Archive for the ‘Writer’s Toolbox’ Category

Last weekend I went to see a Peruvian Shaman who had journeyed to Malaga to give energy cleansings and healing.

Despite the fact that the ritual sounded a little bizarre, I decided to go and check it out.

To begin we were asked to write our intentions on a sheet of paper. We had to make two columns – the things we wanted to attract into our life, and the things we wanted to eliminate.

I found it far easier to list the things I wanted to attract, so I scribbled them down at once. The elimination list, however, proved more difficult. Nevertheless, finally I wrote down three or four, so I folded my paper and handed it in.

The Shaman gave us each a cup of herbal tea to begin the cleansing process. Then, he disappeared inside and one by one we went to see him. Using wooden sticks – or swords in cases involving the attachment of evil spirits – he navigated around our bodies to free any negative energy. And it was quite obvious when this energy had been freed as it left via dramatic orange sparks, visible for all to see.

Immediately after, we took a seashell full of a mysterious brown liquid, and sniffed the contents up our nose. This made many people feel extremely sick, and the intoxicating taste got trapped at the back of our throats making us cough.

But there was more to come.

Next he pulled out a bag of herbs, called Dragonsherb. This herb can only be eaten in ceremony. If it’s ingested outside of ceremony it can be very dangerous indeed, often resulting in heart attacks. He handed me a dose of Dragonsherb and I put some in my mouth and chewed slowly.

Almost instantly I felt incredibly nauseous. It didn’t help that by this time people all around me were throwing up into sick bags. Inevitably I threw up a few minutes later.

To finish the evening we sniffed a white powder up both nostrils to represent the things we wanted to attract into our lives, and the things we wanted to repel. That had everyone sneezing like crazy. Oh, and more sickness too.

At the end of it all, as I sat and analysed the night’s proceedings, I came to a very profound realisation.

I’d just spent €100 to take dubious substances and generally feel pretty dire (not to mention the  hallucinations). Ok, so we made our intentions for the evening, which is a powerful activity in itself. But I suddenly felt a little disillusioned. The only real source of power comes from within. I am responsible for my own power and my own reality (I knew that already), yet I’d just spent the last seven hours giving up my power to a Peruvian Shaman.

Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I think he was a fraud. Simply that everything he did that night I could have done myself, but without the nasty side effects.

The moral of this story is that you are the powerhouse in your life. No one else can ever be that for you.

When it comes to your writing, by all means set intentions – to achieve a bestseller, get a glowing review from the New York Times, etc… But for those intentions to come true, it’s YOUR focus that matters…YOUR power, YOUR magnetism, YOUR energy, and YOUR faith – yours, and no one else’s.

Love & Light

The Word Queen xxx

Recently I returned from a life changing adventure, which involved camping in the Sawtooth mountain region of Idaho, USA. I’d never been camping before so the experience was entirely new for me, and I had no idea what to expect, apart from the likelihood of feeling dirty for ten days!

And I was right. Even with the occasional solar shower, I still felt icky and yucky. But I found that unless I focused on the grime I seemed to forget all about it.

This theme of focus continued to rear its head throughout my time away. Right from the outset, before I boarded the Virgin Atlantic flight to Chicago, I remember thinking, I’d love to have an amazing seat on the plane with extra legroom, and wider seats. Imagine my delight when a beaming air stewardess approached.

 ”We seem to have made an error and double booked your seat. Would you like to be upgraded to a Premium seat towards the front of the aircraft?”

Now some of you would put that down to ‘coincidence’ but that word no longer exists in my vocabulary. There are no coincidences. Everything that happens is a result of your thinking, and the rapidity of the manifestation is directly related to the energy behind it.

As I slumped into my Premium seat and sipped a glass of complimentary bubbly with my legs stretched out in front of me, I smiled inside and thanked the Universe wholeheartedly for delivering my request.

Throughout the trip more and more incidents of the power of focus materialised. In fact I lost count of how many of my intentions transformed into reality. At one point I even considered changing my name to Harriet Potter because of all the magic which seemed to be unfolding in front of my eyes.

But the biggest example of the power of focus etched into my conscious during the rock climbing activity. I stood at the bottom of the Superslabs with my neck right back as I gazed apprehensively towards the peak.

“You mean we’re climbing right to the top?” I asked our facilitator, gulping.

“Yep,” he replied.

