Self-help, creativity, personal growth, writing prompts, journalling, personal transformation
Date Published: January 28, 2021
Publisher: North Spirit Publishers
Have you always longed to express your innermost thoughts in writing but thought it impossible because you’re not a writer? Do you wish you could quiet the voice in your head, lose the self-doubt, and write to your heart’s content? What if you could let go of limiting beliefs, build a joyful daily writing practice, and discover your authentic voice and your authentic life?
Freedom is closer than you think. Freedom to write and rewrite your life. Freedom to write yourself happy, clear, and free. Seven minutes at a time.
7 Minutes to Freedom offers a roadmap for writers and nonwriters to find their voice, embrace their creativity, and radically transform their writing and their life. It is a practical guide to summoning your courage, writing through challenges to create a dream life, boosting your creativity, gaining insight, and improving your relationship with yourself and your writing,
This book is written for experienced writers, novice writers, nonwriters, those burnt out by the creative process, and those who have struggled to share their thoughts, ideas, and voice. It is meant for anyone interested in self-discovery, creativity, and deep spiritual insight.
With one hundred simple and powerful seven-minute writing meditations to use as guideposts to creative freedom, this book will help you rediscover the joy of writing, build new daily habits, and embrace the freedom that comes with knowing you can write and live without fear.
Use the powerful meditations in this book to learn exactly how to:
- Overcome writer’s block and develop your authentic voice
- Quiet your inner critic and build a joyful daily writing practice
- Abandon limiting beliefs and self-judgment
- Unlock your creative potential
- Reconnect to parts of yourself you’ve neglected
- Cultivate gratitude and focus, and change the course of your life
- And so much more!
If you’re ready to make powerful discoveries about yourself and improve your writing life forever, the writing meditations in this book are the perfect tools to help you find your way to writing and living without fear. Get your copy today to discover just how far freedom, clarity, and inspiration can take you!
Can you tell us a little about
the process of getting this book published? How did you come up with the idea
and how did you start?
Since I was thirteen, writing has been
my friend and teacher, my tool for self-exploration and self-honesty. I’ve used
it to support myself, to make sense of my world, and to shed light on my
habits, thoughts, and feelings. I wanted to shout from the mountaintop that
writing can be enjoyable, hoping that others might discover the beauty and the
joy of a healthy writing practice.
To invite people to use writing as a
form of flying, I started putting together workshops and retreats, and people
responded positively to my prompts, always asking for more, and so the idea for
this book was born.
I shudder when I think I almost didn’t publish the
book. After years of rejection letters, I felt defeated. Paralyzed. Stuck. I
felt the book was worthless. Then I read that my favourite book that has
inspired millions of writers and artists, Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, had
been rejected by publishers over forty times before it was published. I was
shocked. In that moment, I felt a strange courage to take a chance on my
writing.
In the next seven months that followed, I learned
everything I could about publishing. And here we are – two weeks after launch.
What surprised you most about getting your book
published?
I was taken aback by the generous
reviews from my advance reader team during the pre-launch months. I was moved
by how deeply other people were connecting with my words. The advance copy of
the book was downloaded in forty-one countries, and I was getting emails from
complete strangers saying how the book was changing their writing and their
life. I was not ready for this outpouring of love and support. It was the best surprise
on the journey!
Tell us a little about what you do when you aren’t
writing
When I’m not writing, I’m talking to other writers about their
writing process. I run writing groups and writing retreats in my community and
at the university where I work as a writing and dissertation coach. I also love
playing tennis and taking long walks by the water.
As a published author, what would you say was the most
pivotal point of your writing life?
It was the
moment I decided to take a chance on my own writing and to self-publish. The
other significant moment happened many years ago when I realized that writing
and editing had nothing to do with each other and that trying to do both at the
same time hurts both processes. I’ve never let them into the same room since. I
either write or edit. Never both.
Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think
that is?
I love diving into freewriting and discovering new things in
the process. I really get my best ideas by writing anything I feel curious
about.
Writing has its own wisdom. It has been my spiritual
practice for over three decades. I forever remain its apprentice. I’m always listening
and learning more, seeing more, feeling more, and opening myself to more ideas
and experiences that come directly from writing.
What is the toughest criticism given to you as an author?
A well-known editor once offered a critique of my writing
that paralyzed my creativity for almost two years. It was so powerful that it
kept me stuck in pain. I did take their suggestions and rewrote the book
completely, and the book is better for it. So I’m grateful for their feedback,
but having experienced that crushing impact, I now try more than ever to lead
with compassion when giving someone feedback on their writing.
What has been your best accomplishment as a writer?
My best accomplishment so far is
hitting #1 New Release in twelve categories within a week of launch and being nestled
right next to my idol, Julia Cameron, in the Self-Help Creativity category. She
has inspired my book and my entire writing life. I could never ask for more. I
feel complete.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I’m currently working on three books. I’m trying to breathe new
life into a children’s book written twenty years ago. The next one is a poetry
collection. I’ve been writing poetry since I was thirteen and never published
it. The final book is intended for doctoral students writing their
dissertation. I’m a writing and dissertation coach, and it hurts me so much
when after a decade in graduate school, doctoral students give up because they
choose to believe their inner critic.
It’s the same critical voice that comes to steal joy and
inspiration from every writer. As a coach, I love helping writers protect their
joy and deal with this voice once and for all.
About The Author
Her passion is helping writers become more courageous, authentic, and kind to themselves. Through individual coaching, writing groups, and writing retreats, she has helped hundreds of writers to break through blocks and find inspiration, a more authentic voice, and a greater freedom in their writing and their life. Her doctoral research also focused on the intricacies of the writing process, exploring the relationship among the poetic, the feminine, and the sacred.
She lives in Toronto, Canada, and when she is not writing or meditating, she loves to play tennis, practice yoga, or sit by the water and cloud watch for hours. In her own writing practice, spanning three decades, she discovered that beliefs we have about our writing are not different from the beliefs we have about ourselves, so a new way of writing often translates into a new way of living. What was impossible becomes probable and even likely when we learn to write and live without fear.
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