I'm Back On The Moon wRites Blog

I'm back. I woke up this morning and just knew I had to get back on the blog and share with you. The last six months has seen so much happen in my life in the way of writing and the creative work I feel blessed to be involved in. In July I spent two weeks away on a special personal writing retreat at Omega Institute in upstate Rhinecliff in New York. I stayed in my own cottage nestled in the woods where the likes of Pema Chodron and other spiritual teachers have also retreated. I came back rested and re-energised and with a completed book proposal which a publisher has accepted - Yippee.

Life is busy. Since my time away from the blog I have completed the second draft for a Self Development Manual for women in recovery. Secured the funds to write a Self Development Manual for young women and had a short feature on 'How To Handle Worry' published in Psychologies magazine.

Moon wRites is still going strong but as my website is about to be launched (another Yippee) I want to take Moon wRites online and create a bigger presence for us on the web, so watch out for new changes in the New Year.

This months newsletter is posted after this message. Let me know what you think. I have set myself a goal of talking to you each morning for the next seven days. I will let you into my thoughts and journey with my own writing. I will be treating the blog like an online journal for the next seven days.

Creative Spirit Prayer

I had such a wonderful 10 minutes this morning praying that I wrote this prayer to connect me to my writing and the page. It is yours to use too if you wish.

Dear Creative Spirit
Open me to a brand new day
Today I am thankful for the connection to the breath
That is a roaring river through my body
Today I acknowledge the sacred breaths,
Bringing the gifts and the riches which allow me to
See, hear, feel, touch, smell
And intuitively connect with the tools I require to
Spend myself on the page as I write
Creative spirit
Unpeel me so I am receptive to the words, sounds and sensations
Where my purpose as a wordsmith
May find root, take seed, flower and bloom on the page
Allow the stories embedded in the muscles to ease through me
Finding its home, voice and truth on the page.
Creative Spirit today right now
Create a room and space for me to write whether it
Be 15 minutes in the day, a park bench, a packed upper deck of a bus
Or a room in my home
Make my room wherever you are
Creative Spirit surround me with the
Angels of flow, the angels of truth, the angels and word magicians of creativity
Sit Mother Muse in a space nearby to watch over me
Creative Spirit thank you for opening me to a new day.

Prayer and First Things First

This morning the first thing I did after waking up was to head straight for the computer. Each morning I wake up with the intention of saying Morning prayers and then to spend 30 minutes journaling, writing Morning pages or completing a writing practice. I find prayer a deeply fulfilling practice that returns me to my centre and connects me to the Divine.

I grew up in the Pentecostal church and this experience scarred me particularly with my relationship to prayer. In our church prayers were long verbal recitals of praise to God, condemnation of sinners and backsliders and virtuous celebration of those who were Christians and saved. Prayer felt awkward and disconnecting even at that young age and I left the church feeling not worthy of the divine’s attention for many years to follow.

Two resources have gracefully made that reconnection easy and meaningful. My training as an Interfaith Minister reconnected me to the power of prayers from a wide collection of spiritual paths and faiths. Recently my morning practice is to begin each morning by reading a prayer from a most wonderful book entitled Answered Prayers – Love letters from the Divine by Julia Cameron. Answered Prayers is an exquisite book. Each prayer is grounded and meaningful. I can’t recommend it enough. Finally this week American Life Coach Debbie Fords newly re-designed website www.debbieford.com has gone live and on it she has the most beautiful prayer that you can listen to called ‘Release Me.’ Now I have a legitimate excuse for turning on the computer first thing. To begin my day this week I turn off the lights in the study and listen to Debbie read the words of the Release Me prayer as I close my eyes.

The sky outside the study window is a dusty grey mist. Half of the arial view of the London skyline is lost in her smoky screen. The dawn chorus this morning is remarkably quiet. It seems the birds had a late night and have slept in. I am the better for my prayers this morning and determined to spend the next 30 minutes on the page before emails are answered and any other activities started. Today I stick to my goal of First Things First, Prayer, then writing followed by an hour’s walk. Now I am ready to continue with my day.

What practices surround and complement your writing practice? I would love to know.

Musings On Creativity

What Is Creativity?

Last night I went to listen to a talk by a Coach about Creativity. It wasn’t the most inspiring or creative talk but it did get me thinking that I really wanted to write and share some of my thoughts about creativity on the blog today.

Here are my Musings: Just What Is Creativity Is? How To Access Your Creativity and How To Use it in Life and At Work

Creativity is an energetic life force that is alive and available in each of us.
We can express our creativity beyond the traditional arts like painting, sculpting, writing and performing but it is also available to us in our daily activities. It’s in the way we decorate our homes, put an outfit together, go about solving solutions, how we arrange a bunch of flowers in a vase, lay food on a plate, place objects around our homes. Every minute of our day we are using this limitless energy in our thoughts and actions.

Creativity is solution Focused
Creativity is probably the greatest solution solving mechanism available to the human mind. As a result of creative thinking the world has been the receivers of some of the greatest inventions known to humankind. Just think about it.

