This post is the first in our 2024 guest blog post series Bravely Write Your Book.
Learn from publishing professionals and authors how to bravely write your book.
Hello again everyone! Last month we covered overcoming limiting beliefs with Kate Varness, and this month I’ve got another member of my inner circle here to share some insight. Today’s topic is learning something new (like writing a book perhaps). When you’re just starting anything for the first time, there’s so much to learn and discover, and that can quickly become daunting if you let it. Developing a new skill is rarely easy, but luckily our guest this month is here with the wisdom and advice to make the learning process easier!
Let me introduce this month’s guest contributor–Jennifer Jane Young
Jennifer Jane Young is a speaker, author of Say Yes to Your YES, Intuitive Life Coach and Intuitive Leadership advisor to entrepreneurs and business leaders around the world. Since 2011, Jenn’s leadership roles have spanned several continents, from leading a community of 5,000 entrepreneurs for the International Trade Centre as a United Nations Consultant to advising startups and multi-million dollar businesses.
Jenn is the Founder of the School of Intuitive Leadership, a hub and online community where heart-centered, impact-driven entrepreneurs learn to embrace their intuitive wisdom, experiencing deeper transformation, alignment, and growth in their path towards success. Through her workshops, talks, and her signature podcast, “Finding your Flow”, Jenn has helped global entrepreneurs change the paradigm in how they lead their business, transforming lives in the process.
Today, Jenn is living her dream life between Mexico and the Canadian countryside, with her two rescue dogs Bailey and Johnny. Find Jenn at jenniferjaneyoung.com.
What advice would you give someone struggling with sharing their story?
I feel that many people try to force and manufacture their creativity instead of letting it flow from their intuition. We tend to lead our lives and business from the limited left brain (logic, known information, facts, habits, conditioning) instead of leading from the limitless potential of our creative, imaginative right brain where magic can happen.
Flow happens when we are relaxed, experiencing joy and pleasure and when we step into the unknown and stop trying to control outcomes. When we just show up, get quiet, and practice deep listening from a relaxed state, so much creativity can flow through us and writing happens much more naturally. Those are the moments when many writers say "It doesn't feel like I wrote this, it just came through me."
Was there a time you struggled with sharing your story in your own writing? How did you overcome it?
100%. When I was trying too hard to force my creativity into a structured box, outcome or I was too attached to a specific idea or vision. When I learned to relax and just let my writing flow through me (and honor when it wasn't) my writing flowed and the structure of it came together on its own.
I needed to learn to trust the guidance of my intuition and my own creative flow (and the timing of that flow). I don't think I could have ever published a book that I loved so much and that is having such a big impact if I hadn't learned to let my intuition guide my writing.
What did you wish you knew then that you do now?
You can't force or rush the writing process. You also need to remove your focus from the finished product and actually be present to enjoy the process of writing. When I removed my sense of urgency around my writing, I found so much more joy and flow in it. I wish I would have learned that sooner.
If you could write a letter to your younger self about sharing your story, what would you tell them?
Chill girl! You will get to where you are meant to be when it's time.
When I was younger I felt such a sense of urgency around everything. I wanted to rush my process and achieve things before I was ready. We need to let go of our own internal timeline and trust the process and rhythm of our lives.
I feel like I missed out on so many moments because I was not fully present. I was often stressed, anxious, and never content with where I was or what I had achieved so far. It was never enough. It's like eating a banana before it's ripe. It just doesn't taste good. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth. I spent way too much time eating metaphorical unripe bananas in my life instead of letting things come to fruition when it was time.
What is the most valuable advice you’ve received as a writer about sharing your story?
To trust the process and do the work. I now see writing as making homemade bread. You need to mix the ingredients and then knead the bread for quite some time before it's ready to rise so you can cook it. I always wanted to skip the kneading part and just cook the bread. You need to take the time to write, to re-read, to edit, to re-write, and let yourself knead your writing until it feels ready to send out into the world.
Once those words are out, they are out! Take the time you need to send them out in a way that will feel like you are serving people the most delicious homemade bread (your writing) they will have ever tasted.
What is one piece of advice you can provide to help someone bring their book to the world?
Build a team and plan in advance! This is NOT a one-man show. You need to build a successful team around you. Look for other writers, support groups, editors, and authors. I would have never made it to the finish line without the board of advisors I had created to support me along the way. Some of those people were paid like my coaches, editors, proofreaders, and designers and some were just friends and writing colleagues who were there to support me.
You also don't want to put a book out into the world feeling like you have a fire under your ass. Plan this out, educate yourself on ALL the steps it takes to publish a book, find the resources, and make a project that you can follow with a timeline that won't lead you into burnout. This is when you want to use your beautiful left brain–for planning!
Don’t forget to join us again next month when Linda Keating will be here to talk about pursuing a passion for writing, and the bravery it takes.
While you wait for the next blog post in this series to drop, don’t forget about these two free and readily available resources.
- The 5-Step Writing Guide to Starting (and Finishing) Your Memoir. It’s time to light up your world and ours with your story.
- My 20-minute Story Stroll where you and I get to talk openly and honestly about the book you’re feeling tapped to write. Let me help you take the next best step on your journey.