View this email online if it doesn't display correctly Are You in Your Creative Flow? November 13, 2015 Hi Friend,  Today I want to talk about creative flow. How do you know when you're in your flow? For me, I feel content, grounded, powerful. When I'm not in my flow, I feel grumpy, spacey, and low energy.  Why is it important to be in your flow? Why do you think? Without it, it's hard to do anything, let alone something as creative as write, publish, and market novels. Being a creative, in our case novelists, means that you may not want to follow the rules, or do things like other people do them. And means that you most likely find joy in doing things your own way. In fact, you may be unhappy when you try to follow the group or do what you think other people do. Do you find yourself saying, "I should write like... (someone else)," "I should write as much as that person does...," or "I should market like that person and do xyz..."? Notice how you feel when you hear yourself say these kind of statements. Develop a compass that can point to your flow, your north. Recently I was speaking with an author client who thought she had to use Facebook to market her books, but she really didn't like Facebook. In the course of our conversation, she told me that she loved doing presentations and enjoyed chatting on Twitter. I encouraged her to do more presentations to build her audience and not focus on Facebook if she didn't enjoy it.  She was pleased to discover my Twitter for Authors books was available for her to learn how she could use Twitter better. Your creative flow is a complex thing, but I trust that because you are a creative person, you can discover the signs of when your creativity flows and when it doesn't. How can you follow your creative flow in your writing and your marketing? ♥ Personal Note from Beth I am doing Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month, and have written 15,363 words to date. My goal is 10,000 words a week and a total of 40,000 words this month. My plan is to write a second 40,000 words in December. I like writing at this more leisurely pace. I've been doing a weekly live chat using the cool new tool Blab.im. I broadcast the chat live on my blog here: http://www.writersfunzone.com/blog/blabchat/. I enjoy doing these chats which are like a cross between a podcast, talk radio, and a cafe chat. But afterwards I feel like crawling into blankets on my couch and watching Castle reruns.  I'm what's called an ambivert: an introvert that needs extrovert time, but only so much. You know what I mean? I make sure I get my alone time and my social time! ♥ "Be wise. Be strong. And always be true to yourself." -- Alura in Supergirl Welcome to CreativitySparks (tm) newsletter, where I share tips and resources for novelists to help you build a successful and sustainable career. In practical terms, I help genre novelists write, publish, and market their books. Why? Because I too am a novelist and a teacher. I love helping authors and have dedicated hundreds of hours to training, teaching and coaching writers. I am a certified creativity coach for writers and Master NLP practitioner. (NLP stands for neurolinguistic programming or patterning.) Clients have called me a book midwife. I hold your hand while you push. I believe it's a sacred act to write fiction, for when we travel into a novel, we come back home to ourselves renewed, refreshed, and transformed. I believe it is also a sacred act to share our work with the world. Marketing your fiction can be a heart-centered powerful act. Readers are waiting for your books, the ones only you can write. Welcome to our Creativity Sparks community! ♥ Upcoming Events ♥ November 14, 2015: Men of Mystery I'll be in the LA area with Ezra while he participates at Men of Mystery, presenting and chatting about his bestselling Jewish thrillers: The Torah Codes, Book 1 and 36 Righteous, Book 2. (On Amazon: http://amzn.to/1OqKmHB) http://menofmystery.org/ ♥ December 2015: Early Bird Registration opens up for 12-month Group Coaching Program for Novelists, for those of you who want an intimate support group for learning and coaching while you finish, polish, and publish your novel. The new program officially restarts February 2016, though writers can join anytime. http://coaching.bethbarany.com/ ♥ December 2015: Special Products Sale coming soon! ♥ January 2016: Edit Your Novel starts. We'll open registration to that in December.  ♥ February 2016: Branding & Marketing for Novelists free mini-course will launch in anticipation for the April live course. Go here to sign up to be notified when it opens. http://www.writersfunzone.com/blog/branding-marketing-for-genre-novelists-101/ ♥ March 2016: How to Get Book Reviews two-week class opens. Go to here to be notified when this course opens: http://www.writersfunzone.com/blog/how-to-get-reviews/ Have a Happy and Creative Weekend and Week! And thanks for showing up for yourself and doing your creative work! All our best, Beth & Ezra beth@bethbarany.com http://bethbarany.com/ PS. If you found this newsletter useful, please forward it to your friends, writing buddies, and people who you know want to write a novel, but gosh darn it, haven't, yet. ♥ ABOUT US Beth and Ezra Barany are award-winning, best-selling novelists, with 18 books and 5 awards to their name. They are teachers who have worked with over 100 authors to help them get their books written and published and into the hands of their readers. ♥ Happily married for over 15 years, we’re passionate about writing, storytelling, and guiding authors to achieve their dreams. ♥ We offer coaching, change work sessions, book marketing coaching (Beth) and cover design (Ezra), all for genre novelists. More at bethbarany.com.  ♥ To explore how Beth can support you, schedule a 1-hour complimentary Discovery Call here: http://bit.ly/AppmtWithBeth. ABOUT BETH BARANY An award-winning novelist, certified creativity coach and Master NLP Practitioner, Beth runs Writer's Fun Zone, a blog for and by writers, and her recently launched school for novelists, the Barany School of Fiction. Beth writes YA fantasy and magical contemporary romance. She also writes how-to books and courses for novelists, including her home study coaching guide, The Writer's Adventure Guide: 12 Stages to Writing Your Book, a Hero's Journey adaption with you the author as the hero in your own adventure of writing your book. Her latest book for writers is Twitter for Authors: Social Media Marketing for Shy Writers. In her downtime, Beth takes walks, paints, watches movies with her sweetie, travels, and has coffee with friends and family. And plays with her two cats, gardens, and does capoeira. And sleeps. She loves sleep. Photo Credit: by c. 2014 Vivienne McMaster In connection with the operation of this newsletter and business, Creativity Sparks features in the Newsletter affiliate links, including links to Amazon.com (“Affiliate Links”). Barany Consulting earns a commission from the Affiliate Links which commission is based on the number of sales that are made as a result of users of the Newsletter clicking over to the Affiliate Link and purchasing from the Affiliate Link a product and/or service. Not ready to receive these writing and publishing tips? You can unsubscribe below. However, please do not report us as Spam. This negatively impacts our ability to send emails to your fellow subscribers -- the 2100+ people who enjoy these tips each week -- and I'm sure that's not your intention.  https://app.getresponse.com/unsubscribe.html?x=a62b&m=9WdsS&mc=JG&s=E&u=Shp&z=EJIhwfk&

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