Lisa Tener

Book Writing Coach

writing tips

How the Earth Breath Can Inspire and Support Your Writing

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Last week, I delivered a keynote address for The Living Now Book Awards Ceremony: You’ve Won! Now Tap Your Creative Spark for Next Steps. Near the very start of my presentation, I shared “Earth Breath,” one of my favorite practices for creative flow.

I wanted to help participants relax, focus and feel energized so they could tap into their creativity as they considered how they want to reach readers, spread the word about their award-winning books, and create new opportunities for sharing their wisdom with the world. Earth Breath seemed perfect for that task!

Using the Elemental Breaths to Enhance Writing

Lisa Tener book coachI learned the Earth Breath almost three decades ago, when I lived in Boston. I’d been diagnosed with chronic fatigue, and in my search for healing, I came upon a system called “Polarity Therapy” that led me on a path to health and vitality. I became curious about how this “energy medicine” worked to heal me, and I began studying at the Polarity Institute under Doug Janssen in Watertown, MA, to understand the seemingly miraculous way it worked.

In Polarity Therapy training, we learned five types of elemental breath: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. The breaths are simple:

  • Earth: Inhale through the nose; exhale through the nose.
  • Water: inhale through the nose; exhale through the mouth.
  • Fire: Inhale through the mouth; exhale through the nose (like a fire-breathing dragon!).
  • Air: Inhale through the mouth; exhale through the mouth.
  • Ether: inhale through nose and mouth; exhale through nose and mouth.

Interestingly, each breath helps you experience qualities related to the different elements. I found that they could be applied in exciting ways to experience useful attributes of a particular element when those qualities came in handy for writing and creative tasks: Air can lead to fanciful flight. Fire can help you get in touch with your passion or anger. Water breath is excellent for flow. And Earth breath grounds you.

How Earth Breath Can Support Your Writing

In today’s post, I’d like to share how Earth Breath, in particular, can support your writing and various writing tasks such as:

  • Foundational work like clarifying the scope and focus of your book or writing project.
  • Outlining.
  • Identifying examples or stories to make the material more concrete for readers.
  • Developing experiential exercises that help your reader embody and experience the teachings you share.
  • Helping you access the bodily sensations to describe a scene or anecdote.
  • Editing and excavating!

Along with the applications above, you can use the Earth Breath when you:

  • Feel too spacey to write and want to be more present in your writing.
  • Need to access sensory detail to bring it to life for your readers.
  • Are writing about earth-related topics – nature, earth, gardening, somatic practices.
  • Feel exhausted and wish to energize.
  • Are stressed and need to relax.

Award winning book breathe. write. breathe.In Breathe. Write. Breathe.: 18 Energizing Practices to Spark Your Writing and Free Your Voice, I share several elemental breaths in audio and/or video recordings that guide you through the easy and simple breathing practices.

For Earth Breath, I made a video that helps you experience the qualities of Earth through both the breathing practice and a simple qigong practice for connecting with Earth Energy or “Earth Qi.”

Try It Out Now

Try Earth Breath now by practicing along with the video and writing afterward. See how Earth Breath affects your writing. Share any observations as a comment below or in a social media post linking to this post (and thank you for sharing!). If you have a copy of Breathe. Write. Breathe. you may want to try some Earth-related writing prompts in Chapter 10! Don’t have a copy yet? Get yours here. If you buy the digital version, you can access the prompts instantaneously!


What qualities do you think of when you think of Earth? How might these qualities help your writing and when might you use them? What did you experience with practicing the Earth Breath?

 

Writing Prompts Made Her Freeze

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In a recent workshop, Pat asked me, “What if I freeze up when I’m given a writing prompt? They don’t help me at all. I just feel stuck. I prefer the blank page.”

Good news: There’s no Prompts Police.

When Writing Prompts Work

Award-winning The Joy of Writing Journal - Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day - Expanded Version

Many people love writing prompts. In my 20s and 30s, prompts were my thing. They got me past resistance and stuckness and into flow mode. Prompts gave me an easy starting place and often led me into unexpected territory. In my early 20s, Writing Down the Bones was my bible.

I still love a good writing prompt.

These days, though, I go through stages: I mostly draw inspiration from writing in a blank journal or using a detailed book outline. Yet, when I travel or know I’ll be places where I may need to wait, I keep a prompts journal in my car or bag so I can tap into creative flow anytime, anywhere.

Other Ways to Get Moving and Unblock

If, like Pat, prompts don’t work for you, don’t use ’em!

Breathe. Write. Breathe.You may want to:

You don’t have to use prompts at all.

Ever.

Here’s a fun and easy movement practice from Qigong to stimulate creative flow:

 

Find Your Way

Lisa Tener book coachWe all have our ways of tapping into creativity.

If someone tells you their way is THE way, walk the other way. There is no “the way.”  There’s just what works for you at this moment. And in the next moment (which may be different).

So, be free. I was going to say, “I give you permission,” but that didn’t feel right. You need to permit yourself to do what makes your heart sing and feel free to ignore anyone else’s advice, including mine!

Even Before Your Book is Published, Just Writing It Has an Impact!

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It’s true: Even before you publish your book, just the work of writing it will impact you, other people, and the world.
I recently received this email from award-winning author Chris Stroble, who won the Nautilus and Pen Craft Awards for her book Helping Teen Moms Graduate:
“I want to share this feedback. I’ve been thinking about it all week.
“Last Sunday I spoke at my United Methodist Church on the topic of love to Black single moms. Afterwards one of our members, who is a Black single mom of 3 children (she’s in her early 30s), said to me, “Everything you said was exactly right. You said what we wanted to say but were too afraid.”
“YES! Mission accomplished.
“That’s part of my vision for Love For Black Single Moms. I remember from your self study class, you said write a vision of what you want your book ? to do for:
1. Your audience
2. Your community, and
3. Yourself.
“One vision for Black single moms is to make them feel seen and heard and to validate their experience.
“Mission Accomplished!  Yay! ?Yay! Yay!”

Even Before Your Book is Published, Your Book Has an Impact

Like Chris, you may find yourself sharing the message in your book with your target audience to vet and develop the ideas in your book. You might teach a workshop or two or develop an online class.
You might also ask beta readers to provide feedback on a draft version of the book or some of the chapters. Those beta readers may tell you what a difference your manuscript made for them, even before your book is published!
In addition, the act of writing your book will help you clarify your ideas about your subject. You may write articles, blog posts, and social media posts, or speak to the public and share some ideas before the book comes out. These new insights and ideas can inform your thinking and work in new ways. Well before the book is published, these articles and posts informed by your book’s new ideas can inspire and empower people in your target market.
I’ve also witnessed how working on a book increases the aspiring author’s confidence. You may well embody the role of expert with aplomb as you gain self-assurance by writing. That confidence can make you more open to new opportunities.
And here’s another potential impact: Chris sent me an email about the experience, adding inspiration to my day. Her email inspired me to write this blog post and, I hope, has impacted you as a reader and writer! Note: You can read an interview with Chris about the journey of writing and publishing her first book here.
Have you begun to experience the impact of your book? Share your story in the comments below!

3 Easy Ways to Outsmart Your Inner Critic and Write Prolific!

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That inner critic can dampen creative enthusiasm, motivation, and productivity. When we start writing and hear that self-critical voice arise, it can put us in a tailspin.

The trick is to start from a different place that’s nourishing and joyful. Connect with your inner muse or creative source; the critic doesn’t stand a chance.

Outsmart Your Inner Critic

Lisa Tener Book Writing Coach
  1. Consult your muse: Try my meet-your-muse guided visualization and ask your muse to help you believe in yourself and your writing.
  2. Make a list: If the critic tells you no one will read the book, list all the reasons they will. If the critic says you’re a crummy writer, list all the evidence you have to the contrary. If you still feel stuck, ask a trusted friend to talk you down and help you make the list.
  3. Breathe. Or Move. Well, that’s what my upcoming book is all about: using simple, easy breathing techniques and mindful movement to tap into your creativity. Slow, deep abdominal breathing is scientifically proven to enhance creativity—a great place to start. And if you think, “I’m not a meditator. I can’t sit still,” I’ve got you covered. More to come on this topic, but try this simple breathing practice for now.

This Book Will Silence the Critic and Make Your Creative Spirit Soar

In my upcoming book, Breathe. Write. Breathe., you’ll learn 18 beautiful and easy practices from ancient wisdom traditions (yoga, qigong and others) to help you access a creative flow state, bypass the critical inner voice, and transform self-doubt into boundless inspiration.

Lisa Tener Book Coach

You’ll also read about my creative adventures, along with playful, quirky and unique writing prompts that will open the door to new words—and worlds—for you.

The book is interactive—QR codes provide access to videos and audio meditations, offering your portable writing retreat and perhaps more than one life-changing experience!

