Create Your Writer's Life: A Guide to Writing With Joy and Ease

By Cynthia Morris

Create Your Writer's Life offers a coaching approach to develop a writing practice that actually works. Finally, a resource that allows you to do it your way, and that works.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9780975922453

Book preview

Ltd.

Chapter One

Your Writing Life

Imagine that you are going to spend the day climbing a 14,000-foot mountain. You would probably make a list of things you need to bring, pack lightweight food, arrange your gear, and assemble the clothing that would protect you from the elements. You’d study your maps, choose a trail, and let someone know where you are going in case of mishap. You would plan for an early departure time and get a good night’s sleep.

Now imagine that one day you have the idea to hike a ‘fourteener’ and the next morning, without any preparation, you set out. Without proper water, food, clothing, or any idea of where you are going, you flounder on the mountain by midday, becoming parched and discouraged. You head for home, get caught in the afternoon thundershower, become frightened, and vow never to try that again.

This second scenario happens to writers all the time. Maybe this describes your story as well. As a budding writer, you get the idea that now is the time to fulfill your dream of putting words to the page. You sit down and attempt to make it happen. Fueled by the first bloom of passion you start writing and get...not very far. You eke out a few paragraphs, pages maybe, before you take a break and go about your day satisfied that you are on the trail of your writing life. The next day, your old routines rise up and you return to habitual ways. Your writing dreams are half in and half out of focus. You write occasionally yet make little progress. Sound familiar?

Pretty discouraging, isn’t it? As a coach and a writer, I have worked through this issue with my clients. The initial wave of enthusiasm isn’t nearly enough to carry a writer through the long haul. Why write? It is certainly easier not to do so. Doubt, solitude, and fear of the unknown all seem to conspire against you. Yet some inner force drives you to pick up a pen, sit at the computer, attend classes, and cultivate your writing skills. Often fears and questions arise to keep you from your work. Yet the desire persists deep within and refuses to give up even when you do.

When this feeling shows up in my students and clients, I remind them that we are writers because it is who we are, not just what we do. It is an urge, an inner calling that may not have anything to do with how talented you are. Did you ever want to be an engineer? I ask. A dentist? A makeup artist? Odds are the answer to these questions is no. When I ask, Did you want to be a writer as a child? the reply more often is yes. I call this an original impulse, an early recognition of our calling. Through the years, practicality and the pressures of society drive us away from our dream of writing. These outside forces support our inner fears that we do not have anything to say, that no one will want to read our work, that writing is too difficult, and, most convincingly, that there’s no money in it.

Yet our writing self persists, even when we feel we can’t. I was compelled to develop this program after seeing the same issues surface over and over again with my clients. My coaching skills have provided a way to move writers past these blocks to success. As a certified professional coach, I guide my clients to create structured practices that help them to focus and to actualize what was once a dream. In this program you will find the tools that my clients use.

It is my hope that you use this book to cultivate and act on your own writing dreams. I have found that without support, our tender dreams and desires are easily squelched by other obligations, by others’ opinions, and by our own fears. This program is designed to help you enjoy the writing process. This program is for writers of all abilities and genres who want to build structure around their craft. It is ideal for those who have taken instruction in the craft of writing and need the motivation to keep going on their own. It is also suitable for those who wish to begin their writing life on solid footing.

Writing is like embarking on a long, arduous uphill hike. Yet there can be joy in the process of writing, and in enjoying the sense of accomplishment that comes from completing a piece of written work. For all of the rewards, the work of writing challenges us. We must be clear, concise, entertaining, and informative. As writers we must dig deep and surface with something valuable for the reader. Many people have the impulse to write, but few have the stamina to follow through on their vision and achieve their goals. The trick is to enjoy the process, appreciate the view along the way, and surrender to whatever awaits you at the top of your climb.

What makes the difference between a writer and a wannabe writer? Preparation and practice. This workbook is your guide to creating a writing practice that works for you. By taking the time to complete the exercises, you will build a foundation for your writing.

One of the biggest challenges for my writing clients and students is finding enough time. While I cannot add more time to your day, I can help you create context and understanding for your need to write. This program will help you establish what is important about writing so that you can do what it takes to let it happen and solidify your intention to make time to write. Through exercises, you will structure your life and time so that even if you can only write for a few minutes each day, you will make progress.

When you sit down to write, you will be prepared, motivated, and ready to climb the mountain of expressing yourself in written form. The investment you make now will pay off in easier writing, clearer commitments, and a more structured writing life.

This workbook is different from other books about writing. It asks you to do more than just read and absorb information about your craft. It asks you to look at your own process and to learn and grow from your experience. As a coach, one of my most valuable tools is asking questions that get to the heart of the matter. This workbook is full of questions to guide you to your own truth. They challenge you to call on your wisdom and, from there, to create a writing practice that works for you.

I have learned that we each face the same demons, and this encourages me. We are in this together, even as we work on our own. Throughout the book you will read about how my clients (their names have been changed to respect confidentiality) and I have overcome obstacles to writing. Be inspired by these stories rather than use them as comparisons against which you may perceive yourself as coming up short.

The quality of your experience with this program depends upon your willingness to show up and be honest. You may need to discard limiting beliefs and patterns in order to live the writing life that is meant for you. You will work through exercises that will reveal your beliefs and expectations around writing. You will then be able to choose which serve you to go forward as a confident writer and which you would like to release.

The best writing, even if it happens in solitude, is sustained with support and clarity. This program is designed to guide you through the peaks and valleys of committing to a writing practice that really works, no matter what your goals. Program Structure

The program is divided into thirteen chapters. Each chapter introduces an element of your writer’s life. The program can be worked in any order, but I recommend starting at the beginning and working your way through to the end. You may work at any pace, but try one exercise or chapter per week. Set aside a specific time each week to do the work. An hour may be the perfect amount of time for you; you may need more or less. Choose a target date