| This is the second of a series of articles describing | | | | pen and to tell the story, not try to explain it. Just |
| the writing process from the viewpoint of a | | | | write until he couldn't write anymore, until the |
| published author and publisher. This series will help | | | | story had been told. |
| writers see what the writing world is all about. | | | | He agreed to try it, and another draft arrived the |
| Chapter 3: Expressing What's In Our Hearts and | | | | next week. I started to read it, and said to |
| Minds is a Direct Way to Access Your God, No | | | | myself, "He's got it! He understood what I was |
| Matter What Name You Use to Describe Him/Her | | | | saying, and he's writing from his heart." About |
| Writing is a deceptively difficult art. It takes time, | | | | three pages into the draft, the writing shifted. I |
| perseverance, patience, desire, and did I say, | | | | called him up and asked him, "What were you |
| perseverance. Only write if you truly want to. As | | | | doing on page three when you went from the |
| a writer I know put it, there are easier ways to | | | | story into an explanation?" He laughed and said I'd |
| be miserable. However, the rewards are great. | | | | busted him. He had stopped to "think" and decided |
| Writing brings a feeling of power and freedom. | | | | he needed to refer to a file about a client. The |
| And if you do it regularly and with consistency, | | | | tone of the writing changed from one of |
| you will get better. | | | | storytelling to one of explanation. And I, as a |
| Through writing, we access the inner landscape of | | | | reader lost interest. |
| our soul. Writing is about learning to pay attention, | | | | You will be writing from your own experience, |
| and then to communicate what you see in the | | | | and most likely from the process you are |
| environment around you and how you perceive | | | | currently experiencing. To become a truly great |
| what you observe. As a writer, it's your task to | | | | writer, you must learn to trust that experience. |
| see people and things as they really are. To do | | | | How does this help us access your god? Words |
| this, you have to know who you are. This | | | | come through your mind, but they originate in |
| requires you to keep bringing your mind back to | | | | your heart. It is this heart center that becomes |
| what is really there to be seen. To be a writer, | | | | the channel through which your source, your god, |
| you have to be awed by what's going on inside of | | | | your spirit, inspires you to share your messages. |
| you, and then open yourself to the world around | | | | You become what my spiritual teacher refers to |
| you. Think of those times when you've read | | | | as the hollow bone. The style, words, and |
| something that truly moves you, where you have | | | | emotions you write are yours; however, the |
| a glimpse of the writer's soul. | | | | message and your need to write it is encouraged |
| One purpose of spiritual or personal development | | | | by energy from Source. When you understand |
| (what I call human potential) writers is to help | | | | how to allow yourself to become the vessel, you |
| others find meaning in their life. To do this, a | | | | will be guided by forces that will take you on |
| writer must record what they see in a way that | | | | journeys into the depths of your imagination. The |
| transforms the reader's ideas, their beliefs, and | | | | key is in learning how to step out of your |
| their universe. And when all is said and done, what | | | | ego-brain and tap into that heart-centered source. |
| a reader really wants is to know the author | | | | When you can consistently do that in your writing, |
| better. That's why I always tell my clients that | | | | you will become a powerful writer. |
| what you write reflects, and oftentimes reveals, | | | | A true writer is driven to put some part of their |
| the process you are in right now. Let me give | | | | experience on paper. What holds the reader is |
| you an example. I worked with a client who was | | | | your enthusiasm, your emotions, how it changed |
| writing about leadership from the heart versus | | | | your life, what made you want to write in the |
| the head. When I saw his first draft, it was | | | | first place. The source of all of what you convey |
| uninspired, dry, and boring. I called him up and said, | | | | through your writing is your connection to spirit, |
| "Bob, what are you writing about?" He replied, | | | | to your god, however that appears for you in |
| "Leadership from the heart, not the head." I | | | | your life. One of my writers referred to it as |
| asked him, "And where do you think you are | | | | becoming the flute that allows the breath of |
| writing from?" There was a long pause, and he | | | | understanding to flow through. Allow the message |
| finally said, "From the head." I told him to go back | | | | to move through you from that source. |
| to the writing and this time, to use a paper and | | | | |