If you’re a creative, teacher, trainer, or coach, should you write a book?
And if you do want to write a book, have you asked yourself why?
I’ve worked with many online writers who decided to write books--and when they start asking me their questions, I often respond with a question too.
“Why do you want to write a book?”
There is no right answer to that question--only your answer.
And, yes, you’re allowed to have many reasons for wanting to write a book—from being passionate about the subject, to wanting to share something with the world, to ‘just having a book in you.’
Today, I’m really excited to share an interview with María Ortega Garcia on the many reasons she wrote her book.
Sometimes, when the world seems like too much, I pull a heavy, fuzzy blanket over myself and disappear into a novel. This month, as the world spins, and wobbles, I’ve been reading The Paris Network--our creative community’s book of the month. I invite you to pick up this story (or another great book) and see what happens when you forget your surroundings, your time for a minute…
Suddenly you’re in France, World War II, the occupation. You pop into a bookshop. The owner writes “poetry prescriptions” to keep the townsfolk strong, runs a resistance book club with banned books. Poetry falls from the sky in airdrops. And it’s all based on true events: the banned books, the resistance publishers, the literature and poetry woven into the novel, like “Liberté” by Paul Eluard.
Under the story, there’s a truth that will, no doubt, resonate with you:
Sometimes, literature (or art) is more important than food.
Are you someone who works with words? Maybe you teach or translate, write copy in one or more languages?
Are deadlines something you’re familiar with? Do they add a certain rhythm to your days?
If so, you know that time to create, to express yourself, to work on your own projects is an issue.
And you’re probably intimately familiar with that feeling of working all day on a big writing, translating or teaching project…and the challenges that come with transitioning into your creative self at the end of a long day. Even if you love your work.
If that sounds like you. I think you’re going to really enjoy reading this interview with Sofia Polykreti. Sofia is an active and inspiring member of our Tip of the Iceberg Writing Community. She brightens our book chats with her insights, brings her energy to writing workshops and shares her unique work in our forum.
When is the last time you stopped to think about your body?
As a writer, a creative…a human.
At our Vagabond Voices Creative Community, our inspiration revolves around creative seasons. And…there’s a ‘season’ that is just about the body—remembering you have one and reconnecting to it.
So, whether the season is one where it feels like winter is melting all around you, or summer is going to sleep--whatever side of the globe you’re on, join me today for a celebration of your body. It’s healing, it’s good for your creativity (and good for your writing).
This year, as we enter the creative season of ‘the body’ I’ve got a blog post for you with ideas for tapping into your body for healing and creativity.
And I’ll have a few words of wisdom from a fantastic book I finally finished reading: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, brain, and body in the transformation of trauma. by Bessel Van Der Kolk.
How is a book on healing trauma relevant to our writing and creativity?
Here is what I know:
So many of our artforms, our modes of creative expression actually help us heal.
They are a part of what helps us survive as individuals and cultures.
Even when the unthinkable happens. Or when it’s all around us.
They make us strong. They make us whole.
They bring us together--and they are our human tradition.
Celebrate these with me--whether you’ve experienced trauma or not.
Help keep these creative acts alive and share them with others.
For all of us.
Here are a few ways…
Have you been sleepless lately?
Me too.
There was a night last week when I woke up at 3 AM, and could not accept—anything.
It’s the kind of thing that will leave you asking the ceiling overhead, the rafters, the roof creaking in the wind, the sky:
Is it worth being angry at the world?
Does it help anything?
Does it put bread on the table?
Stop madmen in their tracks?
So many questions and one thing I know for sure:
This is what the first creative step looks like sometimes…
So what book should I choose? I should pick something based on my reading level, right? Something easy if I'm just starting out...
It's more complicated than that.
I love teaching because it reminds me: the human family is made up of so many kinds of thinkers--each perfect!
We have unique ways of seeing the world, relating and learning.
Knowing your preferences and how you may differ from others can help you enjoy your language learning, your reading habit...
Life in general really!
I have two things to ask you today:
Seriously.
Maybe you're not a big fan of graphic novels. (Or maybe you are!)
Personally, my exposure to graphic novels comes largely from the fact that my husband is a 'comic' fanatic. They are in my house staring me in the face and they are beautiful... so I pick them up, take a walk in a strange land.
How could I resist?
Even if these books are outside the realm of what I normally enjoy, I find them engrossing--I particularly love the concept of the Origin Story.
If you're reading books to perfect your English, there is a good chance that you're not satisfied with just learning the grammar, the syntax, the pronunciation. You want to make the language--and the culture--your own.
There's also a chance that you find yourself living in more than one language, more than one culture.
You'll have to decide who you are in English. Which parts of your native culture you will hold on to. Which parts of your new culture you'll embrace.
You will have that singular experience of feeling foreign--not just in a new culture, but also when and if you return to your country of origin! Language changes you, as does travel and living abroad.
No matter where you make your home, you may have to ask yourself where, exactly, you fit in.
Books can help.
Read.
Read because you love to. Read because you can't see yourself without a book in your hand. Read because the world would be a better place if more people read more books. Read to escape. Read to experience. Read to grow.
Read in English. Because you already live part of your life in English, don't you?
Follow your passion for books and your English will rise to the occasion.
Time is our most precious currency. It makes us choose, select, edit. What stays? What goes?
Who are we, in the end? The way we spend our most valuable currency--our time.
To put it bluntly, if you think you have to choose between the challenge of making English your own and your other passions--you'll have to pick one or the other.
The way I see it, you have to choose both.
If you love books, if you can't imagine life without reading, then pick up your book in English and you've just found a way to engage two passions at once--to beat time.
The same is true for your reader's journal. Incorporate more of what you love into what you're already doing.
We're going to try something new this week! You won't see a blog post from me! The last part in the series on using a reading journal to bring your English to life will be out next week.
This week, I'm asking you to put all of these ideas into action.
I'm asking you to try out thinking before you speak. It's easy just:
Sometimes we get to a place with our non-native languages and we are allowed to celebrate!
It's not easy coming this far--being bilingual is challenging and amazing--and we are allowed to rest on our laurels sometimes!
But even after years of living in a language, you can sometimes discover there's something more you want.
It happens! For example. . .
I studied French at University, taught French, I've lived here for more than 10 years. My French is pretty darn good, thanks.
Well, except that in English, I've always thought of myself as a writer. I've been in writer's groups and had a lot of fun. And I miss that. I'll be fine living and doing business in French. But am I a writer?
Your reader's journal can help you find the shortest path between you and your ideas: the shortest path between you and your English-speaking friends.
I know what it's like to be talking about something that you're passionate about--only to find yourself speaking in circles.
And I think you probably know what I mean . . .
It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.
― Oscar Wilde
I love this quote. It reminds me that when you take the time to read, and to think things over, it shows up later when you are put to the test. When your English is put to the test.
How can you keep your English ready for new situations? By giving yourself time to think before you speak.
It’s a really powerful way to change your relationship with English (or any language you want to make your own).
If you're a book lover, one of the best ways to prepare for challenges is toread in English--and keep a reader's journal.
You need to be yourself in English--to feel at home in the language, to make it yours. And you know that reading books in English is an essential part of that ongoing journey.
You want your reading to help you, not just to understand more, but to actually find your voice in English. And you want that voice to be your own, to be truly you.
That’s a pretty serious transformation.
For the next month, I’ll be addressing these very questions.
And I wanted to kick off that discussion with some advice from some inspiring teachers and coaches.
