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| How committed are you to your creative process?
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September 18, 2020
Oakland, CA
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| | I thought today I’d share about why I write to you every week.
I started this business to help creative writers. The thing I help with and the thing I care about the most is finishing the book, polishing the book, publishing the book, and doing that again and again.
I love the art and craft of coming up with stories, taking an idea that is nebulous and exciting and turning that into a cohesive story that grabs the reader and swallows them whole for a time — so that they can come out the other side transformed, fulfilled, satiated.
The Ups and the Downs of the Creative Process
I care about the whole process, the ups, the downs, and the doldrums.
Creativity isn’t all smelling like a fresh spring rose. Sometimes creativity is smelly compost, or the invisible scary that’s happening under the surface. If you only knew what all those tiny little bugs are doing to turn our kitchen scraps into beautiful rich earth, you’d appreciate that the churning under-surface of creativity is fecund and necessary for all things to grow.
Creativity is not a straight line from A to B, but squiggly, curly, swirly, doubling back on itself, falling straight down off a cliff, rocketing high to the moon and to the stars beyond. Then sometimes floating gently back to Earth to meander.
Honor the Unknown in the Creative Process
In all my courses and programs, I honor the unknown, the magical, the delightful, and the wacky. I also honor the ancestors, all your life experience, and hold space for your questions, your not knowing, your excitement, your passion. All of you.
As a reader, I love stories that take me to another place, invite me into a new adventure, and I help my writers create the same, in their own way, with their own secret sauce.
Through all our programs, courses, webinars, and books, I invite you to get to know yourself as a writer and define your stance toward your work.
I started this business with a desire to help writers, and 14 years later I am still doing that. I am more committed than ever to helping novelists write rip roaring reads in a way that is right for them.
Most of my energy goes into supporting our writers in our premium program: the Group Coaching Program for Genre Fiction Writers.
In this 12 month program we support you to polish your novel, and if you’re ready, to publish it. In this program I’ve been running for seven years, I have students who have been participating for years. When people join I ask them to commit to one year because it takes time to edit a novel.
To join the program you need to have completed at least one novel, one rough draft.
The name of this game of being a novelist is:
- stick-to-itiveness
- persistence
- commitment
- trust
- play, playfulness
- experimenting
- honoring what is
- enjoying the story, but not being the story.
Being a writer, being a novelist, being an artist of any kind, invites us to be able to step in and out the roles, not just the roles of our characters but also the roles involved in the creative process:
- the idea bringer
- the writer
- the editor
- the producer
- the publisher
- the marketer
- the salesperson
- the one who does not know
There are many hats to wear in the creative process and they are all delicious.
Why I Write to You Weekly
To share with you my style, my beliefs, my mindset, what we’re all about here, and of course to make offers and invite you in closer to work with me, to work with us.
Happy Birthday to Ezra!
Central to my work with writers is my partnership with Ezra Barany, my husband, a writer, and a high school physics teacher, and a co-teacher in many of our courses and in the group coaching program.
He is funny, wacky, an idea generator, and always willing to play/teach, share, and is a great embodiment of the creative process.
I know I would not be the writer I am today nor the entrepreneur I am today without his love, support, and example. He cheers me on and celebrates all my efforts. (BTW, it’s his birthday Sunday and here’s what he’d like for his birthday: for you to check out his books.)
We are here to celebrate all your efforts and encourage you to learn, grow, stretch into the writer you desire to be.
My Offer and Invitation to You
Are you looking for a community of support with like-minded writers who want to turn their passion for writing into a career, and who want to put writing at the center of the creative life?
Are you looking for knowledgeable guides who can help you illuminate the path and avoid the pitfalls?
Are you ready to commit now to the next step in your writing career?
If so, then check out our group coaching program and see if it’s right for you.
We have openings in the program, and if it is a good fit for you, you’re welcome to join us.
If you have questions about the program and would like to talk to me personally, go here to sign up for a one-on-one call: https://coaching.bethbarany.com/contact-us/.
I look forward to talking with you soon!
Question for You
How committed are you to your creative process? I’m curious. Hit reply to share your answer with me, or post your comment here (on the blog).
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Have a happy and creative week!
All my best,
Beth
PS. Live Your Magical Life summit starts soon. Marie interviewed me about the creative writing process and we compared it to the five elements system. It was a fun conversation that I hope is helpful to you. You can sign up for the free 6-day summit here:
http://bethb.net/magicallife
♥
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| | Recent Posts on the Writer's Fun Zone Blog |
| | You have been reading the Creativity Sparks Newsletter!
Now in its 14th year, this newsletter is a service of my coaching and consulting business, helping genre fiction writers write, market, and publish their books through live and home study courses, a 12-month group program, and private consultations.
You may share this content intact and with no changes with this attribution:
c. 2006-2020 Beth Barany, Creativity Coach for Writers, www.BethBarany.com
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| ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker, who helps fiction writers experience clarity, so that they can write and polish their novels, and proudly publish them to the delight of their readers.
Owner of the Barany School of Fiction, an online training hub, Beth takes great interest in how humans learn, create, and grow, and includes all her students’ life experiences, including the ancestors, into the moment.
Want a course to help you prepare to write your novel? Discover the comprehensive Plan Your Novel course here, co-taught with award-winning, bestselling thriller author, Ezra Barany.
She's also an award-winning novelist and writes magical tales of romance, adventure, and mystery to empower women and girls to be the heroes in their own lives.
Uncover her Henrietta series here (YA Fantasy) and her Touchstone series here (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance). And her new Sci-fi Mystery here.
beth@bethbarany.com
Barany School of Fiction
Writer's Fun Zone blog
Photo Credit: by c. 2018 Ezra Barany
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