My soul exhales words; my fingertips are lung cells.

– 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?

Name changing is a process that’s been taking me months. I’ve come from dreading it, worrying sick about what people might think of me, being afraid of being judged for it, to now feeling like it’s the most simple, obvious, natural thing in the world. It’s pure alignment for me. And when it’s true for my soul and it’s pure alignment, resisting it is so much more hard work than allowing its most natural expression.

(Especially the ones who were too busy to write their books…)

During the long lockdown in the UK in the pandemic, a client of mine was feeling very stagnant, but putting materials together for her book got her energy flowing again. She felt joy, vibrant, excited, proud of herself. She experienced a shift into happiness. This energy is magical.

I’m so excited for my clients when they’re plugged in to the stream of their creative energy, when they’re connected with it, swimming in it, basking in it, and letting it flow through them. That energy is joyful, nourishing, revitalizing, rejuvenating.

Dear author-to-be,

When the idea, the seed of the book comes to you, you might be shaking.
You might be shaken by its enormity and power.

It’s big, deep, potent.

You’ll be like, “Wooowww. OMG.”

And you’ll have this acute awareness, this keen sense of knowing that YOU are being appointed to bring it into the world.

It’s a Divine appointment. You’re being asked to do it, and you have no other choice but to say Yes.

It’s the only thing that feels right.

To do anything otherwise is to run away from this Divine rightful thing, this Divine Destiny that’s waiting for you on your highest timeline.

In a coaching session last week, a client told me she wasn’t feeling too excited about a section of the book that she would need to write.

She knew it would be beneficial to include this section for the readers, however, the way to go about it had felt dreadful and felt like something she needed to do rather than enjoy, so she’d been procrastinating on it for a couple weeks.

In less than half an hour, we have found a way to write this section that feels totally enjoyable, exciting, and super aligned for her. Now she’s even looking forward to it! We even see ways in which this could dovetail so beautifully into the sharing of the book later on with a larger audience.

I notice that, in my intimate relationship, the times when things feel easeful and flowing between us are exactly the times when we spend more time BEING with each other, whether living in close proximity or consciously choosing to make time to be together. The importance here is that we spend *quality* time together to nourish and nurture our connection. It feels as if when we’re together and not mentally preoccupied, our energetic fields start harmonizing and synchronizing, doing all the heavy lifting work for us.

In contrast, the times when things feel really hard are those times when we live far apart, sometimes tens of thousands of miles across the globe, sometimes an hour through horrendous traffic, or when one or both of us have other priorities going on that we become “too busy.” And then, when we finally get together, if we unconsciously choose to use that time to just talk and process the stuff in our heads – which is almost a default – things get even harder (and not *the* kind of hard that we desire!! )

This seeing has brought me a whole new revelation for our relationship with the Muse and with Writing.

“I don’t think that fiction writing is for me.”

A lady at my local writers’ group said bitterly, with a hint of disappointment in her voice. She had been working on a novel for quite some time now, and upon being asked how that was going, her posture slumped and she admitted defeat.