“But I’ve never done any rock climbing before…”

My plea for reassurance was ignored, and before long I found myself hooked onto a rope, and scrambling up the first of the six slabs.

Somewhere around the third slab, as my foot slipped, my legs throbbed, and the palms of my hand began to bleed, I didn’t feel like I could continue climbing. I felt out of control; trapped halfway up a mountain with no apparent escape except to carry on up.

I began to cry, both interally and externally. Perhaps I was after sympathy from my fellow climbers, or maybe I was just downright petrified. But as I sniffled and wiped my eyes, I suddenly remembered that little word – focus! In that moment – like every moment in life – I had a choice. I could either focus on my injuries, the fear, the sense of not being in control, or I could decide to enjoy the experience and focus on reaching the top.

An hour or so later I absorbed the most amazing views and congratulated myself inside for achieving what initially seemed impossible.

So how can you apply this lesson of focus to your writing and your dreams of getting published? It’s simple. Set your intention, focus on it daily in a positive frame of mind (think about landing an amazing publishing deal, holding your book in your hand for the first time, the smell of the pages, the look on a relative’s face when you show them) and above all, take the necessary steps to reach your desired goal.

You can achieve whatever you set your mind to, even if once upon a time it seemed impossible. Or methaphorically speaking, you can climb any mountain. I believe in you…the question is, do you? 

Love & light

The Word Queen xx

The importance of editing your book is paramount to the success of your novel. Too many writers, having got so far along the journey, stumble when it comes to editing their sweated over manuscript. For most people it’s even more difficult to edit than it is to write their book in the first place.

Step One: Get Some Distance

When we’re too close to things we don’t tend to see them clearly, so typos etc are overlooked. That’s why it’s important to get a little distance. After you write a first draft, take a walk to clear your head.

It’s hard to start editing your  book straight away as it’s still too familiar. My advice is to shut your manuscript away in a drawer for five to six weeks. This period of time away from your novel will give you the opportunity to clear your head. The next time you pick it up you’ll see the content of the page far clearer and it will be far easier to edit your book. Better still, give your novel to a trusted friend, as he / she will be reading the paper for the first time with completely fresh eyes.

Step Two: Ask Questions.

Imagine you’re the intended audience reading your book for the first time. The big questions you’ll want to answer are:

• Does it make sense? Will the reader understand what you’re trying to say?
• Does it hold your interest from start to finish?
• Does it include all the information you need?

Step Three: Is Your Writing Lean?

If your writing isn’t lean you’ve got some work to do when editing your book. Here are three ways to get it in shape:

• Trim long sentences: If any are longer than 25 words, consider turning them into two sentences or removing unnecessary words.
• Slim down the words: Replace long words and phrases with short ones. Why say “ascertain the location of” when you can just say “find”?

Step Four: Think About Your Grammar

Here are a few major points to consider when you start editing your book:

• Good writing is error-free. This means perfect spelling and no typos.
• Check for the correct use of homonyms like to/too/two, their/they’re/there, etc. Spellcheck doesn’t always pick these up.
• Confirm you’ve spelt all names correctly.
• Good writing avoids the passive voice. Write Sara threw the ball. Not The ball was thrown by Sara.
• Check your margins, use of spacing and consistency in style of headings — font, bold or not bold, capitalisation, etc.

Step Five: Read It Again!

After you’ve made your revisions, print your document and read it again.

Editing your book  is a skill that can take years to perfect. But if you follow these recommendations, it’ll result in a far stronger manuscript…

Love & Light

The Word Queen xx

Let’s face it, without the odd slither of tension, life would be dull and boring. Well, it’s the same story when it comes to writing – without a little tension in books, they become tedious too. By creating tension in your writing and raising the emotional level of the text, the reader is forced to remain interested in the story. Unfortunately, many writers are afraid to add tension, as they think people can’t handle it. However, they’re as wrong as wrong can be!

Creating tension in your writing involves constantly raising the stakes for your character, so he/she has to work hard to get what he/she wants. Tension hooks readers and ensures they continue to turn the pages. Authors use many tricks to invoke tension in their books. Here are a few methods of creating tension in your writing that you might like to try:

* Time Limit. If something has a time limit it signals automatic pressure. If your character has to reach his/her goal by a certain time, mental and emotional tension are a cert.

* Dialogue. Conversations between characters can elevate the tension. For example, if your protagonist wants something from the other character but doesn’t want that character to know.