Creativity works well when the right and left brain work together.
Creativity is a fusion of right brain thinking and left brain thinking. One of the things I took away from last night’s speaker was their ability to create structures and models to communicate to the audience of coaches their interpretation of creativity. They were good at breaking things down. Sometimes we don’t get our creative thoughts out into the world because we don’t introduce and work the muscles of the rational, logical brain (that is full of creative energy and resourcefulness) to help provide the structure some of our great ideas require to be communicated. The left brain needs to support the right brain and the right to support the left.


Creativity Flourishes When We Make Mistakes. It’s All Depends On How You Look At It
Creativity can be stretched and new solutions reached when we make mistakes. Mistakes show us what isn’t working as well as presenting the opportunity and the information required to improve or make something better. The creative mind is constantly available to you to find a new way if you allow it to guide you. Sometimes that requires stillness and quietness to allow the creative brain to work below the conscious mind in the vast expanse of the powerful unconscious. Have you heard the story of the painter whose neighbour watches him over the garden fence standing at the easel painting and shouts over, “Oh you’re working,” and the painter responds, “No I’m resting.” The next day both are in the garden again. He neighbour looks across and see the painter relaxing in his hammock and shouts across, “Oh now your resting,” and the painter replies, “No, now I’m working.” Creative artists, entrepreneurs, successful business people all over the world and throughout time know and have harnessed the principle of taking time out, relaxing and letting go. Allowing the creative life force to work through us.

Creativity is available to all of us. It’s Just How We Use It.
Creativity is available to all of us not just some of us. But it is what you do with your creativity that matters. Through personal interpretations, individuality and differing degrees of skills and talents creativity is a personal stamp we put on the actions we take and the things we create no matter how big or how small. Even when we copy something we are channelling our own creativity through the act of copying. We are creative in the very act of thinking through and taking action on how our copy will be different and distinguishable from the original.

I can read a passage from a book and be immediately motivated to set my own version down on the page. The creative life force once again is finding a route for self-expression.

There’s More Than Enough Creativity To Go Around And More
Creativity is an abundant and unlimited resource available to us at any given time. Unused or unexpressed it can cause us to feel depressed, become ill or even resentful when we are surrounded by others who are in touch with their creativity. Take for instance this morning before I started writing the blog my thoughts were trying to persuade me that I would have nothing new or different to add. But not surprisingly the moment I started to write lots and lots of ideas and connections to creativity and not all mentioned before poured onto the page. It was just a matter of me ignoring the critic and getting down my ideas anyway.

We all have had the experience of a creative idea we didn’t follow through only to see someone else following through and getting it out into the world. If action is not taken the creative life force will simply find a way to be manifested elsewhere. Trust me its not personal. Creativity needs to be expressed and will seek expression in as many places as it can. Your creative life force doesn’t do well with being stifled or even worse ignored. Give it room to breath, space to be visual and different ways to connect and contribute.

Expressing our creativity in a range of different ways and forms increases our sense of well-being, personal and professional satisfaction. Creativity makes us feel better. Seldom does being creative make you feel bad.

Thinking Outside The Box
Being creative often requires that you think outside of the box. Standing up to what you want to say, write, create or make a difference to can be your way of thinking and acting outside of the box. Recently I met a woman who wanted to find a different way to present her CV on her website. Take a look at her website site and see what she created www.turnupthecourage.com When I spoke to her she talked about the gruelling fear she had weeks before about putting her CV up on her site. How fearful she was of people laughing at her idea or her being attacked and called stupid and her worry about what people would say about her. It was scary and since placing it on her site she has had fabulous feedback.

Yes we can have the most childish of thoughts when we think outside of the box. Trace this back and we make the connection to when as a child we were shamed or embarrassed when we innocently expressed ourselves creatively. Thank goodness that she took action despite her fear. She went through what great inventors like Beethoven and Eisenstein did. When they were alive not everyone hailed them as geniuses. They were laughed at and shunned by many. Thinking out of the box can scare the living daylights out of many of us. Creativity calls for us to act even in the presence of our fears.

Creativity thrives even in the presence of discrimination, oppression and adversity.

Creativity has to find away to be expressed even in the face of discrimination and adversity. Black doctors, scientists and inventors like Harold Moody and Lewis Latimer during their time didn’t have their ideas and inventions acknowledged at all. But they continued to be creatively expressive against great odds. Creative expression thrives and survives even in the presence and blocks of discrimination and prejudice. Creativity is a powerful source of energy that will seek as many possible ways to find an outlet to be expressed.

Harriet Tubman the African American slave was creative when she found a way to free slaves by using the Underground railway. Rosa Parks made a creative decision when she refused to give u her seat on a bus that sparked of the Civil Rights movement in the USA. Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole nursed and helped to save the lives of hundreds of soldiers during the Crimean war despite being overlooked and overshadowed in history until recent times by Florence Nightingale. The creative life force is much more powerful than any form of discrimination and oppression. When we are restricted and confined creativity will find ways through and solutions despite what we are up against.

No Sell By Date
Creativity doesn’t have a sell by date. Ok so the cutting edge world of commercial business, publishing, the arts, the entertainment industry would have us believe otherwise. But the truth be known we are constantly recycling creative ideas that were being manifested, written about, talked about and invented centuries ago. Take for instance the blog. Right now my creative imagination is playing with the idea of the blog originating the early African’s and ancient Khemetians scribing on papyrus paper. Or in Europe during Medieval times I imagine the blogs humble beginning in a waxed seal scroll being delivered by hand, by a rider on horseback from coast to coast across the English countryside. Ideas and creativity are recycled and developed time and time again.

