with and service to the one true God. Grace abounds. It flows on me, my hands, my heart, my mind and my soul. It flows in me and through me as the words pour forth in perfect harmony to excite the hearts of millions and inspire them to enter into the exquisite experience of divine dialogue."
As I say those words, I can feel myself shift from my normal, rather tightly wound state to a gentle, open receptacle. My heart rate slows, my temperature drops, and my breath deepens and slows. In other words, I enter a meditative state. When I finish the other two parts of the blessing, I end with a joyful statement of gratefulness: "Thank you, God, for this day, this life, this work, and these words. Amen."
And then I sit down to write. Writing after saying my blessing is downright easy. During the four months I wrote, I don't think a day went by when I didn't reread something I'd written and wonder, "Wow, who wrote this? This is good!"
Don't save your writing blessing for your writing days. Say it on the days you work on your concept, your branding, your research, your proposal, and your marketing plan. Say it every day. Once you get in the habit, you won't stop.
Next week: how to keep the words flowing while you're sleeping.
— — —
Janet Conner teaches people how to connect directly to Spirit to receive the guidance and direction they need to create the life they want. Her new book, "Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Within," comes out this fall from Conari Press. Janet is also the creator of "Spiritual Geography," a comprehensive spiritual-healing system that has been called "the first true innovation in healing the broken heart." "Spiritual Geography" workbooks are available through Amazon or Spiritual Geography. Contact Janet at {email janetconner@tampabay.rr.com}janetconner@tampabay.rr.com{/email}.© Copyright 2008 by Janet Conner.
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Writing about Writing, Part 4
Is this the year you finally write your book? Hooray for you. Do you hear that? It's me, standing in your corner, clapping and cheering: Yoo hoo! But a book. It can seem so big, so time-consuming, so daunting. Where to begin? With all due respect to Shakespeare, that is the real question: Where do I begin?
If you've been considering writing a book, you've undoubtedly heard lots of answers to that question. Should you start with the concept? No. Branding? No. Outline? No. How about with some research? A review of what's already out there? A visit to the bookstore? No. No. No. These are all good and necessary activities, along with writing a knock 'em-sock 'em proposal, developing a marketing plan, and finding an agent and publisher. But none of these are Step One. Step One has nothing to do with books or writing — at least, not on the surface. Step One is an inside job. Step One is "Set your intention."
"Well, duh," I can hear you saying. "I've had this desire to write a book for ages, and now it's reached the itch stage. I'm determined to do it. And I'm determined to do it this year. Isn't that the same thing as intention?" Well, no.
Consider your book for a moment. What is it? Words, yes, lots and lots of words, but in their essential nature, what are words? What do they convey? Well, if they're good words, meaty words, stimulating words, they spark ideas, images, feelings. And what are ideas, images and feelings? Energy. Words are energy that, stirred inside you, coalesced into thoughts, moved through your mind and your hands onto the computer and then, through the miracle of printing, appear on the pages of your book. When people read your book, they experience a transfer of your thoughts to their minds, your feelings to their hearts, your energy to their energy.
So don't think about starting your book at the word level. Back up a bit to the energy level. Don't worry about the words. They will come, and they will come with a whole lot less effort when you work in sync with the vast energy at your disposal.
You probably have the belief that your book is "your" idea and it's in "your" head and "you" have to write it. And, hey, if you want to write a book that way, you can. You can read up on how to write a proposal (Michael Larsen's "How to Write a Book Proposal" is my favorite) and follow the instructions and start cranking out words. But know this: It's hard, hard work. Consider for a moment that there might be a better and much easier way.