* Pacing. Well written fiction ebbs and flows to match the pacing of the story. Each time your character hits a crisis point, the pacing should speed up. Once the crisis has been solved, tell the story at a gentler pace. Not long after another crisis appears, greater even than the last. The ebbs shorten as the plot quickens, finally reaching a climax. Your reader will anticipate these peaks in the tension, and as a result won’t be able to put your book down.

* Sentence structure. Short sentences with active verbs signal tension. On the other hand, long, meandering sentences filled with adjectives and adverbs indictae a relaxed pace.

Different genres require different kinds of tension. Tension is generally much greater in young adult novels, but in one form or another, tension must be present in all books in order for them to sell.

Can you think how the last book you read affected you? Perhaps you shed a few tears at a particularly sad (or happy) moment? What caused you to react like this?  It’s ultimately to do with characters, timing, plot, believability, and of course tension!

Now for some more tips on how to create a believable setting for your book, continuing on from point three in the last blog post:

4. Make Logical Decisions

Does your setting make sense? Readers won’t buy into a book where the characters are in a world that is dangerous to humans, but where they are able to move around freely without protective suits.

5. Be Creative

Let your imagination run riot and explore the surroundings in your story as you write. Make them as vivid and as real as you can.

6. Keep Your Ears And Eyes Open

Observe the world around you. Some of the best ideas you’ll get for setting could be across the street, or something that you discover on your way to work.

7. Include Details But Not TOO Many

The writer’s job is to flesh out details, but to a point. Give readers just enough information so that they’re able to fill in some details on their own.

8. Use the 4 W’s

Use the four W questions: Who, What, Where, When?

9. Think About Context

Context also has an impact on setting. A beautiful sunny day by itself will seem unordinary, but after leaving a haunted castle, a beautiful day will be like paradise and a character will lap it up! To give a setting a big impact, precede or follow it with a contrasting setting.

10. Consider Your Characters

To create the perfect setting ask yourself about your characters. Are they Southern folk, or Northerners? Do they live in a small flat, or a multimillion dollar mansion? These questions effect setting and you need to pay them some attention.

If you change locations and settings you must update the reader about the new location without it feeling forced. Do it through actions when possible, rather than through overly descriptive prose. Try to bring in the setting details through what the character is doing.

Too much description of setting can kill the reader’s interest. The key is to sprinkle descriptions throughout your story from the characters point of view.

Active & Passive Settings

Will your setting play an active or a passive role in your novel? An example of an active setting would be a novel set during a political upheaval, a war-zone, a natural disaster – whereby in each case, the setting will drive the plot in a massive way. You could not write a political novel without involving the setting to a large degree. The setting and the plot are entwined. 

A passive setting does not interrupt the plot. It merely compliments or enhances it. Choosing to write a novel in a city, next to the ocean, or in a rural retreat all serve to showcase the story, but they don’t drive it.

In the case of sci fi and fantasy, setting is of even more importance. You can be as imaginative as you wish and it’s often this depth of imagination which inspires the reader. With historical fiction, the emphasis is on accuracy of detail.

Big Picture Or Detail

A useful way of thinking about your setting is to think big picture and then detail. 

Big picture setting is the broad brush-strokes. It’s the first question to ask.

Another way of looking at the big picture would be to ask yourself – where is this book set and why? 

For example, you choose to write your book in New York because your character has recently moved there because she’s got a new job. Or you choose a place in the middle of nowhere because your character has just been widowed and wants to left alone to grieve. Or you choose a beach resort because your story starts with a couple on honeymoon.

The detail comes in with the smaller brush strokes. Let’s go with the New York example. Does she live in Manhattan or the Bronx? Does she live in an apartment on the third floor or the thirty-third floor? Is the apartment small or large? Is it clean or dirty? Does she share or live alone? What colour is the paint on the wall? Does she have a double bed or a single?  You can get to such a level of specificity here.

Landscapes And Weather

Another important feature of any location is the landscape. How many books have you read which feature a beautiful, break-taking sunset?  Or they feature mountains, deserts, oceans. We have all visited places no doubt where there are stunning landscapes and panoramic views and it is our role as the author to represent these pictures in words.

Weather is important too; try reading a novel and picking out how many times the weather is mentioned, particularly storms! Weather is atmospheric in its own right and as an author you can use the weather to help tell the story and also set the tone for a chapter or set-piece. Choose the season to set your book because it will influence the action.

