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Why spiritual writing often falls flatβand how to fix it.
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π¦ π πΏ Hi! How was your week? β It is official - I am now in the third trimester of my pregnancy. β It's a little bit scary, this shift towards the beginning of the end (so to speak)... I feel that clock ticking and there is still so much to do. Yet I've also finished or let go of a lot of things as well. β The last few days PAUSE has been such an important theme as I recollect my energy after visiting a friend. β It's amazing how a small trip for a couple days has scrambled my routines and my mental clarity. β Every day, I have to be mindful of the pressure I feel to hustle and how it further scrambles my system. β I know it will not help me to run around like Chicken Little. I must resist reacting out of fear or stress. β I am practicing the art of surrender to the limits of my capacity, changing day by day, and patiently tending to whatever need I have so that I can operate and function properly. β Things just tend to throw me a bit more at this stage of pregnancy. Being gentle with myself is something I have learned with age, and it's never been more appropriate. β I wish you gentleness in your life as well. β I think at the root of a lot of dysfunction and stress reactions is a belief that it is not okay to receive, β -not okay to enjoy stopping to smell the roses before all work is done (i.e. ever), β -not okay to enjoy the moment before my baby comes because I have to be in control and fully prepared (impossible) β -not okay to love myself as a human being, instead of a human doing. β β Growing up, I was taught that my value and worth was a function of what utility I had, what use I was, or how much money I was earning β as if I were a positive or negative line on a balance sheet. β β In this belief system, choosing to pause or having to do so because of an incapacity to perform useful functions was dangerous. It triggered anxiety. β β No wonder I had resistance to rest. β For many years, I was a workaholic, and the recovery time is slow. I'm a lot different now but just like with any addictive behavior, I have to keep an eye out to avoid falling back into old patterns. β Being on the brink of being a mother, myself, I would never wish my child to assess their own value the way I was taught to, like a line on a balance sheet. β I'm sure the people who loved me never wanted it either, but negative messages rang louder than their intent. β And so I aim to be the model of change. I aim to heal what came before so that I don't pass it on to the next generation. β β I'd like to say thank you to Melissa Feick, who recently wrote about blocks to receiving and how it continues through families in a book she recently published: β β Although this theme is something I have worked on for years, her words still brought up additional layers of it to my awareness with new meaning and relevance. β I got to chew on everything she wrote many months ago while I had the honor of editing the book. β Highly recommend reading it for yourself! β β By the way, this is the second book I've edited for Melissa, and because she writes about very deep spiritual subjects, it always delights me when reviews describe the writing as easy to understand. β β βDefinitely check out her book.β β β I have a lot of interests, skills and hats I wear, but can I just say? β Editing spiritual nonfiction is definitely my jam. I've done a lot of editing on these sorts of books, and it dovetails nicely with my Masters degree in Spiritual Direction and Spiritual Care. β I love the reviews like those above because it shows me that her book didn't fall into one of the common traps for spiritual writing. β If you are writing about spiritual things, it is incredibly easy to write in a manner that people don't know how to comprehend in a grounded, everyday sort of way. β It comes off as airy fairy. It goes in one ear and out the other. It doesn't mean something real to other people. Although the author knows what they are talking about, the average person does not. β It can take the form of poetry and sound really nice to you, inspire you, and feel divine as the author... but your readers may be left scratching their heads. Their eyes may glaze over reading. They don't truly carry away the meaning that you are trying to convey. β Even though you are sharing something you feel is life-changing, they read it and their lives don't change. β It doesn't move them the way it moves you. It doesn't mean something deep to them if they can't fully comprehend you or know how to apply what you are talking about to real life. β And if what you want to say is life-changing, that's really disappointing! β I want more authors to be able to change lives like Melissa, so make sure that the people you are writing to can receive your message clearly. β Remember that you have to consider if your writing is easy to understand or not. β And there's one more thing I want to bring up... β Another common problem is that when you try to edit your words, you lose the essence of the spiritual vibe you want to permeate the writing. β Basically, you are trying to do too much by yourself. β You are trying to imagine how people will respond to your words and that's disconnecting you from yourself and your inspiration. β The result is writing that is watered down without being powerful. β Just so you know, it is a lot easier when you find the right editor! β You don't have to figure it all out yourself. When you get help to edit (and your editor gets you), things are a lot simpler. β You can stay in your inspired zone, and the editor can suggest edits to help it be easier to understand. β β I think we did a great job finding a balance in Melissa's books so they are easy to understand while staying very rich in spiritual meaning. β Like the reviews state, this is part of why she is getting so many five star ratings. Her first book was also a very strong bestseller for many years. β Not only is her material fantastic, but if anything wasn't 100% clear to understand, we caught it and tweaked it in the developmental editing we did together. So now it's all clear as day. β Want to try this with your writing? You are in luck. I have a few spots open for editing before I go on maternity leave. :) β Here's a note from Melissa that she sent me after I helped her edit her first book, "Your work is amazing. I love what you've done for me and the book!" β
Be sure to check out Melissa Feick's new book "Quantum Akashic Records Manifesting: Unlocking the Spiritual Keys to Wealth, Success and Limitless Growth." β And if you need any help editing your nonfiction book, β I have a couple of coaching + editing spots open before I head out on maternity leave. If youβd like to explore one of them, hit reply to reach out to me by October 15. β My specialties include spiritual nonfiction, memoir, and personal development genres. β I am also a copywriter and available to edit business copy for your website, bios, service descriptions, sales pages, articles, email campaigns, promo posts, blogs, or video scripts. β I tend to work with sensitive and empathetic folks who want to take care with their words. This includes writers, healers, or service providers such as massage therapists, mental health therapists, spiritual support folks, conscious marketers, and more. β If you are interested, hit reply to this email and we can find time to talk on the phone (for free) about your writing and how I can help you make progress. β β Thanks for reading -Sofia Wren
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Hi! I'm Sofia Wren
I help you write for your book or business as smoothly as a mermaid swims so you can serve more people. Get free links to all my articles on writing, personal development and what I've learned in my life and 10 years in business. To get inspired, sign up for my weekly FunLetters!
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