Dare to Feel. Dare to Connect

"Go to the emotional epicenter, where it hurts most, and write on. If you dare."
~ Bill Donovan, editor/publisher, Creative Screenwriting

"Only connect."
~ E.M. Forster

The call to write is a call to share our emotional depth with others. It's a call to be vulnerable. It's a call to connect.

Thing is, we don’t touch others at a deep level when we connect mind-to-mind, though that connection is a powerful and important one. We touch others at a deep level when we connect heart-to-heart.

Unless we write from our deepest heart, unless we tell the stories that move us, we will never move our readers.

I spent the first chunk of my writing career avoiding writing from what Bill Donovan calls the "emotional eipcenter." I observed and reported, intellectually and dispassionately. I told stories, but without heart.

In not revealing my feelings (at times, not even to myself), I failed to engage my readers in any but superficial ways. I failed them and I failed myself.

I didn't connect.

Do you want to write truth, the truth from which both powerful fiction and nonfiction arise? If you want to write truth, if you want to write words that will touch the deepest emotions and connections and truths of your reader, then you must write what your heart calls on you to write. You must go where you've never dared go before -- in your writing, certainly; in your life, perhaps.

You must, as I write in The Voice of the Muse's "Thirteen Rules for Writing," go for the jugular, for your jugular: "Go for the demon you would run from. Go for the feeling you would flee from. Go for that emotion you would deny. Once you put it on paper, you strip it of its power over you. Once you put it on paper, you free it to empower your work."

You free it, as well, to empower your readers. You empower them to feel their emotions, to be vulnerable and to share their stories.

"We tell our stories in order to live," Joan Didion writes in The White Album

We tell our stories, too, to connect.

There is neither life nor connection outside the heart.

• Where are you refusing to be vulnerable in your writing?

• Where are you afraid to reveal your feelings, perhaps even to yourself?

• In what ways are you reluctant to connect, heart-to-heart, with your readers?

• Where, right now, can you go for the jugular -- your jugular -- and dare to write from your emotional epicenter?

Part of answering the call to write and birthing the book that's inside you involves tapping into that emotional epicenter. I'll be encouraging you to do that in both my upcoming workshops in Albuquerque. See this blog post for more details. (My calendar of upcoming book-signings, classes, workshops and other events is always posted on my page at booktour.com.

Adapted from The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write, winner of a 2009 IPPY Silver Medal as one of the top writings books of the year


Photo by Mark David Gerson: Cholla cactus flower, Sandia foothills, Albuquerque, NM

Upcoming Writing Workshops in Albuquerque

Dear Friends,

I'd forgotten how much I loved sharing my passion for writing with other writers until last month's workshop here in Albuquerque. You see, it had been a couple of years since I'd offered a full-fledged writing class or workshop -- partly because of my travels and partly because I'd been so focused on getting my own books out that there'd been little time to teach.

But June's event was so fulfilling, for myself and the participants, that I've decided to do it again.

More to the point, I've decided to make Albuquerque --and New Mexico -- the hub of a new series of classes, workshop and, ultimately, retreats.

It wasn't easy to declare any place as "home" after my 30 months of full-time travel. But two years after having landed here at the end of those travels, Albuquerque has finally come to occupy that place in my heart. I'm home. And I want to do as much of my work here as possible.

For now, I have two Albuquerque workshops coming up:

• Birthing Your Book...Even If You Don't Know What It's About ~ July 18
So many of us know we have a book inside us but either aren't clear what it is or don't know how to start. Through a series of powerful exercises, I'll help connect you with the book that's been inside you all along and show you how to use that connection to get your book written.As well I'll offer you practical tools to get going and keep going...through to completion.

• The Call to Write: Answering the Voice of Your Muse ~ August 8
Bbring your questions, issues and concerns about writing. And prepare to write -- naturally, spontaneously and from that deep place within you where your muse resides, waiting for her call to be answered. (By popular demand, this offering of The Call to Write will involve more hands-on writing than any previous version.) I've offered versions of this workshop over the years and it's always more about the people who turn up than any fixed curriculum -- which means that every Call to Write is different from its predecessors.