Cultures And Traditions

Many authors who write about places they have visited, or indeed researched, find that it is a good idea to briefly touch upon the cultures and traditions. This has the effect of adding authenticity and a dash of foreign flavour. You don’t have to go into tonnes of detail. Just enough to embellish both description and narrative.

Landmarks

Landmarks are also something that can be used to good effect whilst writing. Take, for example, The White House in Washington, or Big Ben in London; using either of these landmarks is perfectly acceptable and is not infringing any laws as these are landmarks and in the public domain. Also these are landmarks that many people are familiar with so setting a scene against the backdrop of a well-known landmark allows the reader to draw their own mental picture, while enabling the author to use less description and concentrate on the plot and its characters.

Finally a note on how to go about mixing your locations: when plotting your novel it is an idea to note down the segments of your story and where they might be located. Allocate a location to each event in your story, or concentrate on one location throughout. Either way it can be fun to help the story along using places and landmarks as literary scenery.

To Conclude

The setting and location of your novel are just as important as the characters. Research the general setting, as well as sub-settings along the way.

Love & Light
The Word Queen xx

The key to writing a good setting is making it the base of the story. Setting is as important to your writing as plot, character and emotion. It is a part of all those things.

Creating the perfect setting for your novel is not as hard as you might think if you take the time to consider who is going to be living in it. The characters, action, and ultimately the solution to your novel will determine the perfect setting for any novel. With some consideration to these important elements, your setting will often create itself.

Setting is one of the easier things to create when writing a novel, if for no other reason than half the creating is already done when you get to it. You already have the characters, so you have a framework to build the setting around.

Check out these first three of ten tips for creating an inspiring setting:

1. Get To Know Your Setting – Whether your story is set in a university, London, or a posh restaurant, an interesting setting is critical to good storytelling. And there’s no better way to make it compelling than to know it inside and out. Spend some time checking out your setting, including the nooks and crannies and the history. To learn more about your setting ask it questions like: “How old are you?” “What kind of people come here?” “What are your biggest secrets?” If you want to use a location in your novel that you have never visited, there are ways of collecting enough research to make it plausible. These include the internet, tour guides, like the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide, brochures, travel clubs and interviewing people who have visited the locations you want to use. This may sound like cheating, but it is actually how many would-be authors find out about the destinations they use in their novels and there is nothing wrong with this practice as long as the information is accurate.

2. Let Your Characters Explore The Setting – If you’re concerned that your book’s characters will get bored of hanging out in just one setting, give them a secondary location. It’s up to you to decide what places your characters hang out in and deserve the most attention. If you’re unable to visit a secondary setting, research the location online, or at the local library. If the setting is fictional, dream up the look and feel of it in your mind; bring it to life in the same way as you do with your characters. This is where good research comes into the equation! You must establish the time period, the location, the customs, hardware, construction, instruments, and so on. After you have thoroughly investigated your setting(s), you can then decide how your characters fit into this setting? Most readers need enough details about the setting to know where the characters are, in what time period the story takes place and what the place looks like. If it takes place in a hairdressers, that’s important for a reader to know. But unless the hairdressers has some unusual decorations, or it is in an unusual location, it’s not necessary for the author to describe it. After all, hairdressers all look basically the same.

3. Use The Five Senses – There are more ways to get across a book’s setting than by describing what everything looks like. Your reader has five senses, so it’s important to engage them all.

Next time we’ll look at the remaining seven of these amazing ten tips

Love & Light,

The Word Queen xx

Our dreams are very insightful. Not only do they feed us relevant information about our current circumstances, but they’re also an excellent source of ideas for books!

If you think you don’t dream, then you are wrong. We all dream, it’s just that some of us remember our dreams easier than others. Keep a notepad and pen by the side of your bed or under your pillow and as soon as you awaken (whatever the time) write down what you’d just been dreaming about. If you really can’t remember that’s ok too – just write down anything that’s in your head. 

Repeat this process every morning, or every time you awaken from a sleep, and you’ll soon train yourself to remember your dreams far easier. That information can then be analysed and used to form storylines, characters and even settings.

For example, last night I dreamt about being trapped in a burning house with no hopes of escaping. I felt sure I was going to die, but then an angel came to my rescue and broke the window so that I could climb out and escape. I then found myself flying through the sky, which was ablaze with wonderful vibrant colours. It was magical.

How could I use this dream to create a story…? I could write a story about a girl who didn’t believe in angels until one saved her life. Perhaps this angel becomes her best friend and they go for many adventures together. Ok, so this kind of content might be more suitable for a children’s book, but it’s still an idea, which came from just one dream!