Other creativity themes I will return to the blog to write about:

Creativity involves taking risks, stepping outside of your comfort zone.

Creativity is inspired from a range of different sources

Creativity flourishes when we try something different

Creativity involves being willing to engage and participate without knowing the outcome or the result.

You don’t need a lot of time to exercise your creative muscles

Accessing your creativity can save you much needed time – Parkinson’s law
Give yourself a set time and the creative mind will work with your self imposed time limit to find a solution for you

Amely's Tree

This is the photo of a favourite tree taken by Moon wRites member Amely who has returned home to Germany after a period living in Herne Hill, South London. Amely is the artist and writer responsible for our Moon wRites logo which we love.

Moon wRite™ Newsletter March 5th 2007

Thoughts and Reflections from Moon wRites™
Creative Writing Class February 1st 2007

Moon wRites

I wRite

You wRite

We wRite

They wRite

She wRites

Next Moon wRites Class is on Monday 5th March 2007 7.00pm – 9.00pm

Dear Moon wRiters

“ I do see that the more I write, the easier and more joyous a labour it becomes.”-Bell Hooks

Moon wRites Writing Muse Class Notes From Moon wRites February 2007
From Start To Finish

The only thing harder than writing is starting to write, Susan Shaughnessy tells us in her book, Walking On Alligators – A book of meditations for writer.

Many writers struggle with how to get started and the blank page can be intimidating. Over the years Moon wRites has introduced the idea of writing prompts to help writers warm up and get started. Whilst constantly reminding the writer that the only way to get pass your resistance as a writer is to write.

Once we have gotten started and are able to generate writing material many of us easily fall prey to the next hurdle. We lose steam when it comes to following a piece of writing through from start to finish.When writers share their personal struggles with writing and techniques they use to write they offer valuable insights into the ways in which they manage many of the writing challenges we also face within our writing practice.

One technique that I have found useful over the years and one which I am currently using to rework a proposal which was rejected by several publishers is Anne Lamott’s idea of writing on Index cards taken from her hilarious and excellent insight into the writing life, Bird by Bird – Some instructions on writing and life. Recently I returned to the practice of Anne Lamott’s suggestion of writing on Index cards and have found myself producing lots of writing and getting to the point of what I have to say.

Below I share some of Lamott’s ideas and then extend these and share how you can use writing on Index cards to work a piece of writing from start to finish.Here’s an extract from Bird To Bird by Anne Lamott writing about how she uses Index cards:“ I have index cards and pens all over the house – by the bed, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, by the phones and I have them all over the glove compartments of my car. I carry one with me in my back pocket when I take my dog for a walk.

In fact, I carry it folded lengthwise, if you need to know, so that , God forbid, I won’t look too bulky…. So whenever I am leaving the house without my purse – in which there are actual notepads, let alone index cards – I fold an index card lengthwise in half, stick it in my back pocket along with a pen, and head out, knowing that if I have an idea, or see something lovely, or strange or for any reason worth remembering. I will be able to jot down a couple of words to remind me of it.

Sometimes, if I overhear or think of an exact line or dialogue or a transition, I write it down verbatim. I stick the card back in my pocket. I might be walking along the salt marsh, or out at Phoenix Lake, or in the express line at Safeway, and suddenly I hear something wonderful that makes me want to smile or snap my fingers – as if it has just come back to me – and I take out my index card and scribble it down.”

- Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird, p133-134

Start To Finish Index Card Technique.For use individually, with a writing buddy or in a writing group. Just adapt as necessary.You will require 3 blank Index Cards for this practice

Step 1

Each Index card should generate around 250-350 words.

On the first Index card:
The theme of our February writing class was ‘love.’ We used the theme of love for our writing prompt, which is shared below. Use if you need a writing topic for the exercise.

Describe a moment of love, an experience, a past memory, an observation, a fictional account, could be to do with a partner, ex love, a child, a parent, a friend or a stranger.
Write about the moment on both sides of the Index card if you can.

Step 2

Re-look at your first index card draft and ask yourself the following questions:What can be added? Always bring to mind the senses, visual images, smells, sounds, touch and feelings. Ask yourself how have I captured the senses in my first draft? What is missing from the piece? What can I expand on? What did I fail to include? What can I let go of from the first piece?If working with a buddy or in a writing group share what you have written and ask for feedback.

Step 3

Re-write your first draft on a new index card Number 2

Step 4

Re-read again and ask yourself the following questions:What sentences, words images stand out? What might your readers want more of from the piece?

What might your readers want less of?

How are you left feeling after what you have read your second draft?

Take a few minutes to note down your responses or feedback from buddy or writing group members.

What will your third draft look like, sound like, feel like?

Step 5

Write your third and final draft on Index card no 3. How about leaving your writing for a day or two and then return and repeat the process again. Musing Thoughts. Congratulations you have successfully navigated your way through the process of starting a piece of writing, editing it twice and bringing in it to a self appointed finishing line.

