Today, in speaking with Annie and Katie on our weekly call to develop my book we dove into some new waters. My book has started taking on the appearance of a memoir as I change through the process of putting it together.  It began as a book very much about the two sides of the brain and combining art and business.  But that is such safe territory for me.  It’s overly comfortable.

Thankfully, as we are putting this book together, I am also in pretty intense therapy and my aggressive therapist and Annie my aggressive storytelling guide are having an exponential effect on my growth.  I’m being challenged in new ways.  One of the new ways revolves around growing up.

I’m a 35 year old man who has been trapped in some very old behaviors.  The work I have been doing over the last few months really revolves around the process of recognizing those old behaviors, assessing where they came from and then breaking free from them to release myself from old bad habits that are inhibiting my own joy in life.

It feels like a very profound time as I redefine my relationships with my family, with my wife, with my business, with my self. As opposed to being a victim of my past, I am taking control for the first time and the impact has been tremendous.  This is the hardest work I have ever done, but I am finally letting go of an imprisoned version of myself and giving birth to a much more powerful me.

How this will affect the book?  I’m not sure we know yet.  But we have definitely seen and felt that this is a vital piece of my story…more to come.

In the creative world, there’s often a stigma against paying for help to build your dream. The art loses authenticity, some feel, or you’re simply less of an artist if you need to hire out to get a job done. Writers, for example, sometimes feel it’s “cheating” to hire a collaborator, or to pay a company to publish their book instead of struggling blindly through the murky channels of commercial publication. I can’t stress enough how counter-intuitive this is! In any creative endeavor, the odds are stacked against your success as it is and you have to be willing to constantly evolve and work hard to give your art every possible opportunity to find life in the world. And you can’t Read the rest of this entry »

Writing a book is commitment. It’s like being a parent. First there’s the commitment required to develop an idea into a story. As the story grows into a manuscript, there’s the commitment to allowing that story to change if it needs to. Then you must find the right company to publish that manuscript and to serve you as the face of your conversation. After the book is published comes the greatest commitment of all—working your ass off to give it the opportunity to succeed.

The first thing you have to understand is that Read the rest of this entry »

When readers go to their favorite bookstore (or, you know, Amazon) and lose themselves in the quiet pleasure of choosing a book, they’re probably not thinking, “I want to find a book that doesn’t change me through reading it.” By and large, readers want to change through the process of reading. They want to see a part of the world they’ve never before visited, or gain a perspective that challenges their preconceived notions about the way we live. Booklovers read because they want to feel themselves transform through the journey of the story and come out the other end Read the rest of this entry »

Could it be accountability? One of the pitfalls of the typical creative process is that it’s a mostly solitary endeavor. You set your own goals and deadlines and are accountable to yourself alone if you miss them. Awesome, right? I mean, isn’t that what every storyteller wants—not answering to The Man? Absolutely. And for a remarkable few, this works. But it’s a major challenge for most of us, who engage in a balancing act between progressing our art and maintaining other commitments, including work, family, and friends. What’s the solution?

I believe that to move forward and see results, people need to Read the rest of this entry »

I will be speaking at The Jack London Writers Conference over the weekend of October 10,11.  This is an opportunity not to be missed. The faculty includes award-winning authors, advocates, a motivating world-champion athlete, scientists, a former mayor, professors, scholars, doctors. Masters stand at the ready to give instruction in the craft of writing, from forming sentences to writing a play or a novel. Every genre is represented: screenplay writing, writing for children, poetry, literature, technical writing, crime and mystery, science fiction and fantasy, historical fiction, and non-fiction. In addition, we have a Zen priest, a Catholic nun, an African chief, a ritual priestess, and several shamans in the lineup to put their mojo to work for us. At half the cost of other 2-Day conferences–SF Writers Conference, San Diego, East of Eden, Hawaii–we also offer agent and speaker appointments, networking sessions, socials, breakfast and lunch served both days. More than a writers conference, the 2009 JLC is designed to be a life-altering event.

Come and join me!

Think of having a good, deep talk with your best friend—could be your spouse, your old college roommate, or your childhood companion. You’re sitting together over drinks, most of your dinner eaten, and you’re talking candidly. Your best friend isn’t afraid to ask you tough questions, and you return the favor. How many discoveries have you made about each other in this way? How many discoveries have you made about yourself?

Now think about sitting down to write in a journal—paper or computer. Maybe you’ve just lost someone you love, or you’re trying to figure out what most fills you with purpose. Maybe you’re more honest, less afraid of judgment this way. But you may also stop often, frustrated. You may feel less relief when you put down the pen or turn off the computer. It might be because Read the rest of this entry »