Ask Questions

There are three parts to this technique.

1. Newspaper / internet articles! Take a recent newspaper and either tear out or circle in red ink the stories which catch your eye, concentrating mainly on the headline. If you’re more technologically minded then you might prefer to do the same but on the internet. Log on to a popular daily news service such as BBC or CNN and copy and paste the most interesting headlines into a word document.
2. Mull over these headlines for a while and then write down questions about each one as they occur to you. This is where your natural curiosity is exercised.
3. Then ask a few ‘what if’ questions about the headlines. What if this had happened at a different time? What if this took place in a different location? What if the story had ended differently or began differently?

Step Into An Alter Ego

This one is a bucket of fun! All you have to do is imagine being a particular author or creative person who you admire / respect hugely, then meditate for twenty minutes or so, pretending to be that person. Ideas will scurry towards you. But not just any ideas. The exact kind of ideas that your alter ego would come up with.

For example, recently I had just finished reading Stephen King’s highly recommended book On Writing. My brain felt very much in tune with him, so I laid down on the sofa and let my mind drift for a short period. During that time I thought of no fewer than three brilliant novel ideas, each in the horror genre, despite the fact that I’ never considered writing horror novels before! You can do the same with an author who writes the kind of books you aspire to write.

You - The best ideas begin with none other than yourself. There are various ways in which you can think of ideas in this way so let’s take a look at each in turn:

1. What Are You Good At? We all have unique skills and talents so write a list of twenty of yours. They can stretch right back to when you were a child, all the way up until the here and now. Try not to strain your brain too hard and do include smaller talents too. For example, maybe you’re really good at listening to people, or helping friends in need. They all count towards your list!
2. Your Past Experiences. What’s happened to you throughout your life which is particularly interesting/funny or even scary? All our experiences, no matter how much they hurt at the time, can be used as ammunition for book ideas. In fact many of the bestselling books are about people’s real life experiences. Some choose to write these as non-fiction books whereas others take these experiences and wrap them into a fictional storyline. Both ways work just as well. Examples of this method of finding ideas include if you have suffered from a particular illness, you’ve overcome a big challenge or you have succeeded at something others would find impossible. Try working backwards through your life from the present day to as far back as you can remember.
3. Your Knowledge. At school, what subjects did you shine at? What jobs have you held in the past, full and part time? What are your hobbies? Do you like horse riding? Yoga training? Cross stitch? Write another list encompassing all of the above.
4. What Do You Enjoy Most In Life? Your true passions are great to write about as you’ll enjoy the process much more than writing about subjects you’re not so fond of. Jamie Oliver loves cooking and he has written a number of books, sharing his recipes with the world. What love could you share with the world? Do you adore travelling, fashion, beauty, mechanics? Whatever you like rest assured that millions of others will love it too! Consider also the current trends. You can get an idea of these by using Google Trends, or by reading newspapers and the daily news headlines on Yahoo and other news services. If you feel that a particular trend would be old news before your book is released then write about old favourites like weight-loss, money and sex. Sex always sells. If you can incorporate a fresh twist on these topics, then you’ll be on to a winner!
5. Your Challenges. At the time challenges in life never feel like opportunities. But they are the biggest ones that exist! What have you overcome or learnt that you could share with other people? Knowing that you are helping others via your books is an enlightening experience. List as many challenges you have faced in your life as you can possibly think of. The bigger and more terrifying at the time, the better! If you can’t think of any of your own then list the challenges of friends and relatives.

There! Lots of seeds have already been sown. Now they need some food and water, better known as love and attention, which we’ll explore next time!

Love & Light

The Word Queen xx

Visualising is the art of using your imagination to ‘see’ in your mind’s eye the things that you wish to achieve in your life. It has become more popular since the launch of The Secret (book and DVD), which provided a wider understanding of the law of attraction. This indicates that everything in the universe is energy, including our thoughts and feelings. All energy vibrates at differing frequencies, so by choosing our thoughts and feelings carefully we can change our vibration and as such, alter our reality.              

There are an infinite number of realities in the universe for each and every one of us. Everything we want for is already there in the quantum world, simply waiting for us to claim it. To do this all we need to do is ‘tune in’ to our desires.