You should now be in possession of a piece of writing that in a short space of time is much further down the line than when you originally started. It’s a good idea to follow the steps through in one sitting. Of course this does no mean that the writing is now complete but it has gone through several process of refining since the first raw draft.

And of course you can keep repeating the process over and over again. You might after following through the steps once take the same exercise and transfer it to the page but use the same process to work through the piece.

As much as writing is an art born of our passions and heartfelt concerns it is also a craft.

Possessing the skills and the know how of a craft assumes that we are willing to learn, make mistakes and be willing to try over and over again until we get it right. We must be willing to repeat actions, refine, take away and add to in order for us to become Masters of our craft.

The editing process is a vital part of the writing life. We need our passion, which in reference to our bodies I liken to the heart just as much as we need the editing which I visualise as the lungs.

Recently using Anne Lamott’s suggestion of writing on index cards I began re-working an old book proposal.

Most mornings I wake up and write the Message from the Muse, complete on two sides of an index card. It is a great sense of completion being able to contain what I have to say to the two sides of an index card. It has pushed me to get to the point, and to structure my words to say what I mean.

I realised that writing in this way energises me. I love the immediacy of writing on index cards, their accessibility and the fact that I can whip them out anywhere and write gets me really excited.

I love that I can see what I am working on and take it through an editing process quite quickly. My logical brain loves the fact that I know roughly how many words I am generating (between 250 –300 words) and the right brain loves working with the left brain to come up with creative ways to say what I mean in a small space.

I have successfully transferred this technique to support me in writing the Parenting page on the LBC radio website - http.www.lbc.co.uk Have a go at practising with writing on index cards and see what you think.

Anybody can write, a writer knows how to re-write.
- Brian Bouldrey, The Autobiography Box

Moon wRites is on Monday 5th March 2007 at 7pm

Full Moon is on Saturday 3rd March 2007 at 23.18am

Lunation Ash Moon – The Moon of Waters. This Moon explores the realms of feelings. Also known as Seed Moon, Chaste Moon and Lizard Moon.This is Moon of waters connected with love.

All cultures have a Moon Goddess. She governs the tides, water, the emotions and the menstrual cycle. Moon Goddesses include Metra, Hina, Lunnat, Selene, Artemis, Hecate.Colour - Cherry PinkScents - Jasmine, Neroli, Bergamot and Rose Otto.

Number - 3 Seasonal Celebration Lunar Eclipse on March 3rd This is the day of the Full Moon when the Moon is hidden for some time because the Earth is exactly between her and the Sun. This is a great time to release any past conditioning or negativity, which is no longer working with you as during this period the past is eclipsed by the present.

March 8th is International Women’s Day

Who are the women in your lifeline, those women who have walked before you? This is a day for us to consciously remember these women. Hold a women’s gathering in your home during International Women’s week to celebrate each other’s lives. Give each other special treats, foot spa’s, hand massages or bring food to share. Think creatively about what you might want to do to make your gathering of women a celebration and acknowledgment of our lives and those who have gone before us.

March 18th is Mothering Sunday (UK)

March 18th is the specially assigned day where we celebrate and acknowledge Mothers throughout the UK. My own Mother gets grumpy if she doesn’t receive either a card or a telephone call from each of her six children on the 18th even though in Barbados where she now lives it is celebrated later on in the year.

Are you a Mother? How would you like to be treated this Mother’s day? How would you like to spend your day? What would be a meaningful way of spending your day? Plan your day ahead of schedule. Ask for what you want. If you’re not a Mother treat and appreciate the part of you that energetically is a Mother. Tell her the things a loving Mother would tell you.

As we reach adulthood where we were not perfectly Mothered we are called to become Mothers to ourselves. Finally is there a Mother in your circle whose child is still a baby or toddler or whose adult children have flown the nest. How could you add something special or meaningful to her day?

March 21st is the Spring Equinox

Today there is balance between dark and light. Spring is the time of earthly regeneration, of birth and rebirth, emergence, expansion and the drive to put in place the Visions we have been dreaming of during the winter season.

Spring Equinox welcomes the Spring Maiden. Referring to the Matrix this is the time of the Maiden, the young woman. Honour the spirit of the young women around you and the spirit of the young woman inside of you.

We welcome the energy of Ostara, a time of fertility and sacred balance between night and day. It is a time of celebration as the light tips the balance and overtakes night, lengthens the days and brings anticipation of the return to the growing time. Ostara begins the process when stored energy is brought forth into fruition.Herbs are planted, houses and lands cleared and spring cleaning takes place. This is a time of new beginnings and possibilities. Ostara is a time of deep gratitude.

Our Writing Theme For March’s Moon wRites is ‘Mothers and Daughters.’

When This Month’s Moon wRites class is on Monday 5th March 2007 (7.00pm – 9.00pm)

Full Moon is on Saturday 3rd March 2007 (Lunar Eclipse)

New Moon is on Monday 19th March 2007

Next Moon wRites class is on Monday April 2nd 2007

Full Moon is on Monday April 2nd 2007 (Lunar Eclipse)

Where To Find Us

The classes are based at Streatham Friends Meeting House, Redlands Way, Roupell Park Estate, SW2, 3LU. Class Fee - £20 per workshops. Concessions £10.

