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?

How This Writing Bootcamp Is Getting Writers Published

How This Writing Bootcamp Is Getting Writers Published

by | Jan 20, 2021 | How to Publish, How to Sell a Novel, How to Write a Novel, Writing | 0 comments

How This Writing Bootcamp Is Getting Writers Published

 

Maybe you’ve been considering joining the Writing Gym for a while now. 

But you still want to know: what will it really be like? 

I want to shed some light on what it’s actually like to be a member of the Writing Gym program by sharing one of our member’s experiences. 

Stephen Oliver is a graduate of the VIP Program AND the Publishing Mastermind, and he has also participated in the Writing Gym retreat in England not once, not twice, but he’s signed up for a third time.

Now that’s someone who’s getting results. However, don’t just take my word for it, check out his experience in the video below:

If you’re still curious about what it’s like to be a Writing Gym member, and if you’re serious about writing, let’s talk. 

Unit next time. Happy writing.

The Book That Others Will Read

The Book That Others Will Read

by | Jan 18, 2021 | Guest Blog, Writing | 0 comments

The Book That Others Will Read

By Writing Gym Alumnus Brendan Thompson

I first got into writing on the conviction that I am a creative person with stories to tell. I have never surrendered that conviction, but in the thirty years since, I have taken a lot of time to reflect on what kind of stories I have to tell. In that time, I have done quite a bit of living, which has given me a lot more material to work with. I have read some fantastic books, visited some remarkable places, and known some amazing people. The richness of those experiences has continually added to my ideas for stories.

However, it’s not just about having ideas.

Any long time writer will tell you about the book they got halfway through writing, driven by the strength of its unique and compelling idea, only to see the project fizzle out and remain unfinished. No matter how intriguing, compelling, and alluring the idea was, it wasn’t a story.

In order to see the book through to the end, there had to be a story.

Let’s move forward, out of the 1990’s, through the 2010’s ,and up to the present day. I had assembled an oeuvre of around a million words that made up an outsized, grand, opulent, sprawling world of stories. I took my best work, a gunpowder fantasy epic, and walked it over to Annalisa Parent and her program, The Writing Gym.

It’s a scary thing to go from writing for yourself to showing your work to professionals. Often, it’s one thing to put your work in front of friends and family- I had done that. It’s also one thing to engage other writers to trade work, reading each others’ manuscripts in exchange for notes. I had done that, as well.

But to put your work in the hands of a professional writing coach, a literary agent, or an editor, is an experience of an altogether different magnitude.

I will always maintain that a good writer writes first and foremost for themselves. That’s how you get started, moving ideas into stories. However, selling your work requires moving your stories out of your own collection and into a market. You are asking people to pay money to read your stories. There has to be something in it for the reader.

Being a professional, Annalisa spared no time getting me deep, specific feedback that required extensive rewriting of my novel’s first fifty pages. Fantastic. That level of editorial interaction is what I had signed on for.

It was a double edged sword, to be sure.

It’s great to have good notes for rewriting, but it’s not great to have the task of rewriting. It’s great to find solutions to fix underlying problems, but that requires finding underlying problems. And you don’t want to find problems in your manuscript.

It’s natural to recoil in horror at the suggestion that you didn’t craft the best possible story on your first draft.

Professional writers with massive followings still get those notes from editors, and they rewrite their works accordingly.

It’s not a foolproof process, but it is a process that improves the work. Ideas move through the writer into stories, which move back and forth from the writer to the editor, becoming more and more refined, transforming into stories that are more comprehensible, more relatable, more gripping, engaging, and effective.

I found Annalisa asking me, with some reluctance, if I would go back to page one and start the process over. Completely optional, mind you, no pressure, but still her professional recommendation. Would I mind bending the narrative more in the direction she was pushing for, and doing it for the reasons that she had outlined?

And here is what I told her.

I already know the version of this story that is most for me. I had already revised, reordered, and recapitulated the narrative a hundred times, shifting the perspectives of who was telling the story, experimenting with the order of events, who did what to who, and who was the witness to it. A hundred variations on the story I was crafting. Through that, I had a hundred different versions of the story in my head, understanding the possibilities that are so tantalizing and exciting in this world that I have created. However, that is not what I want to publish.