Visualisations For The Writer

So what might a writer visualise? Here are just a few ideas together with some details you might like to include. I would suggest spending some time looking within and seeing what your own imagination brings up – there’s nothing like listening to your own messages and visualising on the same wave.

Ø      Attending a book signing in a prestigious location.

Ø      Attending a film premier at London’s Odeon cinema – the film of your book! Leaving a stretched limousine and walking along the same red carpet as the celebrity actors and actresses walk along. Imagine seeing the reviews of the film and it becoming a box office hit.

Ø      Seeing your book on the top ten list on Amazon.com

Ø      Appearing on a popular morning chat show to talk about your book -imagine the questions you might be asked.  

Ø      Imagine all the fan mail you receive every morning!  

Guided Visualisation  

(I’d recommend recording yourself saying this then listening to it on your mp3 player)

 Close your eyes and picture yourself on the visual screen of your mind. Say and think the following:

“I have just finished writing my novel and I am ready to send it to agents and publishers. I am radiating confidence and I feel absolutely sure that my book will be snapped up by a top publishing house.

Fast forward six months and I now have the book deal of my dreams. This makes me feel incredibly excited and happy. I feel light inside, as if a huge weight has lifted. Finally, I am on the road to being a best-selling author, just like I always knew I would be.

The day of seeing my book in print arrives. The front cover looks amazing and seeing my name in big letters makes my tummy turn. If only I could hold on to that feeling forever! As I turn the pages of your book the smell of the freshly printed pages wafts up my nostrils and ignites something deep inside. The memory of all those times I kept going when others would have given up. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. The time has arrived. Now I fully understand the saying ‘perseverance pays’.

My book has only been available for a few days, but already the publicity department has been busy organising radio interviews and press features. Plus, my first book signing is scheduled for next week. I’m really looking forward to meeting some of my readers and signing their books. It’s taking place in my favourite bookshop, the one I always hoped that my books would some day be sold in.

As the days roll by my book begins to shoot up the Amazon book charts. My book is selling by the thousand and my publishers are astonished at how many are selling so soon.

I’ve also started to receive heaps of fan mail. I love tearing open the letters to read all the positive comments from my readers. Sometimes the lovely things they write bring a tear to my eye.

 My next goal is to see my book on the big screen. I’ve always wished to watch one of my books at the cinema so that’s what I plan to manifest next. I can’t wait!”

Have fun with this exercise and as you’ll soon discover, the skies the limit!

Love & Light,

The Word Queen xxx

If you’re writing a book, or you’re thinking of doing so then there’s at least one daily exercise I’d suggest you engage in. Even if you don’t do any of the others I’ve ever suggested this one is golden. “So what is this mystery exercise…?”

Meditation!

Meditation stills the mind, and when this occurs all sorts of ideas are able to flow in. Writing is a hard craft and mentally fatiguing.

Getting into the habit of practising daily meditation can work wonders on taming that fatigue and purifying the ideas and knowledge that enter your head.

All you need to do is set aside a daily timeframe of say 15 minutes, get into a comfortable position (lying or sitting), then close your eyes and empty your mind of all thoughts. This is easier said than done for a beginner. You will find that all sorts of thoughts pop up and it can be very difficult not to dwell on them.

Fortunately there are many guided meditations out there, which make the process far simpler. Usually the person speaking helps you relax your body by having you focus on the various parts each in turn. Next they might lead you down a spiral staircase counting backwards from ten to one. But remember that all meditations vary. Some are set outside, maybe on the beach, in a boat upon a relaxing lake, or surrounded by the sounds of nature. Others might involve descending in an elevator, focussing on a bright white light, or feeling the suns energy radiate through your crown charka.

Meditation doesn’t have any core goal. Instead it is a technique, or a tool if you like. Writers use meditation to improve their writing, or to develop interesting ideas.

Meditating doesn’t have to mean sitting cross-legged in the middle of a field chanting mantras and looking like an oddball. Many people still believe that to meditate you have to be a zen monk, or some kind of spiritual master. But that is not the case. Anyone can meditate and writers who meditate tend to come up with better ideas, plus they are able to stay more focused on what really matters – getting their book written.

How To Meditate

Sit on the sofa, or on the floor if you prefer, and close your eyes. Inhale deeply through your nose and as you exhale through your mouth visualise and repeat the number three, three times. Repeat this once more, but as you exhale visualise and repeat the number two three times. And one more time, visualising and repeating the number one three times on the exhale. This should be enough to instigate the process of relaxation. Then simply still your mind and try to refrain from allowing thoughts to enter. At first you will find this very difficult. The trick is to build up the amount of time you spend meditating each day gradually.