It doesn't matter what your genre or experience level is, these workshops will transform your creative process and revolutionize your creative life. You'll never feel the same about writing again!

Both Saturday workshops take place from 1-5pm in the Tramway/Candelaria area of Albuquerque's Northeast Heights.

And if you sign up for both by July 14, you'll pay only $99, a savings of up to 34%! July 14 is also your deadline to get into the Birthing Your Book workshop for $55, instead of the regular $75. (PayPal and all credit cards accepted.)

But call soon: Space is very limited and my June 20 Call to Write was sold out!

If you feel any pull toward joining us, I encourage you to honor it. So often, the call to participate only makes logical sense once you're in the midst of the experience. And each workshop will be a powerful, supportive, nurturing and accelerating experience. I hope to see you there.

Remember, space is limited. So register today.

Warm regards,
Mark David

P.S. My calendar of upcoming book-signings, classes, workshops and other events is always posted on my page at booktour.com.

To Write is To Publish...Even if No One Sees What You've Written

I'm not the one who invents the stories; I'm like a radio... Somehow, if I move the dial very carefully, I'll pick up the wave and get the story...
~ Isabelle Allende


Your stories exist...just as your dreams do. But it's the act of setting them to the page, of letting one word follow the next and then the next and then the next, that makes them real, that "publishes" them.

That's right: The act of publishing is an act of making public.

When you take your stories, those stories that have an existence only in your heart, an existence even your brain-mind may not see, when you take them and draw out the letters, stretch those letters into words and those words into sentences and paragraphs, magic happens. You take something that exists only in the airwaves, like a radio signal that broadcasts at a frequency not normally audible by the human ear, not normally picked up by even the most sophisticated audio equipment... You take that signal, which is your story, and translate it into a frequency that is audible. In doing that, you give it -- and yourself -- a new kind of life. A life in the public realm. A place on the radio dial of your life.

Perhaps you don't seek to have your work published in a conventional sense. Perhaps you do.

At this moment, it doesn't matter.

At this moment, all that matters is answering that call to write. All that matters is tuning in to that frequency, that normally inaudible signal, the one on which your Muse alone broadcasts, tuning in to it and taking down everything you hear. Everything. Without judgment. Without question. Without second-guessing. Without censoring.

All that matters is that you listen...and write.

Can you create enough silence in your life to listen for that radio signal, to listen for the voice of your Muse?

Stop, now. Turn off the radio, the stereo or the TV. Mute your computer.

Close your eyes, open your heart and listen.

What do you hear? What can you "publish" by setting it down on paper?

Take all the time you need. Gift yourself with all the time you need. Gift yourself with your stories, the stories that already exist in the airwaves around you. Gift yourself and the world. Start writing. Now.

If nothing happens beyond the writing, you will still have experienced the miracle of creation. If no one else sees or reads it, it has still been published: It has been given a physical life it never had before.

And just as every action in the universe has an impact on every being in that universe, or so our quantum scientists would have us believe, your words made manifest will have their effect.

If you do move from that point to print, that’s a bonus. But that’s not our starting point. Our starting point is you. You and your Muse. You and your stories. You and the word.

• If you'll be in New Mexico this fall and would welcome some help and inspiration with your writing, consider one of my classes or workshops, designed to motivate you and propel you forward on your creative journey. More information.

Adapted from The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write, winner of a 2009 IPPY Silver Medal as one of the top writings books of the year

"The Voice of the Muse" Named a Top Writing Book of 2009

Mark David Gerson's The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write was named one of the top writing books of the year last month in the Independent Publisher Book Awards, also known as the IPPYs.

Gerson's Silver Medal in the "writing/publishing" category was awarded in New York on May 29, in conjunction with BookExpo America, the U.S. book industry’s premier trade show.

The 2009 competition, the 13th for the Independent Publisher Book Awards, attracted more than 4,000 entries from the U.S., Canada and 10 other English-speaking countries and included winners published by Yale University Press and Kent State University Press.

