Lorna Faith

Clean Fiction Author

To Find Yourself in Your Writing, You Have let Yourself Go

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“The best writers and the best stories aren’t focused on perfect. There is no such thing as perfect. The best writers are willing to give up the story they wish could be in order to tell the story that is.” Allison Vesterfelt

I’ve struggled lately with letting go of control. I’ve wanted every word to be perfect. I’ve had to stop myself from editing each time I start a new page.

I have a tendency to re-read and obsess and wonder about each phrase and each scene or paragraph. I used to think this would help me to write better, but that didn’t happen.

The truth is, the more I want to make the words perfect, the more I’m held back from discovering the kind of writer I could be.

I used to think that writing and editing at the same time would make my first draft cleaner and somehow better. But in fact it does just the opposite.

To write, and to find our authentic self in all our writing, we have to learn to let ourselves go. [Tweet this]

We have to learn to be okay with imperfect.

dog reading book

 

 

Choose to Let Go of Control

The way I’ve started learning to listen more to myself is to begin the process of learning to let myself go as I write. I discovered from Julia Cameron’s amazing book The Artist’s Way, to write three hand written pages of whatever comes into my head. Julia Cameron calls these morning pages.

Ever since I started morning pages a little over a year ago, it has helped me to spit out the negative, and has given me the freedom to be myself.

When I’m writing morning pages, it’s a safe zone. I don’t feel pressure to make the words readable or likeable or marketable. I just choose to be present, to listen to myself and to lean in to my thoughts and feelings.

When you feel the freedom to just exist on the page, you can lean into the process of writing fully.

Intuitively you learn to put it all out there, your whole self, in that private place. You can decide later what should be shared or held back.

I’ve discovered that the more I do this, the more I learn this is the only way for me to really find myself.

Writing these pages in the morning, has helped me to write more authentically as I write fiction, these blogposts and it’s helped me have more freedom to be authentically me as I’ve created and finished the online course for writers.

It’s a scary, but beautiful thing to learn to be fully you on the blank page.

Embracing the uncomfortable

It’s uncomfortable and in many ways downright scary to really let ourselves go. We’re scared of what might come out. We’re terrified of what we might uncover.

What if you began by practicing writing in a journal? What would happen if you just wrote, everyday, without giving your inner critic any room to speak up? What if you just learned to trust yourself?

At first, more than likely it would be really uncomfortable. You would probably have to wrestle. However, you might discover a story – a piece of you – that you didn’t know was there.

By letting go, you might become the person – the writer – you were meant to be all along.

Do you find yourself holding back as you write? I’d love to hear your thoughts on your process of writing in the comments 🙂

hugs, Lorna

*Some of the above links are affiliate links and help to support this blog

The Price of Great Art: Baring it all and Risking Shame

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“When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability. To be alive is to be vulnerable. I love, therefore I am vulnerable.” -Madeleine L’Engle Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art (Wheaton Literary Series)

Artists never stop looking behind the facade for truth.

That’s the thing about art. It involves us letting go of the status quo. It means giving up our safe spot in order to embrace the ever-changing nature of the real world.

At its core, great art involves vulnerability. And sometimes the cost of baring it all might be shame.[Tweet this]

Vulnerability

*Photo Credit By: Katie Shanice  (Creative Commons)

Telling our Secrets

Making our art, can feel a lot like telling a telling a family secret. Secret telling, by its very nature, involves shame and fear.

It asks the question: What will they think of me once they know this part of who I am?

This is a scary question – especially if we have ever been made to feel ashamed for being curious or for wanting to explore different ideas.

The very act of making art exposes people around us to themselves. Art brings things to light. It shines a light on our own darkness. It throws a beam straight to the heart of our own messiness and says “See?”

Art opens closets, airs out the cellars and attics. It brings healing.

Yet, before a wound can heal it must be seen. And sometimes the very act of exposing the wound to air and light, the artist’s act, is often reacted to with shaming. Like bad getting bad reviews.  Or others who tell us how dare you write, or create that rotten piece of art?

Since we as artists cannot control the criticism that comes our way, we find safe places to vent our pain. A spouse that comforts us or a friend who listens to get us through the hard parts of being an artist. 

By telling our shame and vulnerability secrets around the art we create, we release ourselves and others from that darkness that wants to keep us locked up.

It means letting go of our comfort zone.

The Great Exchange

It’s not easy to let go of living in the place where we’re most comfortable.

We have been used to existing afraid to risk.

Our comfort zone doesn’t allow us to be the truth-tellers we long to be. For artists a new safety-zone exists.[Tweetable?]

This is the Great Exchange.

We move away from that which makes us comfortable and welcome that which fills us with fear in order to realize our ultimate goal.

The price all artists pay to create great art, is vulnerability.

This is a part of what makes the artist stand out from the crowd, but it’s also what makes us easy targets. For many people, this vulnerability also triggers feelings of shame, which is something we avoid at all costs.

When you create any kind of art, you connect with your audience. A natural part of that connection brings with it a certain amount of vulnerability. It’s a bit like waving a neon sign that says “Here I am. This is what I have to say. This is what I feel.”