Don’t expect to meditate for half an hour on your first attempt. If you can manage just five minutes at first, that’s perfect. Once you have mastered five minutes you can then aim for eight minutes and from there on, all the way up to half an hour. I’d recommend finding the time to meditate every single day until your book is fully written. The benefits meditation provides to us and our minds is simply amazing and since I started meditating two years ago, I now do so three times a day without fail.

Before meditating ask yourself a question you need the answer to about your book. Try to be specific as the real power of this exercise is in the question itself. For example, you might have the general idea for your book decided, but you are wondering how it is going to begin. Ask yourself this question ‘please reveal to me the best way of starting my book.’ There’s no need to say this question out loud. It’s fine to say it to yourself. Once you’ve asked the question try and forget about it. Don’t dwell on it or consciously search for the answer. The answer will come and probably when you least expect it. I have found that answers enter my head at the most unlikely of times, completely out of the blue. Cool hey?!

Happy meditating!

Love & Light

The Word Queen xx

Do you have an Author’s mindset? If not then it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever get your book written and later published.

You see, the mind is an incredibly powerful part of us and whether we like to admit it or not, it determines our reality.

Whatever you see around you in your life right now…whether you’re rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, surrounded by friends or lonely and miserable…you’ve created it at all. That’s right..YOU!

It’s the same story when it comes to writing your book. If you don’t BELIEVE that you’re capable of writing a book, or if you don’t BELIEVE you deserve to be a published-author and live the dream life that accompanies it, then guess what? You won’t!

You know that little saying that goes ‘seeing is believing’? Well we got it completely the wrong way around…It’s SUPPOSED to be, ‘believing is seeing’. In other words, what you believe in your subconscious mind, you’ll see come true in your reality.

That is why it’s essential to spend some time taking a look at your beliefs. What were you taught about success growing up? Did your parents encourage you to write, or did they nag you to ‘get a proper job’? Did your English teacher praise your creative writing? Or did he/she tell you that you’d never make it as a writer? These moments in childhood are what shape our beliefs in the here and now.

But it’s not too late. You can change them. The trick is pluck out the old weeds (the beliefs that no longer serve you and your writing dreams) and replace them with seeds which do. Over time – sometimes a month, or maybe 3 months – those seeds will then grow into the beautiful flowers that you deserve and you’ll have your first published book in your hand.

So here’s the million dollar question: What next? Well, I’m pleased to have the answer for you. An answer that I KNOW works. How do I know? Because I’ve tried and tested this many times and it ALWAYS works – it NEVER EVER fails.

Ok, ok I’ll get on with it…! Basically, you need to start a daily ‘process’ and you need to do this ‘process’ at least twice a day, although if you can manage three times, even better.

Here are the easy-to-follow steps (we all love steps don’t we?!)

1. You need to make a list of your negative beliefs and switch them into positive, affirmative statements, better known as ‘affirmations’. For example, if one of your negative beliefs happens to be:

“If I’m a successful author my family and friends will get jealous and they won’t want to speak to me anymore.”

Then you’d change that to:

“I’m a hugely successful, best-selling author and my friends and family are delighted to see me doing so well.”

Aim for three affirmations, or more if you happen to have more negative beliefs around your writing.

2. Record yourself saying these affirmations on to a mp3 player, or similar device. Repeat each affirmation at least five times.

3. Now comes the `process’ part. At least twice a day you must

a) meditate for at least 20 minutes. Sit or lie in a relaxed position, close your eyes and empty your mind of thoughts (look out for a future email about how to meditate)

b) spend 5 or 10 minutes envisaging youself as a best-selling author, doing book signings, travelling the globe, speaking to audiences, attending press interviews and photo shoots.

c) repeat your affirmations out loud at least five times each.

d) listen to your audio recording of affirmations.

e) think of a time in your life you’ve been wildly successful, really get into that moment again, turn up all your senses – really FEEL it.

f) now at the height of that feeling repeat your most important affirmation a few more times.

There, now that you have the recipe for success, it’s up to you to put into practise. Consider this. You wouldn’t go a whole day without brushing your teeth would you? Well just make this ‘success process’ as much a part of your routine as brushing your teeth and you’ll be at the top of the Amazon best-sellers list before you know it!

Love & Light

The Word Queen xx