Mark your calendar for June 12 when the fun begins. We’ll have a virtual party at noon Eastern time, 9 am Pacific, with generous giveaways, bonuses and illuminating guests to celebrate. I’ll share a special practice you can use every time you sit down to write to get you into “the zone.” And we’ll do some writing. It will be the perfect day to gift yourself and your writer friends a special book I can’t wait to share!

Sign up here for instructions and a reminder to join the book launch party :

  • Celebrate with Me: Enjoy the fun energy and inspiration, and lend your support!
  • Free Drawing: A chance to win a $100 or $25 Barnes & Noble Gift Certificate.
  • Learn tips to outsmart your inner critic and build confidence.
  • Experience a fast & foolproof way to tap into creative flow.
  • Enjoy a fun writing exercise right on the call!
  • Meet special guests.

When you sign up, you will also receive a free copy of The TENER Method for Creative Flow, a five-page ebook.

7 Ways to Tap Your Subconscious for Inspiration

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Some of my most potent writing comes from my dreams and other experiences related to the subconscious. Is this true for your writing?

So, how do we tap our subconscious for creativity—innovative ideas, fresh metaphors, new ways to put words together on the page, an adventure for the writer and the reader? Here are 7 strategies that work for me, my private clients and participants in Get Your Writing Done.

Tap Your Subconscious for Inspiration and Potent Writing

Lisa Tener Book Coach and Journal author
  1. Journal: You may have heard me mention this one before (wink, wink). Journaling helps us access what’s going on below the surface. If you’re writing fiction, perhaps ask questions of one of your characters and answer as them. If you’re writing nonfiction, journal about what might make the writing more playful or adventurous or whatever qualities you are looking for. If you feel challenged about the book’s structure, play around with that in your journal.
  2. Doodle: Sometimes I doodle before or during writing. Doodling can take you out of linear thinking and open up an inner space to connect with your creative potential and subconscious.
  3. Dream Journal: Record your dreams in your journal, then play with them. Ask questions about the characters and symbols. Continue the dream. Apply the dream to a writing project in the works. Or start something new.
  4. Daydream: Allow your mind to wander. Imagine a scene. Or close your eyes and ….
  5. Music: Play something that takes you out of a linear thinking state and into a more dreamy state. Jump right into writing or pause first: close your eyes and listen before you start creating.
  6. Wander Outdoors: Walking slowly connects us to nature’s rhythm and her infinite ways of inspiring us. Allow your mind to wander as you walk. Observe with all your senses—hear the birds and the airplanes. Smell the flowers, the car exhaust, and whatever else wafts on the breeze. Sensory experiences, and smell especially, can bring back memories stored in the unconscious and seemingly forgotten.
  7. Read Poetry: Poetry speaks the language of the subconscious—symbols, rhythm, wordplay, rhyme. It liberates you from the rules of the conscious and often more controlling aspects of the mind. So, read poetry to free your mind and touch your heart, and then write your own poems.

Bonus Strategy!

[author’s goofy ramble: This often happens. I come up with a spiffy number for my post title. This time it was five. I end up with way more ideas. So then I changed it to 7. And now we’re at eight, but I’m pretty sure the blog post titling gurus say to use an odd number, so here’s a bonus:]

  • Move Slowly: Slow, mindful movement can put you in an altered state where the mind slows down, and you are open to creative inspiration and the infinite possibilities offered by the subconscious.

My New Book

Lisa Tener book coach and creativity catalyst

My upcoming book, Breathe. Write. Breathe: 18 Energizing Practices to Spark Your Writing and Free Your Voice is filled with powerful mindful movement practices from Yoga, Qigong, Sufism and other ancient wisdom paths. These practices can help you instantly tap into the deep wellspring of creative material your subconscious offers.

Mark your calendar to purchase your book on the June 12 launch to have access to bonus materials, giveaways, and more. And join us for the virtual party at 12 noon Eastern time, 9 am Pacific. Click here to sign up for notifications as we near the launch and add more goodies to our bonus.

When you sign up for notifications, you will also receive a free copy of The TENER Method for Creative Flow, a 5 page ebook.

Her Muse Gave Her a Stethoscope

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The other morning, I led a doctor through my Meet Your Muse exercise to help her access her inner guidance about which book to write first—the one for other doctors or the one for patients.

Her muse was clear—the one for patients. Before she left the scene, I invited her to ask whether her muse wanted her to know anything else.

stethoscope

“I see a stethoscope. I thought I’d create health education for people and leave my medical practice over time because the system is so broken. But I suppose my muse says I will keep a private practice.”

I’m careful not to project onto other people’s imagery, so I said, “If this were a daydream of mine, the stethoscope might symbolize the message to listen to my heart. Does that resonate at all?”

She smiled broadly and laughed. “Of course. That feels right.” She felt delighted by this personal and apropos symbol from her muse. She continued, “I recently stopped taking two major types of insurance because what they pay me cannot sustain me and my team—my assistant, the office, the billing service. But my colleagues look at my actions and think I’m crazy. They say, ‘You have a successful practice; how can you limit it so much? How will you survive?”

On Looking Crazy from the Outside

The doctor added, “I always think outside the box—with my patients and practice. I see a broken system and can’t just do things that way.”

book coach Lisa Tener

I smiled and shared with her that when you’re a visionary with a mission to offer leadership in an industry, what you do will likely look crazy initially, but it will suddenly look normal in twenty years. You’re just ahead of the pack.

I know that many of my readers are like this doctor. You’re doing things differently. You’re breaking new ground, seeing new opportunities and ways of doing things that others can’t see yet. It may feel lonely and weird and scary. You may even believe people saying, “You’re crazy.”

But know that as a visionary, the world will look different to you. And your purpose will require you to do stuff that doesn’t make sense from the outside. People may judge you, call you names, and invite you to question yourself.

Trust yourself. Listen to your heart. Maybe your muse has a stethoscope for you.

And write that book! Your way. Help the world catch up to your vision, wisdom, and gifts.

The Link Between Writing and Health

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(Updated 9/18/24) Writing and Health: Have you experienced the health impacts of writing or journaling? I’ve journaled intermittently since second grade when my grandmother gave me a diary for my birthday. At some level, I knew that writing was like breathing for me—necessary for life.

Lisa Tener writing in journal

It wasn’t until my twenties, when I suffered from what was diagnosed as chronic fatigue and/or fibromyalgia that I discovered that writing can play a major role in healing a debilitating illness. Since then, I’ve been fascinated by the role writing can play in healing and have used it in my life many times—for physical healing, emotional healing and spiritual healing.

Another fascinating discovery is that it can go the other way, too—healing can impact our writing! As we heal emotional trauma or physical illness, I have found it to free up more and more creative energy and help me as a writer.

The Research on Writing and Healing

connect with your readers

In 1986, James Pennebaker studied the effects of certain kinds of writing on health, reporting that expressive writing can improve mental and physical health. Since then, Pennebaker and his colleagues have proven these benefits in multiple populations and with various diseases and conditions.

According to the VA Office of Patient-Centered Care and Cultural Transformation, “Expressive writing has been found to produce significant benefits for individuals with a
variety of medical conditions.” These include:

  • Asthma (lung health/function)
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (decreasing severity)
  • Cancer (both reducing pain and improving physical health)
  • HIV infection (improving immune response)
  • Cystic fibrosis (decreasing hospitalization)
  • Chronic pelvic pain (decreasing the pain intensity)
  • Sleep-onset latency in poor sleepers
  • Recovering from operations

Beyond Medicine

Dr. Patricia Muesham

You may have heard me talk before about Patricia Muehsam, MD‘s work and her book Beyond Medicine, which shares her healing journey, the process she used to heal herself, and that she teaches patients and students on a holistic path to healing their physical and emotional conditions.

Writing and journaling form a significant aspect of Dr. Patricia Muehsam’s protocol, whom I’ll refer to from now on as Dr. Trish, at her request.

As Dr. Trish is about to offer her healing course in a four-month online format, thought it a great time to interview her about the connection between writing and healing.

Absolute Health

I first asked Dr. Trish to share her take on how writing can positively impact our health.

Dr. Trish began our conversation with the concept of absolute health. “In my work, I talk about a concept called absolute health, simply peace of mind. Peace of mind is where we need to be for healing to happen. The body will not heal otherwise if the body is not calm. It also is where we need to be for clarity if we’re dealing with any challenging situations besides health issues—work, relationships, finances, life path.

“Absolute health is a place of peace of mind where clarity and solutions arise. And for inspired action, we know what to do before even trying.”

I found this interesting since in my Get Your Writing Done program we tap into a similar state of relaxation and peace of mind by beginning our writing practices with some qigong movement or breathing, a nod to the inner muse, and our one-word intentions shared in the chat box. From that place, we take inspired action and write!

Dr. Trish continues, “In my work and my book, I talk about the five absolute health tools—breathing, mindfulness/meditation, journaling or writing, mirror work and mind-body sensing. These five tools are tools for cultivating self-awareness, being here now in the moment, and being present with what is.

“All of these can bring us to that place of absolute health or inner peace quite swiftly, in minutes. They do so because they change our minds, the structure and function of our brains, and our bodies.”

