You may know this and you may not: Before I started Nectar & Bloom and became a floral artist, I was a college professor of Literature and Writing. In my years of teaching Literature & Composition courses, alongside working in university Writing Centers and giving writing workshops to graduate students across all fields of study from Business to Nursing to Leadership Studies, I had a lot of practice honing the skills and techniques that make for impactful writing. Whether you too are gearing up to write a book of your own, or if you are simply desiring to uplevel your blogging or the effectiveness of the copy you write for emails or marketing materials, I have some powerful and universal tips for you.
I've been a writer all my life. When I was in second grade, I created my first collection of poems, one for each color of the rainbow — my love for color and language obviously followed me! I won Young Authors contests and placed in Power of the Pen competitions throughout school, and I went on to major in English and complete my Master of Fine Arts degree in Poetry and Creative Writing. Last year I completed my first full manuscript that I actually put out into the world in the 203 page guide book for the Tarot of Flowers.
Even with all of this extensive history and kind of lifetime of experience, I have personally been blocked in my writing for a very long time. I didn't really finally begin blogging until just about a year ago, and I haven't returned to my poetry manuscript from my MFA program in over 10 years. I also have three, not just one but three, ideas for books asking me to write them, and still I have found ways to (until now) be too busy to give them space to come forth and be written. My inner writer has been waiting while I've been doing everything else under the sun until now.
You have surely heard about "writers block." It's a catchy term first coined in 1947 by the Austrian psychiatrist Dr. Edmund Bergler that we commonly use today in reference to the odd and frustrating experience of not feeling able to begin or continue with a writing project. Personally, I am quite certain it has to do with other inner wounds and personal self-worth beliefs that need healing and integration, subconscious past experiences that carry a strong emotional charge that shows up, however indirectly or illogically, in feeling stuck.
Fortunately, with patience, curiosity, and guidance provided by counseling and therapy, it is very possible work through the inner emotional and energetic blocks in a process that will free us again into the creative flow. Slowly but surely, we recover, shift, and find more space in ourselves to make time for projects that don't seem "urgent" but that instead seem vital, as creative callings most often do.
For me, now that I have done a significant amount of inner work, I am stepping into a time in which I prioritize my writing and honor the fact that there are stories and tools asking to come through me by way of writing so that I can share them with others on their own paths to transformation, alignment, success, and fulfillment. This doesn't mean I have it all figured out! It does, however, mean that I am ready to allow myself to utilize the tools, techniques, and extensive experience I have to write the books I feel called to create.
And in that process, I want to share both pieces of what emerges and the tools I utilize with you! In this post, I am going to share a collection of useful writing rules, techniques, and tools to help you too get started, support a sustained writing project, refine and improve what you write, and increase the impact and efficacy of your writing with your audience. In short, I've got some great writing tools I'm dusting off myself that we can both connect (or reconnect) with and begin (again or anew) to use in the service of the writing we are called to do:
01 COLLECT
In this first stage of the writing process, you want to collect your ideas. Collect examples of works that you love and that are in the same genre within which you want to create your book. You can even collect examples of writing that is not what you want to do, as the contrast helps clarify what you do want to create (and how you will be unique). Look at your examples like blueprints. How are they laid out? What kinds of structure do they present (sections, chapters, etc.)? Notice everything that could be useful or informative for you.
02 CLARIFY
Now we need to clarify your project. What is your deepest most burning reason for wanting to create a book? What is the story you want to tell and share? To whom specifically are you writing? Think about your specific, intended audience and how your book serves them. I say "specific, intended audience" because it's helpful to remember that your book doesn't have to be for everyone. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for your audience to find your offering. This is also a great stage of the process for creating an outline or storyboard for your book. This will help guide you as you flesh out the sections and parts you want to include, even if the outline shifts ultimately throughout the writing process. An outline is not set in stone, but it is an invaluable organizational tool and structure to support your progress.
03 CREATE
In this stage, we are just and only generating material. Stop researching, thinking, talking about it, looking around, planning, etc. because at some point those activities can become expressions of procrastination. Decide a day when your daily book production begins, and begin in earnest. Set a goal to write for 1-hour every day for 30 days, or for 60 days, and check off every day you complete this task. Don't worry about going in order or about the final product yet. Don't edit yet. Just make a daily and devoted practice of writing and generating your first draft. Push the inner critic aside, breathe through the doubts, and keep writing. Just keep that one commitment for now.
04 CULL
After a sufficient amount of time generating the content of your book, once all sections have been created in a rough draft format, it's finally time to start cutting away, culling down, and editing the work. Now you can read back over what you've written and think critically, also known as "revising." Where are you stuck? What is not working yet? What are you holding onto? This is where the age-old writing adage of "kill your darlings" comes in. If you've never heard this before, don't be alarmed. It refers to noticing where you are being precious about parts of your writing, parts that ultimately when removed will help the piece overall, even though you feel really attached to them. You'll know. There are parts you are certain are good and that hold up during this editing process, and there are parts you feel precious and desperate about, your "darlings," but when you realize you're hung up on them, the best move is often to remove them. Save them for another project if you have to. Train yourself to be a good editor. It will serve you and your work immensely. Read your work aloud to help yourself "hear" any mistakes or clunky parts that need revising. You'll be amazed how much this helps. Have a few trusted readers read your work and provide you with feedback. Make changes based on their suggestions that resonate with you.
05 CRAFT
In this (figuratively) last stage of the writing process, you want to be finished with the heavy lifting of creating and generating the content as well as the heavy lifting of revising and editing. At this point, we want to turn our attention from content to copyediting. This is where you proofread and fine-tune for correct grammar, strong sentences, polished sections and subtitles, and sometimes the "front material" or "back material" of the book, including prefaces, dedications, introductions, epilogues, codas, references, and acknowledgements. Even with those sections, you want to reserve time to just and only proofread them for errors. It is too much on the brain to generate content and fine-tune check for tiny mistakes at the same time, so allow this to be its own stage entirely. Have a few trusted readers or a professional copyeditor review your manuscript. The last thing you want is for all of this work to come together only to be tarnished by a few typos and grammatical errors. Take your time with this stage. It is worth it.
As a note, the entire writing process is recursive by nature, meaning it is inherent that one stage will circle you back to another. You may begin revising and realize you need to return to generating. You may proofread and realize you need to return to revising. You may finish all 5 of these process steps only to return again to step 1 to collect again. Trust your process. Allow the work that is burning inside of you to be created and shared to emerge at its own pace and in its own way. Join a writing group for support. You've got this.
I'll be keeping you posted on my own book progress and sharing more tips and techniques along the way. Feel free to reach out and ask if you have questions or requests! I'm excited to be sharing in this journey with you.
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