What Writing About Personal Experience Teaches

What Writing About Personal Experience Teaches

by | Feb 1, 2021 | Guest Blog, Writing | 0 comments

What Writing About Personal Experience Teaches

By Writing Gym Alumnae Sonee Singh

I have been in the Writing Gym for eight months and it has transformed the way I write. The program has pushed me to expand and explore my writing in unexpected ways. I am in the midst of editing a women’s fiction novel, yet I have realized there is value in writing about my personal experiences.

I enjoy writing fiction, because it allows me to explore the unfamiliar. I write characters unlike myself and have them participate in activities I would not normally engage in. However, fiction also allows me to explore the familiar. I write about traits within me or people I know, give my characters my hobbies or interests, and place them in settings I have visited. I give a voice to the experiences in my life under the cover of made-up scenes.

Salons are an integral part of the Writing Gym experience. In these salons, Annalisa Parent, who runs the Writing Gym, provides us a writing prompt and gives us 20 minutes to write non-stop. We take turns sharing our writing and providing feedback in a way that highlights strengths in our pieces.

Salons have helped me gain confidence as a writer, discover skills in my writing that I didn’t know were in me, and build a supportive bond with my fellow writers.

A couple of weeks ago, Annalisa did something unexpected, and asked us to write about a personal experience. I panicked. When I have written about myself in the past, no one knew. Now they would and it made me feel naked. Salons are safe environments, but I felt exposed.

It’s natural to feel vulnerable. When we share our personal stories, we open ourselves to criticism. It shouldn’t matter what other people think. After all, writing is something we do for ourselves. Still, we need to get over the fear of judgment, and that takes courage. It can be freeing and empowering.

Writing about our experiences forces us to look within.

This can lead us to recall the positive and joyful moments, but anytime we peer into the recesses of our past, we also run the risk of finding buried hurts, shunned memories, or dulled pain. It exposes that which we never intended to see the light. It exposes what we have lived through, and what we have survived.

There is a benefit in that. It allows us to accept what happened to us– good and bad.

We can’t change our history, but we don’t have to hold on to it.

Accepting the past helps us heal. It helps us release. It allows us to let go of the experience, let go of what it holds within us, and let go of the emotions that we attached to it. In bringing the past to light, it ceases to fester, diminishing its significance.

It is not about exposing ourselves. It is about unburdening. It is about the catharsis. And that has another consequence. Sharing is authentic. Sharing gives a voice to our experiences, and it makes our writing unique. It makes us relatable. It also allows us to feel lighter. At least it has done for me. After the salon where I shared my story, I felt oddly liberated, and it brought a smile to my face. It opened up something for me– a sense of ease I hadn’t felt before. I was motivated to do more.

I encourage everyone to be open to writing about personal experiences. It may result in a pleasant surprise.

While in the Writing Gym, not only has Sonee revised her women’s fiction to publishable, she has also published two poetry anthologies.
Want to know how you can get the same results?

This Simple But Effective Practice Will Drastically Improve Your Writing

This Simple But Effective Practice Will Drastically Improve Your Writing

by | Jan 6, 2021 | How to Write a Novel, Writing | 0 comments

This Simple But Effective Practice Will Drastically Improve Your Writing

 

Have you been dealing with surges of overpowering emotion?

In a single day, do you feel like you experience the full range of human feeling, from anger to sadness to fear to love to joy?

Many of us are experiencing new and more powerful emotions than ever before. At times, this can feel quite overwhelming, because we haven’t been taught how to deal with so many emotions at once.

As a writer, you have an edge. Writing is the perfect medium to release your crazy, pent-up feelings. 

There’s even more good news for writers: strong emotions are a gift for your writing that will benefit you for years to come, as long as you don’t ignore them.

That’s why I want to give you a tip I usually reserve for the writers over in the Writing Gym. These are crazy times, and I want to make sure you have all the tools you need to not only get through, but come out a better writer.

Here is a simple practice to capture and channel strong emotions through your writing:

  1. Strong emotions are usually felt somewhere in the body. When feelings of fear, anger, or uncertainty arise, take a moment and close your eyes, focus on where you feel it in your body, and think about exactly how this emotion feels. 
  2. Ask yourself: Is it a sharp pain? A fluttery lightness? A dull aching? A pressing heaviness? Like the writer you are, think about the words you would use to describe what you feel. 
  3. Open your eyes and write it all down. Save it in a notebook or a file on your computer, and be sure to label what the emotion is. 

Not only will you feel better after releasing the emotion through your body and writing, but this will pay off in your future writing projects. Maybe five years from now, you’ll have a character who’s feeling something powerful, and you’ll have an example on how to describe any given feeling. 

You’ve been given the gift of emotional authenticity to add to your writing–take advantage of it. 