Writing and Health

Patricia Muesham, MD did not have a huge platform, but she did get a book deal for her excellent book. Miracles do happen!

So, where does writing fit in?

“Writing is one of these tools. It allows us to be present in the very moment, to be here now in our writing process. In Beyond Medicine, I offer different types of journaling exercises to help us practice being here now and being present with what is.

“Writing helps us to cultivate this experience of being in the moment, where we experience the presence and inner peace that arises when we stop to be in the moment of what’s going on.”

Journaling Exercises for Healing

In her book and in her healing courses, Dr. Trish offers several journaling exercises for healing and experiencing absolute health.

“One of the simplest is just making a list—helpful for people not as used to writing.

“Another exercise is stream of consciousness writing, where we write what comes to mind at the moment, paying no attention to grammar, or punctuation, being as free and loose as possible where the writing hand is holding a pen or pencil (rather than typing). I encourage people to use their hands, not a keyboard to do the writing. That stream-of-consciousness technique is powerful for being in the moment with whatever comes up in the mind. If I give someone a writing prompt when you don’t know what to write, that’s what to write next.

“I also use different exercises writing with the nondominant hand, a potent tool that can help us slow down and get in touch with what’s going on internally. [Then we] connect with what’s going on. Nondominant handwriting can help us connect with intuition and inner knowing. Don’t worry what it looks like; even just scribbling can help us access our connection to our intuition/inner wisdom!”

The Science Behind Writing and Healing

“There are a lot of studies on journaling’s effects on health, especially expressive writing, writing about feelings that have immediate and long-term impact on our health. Expressive writing toggles on the parasympathetic nervous system, which facilitates resting, repair, healing, sleep and digestion.

“Conversely, when the sympathetic nervous system (fight, flight or freeze) is on we can’t rest, relax, sleep, heal or digest. Those functions are impossible when the sympathetic nervous system is turned on. Just writing about feelings helps to bring us to a place of calm, getting in touch with what’s going on internally. Writing can slow us down and get in touch with us. In the process, it relaxes us, even when writing about difficult thoughts and feelings; just getting them out helps train a state of ease and peace in both mind and body. This is where we need to be for healing to happen and for resolving difficult situations, to get answers without effort.”

How Dr. Muehsam Found Healing Through Writing

Trish shared her experience, “In the past, I’ve been a patient a few times over, and I share these in Beyond Medicine. There were times I was confused about what path to follow for healing. I would always turn to writing to get clarity and often started with just list making, making a list of my questions/confusions.

“I often went to stream of consciousness—flowing writing, where new ideas come. Then, I often got clarity from that. I also used inner child journaling: Using my nondominant hand as the inner child, what am I needing?

writing in bed
Photo by Kinga Cichewicz on Unsplash

“I often got clarity about how to proceed and connected with the underlying emotions. Every physical issue has an emotion and often an emotional root cause.

“I use journaling to get a sense of what’s going on body-wise and emotionally. With my broken arm and extreme physical pain, I couldn’t journal with my right hand but used my nondominant hand to write about the pain and explore the emotional roots of the pain. All physical pain has an emotional component and the physical pain cannot go away without addressing the emotional component. Pain is in our body, thoughts and emotions. Recent research explains exactly how emotions are clearly linked to physical pain. The fibers in the brain that transmit emotional info to our emotional awareness center travel along the same highway as the pain fibers that transmit the sensation of physical pain. Acute pain, once it becomes chronic, no longer activates the physical pain center in the brain, but it activates the emotional center.”

More on the Research

“Remembering an event that caused pain can elicit pain. We think it’s the shoulder that’s acting up, but it’s the emotions that are acting up. This research is borne from clinical studies and placebo surgeries—for example a knee study. One group had surgery for chronic knee pain, and one group had sham surgery, and the people who had the placebo did better! The apparent physical cause was not the cause of their chronic pain.

“In the early work of Dr. John Sarno, his theory was that mental and emotional stress and repressed trauma were the primary causes of back pain. The mind and emotions play a powerful role in our physical health. And writing can be a path to healing since it addresses the underlying emotions.

“When I’m anxious or angry or frustrated, overworking, not listening to my body’s needs, my pain increases. Writing is a beautiful way to slow down, explore the inner landscape, and get in touch with our feelings. And I always encourage writing by hand.”

How Healing and Health Affect Writing

In my experience, healing also affects our writing. Healing experiences often open me up to the creative muse, and I find myself writing poetry or getting new ideas for books I might write, for example. My first published book came out of healing from chronic fatigue syndrome and the polarity therapy work I immersed myself in.

So, I asked Dr. Trish about this two-way link.

How Does Vibrant Health Affect Your Writing?

Dr. Trish answered, “When I’m in a state of calm, my writing flows. When I was working on my book, the writing flowed when my mind and body were in a place of peace, what I call vibrant health. In that place of ease, new ideas would arise, my writing would flow, and new ideas came without effort; they weren’t ideas I had to list out; they arose as I wrote.

Dr. Patricia Muesham and dog

“Ideas also arose for my writing when I was in a state of peace and not at my keyboard, and I had a habit of grabbing the idea and writing it on the notes section of my phone, and I trusted those ideas even more than the ideas that came when I was trying to gather information.

“Great metaphors and images would come. I wasn’t interfering with it or filtering it. It was just flowing through me. I might be walking my dog, and as soon as I got home, I would note it somewhere.”

Surrender to the Moment

“That never happened when I was trying to get the writing going, ever. I had to often surrender to the moment. I had to let go of the trying. When working with my editor, when I was trying, that blocked the flow of ideas and the goodness of the writing.

“I would need just to stop and return to a place of peace before resuming. That could be 10 minutes of closing my eyes or 20 minutes of walking in the park. It didn’t mean I only wrote when inspired. I would go to my computer every day in the morning and write. I’d work on other tasks, such as research, if I were in a not-peaceful state of mind. But other times, I would pause and do a mini-meditation or breathing and take a pause away from my desk to return to that state of absolute health.” [Hey, just like we do in the Get Your Writing Done sessions—movement and breath to get things moving and entrain into creative flow!]

Dr. Trish had the same thought I did.

She added, without knowing what I was thinking, “The way I understand and experience healing is the way you teach accessing your inner writer.”

“Why does peace help us access the best ideas and the most profound writing? We don’t access intuition, inner wisdom or creativity in a state of stress. Might we not access creativity when the sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) nervous system is turned on? We can’t connect with the inner muse and creative process when trying to ward off the saber-toothed tiger.”

Experience Absolute Health

So maybe you’re excited about these tools of absolute health and what they can do for your physical health and your creative life.

I asked Dr. Trish to share the details, and here they are:

Upcoming Online Course Starts October 8, 2024
Imagine being able to thrive in the most natural of ways, to feel well in your body and at peace in your life. And effortlessly so!

Join pioneering physician and award-winning author Patricia Muehsam MD’s 4-month online course: Beyond Medicine: A Physician’s Revolutionary Prescription for Healing Yourself and Transforming Your Life. You’ll discover a path to well-being that is extraordinary in its ease and profound in its results!
 
For more details and to register, click here.  $100 off course fee if you register by 9/23.
By the end of this course, you’ll discover:
    • That you are the medicine — your healer lies within, your answers lie within.
    • How to access your inner healer.
    • How to find your way to inner peace, speedily and easily.
    • How to facilitate bodily healing and how to transform challenging situations.
    • How truly effortless your way to well-being is — physically, emotionally, spiritually, and materially.

    You will come to know your unlimited capacity to heal yourself and your life.

    Because you are the medicine.

What’s Significant About this Course

“I’m offering these tools for healing one’s life, but what’s important is that I’m teaching a revolutionary way to feel well and thrive in all the ways that matter to you. It’s revolutionary because it’s simple, effortless and available to us at this very moment. What people will learn is that they are their own medicine, how to access your inner healer, how to find your way to that place of inner peace easily, where intuition flows and creativity arises, that place we need to be to facilitate healing of the body.

“You will learn to know that unlimited capacity to heal yourself and your life because our medicines lie within.”

If Dr. Muehsam’s book and courses had been available when I had chronic fatigue, the healing path would have been much easier and quicker. I encourage our readers to explore this incredible opportunity in Dr. Trish’s book and immersion course. Full disclosure: I am also an affiliate of Dr. Trish’s program, which means if you sign up through my link I will receive a commission. I take part in a small number of affiliate programs and only ones that I think will be of great benefit to my readers.

Now, let’s return to my conversation with Dr. Trish Muehsam:

“Returning to the notion of absolute health, peace of mind—it’s so accessible to all of us —a stop, a pause, and a breath away. We can use those writing tools to take us there. Peace of mind is our essential nature. We were born to be in a state of equanimity. A calm and peaceful mind creates a calm and peaceful body, where creativity can easily flow.

“A disturbed mind creates stress in the body, literally. Every thought and every emotion has an instantaneous effect on the physical body—neutral, supportive or detrimental. Healing happens when the mind becomes calm, at peace.”.

