Intuition and Writing:
If you are on my Wise Warrior Writers Facebook group you may
have seen the video that I did a few days ago about intuition and how it can
help your writing. I did a quick video to talk about my recent experience
speaking at an intuition retreat. My friend Heather is a spiritual
strategist/life coach. She was hosting a retreat in Salem MA. It
was all about listening to your intuition, (meaning your gut instincts, that
little voice that speaks inside your head trying to lead you in a good
direction.) The problem is that a lot of us will have intuitive moments where
we think of an idea and at first think, “that’s a great idea”. But then,
inevitably we often follow that with a thought of, “you might get hurt. No one
will like it. You will fail,” etc. The key is to be able to let those fears
just be there but not use them as an excuse for not following a dream or an
idea. When I saw Heather’s add on Facebook for the retreat, I didn’t do what I
normally do which is just say, “Oh I can’t afford it or I’m too busy to do
that, or I don’t have childcare.” Instead I said, “I want to go to that and
more than go, I think it would benefit me to tell my story there and push past
my fear of public speaking and just do it anyway.” So I asked Heather if I
could speak. She told me she would absolutely make room for me and that I could
bring my Automatic Writing Tool and use that with her audience, it would fit
perfectly for the tone of the retreat.(Below, the intuition add and my pal Heather Wood.)
Happily I stuck with my initial gut instinct and did go to
the retreat. I did not let anything get in my way of going and it was an
awesome experience. I was able to bring my Mom as a guest, which allowed us to
have some lovely bonding time. I met some fabulous new people and learned a
ton! The funny part was that I didn’t really prepare for my speech, other than
printing my tool to be able to pass out to people. I never planned on what I
would say or how I would tie it all together. When I first arrived I saw all of
the other speakers looking through their notes, (of which I had none). I began
to worry that I would botch my speech and look like an amateur in comparison to
everyone else. Unfortunately I had no time to do anything about it. I resigned
myself to the fact that I would be “winging” it. I was last to speak on the
first day and as my time grew closer and closer, I became more and more
nervous. But eventually it was my turn and I couldn’t run so I walked up there
and just started talking. I was honest, straight forward, tried to be engaging
and funny but was totally authentic. I was very conscious of time however, I
knew I only had a half an hour and doing the writing tool would probably take
ten minutes. So, I tried not to ramble on and on. I told personal stories but
got right to the point too. I said that from the time I was a kid I had always
had a strong intuition and had always followed it. But until I met Heather, I
didn’t know how to really harness that ability and use it all the time for my
own benefit. I also spoke about how, for me, writing was a way to describe what
having that intuition was like, in a safe space with fictional characters to
stand behind. Isobel, (my main character) is or was very much me. Her
nervousness about her capabilities and gut instincts are how I felt as a child
and at times still feel.(Below, me speaking)
The point is though that I use those feelings and my own
history in my writing. “They” (who ever “they” are,) always say write what you
know right? So, for me feeling like I had stronger instincts and feelings than
others and feeling like I was different from my friends was what I struggled
with so I wrote about that in a fantasy world with other factors and characters
weaved in. It worked for me. It brought me to where I am now, an author, a
blogger and a writing coach.
I have two other quick examples of following intuition for
you. When I thought about publishing my second Elven Quest book, I struggled
with the fact that I had a gut feeling that I should self publish rather than
go back to my publisher. I was so nervous about it that I refused to even talk
to my publisher about it. Instead I stewed about the fact that they had done a
great job with my first one and they are great people, but that I wanted more
creative control. I wanted to be able to set the prices and run discount campaigns
at different times. I wanted to be able to promote it and market it with my
indie author friend’s promotional sites. They will not work with you if you are
not self published. I also really wanted more say with the cover. Eventually, I
got up the nerve to talk to my publisher and they were sad to lose me but
understood. So I began looking for a cover artist and began editing. I told a
close friend and fan what I had chosen to do. She told me her sister had some
experience with creating covers. She put me in touch with her sister. This week
I received the first mock of my new cover artist’s idea and I love it! There
will be work to do to it, but it’s a great start and we are on the same page
which is awesome. That just proves that you should follow your intuition and
never be afraid to share your goals and thoughts with people. You never know
what connections you’ll make.
The other example is that while editing my second book I
thought it was perfect but I had the intuitive thought that before I hit submit
for publishing I should probably have it Beta read, just in case. I sent it to
some family members to get some feedback. My dad, (who is also a writer) came
back with something that I had never thought of. He said, “I think based on
your prior descriptions your time period is about 1400’s and you talk about
people using “glasses” for drink ware, I do not think they would have used
those. They would have used goblets or tankards or something similar. Instead
of disagreeing with him or insisting it was fine the way it was I started
researching that era and realized he was totally right. Not just about the
glasses but about a lot of other details. I had mentioned things in the book
that hadn’t even been invented yet in that time period. So I went back and
edited even more, changing some sections of the book. Now I think it reads more
polished and I think readers will appreciate the effort and authenticity to the
time period. So again, never be afraid to follow your intuition, share your
work and listen to some constructive criticisms. They can potentially make you
a better writer. Until next time friends, listen to your inner voices of
intuition and remember, writing=happiness ;).
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