Introduction

I called this course Write Your Way to Freedom because it’s about using writing to find inner freedom, freedom from the challenges of life. Only through realizing the inner freedom does the outer freedom come—an ability to create a life that supports you in a loving way. So, that’s our goal, inner freedom.

Each of you will find it in your own way. I am here to allow space for that to happen and to help you put your writing out to the world so that it actuates the inner movement, thus changing your outer life.

Part 1 – Platform Building

Finding an audience is much like doing a waltz. I follow the lead of the Divine in creating my work, whatever it is. Then I put it out in the world and feel its response. Then I look more to the Divine guidance to tweak my message into a yet deeper truth.

Since the outer is a reflection of our inner, our message will continue to evolve, as will our audience.

It’s a dance of following the higher nudges and then taking steps and letting the creation take form, not some form that my mind comes up with, which is always limited. Instead, it’s a fluid, Divinely inspired form.

To build your platform, first find your truest truth. Put that out to the world and your audience will find you. You can trust that.

And be willing to keep modifying it as you go, so that it remains fresh and crackling with possibility.

Remember building a platform takes time. Having five loyal readers of your work is more valuable than having a thousand who never read or connect with a word. So be patient and let your vibrational field be the attractor. You put the word out and let the creative power do the rest.

Part 2 – Find and Refine Your Subject

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.”—Ernest Hemingway

You don’t know what your subject is. That’s a bold statement but I say it because if you know, then what you’re writing is already dead. There’s no room for discovery.

Only when we set out to write—to do anything in our lives—with the openness of not knowing does the magic happen.

We are just a midair flight of golden wine

Between His Pitcher and His Cup.—Hafiz

I love this quote because it is about not landing. It is about staying in flight. When the mind grabs a thought and says this is truth, it is landing, but if we let the truth be open to constant revision we are in the creative flow.

And it happens in the process of writing. Through each draft more insight comes until you reach the final draft and finalize that particular piece.

To tap into that discovery, we will be working with the three-draft process I outlined in my free course.

• The first draft is freewriting, letting the Divine current flow through you.
• The second draft is where you shape the piece of writing and zero in on your main point. This draft deals with the structure.
• The final draft is where you looks at the micro-elements—grammar and punctuation, word choice, and general refinement. This draft deals with the precision of fine-tuning.

When you use this process, you can let go more easily because you’re unconcerned about the final product. It helps you stay in the now when writing, which is where we should always be since the causes we put forth now shape our lives.

In-class assignment:

Pick a turning-point moment, an epiphany when your passion showed you its importance.

Find a moment like that and write about it. If you’d like to push yourself a little, try writing in the present tense.

What’s important is that you be fearless—that you write as though no one were watching, as though no one but you will read it. It’s not easy to do but it’s a great practice to help your truth come through.

Remember this is a rough draft. It matters not at all if the words are precise or the grammar is correct. It can be clumsy, repetitive, no matter, as long as it is true.

Part 3 – Troubleshooting

Any questions about writing or about putting your writing out to the world?

Assignment

Goal for the week: Let this piece of writing sit over night or for a few days, and then return to it and see if you can take it to the second draft. See if you can build in a structure by bringing everything in line with the main idea that is coming forth.

1.  Read through to find the main idea and underline it.
2. Consider the piece as a whole. What does it need in order to support the main idea?
3. Build the piece of writing by adding sensory details and other specifics, all in support of your main idea.

Beyond Comfort Zone Challenge

I challenge you to take one step to build your platform.

You might:

1. Post something daring on Facebook—a quote of your own, maybe.
2. Open a Pinterest or Twitter account.
3. Start building a business Facebook page, simply start.

Next week we will work with using sensory details to really bring this piece of writing to life.

Remember:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.—Theodore Roosevelt

Thank you, and I’ll see you next week!