I’d love to hear if this strategy works for you. If you want to discuss more, I’ve set aside time in my calendar. Let’s chat. 

How Top Writers Are Using Quarantine To Publish

How Top Writers Are Using Quarantine To Publish

by | Dec 8, 2020 | How to Write a Novel, Writing | 0 comments

How Top Writers Are Using Quarantine To Publish

 

As you know, we are currently dealing with an international health crisis.

People experience a variety of feelings about this. Denial, stress, anger, fear, and panic–all of the natural feelings humans experience when faced with a crisis. 

However, here in the Writing Gym we are all about being real and having real solutions. 

I’ve been working with writers for a long time, and one of the most popular statements I hear from writers all over the world is this: “I wish I had the time to write.”

Here’s a new spin: you have been given the gift of time. What writers have always wished for is here. Use this time that you have been given to write.

But how? 

Perhaps you can find 15 minutes in the morning, or after the kids go to bed, to jot down some of your ideas.

Think about it. 15 minutes?

You could write at least 2 pages. If this goes on for a couple of weeks, you’re gonna have several chapters done by time we are out of our homes, embracing one another and socializing in person once again. 

Please use this time wisely. It’s a real gift to write. 

I’d like to give you a tip I usually save for the Writing Gym members. We are in a special time right now, and I want to be here for you. 

When you’re in a moment of strong emotions, like fear, anxiety, or anger, write it down. Write exactly what you’re feeling. Write it all down, and then save it in a notebook or a file on your computer. Title it “uncertainty,” “fear,” or whatever emotion you were feeling.

You’re creating for yourself a bank that you can go back to. 

Maybe 5 years from now, you’ve got a character who’s feeling uncertain, but you’re not sure how to convey emotional authenticity into your piece. Well, you’ve created a bank for yourself where you can access a distant memory of that emotion. 

At the Writing Gym, we always want to reframe things positively. Let me reiterate.

You’ve been given the time to write and you’ve been given the gift of emotional authenticity to really add to your writing. 

Until next time. Happy writing. 

If you’re serious about using quarantine to write and publish a book, drop yourself into my calendar for a chat. 

Five Fast Facts About the Writing Gym

Five Fast Facts About the Writing Gym

by | Nov 3, 2020 | Uncategorized, Writing | 0 comments

Five Fast Facts About the Writing Gym

Have you ever considered joining a writing program, but you’re not sure what it’s really like?

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the things that happen in our program, the Writing Gym:

      1. One of the first writers to publish through the Writing Gym now offers retreats based on her book of inspirational poems.
      2. Writing Gym members get access to frequent guest sessions with NYT bestselling authors, top editors, and literary agents.
      3. We’ve had members from the US, India, Australia, and England.
      4. Each May, our writers attend a writing-intensive retreat to a manor house on the coast of England. This year we had an amazing virtual retreat!
      5. One of our writers has received two full manuscript requests from two of the top agencies, including an undisclosed Hollywood opportunity. 

Here’s what some of our writers have to say about the Writing Gym:

Lauren:

“The Writing Gym provides authors with knowledgeable, insider industry information, knowledgeable feedback and a true understanding of how the writing process works so that you can be your best writer.”

Jeanne:

“Having a group of people to work with, sometimes feels like a competition. Like, ‘How many people got the most rejection letters today?’ We joke about these things and it helps to take the sting out of our own personal rejections.”

“Especially because you know your fellow Writing Gym members are so talented, so it really helps to know you’re going through the same things as other very good writers.”

Barbara:

“[The Writing Gym] made me believe that I could be a novelist, and actually complete a book which I hadn’t done in the past.” 

Our writers love the Writing Gym and have found great success. Will you be next?

If you’re serious about publishing in 2020, let’s chat. Drop yourself into our calendar here to talk to a member of our team and learn more about our program. 

Until next time. Happy writing.

How To Overcome Self Doubt and Get Published

How To Overcome Self Doubt and Get Published

by | Oct 22, 2020 | How to Publish, Overcome Writer's Block, Uncategorized, Why is publishing so hard? | 0 comments

How to Overcome Self Doubt and Get Published

 

Today, I want to talk about an extraordinary Writing Gym member, Lauren.

I met Lauren at a writing conference. She had been working on a novel for years, but was caught in destructive circles of doubt that prevented her from finishing. At times, these negative feelings were so overwhelming, sitting down at the keyboard felt impossible. 

Weeks would go by where Lauren didn’t touch her writing at all.

“I was afraid of my own writing at times,” she told me. “I felt like I was walking down a dark hallway without a flashlight. I had this story that I wanted to tell really, really badly, but I didn’t know how to do it. And I was scared of doing it wrong.”

Like many serious writers, Lauren was determined to overcome this fear so she could pursue her writing career. She tried various DIY solutions: she read what felt like a zillion articles and books on writing, and even tried a different writing program, but nothing seemed to reach the core of the problem. She received conflicting feedback, which left her more confused.

