My soul exhales words; my fingertips are lung cells.

Thoughts are the building blocks of Reality.

They seem so solid, and yet, have you ever tried to remember a dream after waking up, but it dissolves away like smoke, slipping through your fingers, and whittles down to nothing? Within minutes of waking up, you can’t remember, let alone hold onto what you were hallucinating about.

This is how thoughts are. This is the nature of the substance that they’re made of: ephemeral, slippery, dissolvable like smoke. 

There’s your Soul frequency – how your Soul feels about things, your Soul’s perspective on things, and then there’s your personality frequency – your human self’s perspective, how it feels, views and perceives things.

In any matter of life, whether it’s health, travel, relationship, finances, or business, there are always these 2 frequencies.

In a world where the idea of “having your book done in a week” gets touted around a lot, it’s no surprise that some writers feel an unnecessary sense of pressure and inadequacy.

Two months ago, my client Isabel Carter of Inside Out Dru Yoga released her book “The Wellness Almanac: 366 Days of Well-Being.”

Isabel is a glowing inspiration for those choosing the slow, steady, patient path with writing and sharing their books with the world.

Just now, I got her to share her tips for the writing process with the world, too.

Having been behind the whole process as her writing coach and book doula, I know for certain that this is not a book that was rushed out just so that she could say “I’ve published a book.” There is so much thoughtfulness and care in the process; Isabel wanted to make sure that what she wrote would be truly beneficial to others.

This 44-minute interview is filled with gems and golden nuggets that all those who endeavor to write, complete and publish their books will benefit from.

Writing is not really just about writing. It’s about being alive. It’s about allowing the creative life force energy that creates the Universe to flow through us, and the medium we choose in this case is words.

You will discover that once your creative energy is re-awakened, it has a ripple effect throughout all other areas of your life. Your business, your relationship, your health, your moods, and whatever else in your life. It will open up doors and horizons to places you’ve never dreamed of.

Once we’ve had the experience of immersing ourselves in this energy, it’s as if we re-learn or remember how to speak a language that’s innate and so natural to us.

My partner and I have been watching a lot of movies lately. It’s quite unusual for me, as I’m much more of a book reader than a movie watcher. Anyway, last night we were watching this rom-com, and 35 mins into it, just as I was feeling so restless and frustrated, my partner turned around and said:

“The best thing about this movie is the scenery, isn’t it?”

“I know right! I don’t know why it’s so bad.”

“Do you want to stop?”

“No, let’s keep watching. I want to find out why it’s so bad.”

I know that, in writing as well as in movies, we learn as much from terrible examples as we do from exemplary ones.

So, as frustrating as the movie was, I wanted to get down to the bottom of it and find out what made it that way. Where had the scriptwriter failed me?

Here are the 3 things I am reminded by the movie about how NOT to write and construct a story.

When you do one of these 3 things, you are literally committing an artistic crime against your readers and viewers, whether it’s a book, a movie, or just a fiction story.

– Edit yourself along the way: stop writing, scroll back to the top and read through it and edit what you’ve written

– Put pressure on yourself: give yourself a deadline (or buy into someone else’s deadline) that you must have something to show for it by a certain date

– Get distracted: either by what’s happening in your life that’s taking up your attention, or by shiny new ideas

– Feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of what needs to be written and done and then just throw in the towel

All of these are really common. All of my clients have done some version of these. Join the club!

The thing is, most people thought that all it took to write a book is a good idea, a Spirit-inspired download, a God-given guidance.

Many clients who are writing their books told me they didn’t feel confident about their writing style, the way they structure the sentences, the way it ‘sounds’.

“Is this good enough to be published? Seems my writing has no proper style.”

Can you relate?

But, writing, first and foremost, is never about your style. Some of the greatest and most impactful writers in the world (e.g. Rumi or Jack Kerouac) are the least concerned about their writing style.

Are you writing non-fiction, poetry, or spirituality? Do you know what’s the most important thing to keep in mind when writing your book?

It’s actually not what most people think. It’s NOT:

X Your message
X Your knowledge or information
X Your writing style
X Readability
X What your audience wants

If you’re struggling to write your book, if it’s not flowing, if it feels like hard work and no longer joyful… consider this:

Is there an energetic congruence between the message you’re sharing in your book and the way you’re writing it? Or is there a discrepancy between the two?