Travel Directions

The most direct route is via Brixton. Come out of the station and turn left. Take a bus no 159, 109, 333, 59, 45 or 118 from the bus stops outside Woolworth’s and Barclays bank.

The buses head up Brixton Hill.

Press the bell for the sixth bus stop, which is a request stop. When you get off the bus turn right in front of the bus stop and follow the path into the estate.

Follow the path to the right and this will lead you straight to Friends House.

Please call me for directions on 07961 431 090 if you cannot locate us.

Moon wRiterly

Yours,Jackee

Moon wRites January 2007

January 2007 e-class

Begin somewhere: You cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do.- Liz Smith

In our e-class for January 2007 We will:

Engage in a 20 minute writing Practice using the theme of ‘Beginning’s’
Define our writing goals for 2007
Explore the challenges and solutions to setting up and maintaining a writing practice
Make a start on clearing your writing clutter


SESSION 1
Opening Practice
10 minutes

It is custom at the beginning of each Moon wRites class to begin with a writing/creative practice or a ritual to centre and ground ourselves for the next two hours.

Our opening practice for our January e-class invites you to spend 7 minutes in silence at the start of your e-class. Use the time to go within, allow the silence to slowly dissolve away some of the charge and debris from your day. Don’t resist your racing thoughts. It’s ok. The seven minutes will allow your mind to settle in its own graceful and organic way. After seven minute you may begin.

SESSION 2
Writing Practice
20 minutes

Our writing practice comes right at the start of our e-class so that you can get to the writing very quickly. In class because we are physically together for two hours there is more room because of the structure to get stuck into a longer writing practice a bit later on in the programme. Our writing practice at the start of our e-class focuses on the theme of ‘Beginning’. ‘There’s a difference between a work’s beginning and starting to work,’ writes Twyla Tharp in her book, The Creative Habit. For 20 minutes write about Beginnings: Use any of the following prompts to get you startedJourneys you have began.

The beginning of a new relationship General thoughts and feelings about Beginning’sMake up a story about an unusual beginning to a New YearStarting a new jobWrite a description for a non driver the early stages of learning to drive Start the beginnings of a short story, poem or essayBegin a conversation between two strangersWrite about the beginning of the New

Moon Begin to write about anything, anything at all.If you feel blocked write down I don’t know what I want to write about beginnings. Repeat the sentence over and over again until something comesRead back through your writing and make a note of sentences, themes and phrases that stand out. Doesn’t matter if there is only one theme that strikes you, make a note of it. We will return to these notes in our closing writing practice.‘The birth of all things are weak and tender, and therefore we should have our eyes intent on beginning.’

SESSION 3
Putting Your Writing Goals Down On The Page
30 minutes.

At the end of Decembers Moon wRites class we spent some time talking through a writing goal we wanted to work on in the New year. Through our discussions we made our goals specific, practical and doable. We broke them down into manageable steps and agreed our level of commitment to making the goal happen. After class a few of us stood chatting and laughing as we packed away.

In our goodbyes I mentioned a very generous offer I had received last year from writer Elizabeth Lesser to be her guest at the Omega Institute in New York (www.eomega.org). Encouraged by our conversation I decided to email her again to see if I could make this happen. I desperately needed to take time out from my schedule here in London to write and replenish my creative self in 2007.

Two days later I found myself sending an email to Elizabeth. I received the following prompt response:‘ Hi Jackee,Good to hear from you. Omega runs its programs May-October on our campus in upstate NY. It is a beautiful place, with about 300 paid participants on campus (and 200 staff) at all times taking workshops. One of our buildings is called the Sanctuary, a place where we hold meditation twice a day, and offer silence to anyone at all other times of day.

Above the Sanctuary is what we call the Hermitage, a beautiful little house with a bedroom, a study, a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. We offer teachers and writers and artists the chance to be at the Hermitage as our guest for a week or two, in exchange for teaching or speaking to our staff (about 200 young college people and other people of all ages in transition so that they have the summer off and can work at Omega) once or twice during that time.

The rest of the time you are free to work on your writing, or be in nature, swim at the lake, take long walks, eat in our wonderful dining hall, and be in an exciting community. If this sounds interesting to you, let me know. I will put you in touch with our Hermitage director and he can work out dates.Love, ElizabethWonder and magic reside side by side in a world full of violence and pain. We have such awesome powers to manifest what we desire and we have such awesome power to self-sabotage.

It is so easy to invest so much of our time and energy and misdirect it into self- sabotage rather than in manifestation. On the other side of self-sabotage lies possibilities (the field of plenty).What will you invest in manifesting this year in your writing life?Why write your writing goals down?Tonight is the evening of the New’s Year’s first Full Moon. It’s an ideal time to start off new projects and an ideal date, to kick start your writing projects and goals.

At our New Years party at home two days ago after we had witnessed in the New Year I invited each of our guests into the library room. On the large table sat a pack of hand painted cards by moi and a pack of envelopes which they self addressed. I explained to each person that they could select as many cards as they wished to make a list of their goals and intentions for 2007 and then pop these into the self addressed envelope, which I would mail to everyone by the 28th January 2007.