About Patricia A. Muehsam, MD

Author of Beyond Medicine, Patricia Muesham, MD

Patricia A. Muehsam, MD, a pioneer in synthesizing science, holistic health, and contemporary spirituality, has distinguished herself as a practitioner, educator, research scientist, and author. She has been an influential force in shaping the landscape of healthcare options available today. Muehsam’s groundbreaking book, Beyond Medicine: A Physician’s Revolutionary Prescription for Achieving Absolute Health and Finding Inner Peace, has been hailed by Larry Dossey, MD, as the “only health and healing book you will ever need.” Founder of Transformational MedicineTM, Dr. Muehsam’s services include health consultations, mind-body healing sessions, classes, and retreats. She lives in New York City with Benjamin, her adopted Golden Retriever and sage spiritual advisor.

Sign up for—or find out more about—Dr. Trish’s course: Beyond Medicine Immersive. The course begins on October 8, 2024.

 

 

Fear, Freedom and the Urgency to Write

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Afraid to Write a Book?

It’s been an interesting morning.

My workday began with a call from a reader of The Joy of Writing Journal who wants to write a book. I sensed that it took some bravery to reach out to me. She shared about the inner saboteur who walks into a library or bookstore and says, “Does the world really need another book?”

Joy of Writing Journal cover

What the inner critic is saying, of course, is, “Play it safe. Don’t bother writing your book. It feels risky. You might fail. Or even more scary, what if you succeed? Or you might uncover some personal issues that I’d rather you ignore, so I can continue to protect you from danger.”

The Freedom and Possibility in Writing

She also told me how much The Joy of Writing Journal freed her. How her husband pointed out how much her writing had changed from her first journal entry to her most recent, mid-way through the journal. She spoke with enthusiasm, passion, and hope about her writing practice and this deep, inexplicable calling to write a book that she felt she didn’t have the skills or background to write.

“I’m a business person. Not a writer. I don’t know how to do this.”

Your Book Will Change Something for Someone, So Write It!

There’s so much to unpack in our brief exchange.

First, there’s the joy I felt when she shared with me what my book did for her. What if I hadn’t written that inspiring book? Or hadn’t invested the time and resources to publish and market it?

Sometimes, when we think about those activities, something in us shuts down. But if we can stay in touch with the transformation possible for our readers, we keep on.

We make the time.

We sit in the chair, as much as the inner saboteur screams, “Don’t do that! Read a book, watch a TV show, eat some chocolate. Clean the house.”

Okay, the truth? My saboteur rarely tells me to clean the house.

But it does keep me from writing. Or publishing.

In this case, it’s kept me from taking the next step, which is hiring an editor for my next book. After my most recent edit, my book is sitting there, doing nothing.

Nothing.

And to hear this reader/journaler/writer share what my book did for her reminded me why it’s so important to take the next step, hire the editor. Publish! Get it out into the world.

So, I reached out to the editor this morning to get that ball rollin’.

But, Can You Write a Book?

Further unpacking our conversation, secondly, beyond the fear, is the question, “Can I really do this? Can I write a book?”

And the truth is, you don’t know until you’ve done it.

My hunch is yes. Just because you haven’t written one yet, doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t. It just means you need to find the resources to help you get there – the book, the course, the community, the coach, the system, the inner guidance, the inspiration, the time, the will, and the persistence.

And once you decide to do it, those things naturally come into your consciousness or cross your path. And it’s probably a good idea to look for those resources, too. Ask yourself what you need to write a book. And then start working on it.

What if You Don’t Finish Your Book?

Thirdly, our conversation brings to mind the question, “What if you don’t write your book?” What will be lost?

  • What will you lose?
  • What will your readers miss out on?
  • What are you holding back from your communities and the global community?

After my conversation with this writer, I read an email sharing that a client, mentor and friend, Teri Scheinzeit, had died earlier this month. The email came from her husband, who shared this beautiful list that Teri wrote from her hospital bed.

Teri was such an inspiration to me. She helped me grow my business while balancing growth with other aspects of life – creativity, family, rest, play, friendship, and nature. Teri was a business coach, and after I began helping her with her book, I hired her to coach me in my business.

As a coach, Teri generally worked three days a week, three weeks a month. The fourth month was devoted to her music – songwriting, attending music festivals, performing and recording her music.

Teri knew how to make that often-elusive leap from imagining a harmonious and rich creative life and actually creating and living that life. Instead, she thought outside our usual constraints about work and what it looks like.

And I will always be grateful to Teri for that vision.

Teri taught workshops about how to disarm the inner saboteur. And she taught me to feel the fear and do it anyway.

success_without_stress book cover

And Teri also had a book in her. I worked with her as an editor on Success Without Stress: Simple Steps to Finding Calm for Women Business Owners. This excellent book won two awards, but more than that, it helped countless entrepreneurs create a business that works for us. For me, Teri’s wisdom, shared in this book, helped me let go of some of the shoulds, create more peace and calm during my workday, and not let my work completely take over my life–which is way too easy to happen in the life of an entrepreneur.

What if Teri hadn’t written that book? Thankfully, we’ll never know. I’m just so glad she wrote it. And took the time to write that inspiring list of 10 in her hospital bed, before she left this earth, this life.

When we realize we only have so much time on this earth and don’t know when our time will be up, does it bring urgency to our writing? Or does the importance of writing fall away?

What answer does your heart reveal? The urgency to write, or some other urgency? Or is there room for both? Only you can answer that. But make sure you answer from your heart and not your saboteur.

Overcoming Overwhelm to Write a Book—and Finish It!

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As I’ve been meeting with students in my Bring Your Book to Life® Program, several have had moments of overwhelm: “I can’t believe I signed up to write a book. There’s no way I can do it in the middle of this stressful time.”

writing a book

And I get it. But I also get how writing and publishing a book is a dream that most of them have lived with for many years. Maybe that’s true for you as well.

I wouldn’t be much of a coach if I let them—or you—off the hook!

At the same time, I don’t want to add to anyone’s stress. And it’s not easy or fun to write a book from a state of stress and overwhelm. Not even very productive. So how can we change the vibe and make this fun, empowering and successful?

Here’s some of the advice I’ve been giving my Bring Your Book to Life® Program participants in our private calls:

  1. Revise your goal: Okay, so you realized you can’t write a whole first draft in 8 weeks. What is realistic? Set a goal that feels do-able or you’ll be in inner conflict before you even start. Writing three quarters, or even half, of a first draft is an excellent start. Does that work?
  2. Try different times: Several people found that the time they scheduled to write didn’t work for them. Early morning writing sessions got bumped by work meetings in one case. Rethink your timing. Can you write during lunch hour? On the weekend? Just be sure to schedule those times and keep them sacred whenever possible.
  3. Connection with your mission: One writer had several important reasons for writing her book and one of those was to capture her mother’s stories while she still has that opportunity. When work got too busy and overhelming she worried that she couldn’t write a book, so we “rethunk” priorities. What if she made interviewing her mom the priority? She could capture the interviews on audio and have them transcribed. Then if she didn’t have time for much writing, she’d still have the legacy of the recordings to use whenever she could make additional time for the book. And the opportunity to get her mom’s stories recorded for posterity and a possible book would not be lost.
  4. Try the litmus test: Here’s the question I have everyone in class ask themselves whenever they are tempted to do something else instead of writing time or whenever a new opportunity comes up that they’re tempted to say yes to:

If I say “yes” to this, what does that mean for my book?

If the invitation conflicts with writing time, perhaps you can immediately reschedule the writing time. Or not—recommit to writing! Or perhaps you want to make the next few months a bit of a writing retreat and be more of a hermit. Good answers are, “Let me think about this and get back to you,” or “I’m working on a big project; can we look at this possiblity again in two or three months?”

[bctt tweet=”How to Think Inclusively to Get Your Book Written”]

It’s easy to get in the frame of mind that writing your book has to take away from other activites. But what if it doesn’t?

friends
  • Does writing a book mean you have to ditch your friends or family? No, but it may mean spending less time together, inviting you to make the time you do spend together more meaningful. One writer realized she could include her kids in the interviews of their grandmother. This would create meaningful connection and memories for the whole family.
  • Working on a volunteer project? Perhaps you can find a way to contribute in a big way with less time. One year, a Bring Your Book to Life® participant found and trained someone to replace her on the fundraising committee, helping the orgnaization to expand its volunteer base and freeing up her own time to make space for her book.
overcome overwhelm
  • Prioritizing and writing your book offers an excellent opportunity for self growth. I often see people learn better boundary making (and keeping) in order to get their books written and published. That may mean setting boundaries with people who drain their time and energy by complaining or fighting. This newfound gift of boundary setting becomes a skill for life, well beyond the book’s writing and publishing.

What challenges are coming up for you? What can you do to overcome them?

What Puzzles Teach Us About Writing

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I’ve been thinking about what puzzles teach us about writing.

a great puzzle
The most recent puzzle I completed (by Vermont Christmas Company and purchased at Wakefield Books in Rhode Island)

 Why?

