Creativity
Most of the authors I work with experience two types of phenomena during the writing process.
First, they experience real life examples of what they are actually writing about.
Secondly, the information they need for their book gets presented to them as if by magic.
Of course, a perfectly good explanation for this is that your brain is a great pattern recognition system. When it notices something important, it literally lights up – this can even be seen happening in Functional MRI (fMRI) scanners.
Even an MRI scanner though is only modelling what is actually going on inside our heads … and our minds … after it’s actually happened. It’s been shown that our conscious awareness of anything occurs about 5 to 10 seconds after underlying neurological changes that signal something is about to come to its attention.
The fancily named Holonomic Brain Theory postulates a fabulous mechanism for how this all works in microcosm inside our heads.
Another slightly older (and macrocosmic) model with virtually no scientific basis is that of Karma. I stress it’s just a model and I see it as science’s challenge to embrace it (and other esoteric concepts) and not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Especially as this model’s been around a good while.
Karma is a kind of wrapper for the summation our life experience – and, some say, lives’ experiences. Prior to incarnating we decide on the learnings we would like to take on board and, mixed with a healthy dose of free will, we set about having them in one form or another.
When people say, there’s a book inside everyone, I have always felt that it is the book of their life is being referred to. Indeed, I chose the name of The Bookwright as this is the “book” I actually work on, not just the physical book that is being written.
So when you decide to write your book, which is a fairly intense experience, it’s like the world around conspires to help you along with real world examples. The exercises I do with Mind Maps and the visualisations to embed the maps in the brain’s neurology serve merely give this extra impetus and focus.
Writing of your book helps you with your own learning, evolution and understanding … as hopefully it will help others. In some cases, it helps you catharsise past trauma too. You will also experience challenges that you need to deal with – see my blogs series on dealing with Fears for more insight into this.
So if you are planning to write a book, notice if any of these things are happening to you:
- Unexpected strokes of luck and serendipity
- Repeated patterns of the same challenge
- Procrastination or fear
- Receiving the same message from different sources
If they are, karma is at work and it’s worth bearing in mind that there’s only one thing you can take with you and that’s your evolution and there’s only one thing you can leave behind … YOUR ART.
Related links:
Embedding Mind Maps in your Neurology
Holonomic brain theory
Voiding Karma
Four Fears that stop you writing
Author’s Retreat
Hi Tom
Food for thought and a brave article – theer are so many different definitions of karma – the one I tend to use is that it’s about cause and effect.
The important point for me is that ebfore blaming Karma for writing problems, have a good look at Tom’s article on Fear.
Love and Light
Nic
Agreed – karma got a bad rap with all that Law of Attraction baloney & nonsense. It only comes into its own when you own it and become fully responsible for everything that comes your way. The key is seeing challenges as real opportunities and remembering to say “Thanks” for all the good things that happen. And, agnostically, you can thank God, The Universe, Your Future Self or your dog, cat or iPad, IMHO – just remembering to say it brings more your way.
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I see Karma as what you give out you get back. So if you are a grot then grot will find you. If you are decent and try to help others as well as yourself you will get back plenty of good stuff.
As a seasoned writer and author I agree with your article.
I set myself writing goals, I plan content for each chapter and always, what I need (not neccessarily what I want) materialises at the right time.The more I set that intention, the more it happens. I think we are like little radio transmitters transmitting different energies that bring back to us a like minded pattern.
Also being less spiritual for a moment, there is nothing like hard graft and setting yourself writing yardsticks by which to measure performance and to keep you on track. Despite working many long hours I am never late with copy and my book followed the same pattern.
If you really want to write your book you will achieve it and view obstacles as part of the road to whatever you define as success. I have chronic upper body RSI and can’t type nor write by hand for more than a few lines. Where there is the power of will and belief there is a way!
Thanks Dee – you are right of course. Having a hard time when writing a book is by no mean obligatory. Once you fully open yourself to inspiration, high quality stuff which needs hardly any editing will just flow through you. You can even get whole chapters in your dreams (to order) – perhaps how do this should be my next blog.
Now that Tom, is one blog I would dine out on for a long time.
Gimmee my chapters in my dreams?!! Love it…yes Siree!
I flirt perilously close to this with night time inspirations as I am drifting dreamily off or I wake up full of the next great headline or the balance of that chapter that was eluding me.
Today has been great, nearly finished the first chapter of book 2 and modesty aside it is really gutsy, helpful stuff for my target audience. Made me tingle with excitement when I re-read it before sending it to my ever so pedantic but bang on the nail editor!
Sweet dreams to you!
Your wish is my command – how to write in your sleep series coming up next !!