Everyone took to the writing with such enthusiasm. With room for four at a time around the table our guests admired the cards, said what a great idea this was, and took several cards to write down their intentions for the coming year. The next day I replayed the ritual to my daughter Aida who had celebrated New Year out with her friends and had missed all the fun back at home. After hearing what we did she said, ‘ But I never write my goals down and they happen.

So what’s the point of writing them down?’ Good question I thought even though my response at first was quite woolly. But over the day I hashed over in my mind the further benefits for writing down our goals and came up with the following that I would like to offer you.

1) Writing down your goals sends signal’s out to your subconscious to get to work on helping you realise your goals as practical possibilities. When you stop writing your subconscious continues processing your words. It carries on working behind the scenes on your behalf. By the end of this year when you look back you may not have achieved everything on your list but I bet you at the end of the year you will be closer to at least one or two things on that list.

2) I noticed that as our guest sat down writing they were taking themselves seriously. There was compassionate respect for themselves as they pondered on what they wanted to work on and achieve throughout the coming year. Treating our writing selves with respect and aware attention and focus can be a remarkable motivator in realising our writing goals and making them happen.

3) Writing down your goals is in effect the first step to making a map, a blue print for your writing life for the next 362 days. You are providing details to the subconscious about where you want to go. Next step after writing down your goals is to work how you are gong to get there.

4) Many ideas are great but they simply stay in our heads. Writing down your goals can be the first step in making it concrete and giving it a practical form. Most of us need to make our goals concrete and practical in order for us to get moving on making them happen.Reflecting throughout the day I thought about how much more Aida might have achieved had she written down her goals.

I wondered if in her strategy of not thinking about her goals too much she defended herself from being disappointed, just in case they didn’t happen. And whether the other side of this meant that she denied herself going for things she really, really wanted simply because the disappointment would be too great?Following up our conversation latter in the day I shared the following piece of research that I know would help her rational mind gain clarity and bring validity for her as to the benefits of writing down her goals.

I went back to the most common research often used to reinforce the benefits of writing down goals. In the 1950’s a Yale University study did some research on the results of goal setting.
The results they discovered over a 20 year period were astounding. 20 years later when they investigated the success of the graduates they found that the 3% of graduates with clearly written goals in the 1950’s were worth more in terms of wealth than the other 97% put together.

Set aside 15 minutes and brainstorm a list of your writing goals for 2007
Once you have finished identify the goals that are practical and doable. For example, completing five pages for a personal essay is achievable and within your control. Completing your first Memoir is an aspiration. You have greater personal control over completing the five pages. Make note of where you have the greatest personal control over a goal or whether the goal comes under the category of an aspiration (usually a Big Goal) which means the goal is much more dependent on others than yourself. Make a note of what steps will give you greater control of the goal.

Take out your diary and make appointments with your goal.

Recording your goals as appointments in your diary will help you keep on track.

Take 5 minutes to reflect in writing on this exercise and make note of any observations and insights Insights and Observations

SESSION 4
Setting Up And Maintaining
A Writing Practice
30 minutes

Next step is to create the how of making these writing goals happen. I asked several members of Moon wRites to email me and tell me what difficulties they were having setting up and maintaining a writing practice. As a result of their responses the section of our e-class will focus on setting up and maintaining a writing practice.

First take a few minutes and record in the space below the main challenges you experience with setting up and maintaining a writing practice.

Next write down how you visualise yourself running your writing practice. When will your practice be open? (When will you write?) Where will it be located? (Several locations will be fine. Turning up to a computer can be a real turn off for some writers.

Whist the idea of sitting in a bed, with a pot of tea and notebook is much more appealing) What are your opening hours? How many minutes/hours a week will you be open? How often will you write? What will you be writing about? (What services will your writing practice offer – themes of your writing?)

Now you have a blueprint for your writing practice. What is the quickest and easiest way to get your practice up and running?In the following extract below I reply to a selection of the challenges Moon wRiters identified in setting up and maintaining a writing practice.

As you read through make note of what specific sections relate to you and your practice. The extract is full of examples of solutions and strategies for you to put into practice straight away.

1). What Is A Writing Practice?A writing practice is an active ongoing practice where you turn up to write on a regular, consistent basis. Being regular and consistent can mean as little as twice a week or as much as five, or six times a week. A minimum of at least once a week is advised. The amount of time you spend writing is not of that great importance. The key strength is that you turn up to the practice regularly, even if you don’t feel like it, when you say you will.

2). Get Your Thinking To Its Appointment On The PageMuch of our writing is done off the page. The preparation, the connections, the knitting together happens in our minds. Sometimes I find I am literally bursting with words and need to get to the page. Getting to the page and laying down my thinking is literally the way in which I take my thinking to its appointment.

Many of us have an internal teacher who feels secure and cared for when we make appointments with ourselves to write. Neglected the teacher can become bossy, tyrannical and even punitive in her words and cajoling. The idea of a schedule is really appealing to our writing Muse.

