| This is the first of a series of articles describing | | | | Chapter 2: You Will Understand Yourself Better |
| the writing process from the viewpoint of a | | | | and Faster Through the Writing Process |
| published author and publisher. This series will help | | | | In my coaching, I share everything I know about |
| writers see what the writing world is all about. | | | | writing, and living, too. I believe your writing and |
| Chapter 1: Expect to Write, and Write, and Write | | | | what you are living right now are entwined. It's |
| Some More... | | | | not scientific, it's only my theory, but there |
| The first advice I give my authors is the most | | | | seems to be a chemical response that helps you |
| simple, and quite often the most difficult. And that | | | | know yourself better through the written word. |
| is, to expect to write. And I mean write. You | | | | A few years ago, I found several journals that I |
| can't just talk or read about it. The more you | | | | had lost track of and decided to read through |
| write, the freer you become. Nothing I say here | | | | some of them. I thought it would be a good way |
| or in my coaching, classes, and writing programs | | | | to see where I was and how far I had traveled in |
| works unless you write. And write. And write. | | | | the previous five years. I was amazed by how |
| Believe it or not, I have clients who come to me | | | | much I knew at the time I wrote in the journals |
| expecting to write perfectly within days of our | | | | that I thought I had only recently incorporated |
| starting to work together. I've been writing for | | | | into my life. That was when I realized I had been |
| over 25 years and just in the past few years | | | | integrating it all along, but the actual understanding |
| have I even considered calling myself a master at | | | | wasn't complete until later. The writing actually |
| the craft. Expect to writea lot. And to rewrite, | | | | helped me move through the possibilities and |
| then write some more. I call it diving for pearls. | | | | unearth bits of knowledge from my unconscious, |
| Some days you will write 10 pages and come up | | | | higher conscious, and the collective conscious. How |
| with one pearl worth keeping. Other days you'll | | | | else would I have known some of the things I |
| write two pages and every word is perfect. | | | | was writing? I now make it a point to reread my |
| Look closely at the layers of paint that make up | | | | journals every few months. Every time I do, I |
| some of the great works of master painters. | | | | see new and revealing perspectives on topics I've |
| Those layers cover up creative attempts that | | | | written about. |
| didn't work. And this is sometimes after years of | | | | Here's my first assignment: Go to a journal you |
| study and effort. Nobody becomes a master | | | | wrote more than a year ago. Read it in its |
| without traveling the path of learning and trial and | | | | entirety, then write about what you discover. |
| error. To become a truly great writer, you will | | | | Explore what you knew then that you really have |
| need to write! | | | | only recently integrated into your life. |