As part of my return to health, I’m spending time each day relaxing. That has meant choosing activities that bring me pleasure and nurture my inner child, like doing puzzles.

The Gifts of Puzzling

The more I puzzle, the more I appreciate the many gifts they offer: Puzzles give me a new way of looking at my environment. Over time, I see how time spent puzzling can make us keener observers of the world around us. I especially find that scenic puzzles (a cafe in Switzerland, a cottage in the English countryside, birds on a wire fence in a field) sharpen such skills.

puzzle piece
This turquoise, orange and yellow reflected in a puddle near the car in the puzzle (the mess of overturned peices on the left).
  • I enjoy colors and moods that once may have seemed bland—yesterday’s fog, which may have once seemed boring, evokes a sense of deep mystery. I discover more variations of green than I ever imagined. I appreciate the reds, purples and blues within a sea of brown twigs and dead grasses.
  • I now see stone walls in my neighborhood as both the whole and the sum of parts in all their exquisite detail—the colorful lichen, odd shaped rocks that somehow fit together, the shades and shadows they form,
  • Looking to place or find a puzzle piece, I notice shapes, tiny details, things I wouldn’t have seen before: a spec of turquoise at the end helps me realize that the piece either fits in the puddle by the Bentley or the cable car tracks. The thin white line across the gray background places it near the bottom of the road. The yellow within the tree leaves indicates the piece belongs near the lamp light on the right and not in the shadow on the left. The shade of green goes here, not there.
  • Puzzles turn off my over-thinking brain and put me in another part of my brain altogether—and that feels soothing.
  • Puzzles bring back memories of rainy summer days with my siblings and friend in Waterside, New Brunswick, Canada, near Fundy National Park.

How Puzzles Improve Our Writing

 I’m certain my brain forms new connections and fires differently as I pick up new skills from puzzling. My writing becomes more precise.

 Here are a few more lessons from puzzling:

puzzle detail
A detail from the San Francisco trolley puzzle above
  1. Observe: Be on the lookout for fresh details.
  2. Connect: Allow your brain to naturally connect the big picture and small details without having to think about them. Be open to how your mind can make intuitive and subconscious connections without your having to work at it.
  3. Find The Sweet Spot:  not too easy, not too hard. A good puzzle offers enough clues to be able to work it out without getting frustrated, yet the puzzle still challenges you. Writers lesson: Don’t confuse your reader or obfuscate your meaning with overly complex sentence structure, jargon or garbled chapters. Yet, don’t necessarily spell everything out for your reader to the point of spoon-feeding her. Find that sweet spot that requires her to think, imagine and connect the dots.
  4. Variety evokes emotion, mood and makes things more interesting. A good puzzle offers enough variety to both helped the puzzler solve the puzzle and find enjoyment in the details. Many good puzzles offer a wide variety of colors – gradations of blue in the sky or even a sunset or sunrise; a variety of greens in the grasses, trees and other vegetation; colors appear in a puddle, a machinery  part; the peeling paint of an old Victorian apartment building. In writing, you have many choices for variety: You can vary the pace or sentence length, for example. Can you break up action and description with dialogue? Dialogue with action? How about adding or an experiential exercise in a self-help chapter? Give your readers multiple ways to experience the teachings.
  5. Identify a source of light: I find a good puzzle often has a source of light – the sun, lamp lights, a candle—to create shadows and highlights and show the contrast of light and dark. When you write about a difficult subject, be sure to buoy your readers with a source of light, too: humor, beauty and moments of transcendence go a long way towards supporting your reader on the journey.
Contrasts in puzzles and writing

6. Balance the images you create in your writing by using contrasts: shadow and light, contrasting colors, contrasting characters and stories.

7. Satisfaction and New Perspective: As my freind Paula points out, there is the wonderful satisfaction in finding a match you’ve been troubling over for some time, much like the joy of finding “le bon mot.” And completing a blog post or manuscript can also offer the new perspectives similar to those one finds in completing a puzzle.

Have you ever used an activity like puzzling to heighten your powers of observation or provide perspective?

Look for New Adventures in Seeing

I started this post yesterday and received a new puzzle that evening, a birthday present from my assistant Geri. This new puzzle defied many of the rules I just applied—no source of light, no contrasts. This is a work of modern art by the artist Charlie Hopper. And now, I get excited again. It’s a beautiful puzzle. I know it will reveal itself in even more splendor as I immerse myself in its details.

A new puzzle; new wruting lessons
A birthday gift from Geri and an opportunity for new lessons in seeing, being and writing. (puzzle by Pomegranite)

I look forward to the new lessons I will learn and discovering how I can apply them to my writing.

What’s Your Experience With Puzzling And Other Hobbies?

  • What else can puzzling teach us about writing?
  • What activities or hobbies have informed your writing and what lessons have you drawn from them?

Share your experiences below as a comment.

How to Engage Modern Readers Through Voice, Style and Tone

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Voice, Style, Tone: these tools of the writer can help you engage the modern reader. Ignore recent changes in reading preferences and reader’s needs at your peril!

Less Time; Less Bandwidth

woman reading
Photo by iam Se7en on Unsplash

Modern readers are strapped for time. Authors of the 19th and 20th centuries had the luxury of readers who often liked to work hard to understand a work. Working the brain served as entertainment.

Nowadays, outside of academics, readers want you to make it easy for them. They have less time to read. They often multitask and don’t focus in the same way. And they’re used to being entertained. They also often want to experience something, rather than just be fed instructional information without context, nuance and integration.

Today’s tips will help you fine tune your voice, style and tone to support the modern reader, her habits and her needs.

[bctt tweet=”5 Style Tips to Make Your Writing Easy for Readers to Understand Quickly” username=”LisaTener”]

  1. writing outdoors
    matthew-payne-unsplash

    Pepper your writing with stories and examples that make information easy to grasp.

  2. Forget the fancy vocabulary words unless they truly add important nuance to the meaning. Instead, opt for everyday words and simplicity.
  3. Aim for one idea per sentence. Sentences that attempt to convey multiple ideas require too much parsing. Break up a long, involved sentence into multiple sentences for clarity and ease.
  4. When you refer to “it” or “them” make sure that it’s clear what “it” refers to. If the most recent noun is something else, consider replacing “it” or “them” with something more specific.
  5. Aim for shorter chapters and a shorter book. Generally, you’re more likely to attract modern readers with a 200 page book than a 500 page book!

Accessibility Means Tapping into More than Mental Learning

In a recent phone conversation with a client, I pointed out that her manuscript was largely instructional. She asked me, “What’s wrong with instructional?” Nothing. However, if a work is almost all instructional, it can  wear the reader down. Pacing helps. Mix the instructional with the tips below.

[bctt tweet=”5 Ways to Help Readers Understand, Engage and Integrate” username=”LisaTener”]

  1. woman writing with voice, tone, style
    Photo by Eye for Ebony on Unsplash

    Stories help readers take in more information and integrate it.

  2. Sensory detail helps bring the material to life.
  3. Examples help readers apply abstract information more readily.
  4. Exercises and journaling help readers “own” the information and apply it to their lives.
  5. Features such as sidebars (for quotations or scientific research, for example),  tip lists, images, cartoons, QR codes that connect to video when scanned, white space and other features help break up the text (and the mental energy to process it) and provide a more textured, varied experience that’s easier on the brain.

[bctt tweet=”Let’s Define Terms: Writing Voice, Style and Tone” username=”LisaTener”]

What do we mean be your writing voice?

Lisa Tener book writing coachVoice refers to the characteristics that come through your writing: your personality, the tone and style, how you engage your readers and more. Voice is not necessarily something we can always pin down and people experience voice differently and can harbor varied opinions about a writer’s voice. So, what follows is my take on voice.

You may write with an academic voice, which tends to have complex sentences, more abstract thoughts, passive voice and a preference to certain sentence structures.

Or you may write with a more conversational voice meant for a trade audience, with shorter sentences, more active verbs, and more varied sentence structures. A conversational voice can tend to have more humor or entertainment than an academic voice (though I am generalizing here).

What do we mean by your writing style?

elements of style
Picture from the New York Times

You convey style by:

  • Choice of words
  • Sentence structure
  • Metaphor, examples and other figurative language
  • How you set up, structure and arrange sentences, paragraphs, sections, chapters, etc.

Your style may tend to be descriptive, narrative, prescriptive, or persuasive. But style is more than that. It’s

You may be familiar with the classic book by Strunk and White, The Elements of Style. In this brief and engaging book, two brilliant writers offer their years of experience and sage advice, still applicable over 50 years later.

What do we mean by an author’s tone?

Tone is your attitude to the work, how you express yourself. Is it serious? Playful? Scientific? Intellectual? Nurturing?

How do you convey tone?

  • The words and phrases you choose
  • Viewpoint (Are you writing in first person? third person?)
  • Syntax (arrangement of words and phrases)
  • How formal or informal the language (Is it conversational? academic?)

