$1,000,000

Awhile back, as I was struggling to figure out my writing life, I became enlightened to what writing means to me. I asked myself this question: If someone said to me, "Look, I'll give you a million dollars right here and now, but the only thing you have to do is never write again," would I take it? I immediately knew the answer...'No'. I wouldn't take the money (aside from extreme circumstances involving family, of course). To live a life without writing would tear me apart. At that very moment I knew that writing was my life purpose and there was no way I could back down from it. I think this is an excellent way to determine what we are all passionate about. What would we give up to ensure we live out our passions and our dreams?

Possibilities

As I write my fourth novel, I've become acutely aware of all the possibilities available to me as the story unfolds. I can make my characters do whatever they want, I can write whatever I want...it is entirely up to me. It's absolutley thrilling and liberating to be able to do what I want with my work. I don't usually have an outline when I venture into something new. I typically have a thought in my head and just go with it. I felt that this book needed an outline; however, I don't refer to it on a consistent basis. I just sit down and type and the story just unfolds for me from there. It's taking on a life of its own, as it should. Think of where you can take your writing. Think of all the possibilities. It's amazing what the mind can create when it's allowed to do its thing.

Risk

What does it mean to take a risk? We all take risks every single day on one level or another... risks in choosing our career, our spouse/significant other, our money, and even our health. We even take risks with our writing. What kind of risks are you taking? Are you getting your work out to the masses or are you letting it languish somewhere in a drawer or on an old floppy disk that your new computer probably doesn't even accept anymore? There's a quote by Woody Allen that says: "80 % of success is showing up". Are you showing your writing off to the world? Are you letting the world see what magic you can wield with the almighty pen? I'm currently reading the book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. He says we all have a financial blueprint that is set for a certain amount of money. We can never make any more than that if we don't reset our financial thermostat to accept more. This can be applied to writing. Many of us have a writing blueprint that believes we are only so good and if we try for anymore than just good, we are afraid we might be seen as a fraud. Maybe it's time to reset our own writing thermostats to achieve more than what we expect of ourselves. So? What are you willing to risk?

Belief

For me, the last year or so has been mainly about soul-searching. It's a time in my life when I'm actually trying to figure out things. I won't go into great detail about what these 'things' are, but they all stem from beliefs embedded in my head since childhood. Beliefs about myself, about the world, about life. I guess I can give you one example. I always thought that if I worked really really hard I would be rewarded and life would just fall into place. And, yes, we do have to work to get the rewards; this isn't anything new. But, I couldn't understand why these rewards weren't coming to me. I knew I was a good person, hard worker, etc. Why were other people around me abundantly provided for while I was only thrown a scrap or two. I'm not any different than they are. I've come to the realization that it's not how 'good' you are or how law-abiding or how 'hard' you work. Sure, these things have their merits, but what it all comes down to is believing in yourself, knowing you deserve the rewards and getting into the 'flow' of receiving these rewards. You have to align with your desires. This is easily applied to writing. Align with your desires, align with your creativity, align with your wants and believe in yourself. Once you do this, the rest will follow.

Creating

Some people may shy away from creativity, declaring that they don't have a creative bone in their body. This is untrue. We all can create. You just have to determine exactly what you want to create.

Deep down, there is a flame of creativity burning inside of you. It may only be a tiny flame, but it is there. All it needs is for you to give it more oxygen and it will glow brighter than you can imagine.

Take the time to find that flame. Once you have it, see what happens. You'll create magic.