"The excellence of the books was amazing and made judging very difficult," said Jim Barnes, one of the organizers. "The independent spirit of publishing is alive and well, as demonstrated by the creativity, originality and courageous spirit these books display."

This was Gerson's second IPPY. He won a Gold Medal last year for his novel, The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy, which continues to win awards in New Mexico and nationally. His screenplay adaptation of the book is currently in active development toward feature production.

The Voice of the Muse, distilled from Gerson's 33 years as a professional writer/editor and 16 years as a writing teacher and coach, is a dynamic blend of inspiration and instruction for anyone in any genre seeking to write more effortlessly, flowingly and engagingly. It has been likened to such classics in the genre as Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird

Lauded by critics as "the wise guide any writer would dream of" and a "phenomenal guide to overcoming writer's block and unleashing your creative potential," The Voice of the Muse has been equally praised by novice and seasoned writers alike.

Gerson has also recorded The Voice of the Muse Companion: Guided Meditations for Writers, a two-CD set that includes powerful exercises to free up and deepen creative flow. It's sold separately from the book.

Both Gerson's books are available from Amazon.com and other online retailers, from select other online booksellers and from the author's website. The CD is available from Amazon and from Gerson's site.

Mark David Gerson lives in Albuquerque, NM, where he's currently working on a sequel to The MoonQuest.

• Click here for written and audio excerpts from The Voice of the Muse book, The Voice of the Muse CD and The MoonQuest

The Muse Speaks...and Delivers!

Just got this note from writer Malcolm Campbell. Kudos to me, but more important, congrats to him!!

Book Contract!

Let's hear it for The Voice of the Muse!!!

The book I wrote in 30 days using The Voice of the Muse and a few glasses of dark red wine is now under contract and may be released by late summer.

I'm rather astounded because I grew up in an era where the authors we all studied in school took years to write each book. So that's what I did.

Now, suddenly Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire (working title) is about to become a reality.

My Muse and I are going to go out and buy a bottle of good Scotch as soon as this thing hits the streets.

Thanks for The Voice of the Muse. It showed me how to hear mine.

Malcolm

Malcolm Campbell is author of The Sun Singer


The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write is available from www.lightlinesmedia.com, Amazon.com and other online retailers, as well as from selected U.S. booksellers.

The Voice of the Muse Companion: Guided Meditations for writers is available from LightLines Media and Amazon.com


• Have you had writing successes using The Voice of the Muse? Please share them in the comments or email them to me for a future blog post.

When Publishers Reject You, It Could Just Be Because They're Stupid

"In 1797, Thomas Cadell made one of the greatest mistakes in publishing history. A Hampshire clergyman had written to him, offering a three-volume novel for publication by a first-time author. Without a word of encouragement, Cadell declined the book, manuscript unseen, by return of post.

"Unfortunately for Cadell, the clergyman was the Revd George Austen, soliciting publication on his daughter Jane's behalf, and the novel in question was an early version of Pride and Prejudice, recently voted the one book that the British nation can't do without."

~ From Mark Bostridge's review of Claire Harman's Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World in the Literary Review

• Thanks to the Shelf Awareness newsletter for this item.
• Image of Jane Austen from TVO's Jane Austen bio page

For more encouragement on dealing with rejection, see Feeling Rejected? Don't Be Dejected!

It's Time to Live the Dream

“You just have to keep your dream. If you lose it and get cynical, you die.”
~ Meryl Streep

"Where there is no vision, the people perish."
~ Proverbs 29:18

What's your dream for your writing? For your life?

Know that whatever it is, however improbable it may seem in this moment, it's not impossible. Nearly every success story begins with an "impossible" dream. Nearly every "overnight success" was years in the making.

Have you begun the book you've always dreamt of writing? Now is the time to put your dream into action. It doesn't matter whether you can give it five minutes a day or five hours. It doesn't even matter if you know what it's about.

Every journey begins with a single step. Every piece of writing begins with a single word. Any word.

Write it. Now.

What about your dreams for your life? Have you abandoned them? Stuffed them in the back of a drawer because they seem so unreachable?

