by jenn on February 18, 2010
in Writing
I’m ever so slowly emerging from my writer-hermit-mode. At least to catch my breath before the home stretch next month. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It sure helps that the cherry blossoms are blooming, daffodils have sprung up, and cala lilies are unfurling. My winter hibernation is making way for the bright aliveness of spring.
Last week I printed out the draft of my manuscript. It was pretty amazing to just see the stack of pages! And it’s been really cool to see the Right-Brain Business Plan e-Course participants engaging with the materials and exercises. They’re doing such awesome work planning and playing!
The book continues to take shape. I’ve started receiving pictures and packages of awesome creative Right-Brain Business Plans to feature (by the way if you have one you’d like me to consider, please let me know!). And this week I met with my dear friend and fabulous designer Kate Prentiss to start brainstorming about the cool illustrations. (As we enjoyed yummy treats at Bittersweet she scribbled the adorable note above in honor of our Year of the Tiger – which is already off to a great start!).
While I never want to run a marathon, I definitely feel like this writing journey demands a similar type of focus, commitment, and endurance. After I pass one milestone, there’s another around the corner… I’ll just continue putting one foot in front of the other…
Isn’t it funny how the gremlins get louder the closer we move toward our big dreams? For weeks and weeks, I’ve been diligently plugging away at my manuscript, but now that I’m preparing to have colleagues review it and give feedback, the Inner Critic kicked into overdrive.
Productivity came to a halt. I dug my heels in. I started to stall on sending out certain e-mail requests, I avoided reading sections of my manuscript (let’s not even talk about looking at the whole thing in its entirety!), and I kept myself in the dark about what the timing of my next steps needed to be. These are a few of my gremlin’s many sneaky tactics to keeping things status quo.
Recognizing the gremlin’s grip, I began taking little steps forward. I drafted up the e-mails that I needed to send out. I printed out documents that I had not been wanting to deal with. I got more Post-it Notes and mapped out the dates of key milestones leading up to my deadline. I swear, it’s these tiniest of actions that get my mind off of the gremlin talk and on to the bigger vision. There is still plenty more to do and I’m still noticing resistance. But, I know if I keep making these micromovements I’ll maintain momentum. And it sure helps having awesome, supportive people in my life and an amazing book coach to keep me focused on the positive. So take that, gremlins!!
How does your Inner Critic try to sabotage your progress? What are the ways you keep your gremlins at bay?
Just like there was a time when I didn’t think of myself as an artist, an entrepreneur, a good coach, or a leader, I had blocks around calling myself a writer or, dare I say it … an author. Over the years, I’ve stepped more fully and confidently into each of these roles and own that I am all of them and more. And now, I’m super excited to share that I’m going to be a published author! I just signed a contract with the awesome and inspiring New World Library – publisher of many of my favorite books. The Right-Brain Business Plan will come out in early 2011. It will take you through a creative, visual process for planning your business and will include full-color photos of featured Right-Brain Business Plans and fun illustrated “playsheets.” I am absolutely thrilled!!! Yahoo!
I remember about ten years ago, I was in my first coach’s living room brainstorming my life plan with her. I declared that I would love to write a book some day. I had no idea what it would be about nor did I even consider myself a writer. I just knew it was something I eventually wanted to do. I thought that it might be about business or organizational change (my interest at the time) but my coach had an inkling it would be something creative. Well, it turns out we were both right given that I’m writing a book about creative entrepreneurship!
It’s been an interesting journey so far. The creative and visual methods I’m writing about have served as important tools for manifesting this dream. In January of 2007, I mocked up the back cover of the book I was thinking of writing. Having a prototype helped to inspire me and connect me with my vision. The crazy thing was that in less than 24 hours after I had the idea to do the book cover, I got an e-mail from author Caitlin Friedman asking me if I wanted to be interviewed for their next Girl’s Guide book about careers! That was my first taste of being in print.
Later on in 2007, I started working with my fabulous book coach Jan King, but soon got sidetracked by other projects. Seeing Jan again at the 2008 eWomen Network conference in Dallas reignited my passion for pursuing the book and I flew home journaling about how I was ready to be an author. I set a goal to attend the Book Expo with Jan the following year. I plugged away at the book and even attended a writer’s retreat earlier this year.