You could set your intention. Don't knock it. Intention is no small thing. It's not an airy-fairy idea relegated to the spiritual or religious realm. It is actually the trigger that starts everything in our universe in motion. Don't believe me? Check out Lynne McTaggart's "The Intention Experiment." She's a best-selling journalist ("The Field") who explains what for you and me can be pretty obtuse science, but somehow when Lynne writes about it, we "get it." I consider Lynne my personal translator for Einstein and his deep-thinking ilk. Just a couple of chapters into the book, I got the message loud and clear that intention is the creative force of the universe. In experiment after experiment, Lynne reported that intention had immediate and measurable impact on people, plants, animals and globs of molecules in a lab. I always get a big kick out of understanding, or trying to understand, the science, but in the end, what I really want to know is "How can I use this information?" Or more specifically, "How can I use this information to help me write a great book?"
So when I sat down to write my book last summer, I decided to turn myself into a guinea pig for what I was learning about intention. I made intention Number One. And not just on day one. I set a sharply focused intention every day for four straight months. It was so effective that I didn't stop when I turned in the manuscript. Instead, setting my intention is now a daily personal habit and the underlying foundation of everything I teach, whether it's how to communicate with the voice within ("Writing Down Your Soul"), how to create and manifest what you want ("The Year of Your Dreams"), how to heal a broken heart ("Spiritual Geography"), or how to write a book.
I'll share my process with you, but once you've got the idea, be sure to develop your own process — after all, it's your intention.
Begin by writing your "Daily Writing Blessing." (That's what I call it, but you can call it anything you like.) Then, say this blessing or intention-setter out loud at the beginning of every writing session. It will settle and focus your mind and attract the information, ideas, energy and assistance you need to write the book you want.
My writing blessing has three major statements: 1) I am a writer, 2) I am a partner, and 3) I am a daughter of God. Your major categories might be completely different. Although you are not restricted to the "I am" format, try it, because "I am" is the single most powerful thing you can say. Just make sure that whatever comes next is truly something you want to manifest.
I start my day standing in front of a shelf in my office that I call my "writing altar." On it are the things that speak to me: a small glass angel my mother had on her writing desk, her crystal rosary (there's enough prayer energy in those beads to handle every problem I've ever had or ever will have), a small blue bowl for the shiny pennies that are somehow always in my path, an absolutely perfect dragonfly who decided to die at my front door the first week I started my book, a candle, and my writing blessing in a cheap plastic stand. I light the candle, take a deep breath, spread my arms, and prayerfully say my writing blessing.
The first part goes like this: "I am a writer. Today I write. I write of the divine connection, the power of words, and the presence of Spirit. I write in union with and service to the one true God. Grace abounds. It flows on me, my hands, my heart, my mind and my soul. It flows in me and through me as the words pour forth in perfect harmony to excite the hearts of millions and inspire them to enter into the exquisite experience of divine dialogue."
As I say those words, I can feel myself shift from my normal, rather tightly wound state to a gentle, open receptacle. My heart rate slows, my temperature drops, and my breath deepens and slows. In other words, I enter a meditative state. When I finish the other two parts of the blessing, I end with a joyful statement of gratefulness: "Thank you, God, for this day, this life, this work, and these words. Amen."
And then I sit down to write. Writing after saying my blessing is downright easy. During the four months I wrote, I don't think a day went by when I didn't reread something I'd written and wonder, "Wow, who wrote this? This is good!"
Don't save your writing blessing for your writing days. Say it on the days you work on your concept, your branding, your research, your proposal, and your marketing plan. Say it every day. Once you get in the habit, you won't stop.
Next week: how to keep the words flowing while you're sleeping.
— — —
Janet Conner teaches people how to connect directly to Spirit to receive the guidance and direction they need to create the life they want. Her new book, "Writing Down Your Soul: How to Activate and Listen to the Extraordinary Voice Within," comes out this fall from Conari Press. Janet is also the creator of "Spiritual Geography," a comprehensive spiritual-healing system that has been called "the first true innovation in healing the broken heart." "Spiritual Geography" workbooks are available through Amazon or Spiritual Geography. Contact Janet at {email janetconner@tampabay.rr.com}janetconner@tampabay.rr.com{/email}.© Copyright 2008 by Janet Conner.
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