As writer Somerset Maughaun is famously quoted as saying, ‘ I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at 9 o’clock sharp.’You will be surprised at what gets emptied onto the page regularly when you turn up. Much of it will be words and stories formed in your subconscious and unconscious, ideas and themes that don’t easily reveal themselves to the conscious mind. Now I see myself writing both when I am off the page as much as when I am on it. But in order for my writing practice to be effective I have to bring both together on a regular basis.

3). Write Even When You Don’t Feel Like ItWriting even when you don’t feel like it is a requirement of your practice. The practice happens when you write whether you are in the mood or not. It’s not about the quality or the quantity. All that is important is that the practice happens.A Dr’s surgery opens every day. Not just some days on the whim of how the Dr is feeling. The Dr. practices’ everyday. The practice becomes a habit, second nature, unconscious incompetence.

4). Blocks And Distractions Are Part Of The Process.I am writing this first draft on New Years Eve. It is 4pm on a Saturday. For the last three hours I have distracted myself by going out for breakfast, popping into the post office, buying a pair of boots I thought I must have and then just as I thought I would make it to the library I received a call from my partner requesting my urgent help in carrying out an urgent errand I had not planned into my days schedule.

I finally arrived at the library three hours later than planned. But when I did I knocked out the first draft’s of this e-class and my end of year newsletter. Sitting my bum on the seat and not moving worked. Blocks and distractions are inevitable. Be gentle when you are aware of what is happening. Is there a way in which you can naturally sneak your writing in despite the blocks or distractions putting in an appearance? Habit’s are often foolproof and they happen no matter what.

Blocks show up strong and potent when they get a whiff of you making a commitment, intention or action you are determined to go through with. Smile, you’re on track. The block is trying to stay in employment. Your job is write and see your block off into safe retirement.

5). Can I Work On Different Pieces Of writing At The Same Time?Oh Yes you can. When I had finished working on the e-class and the newsletter I moved straight onto another writing project. I didn’t limit myself to working on just one. Today I am completing this e-class in between writing first drafts for a writing commission due in 10 days time.

Even though there are times when the only way to get an article or piece of writing finished is to make it the priority. But in most cases I allow my Muse to move from one piece of writing to another, side by side. It feels organic. In my experience working in this way is not a distraction. Instead I see it as when I feel I have said enough in one area I simply refresh and stimulate myself by moving onto another.

Many successful authors have abandoned writing one book to go of and complete writing another. This is what happened to Jean Shinoda Bolen when she was writing, Crossing To Avalon,“ I wrote the first draft of this book between December 1986 and April 1987, and then put it away until the beginning of 1990, when I thought I was ready to work on it again…………..Summer came and with it came time to write again, except in June I became enthralled by Richard Wagner’s opera cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung, which I saw as a commentary on patriarchy and dysfunctional relationships.

It took over my creative process as if it were an unplanned pregnancy and instead I wrote Ring Of Power: The Abandoned Child, The Authoritarian Father, and the Disempowered Feminine which was published in 1992.”Writer Louisa DeSalvo reminds us in her book, Writing As A Way Of Healing, that, ’ Stephen King works on one book in the morning and plays with a second in the afternoon. Virginia Woolf realised that she worked best if she alternated writing fiction with non-fiction. She exercised different parts of her brain.’

6). It is helpful to get clear about why you write?Is your writing purely recreational? A way for you to creatively express yourself? Is your writing for personal insight and development? This is legitimate. This is ok. Have fun with it. Value it. Do you have a particular objective or outcome for your writing? If yes you may need to be more focused about how you go about starting, revising and completing a writing piece.

Some writers find it much easier to focus on one stage and then move onto the next, rather than focus on the end product. For others need to see the end before they start. Neither way is wrong, both ways are right and in-between there are many variations. Work with the one that is most likely to get you onto the page and bring about the outcome you desire.

7). Break your writing down into categoriesWriting for pleasure – (letters, writing comments in cards etc, emails, speeches for family events and friends)Writing for completion – (personal essay, chapter for your novel, verses for your poems)Writing for publication – (1st draft of novel, memoir, non fiction book, poems, short stories, essays features, articles, e-books, e-courses, reports)Writing for self growth and personal reflection – (journaling, self help exercises, personal poems)

8). When’s The Best Time To Write?I write best in the morning around 5-6.30am. The house is quiet, my mind is less cluttered and distracted and I am less likely to be distracted away from my writing than at any other time in the day. However keeping up this writing schedule alongside many other commitments during the day has sometimes meant me tumbling through the day worst for wear.

So my practice naturally and instinctively led me to see that I can be a productive at 7pm in the evening for 30 minutes as I am at 5.30am in the morning. Writing in the morning is my comfort zone. My ideal preferred time to write. This is my ideal but does not mean that I cannot write at other times. Breaking this habit of my early morning writing comfort zone has been crucial in operating my writing practice and extending opening hours into other parts of the day.
It has meant a more flexible and fluid writing practice that responds to what’s happening in my life and the schedules I am up against. This is the next step to take once your writing practice has been firmly established.

9). There Is More Time Than You Can Ever ImagineZen teacher Norman Fisher wrote one 28 line poem every morning for a year and generated enough material for a book. Lets say that you decide that the novel you want to write is 362 pages long.Lets say that you decide that your schedule is to write a page a day for the next 362 days.In one years time you will have the draft for your novel. Right?But I bet you won’t!Why? Because if you kept up writing a page a day for six months I bet you will have the first draft done and dusted in six months rather than in twelve.Time is not the issue.