In choosing a tone, consider your audience. Not sure who your readers are? Here’s how to choose and understand your audience.

Let’s Hear From You!

modern reader
Photo by Ali Yahya on Unsplash

Please share your comments and questions below:

  • What else do you observe about modern readers, their needs and preferences?
  • What tips do you have for using voice, style and tone to engage readers?
  • Anything I left out or that you’d like to add?

 

Facing Fear, The Bird’s Eye View and New Material for Writing

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Lisa Tener
We were so caught up in climbing we didn’t take any climbing photos! So here is a photo from my first time at Fields of Fire a couple years ago.

Where was this new material coming from? I thought I’d finished my first draft.

Yet, by making—and keeping—a morning commitment, I often find myself discovering new material.

Some of it may not go in the book. Maybe it’s a blog post. Or a guest article. Or even material for a new book!

Yet, some of it is sure to make it into the book.

Yup. I Skipped Writing.

I skipped writing a couple days ago because I was sure I had no new material to write about. Then I found myself telling my friend Paula about my experiences at Fields of Fire Adventure Park the previous day—doing high ropes courses with my friend Amber and four boys ages 10 to 15.

“Your experience seems to have some powerful parallels to writing.”

Duh. If I’d just spent a few minutes recalling the previous day’s events, I may have written that morning.

But, it’s not too late. Here are my insights from ropes courses, the aerial view and zip lining.

Forget About Being Up High.

From the moment I stepped on the ladder, I stayed aware of how high up I climbed. Each time I stepped onto a new rope obstacle or feature, I became more aware of the distance from the wire, rope or plank to the ground. Not helpful.

Mid-way through my second course (Intermediate!), I forgot the height and my whole body relaxed as I gave myself over to the challenge. After all, should I fall, my harness would hold me up. No worries.

When it comes to writing, forget about what’s at stake. You’re safe. Just write. You can always use your safety net and censor yourself before you publish. Now’s the time to immerse yourself in the writing and forget how high you’re flying.

Swing, baby!

On the first beginner’s course, I tried not to let the features (planks or ropes beneath my feet) move too much. Guess what? That’s an impossible task. The features are designed to move.

When Amber suggested I just relax my body and let myself swing, during a particularly swing-y feature, I realized how fun it could be to swing. When I put my foot out to bridge from one plank to another, I could just wait until things firmed up, or use my upper body to rely on the rope I grabbed, rather than the plank beneath my feet.

Once I figured that out and let myself swing, I felt the sense of freedom of being up so high, swinging in the trees.

I had visited Fields of Fire twice before, and that lesson seemed to be about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. This time, I found more fun and freedom in the adventure.

How does swinging connect to writing? When we try to control the writing, we often stop short of our best work. Only by relaxing and letting go can we discover new insights in our writing and offer our readers the very best of ourselves.

Sit Down!

I had never gotten the hang of the zip line the other two visits. This time, I realized that, instead of jumping off the edge of the platform that surrounded the tree, I could just sit down and feel my harness hold me before I left the tree plank.

Wow, what a difference in perspective that made. Before, it always felt like stepping out off a cliff. SCARY!

This time, I felt safe before I ever started.

Writing sometimes feels unsafe, especially when writing about a traumatic experience or writing something controversial. If that’s the case, you may find yourself feeling stuck before you even start (or when you hit a tough spot).

That’s why I encourage my coaching clients and book writing course participants to develop a plan ahead of time that feels supportive. If you know you’re going to be delving into challenging material:

  1. Say a prayer or take a walk in nature before you begin.
  2. Have a plan for what you’ll do when you finish writing (a walk in nature, a phone call or time together with a supportive friend).
  3. Remember to bring your whole self to the writing and remembering, not just the part of you that went through the traumatic event.
  4. Make a list of all the supports (people, activities, etc.) you have in your life, knowing you can tap into that when you are done.
  5. Before you begin, write out your plan for before, during and after writing. That way, you know exactly what you’ll do to stay empowered, or regain your power, if the writing unnerves you.

[bctt tweet=”Inspiration for A Morning Writing Practice” username=”LisaTener”]

writing in bed
Photo by Lacie Slezak on Unsplash

Do you have a morning writing practice? Do you ever wake up and think you have nothing to write about? Here are some ways to tap into inspiration for generating new material.

  1. Recall the events of the previous day, anything from picking berries to a walk in the woods to a shell you picked up on the beach. Just write and see what insights come.
  2. Have a plan for what you’ll write, especially if you are writing a book.
  3. Write down your dreams. See if you can tie the dream to whatever you are working on at the moment, or to current events (for a blog post, for example).
  4. Go for a walk in nature and see what inspires you. Then write.

Your Turn: Share Your Insights.

What do you do when you’ve set aside time to write and the inspiration doesn’t come right away? Do you have any tips for finding new material?

Have any summer activities inspired your writing in new ways? How?

 

Writer’s Block? Maybe You’re Not Stuck at All

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Karen Barth not stuck
Karen Barth wasn’t stuck at all!

“I was really stuck last week, but now I’m not as much.”

I probed Strategic Planning Consultant Karen Barth a bit about the word “stuck” because I had a hunch she’d find herself in a similar state again, and maybe it wasn’t exactly stuck but in need of something.

As Karen put it, “If I don’t know what I’m writing. I can’t write it.”

Karen needed to do some research, get clear on the points she wanted to make and add more stories. Then she could develop a detailed outline. And, then, she could write the next chapter in her book.

Without those elements, of course she couldn’t write her chapter!

As Karen put it, “It’s like cooking a meal. I have to have all the ingredients on the counter before I start measuring and mixing.”

We decided to call this phase, “Gathering Phase” so that when it came up the next time and the next, she’d know not to label it as “stuck” but realize this perhaps uncomfortable phase of “not knowing” was just part of the process.

Are you judging some aspect of your writing process? Diagnosing it as writer’s block? Might you change your perspective and give it a new label, one that honors where you are in the process?

Feel free to share your re-frame as a comment below.

Looking for more to read? How about 7 Writing Productivity Tips or Curing Writer’s Block?

How to Keep Your Writing Momentum During the Holidays

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book proposal coach Lisa Tener, write a book proposalI originally wrote this short piece to help the writers in my mastermind group keep their writing momentum going during the holidays. I realized that it would be timely to share with the wider community.

A few ideas for making sure you keep writing while family is around and festivities abound:

  1. Be realistic. You don’t have to plan on tons of hours; just make sure you keep your momentum going. Can you write for two hours a week once or twice a week for the next couple of weeks?
  2. Schedule the time and date directly into your calendar and keep it sacred.
  3. Identify ahead of time what could deter you. Plan a way around such challenges. For instance, if you’re concerned about disturbances, plan to write from your office, the library or a cafe rather than at home.
  4. Schedule an extra time slot so that if one doesn’t work out, you can still meet your goals.
  5. Get Support: Keep your call with your accountability partner, if you have one. This last bit was for people in my class but perhaps you want to find yourself a person you can check in with to stay accountable.

That should keep your writing momentum for the holidays and beyond!

Holiday Gifts from Writers and for Writers

And if you’re still holiday shopping, consider intangible gifts. I recently took a 1″ x 1.5″  book of handmade papers and wrote a word on each page for my friend. It came to her at a very challenging time (her mother is passing away and siblings are not supportive of her). She told me this gift made such a difference. I only wrote a word on each page, describing my beloved friend. Could you do something similar? Write your loved one a poem, a playful song (which you can videotape and post on youtube for them) or something else personal. It may be the most meaningful and moving gift they receive.

Image result for market watch logoAnd for anyone looking to gift you something special, you can send them this article in Market Watch with some fun ideas, and a quote from your favorite (I hope) book coach! More gifts for writers can be found in last week’s post.

Have any suggestions for writing momentum during holidays? Please share your tips.

Have a lovely holiday and may your writing momentum–and muse–be with you!

Writing from Your Heart

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book writing coach Lisa Tener
Your book writing coach Lisa Tener

I was recently interviewed by Dawn Montefusco for her Writing from the Heart series. Not surprisingly, we found ourselves talking about writing from the head vs. the heart.

Sitting here at my computer, staring at my screen, it’s easy to drop into “head” mode. I started this blog post about writing from your heart and then realized I needed to bring more heart into it! Am I practicing what I preach?

Here are a few of my musings about writing from your heart and some tips for getting in touch with that.

There’s a Little Poet in All of Us

house fly
Photo by Armen Chlchatian on Unsplash

On the call, Dawn and I shared how we both wrote poetry as children. I can remember a sort of luminescent feeling from my childhood, awakening in our summer house on Fundy Bay, before sunrise. I’d pull the string to my light bulb (no light fixture, just a bulb) and the heat of the light bulb hatched the housefly eggs that must have been laid in the ceiling above it. A majestic and steady stream of flies emerged and buzzed about.

