Mirror, mirror on the wall...
Hey, that might be your Inner Writer calling you!
Seeing yourself as a creative person and a writer is not as easy matter. But you won't be able to truly accessing your writer's voice if you don't know that you are a writer, even if you've never completed or sold anything.
What follows are some powerful exercises that can help you, no matter how long you've been writing. It's especially useful when your Inner Critic gets aggressive.
Exercise 1:Say out loud and as loud as you need to: “I am a writer.”If that's easy, go to next step and look at yourself in the mirror and say with passion and delight, “I am a writer.”Repeat until you begin to feel calm with the words! This simple exercise can be very challenging but the payoff is huge!
"I am a writer."
Exercise 2:Create a ritual for yourself where you truly honor the writer within. This can be as simple as finding a quite place, lighting a candle and standing before it in a prayerful way. Hold your palms pressed together in front of your heart, bow your head, and say, "I honor the writer within." Or "I honor myself as a writer."
If you do this or any other ritual about being a writer, please write about it and I will post it to the blog.
Exercise 3:
The next time somebody asks, “Oh, and what do you do?” make sure you say, “I write” or “I am a writer.” This may seem impossibly hard at first. Your throat might become constricted and you might break out in a sweat, but go ahead and give it a try. The more you say it, the easier it gets. The more you say it, the more you believe it.
And if you're asked, "What are you writing?" consider this: Few people, even close friends, are truly interested in what you’re writing. Once you start telling them, chances are their eyes will soon glaze over. So when I'm asked what I'm writing about, unless I know the person is really interested, is this, "Oh, I never discuss my work in progress." That usually quiets them.
Then there's the most feared question if people know you are writer: "What have you had published? Anything I might know? (Hee, hee, hee...)"
First thing to not only remember but to completely embrace: you don’t have to be published to be a writer.
Second, if you're asked what you've had published and you're not published, tell them the truth. "Nope, I'm not published yet." Or "I'm not up to that point yet." Or "I find the publishing route counterproductive to my writing. You know how it is today, everything is the bottom line.
Simply doesn't work for me..." If you say such things matter-of-factly, without fear and shame, the conversation will most like move on to other subjects and you will feel good about standing forth for yourself as a writer. No apologies or defense needed.
Exercise 4:
Do you put limits on your imagination? Do you trust your intuition?
Vital to accessing your writer's voice is seeing the imagination as a rich source of story and character. I am amazed by the number of people who believe the lie that we can only write about what we have experienced. We are writers. We are creative. We have the key to the vast imaginal world that most people can access only in their dreams.
When I talk about the imagination, I’m talking about that which is outside your conscious reality. I’m talking about the unknown. I’m talking about the mystery of life. I’m talking about what you might be able to intuit but don’t yet have words for. I'm talking about falling down the rabbit hole...
As creative people we are gifted in so many ways, not the least of which is the cosmic universe of the unconscious. You couldn't explore it all in ten lifetimes!
Reclaim your creativity
Believe in the power of your imagination.
Trust your intuition and don't let the outer world define you!
If you would like to reprint Mirror, mirror on the wall... Hey, that might be your Inner Writer calling you!, you may, so long as you include this biographical information and let me know where you are posting. Please include the following information:
© 2007 Emily Hanlon is a writing and creativity coach as well as the author of seven books of fiction and a book on writing. Her websites are http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/ and http://www.creativesoulworks.com/. emily@emilyhanlon.com
Seeing yourself as a creative person and a writer is not as easy matter. But you won't be able to truly accessing your writer's voice if you don't know that you are a writer, even if you've never completed or sold anything.
What follows are some powerful exercises that can help you, no matter how long you've been writing. It's especially useful when your Inner Critic gets aggressive.
Exercise 1:Say out loud and as loud as you need to: “I am a writer.”If that's easy, go to next step and look at yourself in the mirror and say with passion and delight, “I am a writer.”Repeat until you begin to feel calm with the words! This simple exercise can be very challenging but the payoff is huge!
"I am a writer."
Exercise 2:Create a ritual for yourself where you truly honor the writer within. This can be as simple as finding a quite place, lighting a candle and standing before it in a prayerful way. Hold your palms pressed together in front of your heart, bow your head, and say, "I honor the writer within." Or "I honor myself as a writer."
If you do this or any other ritual about being a writer, please write about it and I will post it to the blog.
Exercise 3:
The next time somebody asks, “Oh, and what do you do?” make sure you say, “I write” or “I am a writer.” This may seem impossibly hard at first. Your throat might become constricted and you might break out in a sweat, but go ahead and give it a try. The more you say it, the easier it gets. The more you say it, the more you believe it.
And if you're asked, "What are you writing?" consider this: Few people, even close friends, are truly interested in what you’re writing. Once you start telling them, chances are their eyes will soon glaze over. So when I'm asked what I'm writing about, unless I know the person is really interested, is this, "Oh, I never discuss my work in progress." That usually quiets them.
Then there's the most feared question if people know you are writer: "What have you had published? Anything I might know? (Hee, hee, hee...)"
First thing to not only remember but to completely embrace: you don’t have to be published to be a writer.
Second, if you're asked what you've had published and you're not published, tell them the truth. "Nope, I'm not published yet." Or "I'm not up to that point yet." Or "I find the publishing route counterproductive to my writing. You know how it is today, everything is the bottom line.
Simply doesn't work for me..." If you say such things matter-of-factly, without fear and shame, the conversation will most like move on to other subjects and you will feel good about standing forth for yourself as a writer. No apologies or defense needed.
Exercise 4:
Do you put limits on your imagination? Do you trust your intuition?
Vital to accessing your writer's voice is seeing the imagination as a rich source of story and character. I am amazed by the number of people who believe the lie that we can only write about what we have experienced. We are writers. We are creative. We have the key to the vast imaginal world that most people can access only in their dreams.
When I talk about the imagination, I’m talking about that which is outside your conscious reality. I’m talking about the unknown. I’m talking about the mystery of life. I’m talking about what you might be able to intuit but don’t yet have words for. I'm talking about falling down the rabbit hole...
As creative people we are gifted in so many ways, not the least of which is the cosmic universe of the unconscious. You couldn't explore it all in ten lifetimes!
Reclaim your creativity
Believe in the power of your imagination.
Trust your intuition and don't let the outer world define you!
If you would like to reprint Mirror, mirror on the wall... Hey, that might be your Inner Writer calling you!, you may, so long as you include this biographical information and let me know where you are posting. Please include the following information:
© 2007 Emily Hanlon is a writing and creativity coach as well as the author of seven books of fiction and a book on writing. Her websites are http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/ and http://www.creativesoulworks.com/. emily@emilyhanlon.com
posted by Emily Hanlon at
4/30/2007 08:56:00 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the suggestions.
By
The BBQ Guy, At
12:43 PM
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