Open that drawer. Reach your hand in. Gently. Touch it. Reconnect with it. Reconnect with yourself.

Open your heart again. Open your heart to the vision. Open your heart to your life.

Meryl Streep photo from Pictures of Famous Actors and Actresses. Meryl Streep quote from Inside Inside by James Lipton.

The Real Word About Word-of-Mouth

A Guest Post by John Kremer

New York Times bestselling novelist Brad Meltzer tells a story about how he found out which Barnes & Noble outlet sells the most copies of his thrillers.

When a B&N national sales representative asked the author to guess which store in the chain sold the greatest number of his books, Brad first guessed Washington, D.C., since most of his novels are political thrillers. Not so, said the rep.

Brad then guessed New York City. Again, a no.

Turns out, Brad was never going to guess the real answer.

Why? Because the B&N store with the top Meltzer sales is located in a small town in Florida, just down the street from the furniture store where Brad’s mother works.

When it comes to word-of-mouth, there's nothing like a writer's mother!

Book marketing expert John Kremer is the author of many books including 1001 Ways to Market Your Books

Photo of Brad Meltzer from www.bradmeltzer.com

The Voice of Your Muse Receives Premio Dardos Award

Awards are great! And this blog just won one earlier today, thanks to Missy Frye at the Incurable Disease of Writing blog.

It's the Premio Dardos (“prize darts” in Spanish), and it's given in recognition of cultural, ethical, literary and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing.

Now, it's my turn to pass the torch -- er, dart -- to these 15 blogs that, to me, meet the same criteria.

(Here's how it works: recipients accept the award by posting it on their blog along with the name of the person that granted the award and a link to his/her blog. They then pass the award to 15 other blogs that are worthy of the acknowledgment, remembering to contact each to let them know they have been selected.)

Here's my list, in alphabetical order. Check 'em out...
• Malcolm Campbell ~ Writer's Notebook
• Lin Ennis ~ Read - Write - Shoot
• Jett Farrell ~ Fishing with Crossbows
• Kimberlee Ferrell ~ Freedom Writing
• B.L. Lindstrom ~ Authorian Adventures in the Ether
• Julie Isaac ~ WritingSpirit Resources
• Gail Gaymer Martin ~ Writing Fiction Right
• Kaiser A. Nelson ~ Radio Free Bard
• Keath Pyeatt ~ Horror with Heart
• Susan Schanerman ~ heARTmatters
• Dan Stone ~ First A Dream
• Stephen TIano ~ Stephen Tiano
• Barbara Vey ~ Beyond Her Book
• Marvin D. Wilson ~ Free Spirit
• Chris Zydel ~ Creative Juices Arts & Painting from the Wild Heart

The Story Knows Best

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
~ E.L. Doctorow

So often, the story we're writing is wiser than we are. So often, our creativity begins when we abandon control and just let the story direct us.

As we move forward, writing the word or sentence we know, the next will always appear...if we're open to it. If we have our eyes on the road and our headlights on, if we're prepared to trust in the unknown that lies just beyond the reach of our vision, that unknown will become illuminated...and known.

There's a scene in my novel, The MoonQuest, that reminds me of that Doctorow quote. In it, the main character is walking a fantastical celestial road that only forms as he steps forward. As stressful as the journey is, the road takes him where he needs to go.

Ironically, that's the same journey I travelled in writing The MoonQuest. Some days Doctorow's headlights showed me the next scene. Some days, they showed me only the next sentence. Some days, only the next word.

But as I surrendered to the journey -- and to the voice of my Muse -- the story unfolded, magnificently, and in ways I could never have predicted, plotted or imagined.

As I write in The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write: "All I can do -- all we can ever do, in writing as in life -- is trust in the story. It has never let me down before. Truly, the story knows best."

• How much control do you cling to in your stories? In your life?

• Where you can let go some of that control and trust that the story -- the one you're writing and the one you're living -- knows best?

• Where in your creative journey can you more fully trust that the headlights illuminating your way will carry you to your destination?

Photo credits: Headlights by Peter Roome; E.L. Doctorow by Mark Sobczak, via Wikipedia