There is enough time if you really think about it. Turning up to write is the key issue. Walking past fears that tell you that you’re not good enough, have nothing to write about can only be beaten by telling the bully to push off as you write them out of your hearing zone by planting your words on the page. Most successful writers have written despite their fears.

10). I have written lots of pieces but nothing new.By now many of the suggestions outlined on this month’s e-class should have propelled you into action. But as I say to my students time and time again, ‘Lets keep it simple.’ Want to generate new material? Here’s a few tips to generate new writing material. Make a list of 20 things you want to write about that you haven’t written about. Stop. Take a look around you right now and make a list of twenty things you see, smell, hear, sense in your immediate environment. There’s your writing themes or writing prompts. Use them to get you started.

The chances are that you are not writing something new because you are not writing enough. When the writing is a habit you have less control over what comes out. Go back to the earlier suggestions and set up your writing practice and then move on from there.

11). Supporting BuddyWho Can Support Me And Keep Me AccountableThink of a friend or someone you know who will be supportive rather than critical and ask them if they would be willing to support you for the next 28 days as you set up and open your writing practice.
Agree a time to discuss and agree how you will work together using the following guide. Have your discussion either by email, telephone or in person if possible within the next 48 hours.

Give them a brief background to what your intended writing practice will look like, (opening times, locations, extended opening hours, what you will be writing about) Ask them to write down five ways in which you will reward yourself every time you complete your practice each week.

Five small ways I will reward myselfAgree on a time each week that they will check in with you about how your writing practice has gone and whether you have earned a reward.Tell them what would be helpful for them to say when your writing practice has gone well and when it hasn’t. Request that they more or less stick to the agreed script. If I Miss My Practice I will make it up byLet your friend know what your intention is when or if you miss your practice so they can remind you of what action you agreed to take to catch up.

Also request that they check in with you on whether you have given yourself your reward.Knowing that there is someone out there other than yourself to whom you are accountable too can be really motivating for many of us. Writing can be very isolating and checking in with someone in this way can break through feelings of isolation and enhance the feeling of belonging and support. All writers need their tribe.

Notice how you are being asked to set up your support in a way that works for you. Right now you need a nurturing environment that will get you started and support your practice in staying open rather than operating from an environment that is critical and punitive.

SESSION 5
Writing Clutter
20 minutes and after the class

We can and do accumulate clutter in our writing lives as we do in any other areas of our lives. So just what does the clutter in your writing life look like? It’s different for everyone. But some common examples might be:

Writing that you will never get back to.
A book that you started but just isn’t going anywhere.
Writing books that intimidate your writing rather than fuel it.Fiction and Non Fiction books that stop you in your track as you believe you will never reach this standard of writing
Writing beliefs and aspirations that are not realistic and grandiose

What steps can you take to remove some of these physical and psychological obstacles from your writing life?How about setting aside 30 minutes to clear some of your writing clutter at the end of our e-class?
Things to be physically thrown awayPaper, books and articles I will get rid of in the next 24 hours
Psychological Changes and Shifts
Write down your spontaneous responses to the following questions as rapidly as possible to determine which beliefs are holding you back.

My father thought writers were
My mother thought writers were
At school
I learned that writing was
At secondary school writing seemed
At college writing seemed
As a rule writers are
The problem with writers is
The reason I don’t write more is
My fear about writing is
My hopes for my writing are
My plan about being a writer is
Once completed return to your responses and generate new beliefs even if you don’t fully believe them and write them out in the space below.
To start working on a belief you don’t have to believe it.
The first step is in acknowledging it.
We will close the e-class in acknowledgement of your new expanded writing beliefs.

My new expanded writing beliefs are:I am consciously not giving you examples of how to complete this exercise as I want you to trust your responses and trust your new self inspired beliefs.


SESSION 6
Closing writing practice
10 minutes

Choose one of the sentences or themes from your writing practice at the start of class and write for 10 minutes. Or simply write about what comes to you for 10 minutes.E-Class ReviewAfter the class take a few minutes to write down yourReflections, thoughts, observations and ideas from Moon wRites January e-class‰

Thank you for joining us for the January Moon wRites 2007 e-class.

We have worked through: 30 minutes of writing practiceSetting up, opening your writing practice
Solutions and strategies to maintaining your writing practice
(Setting up and opening your practice, how much time, when’s the best time to write, working on different pieces in the same day, how to manage writing blocks, writing even if your not in the mood, how to generate new material and getting clear about why you want to write)

Establishing new writing beliefs
Clearing writing clutter

Reflected and reviewed your learning, insights and observations from the class.

See you next month on the next Full Moon class on Thursday 1st February 2007“ A year from now you may have wished you had started today.” – Karen LambBonusMy friend and fellow Coach Jacquie Moses has created a fantastic website www.onemillioninspiredwomen.com.

Go to Jacquie’s site and register any or all of your writing goals for 2007.

If you can’t identify a writing buddy let the site be the place you go public with your goals and hold you accountable in the spirit of a community of inspired women globally.