I want to publish traditionally and for a wide audience. That means continuing the revision and the crafting of the story, refining its very carefully calibrated inner workings to find the version that appeals to a target audience, a core of readers who will engage with the book, fall in love with it, and recommend it to their friends.

I want to get beyond the story that is only for me, and get to the story that is for them.

So, write for yourself. That’s the only way to get started. When you are comfortable showing your work to others, go right ahead and do it. You might even get published right away, and if you do, congratulations are in order. For the rest of us, the next thing to do is to write some more. And start revising. Revise everything. Keep writing, and then revise that. As you keep growing, developing, and finding your voice, engage with literary professionals, get their feedback, and put it to use to further grow yourself and improve your writing.

What you will find, whether gradually or suddenly, is that you are no longer dealing in ideas.

Every time you sit down to write, you craft a story. You think in terms of story, and you can’t create in any other way. When you revise, you will revise in terms of story, and you won’t have any other way to do a revision.

You will find, as if by magic, nothing you write, no matter how personal, is ever just for you. Not any more. You will be preparing yourself for the life of a professional writer, preparing to write for your readers.

Brendan Thompson is a writer and alumnus of the Writing Gym. His film, Bae Wolf, will be available in March.

Resonate with what Brendan says? I help writers to transition from the art of writing into the business of publishing. This is what I do to help people publish and get the representation they need. If you are ready to accept what the guidelines are and are ready to sell your book, let’s chat.

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 To Avoid A Character Takeover

How To Avoid A Character Takeover

by | Dec 15, 2020 | How to Write a Novel, Overcome Writer's Block, Writing | 0 comments

How To Avoid a Character Takeover

I want to share a story about Sonee Singh, one of the members in the Writing Gym. Like many writers, Sonee has a very specific goal: traditional publication.

 Traditional publication is not easy, especially with strict industry standards. However for Sonee, the goal seemed unreachable, because she didn’t even have a completed novel. 

Sonee had trouble progressing with the plot of her novel. She felt stuck. She had most of the story put together, but saw holes, and wasn’t sure how to solve that problem.

In March of this year, Sonee had a draft of her novel that didn’t have a complete ending. She had an ending, but it wasn’t where she wanted it to be.

She knew she needed more work and more clarity, but wasn’t sure how to get there. 

Her plot had big events that marked her protagonist’s journey, yet felt disjointed because nothing tied the bigger events together. 

Sonee looked at her work and felt frustrated, and considered dropping the piece altogether. 

I kept coming back to it, I just had no idea how to do it.

Sonee knew she had a story worth telling, but didn’t have the tools to express her writing the way she wanted. Reluctant to give the story up, she tried out some resources. 

She initially turned to beta readers that provided unhelpful, conflicting feedback. Afterwards, Sonee decided she had enough. 

She decided to reach out to me.

We began working together, and I read through her manuscript twice. After some revisions, she created a second draft.

The first revision focused on details such as character arc, plot arc, the big picture, and how these could be used to create a cohesive narrative.

Through discussions around the revisions, I was able to help Sonee organize her thoughts and equip her with tools needed to look at these details on her own. 

I also asked Sonee guiding questions about her plot and helped her realize how to solve any issue she comes across in her writing. 

As a professional, I know what you need to do to make your book better, but most importantly I value your voice and want you to create the solutions to your novel.  

I think the beauty of what Annalisa does is that she has that insight, but she also doesn’t just give the answer. She just poses questions that force me to come to that answer and I think it’s become a very organic process.

With my help, Sonee has had multiple breakthroughs in her writing, and is on the journey to finishing her novel with confidence. 

Before coming to me, Sonee knew she had a problem to fix, and traditional publishing was a far-off dream.

Today, Sonee believes she’s capable of meeting industry standards, and she’s one step closer to achieving her goal of traditional publication. 

I’m so happy to see Sonee grow as a confident writer, and am excited to see where she goes from here. 

Do you feel stuck in your writing and don’t know where to go next? Have publishing dreams but have no idea how to get there? Let’s chat.

Until next time. Happy writing. 

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. 

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