As the houseflies came to life, I’d reach for a notebook or blank sheet of paper and write about the previously quiet pre-dawn house, the sun as it rose over the bay painting the sky shades of pink, purple and orange, my youthful pining for love. The act of writing from my heart filled me with euphoria, no matter the topic. I could have written about the houseflies and felt high!

Nowadays, in my mind, I’ve marginalized poetry. “No one will buy that.” “You can’t write poetry.”

I repressed my own inclination towards poetry so long that when someone comes to me looking for a poetry coach, something inside me judges the value of such an activity. Where does that voice come from? I love poetry! Writing poetry provided a lifeline during my adolescence and college.

I felt so alive when I wrote poetry.

Poetry buoyed me when I worked at a draining programming job in Boston, surrounded by men who didn’t know how to relate to a female co-worker and, therefore, said things that nowadays would make a human resources director run to the legal department. I’d write poems and my feelings of anger mixed with shame about the harassment drained away.

Recently, I’ve learned to embrace poetry again–for the pure joy of writing and for the instant connection it creates with my muse. And I discovered it’s also a wonderful entry point for any writing, in order to come from a more creative and heart centered space.

The Problem With Writing From Your Head, Without Heart

sunrise write from the heart
Sunrise and sunset help me write from the heart!

When you write purely from the head, you run the risk of:

  • Running out of Steam: It’s easy to lose momentum if you don’t feel passionate about your writing and your topic. Ask yourself, “Which book should I write?” based on your objectives and your heartfelt vision.
  • Losing Your Readers: When you write from your head you’re more likely to talk at your readers instead of engaging them in the discovery process. For instance, you’ll tell them things without bringing the material to life. Ask yourself, “Am I picturing a reader as I write or am I writing to an amorphous glob of readers?” As you picture one reader, feel that heart connection as you write. It helps!
  • Writing Something Blah: When you write purely from you head, the writing can feel stilted. When you write from your heart, there’s space for the bold metaphor, playful language, rhythm and phrasing, surprise and much more!

So, how do you write from your heart?

5 Tips for Writing from Your Heart

  1. writing coach Lisa Tener
    Being in nature often makes writing from the heart natural and easy.

    Remain Curious: Be Open to not knowing everything about the writing. Sure, have a plan. That will help create a container for the movement. But then be open to change, and keep asking questions: What am I not seeing? The best writing comes from writing yourself into discovering a deeper truth or new perspective.

  2. Move: Go for a walk, dance, practice yoga, qigong or tai chi. Such movement recharges mind, body and spirit and helps you enter a state of flow. I used to walk the Cliff Walk in Newport for my inspiration or climb rocks in Narragansett. My new favorite is the beach right in my neighborhood where I can practice qigong on the shore, walk out to the point where the brackish sea nursery meets Narragansett Bay and walk in the woods–all in one walk!
  3. Tap into Your Sense of Humor and Play: Playfulness and humor invite both you and your readers into an expansive state where your hearts are engaged and your minds are more open. How to tap into playfulness? Leave your critic at the door (maybe give her a playful activity, too) and feel free to experiment and loosen up with playful writing activities: Write a few poems out in nature before writing a chapter. I sometimes write down the different sounds I hear as I sit down to write. You can also take on a persona in your writing or play with a new voice, perhaps a funny one. Do an exercise that puts you in a more open space where control just isn’t part of the equation and see if that frees you up.
  4. Be Okay with “Failure.” I don’t really mean failure here but what the ego thinks of as failure. Allow yourself the space to “get it wrong.” And also allow yourself to be vulnerable in your writing knowing that you can always edit later. If you edit while writing, your censor blocks your creativity. If you tell yourself you can delete anything before you send it to others, you give yourself permission to write things you’ve been afraid of, maybe even things you haven’t admitted to yourself. It’s a powerful process.
  5. Connect with Your Muse: Close your eyes, take a few deep belly breaths and ask within for guidance. Let go of what you think you should do (such as where to start with the day’s writing) and ask your muse what it wants you to do right now in this moment. When you’re truly present in the moment, more can happen creatively.

How do you tap into your heart’s message when you write? Please share your insights and ideas as a comment below.

 

A Cure for Most Writing Ills? Tell a Story

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tell a story

Can you tell a story?

I recently read a book proposal for a client’s book that’s been a couple of years in the making. I’m so proud of him.

He had the right instinct for his overview—telling a compelling story from the get-go. Yet, it started out dry, clinical, like many proposals I read on the first pass. I knew he could do better.

[bctt tweet=”How to Write a Compelling Anecdote” username=”LisaTener”]

I waved my magic wand on a description of his son’s remarks and—ta da—a generic description became dialogue—four simple words in double quotes. Another wave of the wand and—ta da da—the dialogue floats from the end of the paragraph to the very first line.

All right. We can hear his son’s voice from the very first sentence. We’re hooked. What next?

Tell a story
Paint a picture with your words.

I ended the brief quotation with a name and the son’s age. Let’s picture him. I suggested a few quirky details to bring this young person to life—his posture, his walk, his unusual clothing.

Now, the author can make his point. The story isn’t much more than a paragraph but it draws us in, comes alive, has its quirkiness, feels real.

Engage your reader; doing all the work for her distances her from the action. Rather than spoon feeding readers—in this case agents and acquisitions editors—a conclusion, strong writing helps readers draw their own conclusions.

[bctt tweet=”Read Memoir and Fiction to Learn to Tell a Story” username=”LisaTener”]

Anecdotes in a how-to, self-help or business book may be short, but they need vitality to resonate and keep your readers reading.

You can certainly read successful how-to and business books to find examples of well told, yet brief stories. Yet, I also encourage you to read fiction and memoir. These master storytellers can help you go deeper with your writing and have a greater impact on your readers.

The more you read, the more your subsconscious can draw upon the great writing you’ve read.

3 Creative Processes to Inspire a Powerful Story

The following creative tools can help you tell a story in a dynamic way:

Metaphor: In one of my favorite posts of all time, When You’re Sad You Make a Rainbow and Other Writing Secrets, I share how my son’s stream-of-consciousness metaphor can teach us how to discover metaphors and symbols that heighten our writing. And, yes, I tell a story.

Dreams: In this interview, dream expert Kari Hohne teaches us how to access our 24 hour mind for writing and inspiration, particularly through our dreams.

Creative Visualization: If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll be familiar with my “Meet Your Muse” exercise to access your creative source for answers to your book writing questions. Ask your muse for a metaphor, a story, a description, how to start with a person you know and bring them to life on the page. You can access your muse through this free creative visualization for writers.

What are your favorite tools to make your writing vibrant and real for your readers?

 

4 Quick Summer Writing Tips

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writing coach Lisa Tener
Your writing coach

Looking for a few summer writing tips? If you’re anything like me, you’re spending time outdoors – reading a juicy novel in a hammock while the birds chirp around you, tching up with friends on a walk around the neighborhood, dancing under the stars. Summer is such a glorious time of year.

So, how do you make it work for you when it comes to your writing?

[bctt tweet=”4 Quick Summer Writing Tips ” username=”LisaTener”]

 

  1. Schedule your summer writing time. It’s easy for summer to roll on by rather quickly. As I mentioned last week, when you schedule the writing time–and keep it sacred–you’ll be sure to capture some of that time for your writing.
  2. Capitalize on the inspiration and harmony of nature. Write for 20 minutes before reading in your hammock. Or write after a work or berry picking, when your mind is in a relaxed, or even meditative, state. Time in nature is a huge creativity boost.
  3. Capture experiences right away. You may not have time for hours of writing, but you can at least capture an anecdote, such as an inspiring example of a principle you teach in your book. Jot it down while it’s fresh in your mind.
  4. Tap into community for summer writing. It’s easy to get caught up in summer activities and forget about writing. Make a commitment with a friend to keep focused and accountable. Set up a regular summer writing date (weekly or monthly), where you sit on the porch in the shade (or sun) and write in your journals or laptops.

Hey, it’s summer. I won’t belabor these writing productivity ideas. Go enjoy yourself. And write!

Feel free to share your wonderful summer writing tips as a comment below!

 

Should I Edit as I Write? Plow Ahead? Help!

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Book Writing Coach Lisa Tener
Book Writing Coach Lisa Tener

“Should I edit as I write?”

“Should I really write a crummy first draft? It feels so raw and uncomfortable.”

“I keep finding myself wordsmithing and then I get so little writing done. Is that okay?”

There is a difference between writing and editing.

The short answer is that everyone finds what works for them, and you’ll need to experiment and see what works for you.

Generally, I do encourage emerging authors to write a rough first draft and edit later. There’s a freedom and power to getting it all down and then working with the raw material. However, not always. Here are my…

[bctt tweet=”Rules for When to Edit—and Polish—as You Write” username=”LisaTener”]

  1. You’re not sure whether what you’re doing is working. If you have doubts about the book—whether your doubts are about the content, tone, structure or something else, it can be important to get feedback early on. Ask someone in your target audience what they like and what doesn’t work for them. Where do they confused or bored? What do they want more of? Ask an open ended question as well, such as, “What other feedback do you have?”