In May of 2009, I headed out to New York for BEA with a proposal and sell sheet in hand (for a totally different book idea, mind you – it’ll just be my next one, heehee!). At the last minute I decided to create a sell sheet for my Right-Brain Business Plan idea, too, and I’m glad I did as that’s the one that consistently generated the most interest from the publishers I met. When I got back, I put together a proposal and sample chapters for the Right-Brain Business Plan and sent it out. I received my first rejection letter the following week. It sure stung even though I knew it came with the territory.
During the months of waiting to hear back from publishers, I took SARK’s Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper workshop. I loved crafting my writer’s wo-manifesto in the class. And as one of my micromovements, I updated my “I’m a published author” vision board on my iPhone (thanks to the fabulous Carla White’s Vision Board app). I included photos of my sell sheet, writer’s wo-manifesto, and me with some of my favorite writers, plus some affirmations. This kept me motivated and inspired.
After all that waiting and waiting, I was super excited to get the call from my publisher the other month with the good news and I’m psyched to finally make the official announcement! I still have plenty of work ahead of me to finish the manuscript and pull together all of the artwork. Luckily I have so many wonderful people supporting me and I’m extremely grateful to have all of their help and encouragement. I’ve been getting a kick out of the many virtual happy dances I’ve been doing with everyone to celebrate!
This is an exciting new chapter in my life and business and I look forward to how the story continues to unfold.
OMG, that’s me with the wild and succulent woman herself, SARK!
This afternoon, I joined about 70 other creative souls in a packed room at the Hayward Library to participate in SARK’s Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper workshop. What a treat to meet SARK in-person and experience her vibrant creative energy and warm spirit. She had me in stitches as she shared one hilarious and fantastical story after another. And when I wasn’t laughing my ass off I was nearly in tears, touched by her heartwarming tales. The afternoon was filled with one delicious morsel of inspiration after another. A few of the SARK-isms I’m savoring include:
- “Delight yourself first and others will be delighted.”
- “Action comes before inspiration. Inspiration comes from the actual doing of anything.”
- Ask yourself, “How well are you loving yourself today?”
I also appreciated learning how SARK honors her introversion. As a fellow introvert, it’s comforting to know that someone who is so successful and in the spotlight has found ways to balance her energy through honing her extroverted skills (she’s a riveting presenter and her energy lights up a room) and protecting her need to be alone and to not be busy all the time. It was also good to hear directly from her how she can get distracted from her writing, but how she keeps her momentum through micromovements. Last year, I did an Art Every Day Month post with the page of reasons why I don’t feel like writing from the Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper book.
One of the activities SARK had us do was to craft our own writer’s manifesto. Here’s what I came up with:
We also filled in some micromovement wheels to help us find delightful, do-able actions that we could complete in just 5 seconds to 5 minutes. I’ve already accomplished two. The publisher catalogs from my trip to BEA are now stacked in a neat pile instead of strewn across the floor unintentionally acting as a makeshift pillow for Emmett’s head. Also, I added to my new “I am a published author” vision board on my Vision Board iPhone app. I included the photo of SARK and me and my writer’s wo-manifesto. Woohoo for accomplishing a few steps toward my creative dreams today!
And here I am with my friend the inspirational Laurel Bleadon-Maffei who was there assisting along with her wonderful husband Wes. My other creative buddies Chris Zydel and Michelle Favreault participated in the workshop, too! It made the day even juicier to be surrounded by these wonderful women.
If you haven’t checked out Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper yet, I encourage you to give it a whirl. It’s fun, inspiring and practical. Also, I signed up for the e-course Juicy Journaling with SARK: A nourishing adventure to start your day off write.
When I ask myself the juicy question, “How well have I loved myself today?” my answer is “pretty darn well.” I chose to say yes to being in creative community with likeminded spirits, I chose to honor my creative dreams by taking some micromovements, I delighted in affirming my creative gifts as writer/artist and last but not least I laughed my ass off. 
