I’m sure most of you remember the story of the little engine who said “I think I can.” Do you also remember that the phrase “I think I can” changed at the end of the story to “I know I can?”
There is so much truth in those words. If we think we can accomplish something, we’ll have a much better chance of meeting that goal than if we constantly tell ourselves we can’t. This might sound like simple knowledge, but if so, how come so many of us forget it?
How many times have we said, “I’m just too busy to write.” Or “There’s no way I can finish a book in a month. That’s impossible!” (If you haven’t read my article last month on How to Write a Book in a Month, you may want to check it out.)
What I’m getting at here, is that we all need to set goals in our writing career, and then we need to believe we can accomplish them. By the use of meditation, visualization, and affirmations, I’m going to hopefully get everyone on the right track—the same track that little engine was on with his/her positive thinking. Try these easy steps and see if they work for you.
Meditate daily.
Don’t sit down at the computer until you’re in the right frame of mind.
Clear your mind before you even turn that computer on. What I like to do is light a candle, kick off my shoes and get comfortable, and quiet my mind of my own life worries and events before I try to create the life of my characters.
I like it silent when I meditate, but you may want to put on some soft relaxing music in the background that is instrumental only. You don’t want a top hit that you know the words to, or you’re mind will be repeating the lyrics, taking your concentration away.
Stare at the candle’s flame and try to clear your mind of any thoughts. (Silence the phone before you start.) Take a deep breath in, hold it, and then exhale and release any tension slowly. Remember to breathe from your stomach, not your chest.
By bringing in the energy around you, you are also bringing creativity to your mind. I believe there is a universal consciousness of ideas floating around somewhere up above our heads. All we need to do is reach out and get one, but in order to do that, we have to be a clear enough channel to let the idea flow through us. By exhaling the stress or worries within you, you are releasing your unwanted baggage to the universe and freeing up your thoughts. Try to do this for at least ten minutes every day before writing, and before you know it, you’ll feel lighter and stress free, with ideas flowing freely.
Use affirmations.
Now that you’re basically relaxed, you can use your affirmations to put your mind in a positive state and to give yourself the confidence you need to write a good story. Affirmations will be different for everyone. Make up one or more that are right for you. It may be, “I am a productive, creative writer, and I meet my deadlines easily.” Or perhaps it’s something like, “Ideas come to me in abundance, and I use them proficiently in my novels.” Or go hog wild, and for those of you who are patiently waiting for ‘the call’ you may want to say, “I am a published author. I am a published author.”
If your subconscious hears it enough, it’ll believe it and eventually manifest it into your life. We attract to ourselves what we think. So do choose your thoughts carefully. They can work in a positive manner as well as in a negative way. After all, haven’t we seen the exact thing happen in reverse when we keep telling ourselves, “I’ll never get this book done,” or “I don’t have any time to write.” Or the biggest one – “This story I’m writing really stinks.”
Use your own name to personalize your affirmation even further. You can even look in the mirror as you say it. “Victoria, you are a genius. You have written another winner!”
Set your goal.
Most people either set no goals at all, or give themselves ridiculous ones that are far out of reach. Make sure to set a realistic goal, no matter how small, for each day as well as long term ones.
If you set your goal and it’s to write an entire novel in one day, you may have a hard time feeling good about yourself when you realize you didn’t meet that goal. But if you say you’re going to write ten pages a day, or perhaps a chapter, then you’ll be elated when you actually accomplish it.
I think there are progressive steps to everything, and we need to use these steps to bring us to the ‘bigger picture.’ If you write one chapter a day, before you know it, you’ve met your goal to complete a novel, and you’ve manifested your long-term dream. You may not sell to a large house on the first shot, but what’s wrong with selling an article or short story, then maybe an e-book, or a print on demand? All these things are stepping stones to bring you closer to the big sale. So keep focused on your goal and keep visualizing where you want to end up, but be patient with yourself and thankful for what you have in the meantime. After all, happiness isn’t found only at the end of the destination, but actually all along the way.
You are what you think
If you feel like a failure all the time, then you will definitely fail. But the only thing you will have really failed at, is believing in yourself. If you have pride in what you do, and learn from every experience along the way, then it doesn’t matter what happens. What does matter is your attitude toward it. Know that you did your best, and if it doesn’t get you where you want to be, then don’t give up, but rather learn from the experience and do even better next time. What you put into your mind, you get back out. As the old saying goes, garbage in, garbage out. So put good thoughts about yourself in your head, and love yourself for who you are. Know you are a special person who is imaginative and very successful, and you will be.
Visualize your characters
There is so much you can visualize. While meditating, think of your characters one at a time. But when you do, don’t have preconceived ideas. Let your imagination create, and just sit back and watch.
After clearing your mind for about ten minutes, bring the thought of, let’s say your hero, to mind briefly. You may not even know his name, but just by turning your attention inwards, a name will most likely pop into your head, telling you what it should be. The same thing works for his features. Just watch the blank screen in front of your closed eyes and be open to any ideas. Push aside the preconceived ideas and let your character create himself before your very (closed) eyes.
This works also for things like his occupation, his hang-ups and his goals in life. All you need to do is listen (inwardly) and watch (with your eyes closed) and before you know it, your characters have created themselves.
If this doesn’t work easily at first, then feel free to give your visualization a jump start. Let’s say you know your hero lives in the South by the ocean. You can visualize some hot sun and maybe a few palm trees on an open beach. Then when your hero appears, follow him in your mind and see where he lives.
If you’re really having trouble with this, you may even want another little boost by putting on a CD in the background of ocean waves and seagulls.
So next time you sit down to write, remember the steps. Meditation. Affirmations. And last but not least, Visualization. Try this, and let your characters come to you and write the story themselves. If you can tune out your own thoughts and tune in to theirs, you will never have writers’ block again.
Elizabeth Rose
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