  2. edit as I write?
    Should I edit as I write?

    You’re writing a book proposal. Write a rough first draft of your sample chapter(s). Then, rather than writing the whole book, focus on polishing those one or two chapters for the proposal. Your agent or publisher may have changes to the book, so it will save you time not to write the whole thing in case there are dramatic changes in the book concept.

  3. Your gut tells you to polish each chapter before moving on. I’m a big believer in each of us having internal processes that work for us. If it really works for you to fine tune as you go, listen to your intuition. However, check in and see if it’s really your intuition speaking and reassess to make sure your strategy is working.

If none of the three above apply, try writing rough drafts and keep moving. It will give you such momentum and freedom to get it down in draft form and later go back to perfect.

If you are editing, you may enjoy this post with 7 Quick Writing Tips, and this post with additional editing tips for tightening your writing.

 

The Writing Effect: How Writing Well Improves Your Life and Vice Versa

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Writing Well and Living Well

On a radio interview with Lorraine Giordano the other day, Lorraine and I grew especially excited as we explored how learning to write well enhances your life and how living well improves your writing. In fact, it was my first radio interview standing up the whole time!

inspiration for writing on the beach

I often see my clients grow as they write. Sure, some may expect such results to some degree, anticipating that they will gain confidence, feel empowered and learn new things as they write their books. Even with such expectations they are often surprised by additional benefits from writing well.

Writing Will Challenge You

Whatever your topic, you’ll probably get to put into practice whatever you’re teaching, go deeper with it and continue to grow in your awareness, knowledge and wisdom of the topic. You’ll likely be challenged by it during your time writing. My first book was about anger and, sure enough, during a planned seaside writing retreat, our project almost ended due to anger, resentment and not feeling understood. My co-author showed up late and I felt so angry. Then she pointed out that she had expressed her desire to not put anymore work into our book until we got a publishing contract. She’d felt I’d run roughshod over her and pushed for something that she didn’t really want to do, which was true. I hadn’t heard her when she’d expressed her needs a few weeks earlier. I felt so justified in my anger, so rigid in my body, until I heard her side of the story and my heart softened with understanding.

Not only did we get to put into practice the tools we were writing about for identifying underlying anger, recognizing the source of our anger and using the awareness to communicate in health ways; we also developed a creative ritual for getting into the flow to work on our book together. Throughout the project, and especially when it was time to promote the book, we enjoyed more opportunities to put our own advice into practice! Of course, this helped us remember what our readers were going through, and kept us close to their experience and needs.

Challenges related to your topic also help you continue to evolve in your expertise. If you’re writing about meditation, perhaps you’ll suddenly stop meditating and need to revive the habit. If you’re writing about healthy eating habits, prepare for cravings for fries, burgers, pistachio ice cream or fill-in-your-weaknes-here. Opportunity knocks.

You’ll Need Support When You Get Stuck

There are times the writing flows. Then a challenge comes along. You may feel stuck. It’s often part of the process. The temporary breakdown offers opportunities to shift something. As Lorraine pointed out in our interview, it’s important to be ready for that so you don’t just put your book aside. Have supportive people in your life you know you can turn to (a friend, mentor, coach, or editor). Have a plan to reach out for support if you get stuck or challenged. Trust that these challenges truly are opportunities in disguise. By resolving them, you’ll write a better book.

How Writing Well and Living Fully Reinforce Each Other

Writing well makes you more fully alive!
Writing well makes you more fully alive!

On our call, Lorraine asked me how the advice “show; don’t tell” relates to life—whether or not you are writing a book.

My answer? When telling, we’re not present with feelings or emotion, we’re not connected to what we’re writing about, and we’re not making it come alive for our readers or ourselves. Telling is rote, we become the distant observer.

When you “show” with your writing, you bring it to life. To do that you can ask yourself:

  • How did it feel in my body?
  • What was going on?
  • What are the things I noticed about my experience?
  • How did the scene unfold?
  • What to I observe about the person speaking to me?
  • And my reaction to that person?

When you delve into those details, the writing comes alive for you and your readers. Your writer imagines the salty spray of the surf, or the warming sun on her face. You provide a living experience and not just words.

Writing well is about being in the moment and entering the memory or experience. If we’re present and embody the moment, if we immerse ourselves in the writing, the writing has this powerful emotional content and presence.

womb happy hour radioLife is similar: The more we allow ourselves to be present, aware of all our senses, what’s going on in and around us,  the more we are fully alive.

Writing well makes us more vibrant beings. Being a vibrant being, present and fully alive, makes us better writers.

Thanks to Lorraine Giordano who asked the wonderful question “How Show Vs. Tell ReLates to Life even if you’re not writing a book?” on her radio show The Womb Happy Hour, which sparked this post! You can listen to our full interview, where we delved into writing, creativity, books and more.

Writing, Publishing and Platform-Building Tips from #Harvardwriters2017

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writers at the harvard medical publishing course
Dr. James Zender; Alan Rozanski, MD; Lisa Tener, MS; Candyce Ossefort-Russell, LPC-S

It’s a high moment.
We sit around the oak table in the Oak Room in Boston’s Fairmont Hotel, Copley Square. Harvard Medical School’s CME writing and publishing course has just ended and the air seems charged with enthusiasm and insights.
I am with three clients—Dr. James Zender, expert in auto accident recovery; and two participants in my Bring Your Book to Life® Program, grief expert Candyce Ossefort-Russell and Alan Rozanski, MD, pioneer of Behavioral Cardiology and author of over 200 academic articles and research studies.
We share the takeaways, the shifts, the new ideas.
We brainstorm on the structure of Alan’s book. Alan could write a dozen books and still have more research to share. His challenge? To pare it down to the one theme of this book, yet give readers all the tools they need to implement—and stick with—the health strategies he offers.
James shares the new platform-building initiatives he is planning after speaking with an interested agent.

With Candyce Ossefort-Russell at Harvard Medical school publishing course

Candyce shares how she’d been working on her book on and off for five years until the aha moment swimming at the Y when she realized that if she died that day her only regret would be not having written and published her grief book.

If you missed the course, I hope to share a few insights during the next few days. Today, Candyce, Alan and James offer their takeaways:
Alan Rozanski, MD found himself inspired, “to be among a sea of like-minded individuals in  the health field.”  Alan returns home clearer on “the need to build a platform and develop a strategy for developing a social media presence.” He now plans to develop both a website and blog. His takeaways:
  •  “It’s important to put yourself in a situation where you need to pitch your book. It helps you refine the idea.”
  • “I learned from Rusty Shelton that a website needs to gives visitors a clear action step. I’m now working on a short ebook that helps readers assess and improve their current vitality.”
  • “I realized how important it is to connect with people in the book industry in order to develop an action plan for success. In addition to my book coach, Lisa Tener, there were agents, publishers, a publicist and many types of editors. Just from my 70 second pitch, an agent requested to see my proposal when it’s done.”
Candyce Ossefort-Russell shared this:
  • “I learned from Dr. Julie Silver that I need to be able to describe my book in one sentence. This challenge forced me to become extremely clear in my own mind about what I’m writing about, which makes my book writing more focused; and having this powerful sentence makes it much easier to share with anyone what my book is about.”
  • “Rusty Shelton made it clear that social media is not just about numbers. It can be used to build relationships with people I find interesting. Kristin Meekhof expanded on this idea by saying she used gentleness and gratitude to build her online relationships. The idea of building relationships with gentleness and gratitude makes the whole prospect of building my platform a positive challenge instead of a necessary evil.”
  • “Kindra Hall presented a novel way to think about anecdotes. The typical writing advice is to show instead of tell. By giving us the storytelling basic formula of Normal ->Explosion -> New Normal made the idea of showing come alive in a new way.”
Dr. James Zender’s favorite tips:
  • “Our brains are wired to connect to stories so the best lectures and writing utilize that structure. Easy to say and easy to forget, but critical to drawing in readers.”
  • “With the extreme highs and lows one can experience writing a book and book proposal, having a book coach can be a better mood stabilizer than Lexapro!”
I first met Dr. Zender at the conference two years ago. In addition to working together on his book proposal, he has been working assidously on his platform as an author. He developed a new website for auto accident survivors and other audiences, became a blogger for Psychology Today (publishing 18 posts, half  of which were featured as “essential reads”), developed a lecture series, keynoted at a conference and spoke at several others, applied to speak at several other national and international conferences, and was interviewed for a series of podcasts by McGraw Hill’s Professional Insights Blog.
If you attended the course for the first time this year, let Dr. Zender be an inspiration to you. List your planned activities for the year. Prioritize them. Implement them. Check them off. From building a website to blogging to writing a book proposal, you can do it!
But you can’t do it all at once. Make a plan that’s do-able. Figure out what you’ll give up to make the time for this. Schedule specific times to work on your book, proposal and platform, each individually.
Course attendees: Share your takeaways and aha moments!
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