As you can imagine, this led to more negative emotions, which inhibited her writing even further.

“I was worrying myself to death, I was really getting in my own way and was really frustrated.”

Lauren and I touched base a few times in the years after that conference. Every time we did, she would tell me about her latest efforts: writing classes, books on writing, writing conferences. Each time, she hoped to find a solution to her writing problems. Yet months later, on our next call, Lauren was still stuck.

All that changed when Lauren decided to enroll in the Writing Gym. 

She began working through our instructive modules, which armed her with a new arsenal of writing techniques. She met weekly with our personal trainer, Gretchen, who helped Lauren restructure her mental approach towards writing. I met with her weekly, took a close look at her writing, and gave her personalized feedback.

That wasn’t the only support she got. The weekly salons in the Writing Gym “transformed my writing,” Lauren says.

Salons are weekly writing workshops we hold among our Gym Rats, in which we spend an hour writing together in a supportive, fun, productive environment. Using neuroscientific principles, this activity rewires the brain to overcome the inner critic, and fall into creative flow.

 

Lauren’s summary of the value of her experience in the Writing Gym:

“The Writing Gym provides authors with knowledgeable, insider industry information, knowledgeable feedback and a true understanding of how the writing process works so that you can be your best writer.”

The secret to Lauren’s final breakthrough was the robust combination of encouragement and the means to discover HER best writer. She quickly transformed from a reluctant, self-doubting writer to a prolific and confident author.

After a few months, Lauren said: 

“I didn’t realize the Writing Gym was going to so thoroughly revolutionize the way that I write. I don’t want to say that I didn’t love writing already, but the Writing Gym has made it so much more enjoyable to write. I didn’t expect that. I thought that writing is always scary and it’s always going to be scary. I had no idea that the Writing Gym would help me to get really, truly excited about writing again.” 

Lauren’s new attitude and approach to writing brought quick success. With her true creativity unlocked, she began to produce original, inspired work, and publishers took notice. Here are the results she began to see:

  • Lauren had a short story published in an anthology just months after joining the Writing Gym.
  • Lauren won a writing contest and her story is now featured on Alexa device.

Like many writers, Lauren had always had talent and originality, but it was buried under her own limiting beliefs. Tragically, many writers don’t take the steps Lauren did to shed these beliefs, and unlock their greatest writer. Neither themselves, nor the world, will get to witness their full creative potential.

Lauren says her only regret is not joining the Writing Gym sooner.

 

“If there was a way for me to tiptoe back in time to when I met you two years ago, I would show myself the reel of all the needless trouble I put myself through. That’s what it was–two years of pointless turmoil, when what I really needed was already right there. I just didn’t realize it. I wish I could condense the two years between then and now.”

If you resonate with Lauren’s story, and you know that you possess deep creative potential, we can help you bring it to the surface.

A word of caution: this is only for serious writers, writers who are tired of solutions that don’t get them where they want to be, and are ready for change NOW.

To go through the Writing Gym process, you need to be ready and determined to publish your work.

 

If that sounds like you, book a call with our team so we can talk about how to unleash your best writer, and help you finally reach your publishing goals.

 

Until next time. Happy writing.

 
The REAL Cause of Writer’s Block? Probably Not What You Think

The REAL Cause of Writer’s Block? Probably Not What You Think

by | Oct 6, 2020 | how to we help authors, Overcome Writer's Block, Uncategorized, Writing & Neuroscience | 0 comments

The REAL Cause of Writer’s Block? Probably Not What You Think

 

Many of you may know that I’m a little bit obsessed with the Middle Ages.

Recently, I was sitting in this middle-aged “laverie,” which is where the people would come to wash their clothes. There’s a structure above that the river runs through so people can wash their clothes. This is something that really captivates my imagination.

I feel as though I can see the people here, see them working, living, being human. 

 

We all get our inspiration and our imagination from different sources and different things.

One of the things I’ve learned in my years of working with writers is it’s important to know how your brain works, and how you get inspiration. You may have seen some of the work that I’ve done with writers here in the group.

One of the things I do is tap into into my study of neuroscience to find out:

      1. what kind of thinker you are
  2. what kind of creator you are

By learning these two details, we can optimize your creativity and tailor our methods to suit your individual needs.

 

 If you’ve ever participated in one of our salons, you know sometimes people talk about writer’s block. “I’m so stuck, I don’t know what to write next.”

I’ve got a lot of strategies to help with through studying how the brain learns and creates. Through this approach, I can help you get to a beautiful, expansive place of imagination.  

I’d love to talk about where you are with your writing,  where you’d like to go, and how you can get there and be successful in your writing career.

If this sounds like you, let’s chat. Until next time, happy writing.

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