You feel naked. Exposed. Like you are living on the edge of shame, which makes you feel even more vulnerable.

Baring Yourself to the World

Vulnerability is about the story that plays around in your head. Not the one you tell out loud.

Baring your real self to the world is about being willing to stand up in front of the crowd and owning what you have to say.

The thought that we might be shamed can paralyze us. We’ve been brainwashed into believing that perfection is more important than effort.

Each time I write a blog post, a book, a song or anything I put ‘out there’ I struggle with this. I think, “Is this really good enough?” Somewhere along the way, I bought into the myth of perfection.

Yet, that part of me is changing. I’m realizing that what any of us offer to the world involves removing all artifice to bring our art down to its truest essence. This means getting our art into the world in a way that gets rid of the hiding places and excuses.

This makes us vulnerable and increases the risk of exposing ourselves to shame.

Just because someone delivers shame to you, that doesn’t mean you have to accept what’s been given. If we as artists allow shame to be part of our vulnerability we allow it to destroy our work. It’s the ultimate blackhole.

The only real way to be successfully vulnerable is to separate the results of your art from your instinct to feel shamed. While someone can try to shame you, shame must also be accepted in order to be effective. We can’t make you feel shame without your participation.

Truly great art that moves people comes from the artist that has bared her soul. The artificial wall has crumbled to the ground and her hiding place is no more.

The beautiful thing is that now pieces of wall lie at their feet and they are exposed. The artist is now free to take steps toward owning the truth of who they really are.

This is where freedom begins and truly great art is born.

Do you struggle with baring it all as you create your art? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

hugs, Lorna

*Photo Credit By: Katie Shanice  (Creative Commons)

*some of the above links are affiliate links and help to support this blog

Tips on Not Quitting from Walt Disney

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“Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when the business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at their lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.” Walt Disney

Have you ever had so many obstacles thrown at you at once that you felt like giving up and calling it quits? I know I have.

Recently I read about Walt Disney’s life. I was inspired by his persistence to keep going. He didn’t have it easy. There were many hurdles to jump through and tight ropes that he walked in his life. I was amazed that through it all he didn’t give up on his dream. 

Disney

*Photo Credit By: BeccaLillian (Creative Commons)

How Walt Disney Learned Persistence

How did Walt Disney learn to keep at it when the going got tough?

He learned persistence.

Here’s a couple of road blocks that stood in his way, as he tried to establish Disney Studios.

At 21 years of age, while working at an ad company he discovered the world of animation and began making Laugh-O-gram ad reels and animation shorts. Soon the Laugh-O-Grams Films went bankrupt and Disney at 21 years old moved to California with $40 in his pocket. In California he hoped to find work as a director, but instead got a contract for his own work and launched Disney Bros. Studios along with his brother Roy.  

A year later he was focussing on story development and directing and wasn’t working any longer as an animator. However, after several business setbacks Walt and his brother were on the verge of bankruptcy. It was in this stressful time that Walt had the idea for Mickey Mouse. He made a plan to show his seven minute Mickey Mouse Cartoon to several movie executives. His hope was that he could secure a contract and have his short films shown in movie theatres across the US.

One of the movie executives who watched the short film, didn’t laugh at the cartoon, instead he laughed at Disney’s dream. The movie executive told Walt why his dream would never work out. Kids are afraid of mice and moms don’t love them all that much either. No one is going to pay to watch a silly mouse. This will never work. With those words, the movie executive laughed at him and walked out of the theatre.

“When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.” Walt Disney [Tweet this]

Walt Disney didn’t give up. He kept believing in his dream. He worked hard and soon had his three Mickey Mouse films completed. Those short films established Disney Bros. Studio as the leading animation studio in the country.

After he learned more about animation he took a great risk and pioneered his first feature-length film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Putting together this movie was tough. He had to direct the collaboration of more than 600 employees who drew, inked and painted the drawings. There was over 200 years (total) from employees – many of whom worked nights and weekends without extra pay. He managed to secure over $1 million dollars in funding. It took over three years of animation to complete the movie from start to finish.

Walt Disney persisted and believed that not only would people identify and connect with the animated characters, but that his hard work would pay off. When the movie was released on December 21, 1937, it was an amazing success. By May 1939, the movie Snow White, had become the highest-grossing film in American film, earning $6.7 million dollars.

Many times we give up just before there’s about to be a breakthrough. We decide to quit, just at the point when the water is rising high enough that it’s about to burst the dam.

Don’t give up on your dreams. Not when you’re so close to reaping the rewards of all your hard work.[Tweet this]

Be persistent. If you face financial setbacks or have someone whom you respect laugh at your dream, remember Walt Disney. And keep going.

Remember, not everyone will understand your dream. You need to believe in your dream even when others don’t. Having someone tell you that your dream sucks, is painful and for a few seconds you might feel like quitting.

Instead of letting doubt overwhelm you, focus on the people who are waiting for you to make your dream a reality. 

Find people who believe in you and your vision and surround yourself with them. That’s what Walt Disney did. He had people who worked for awhile without pay because they believed in his dream. 

Most importantly, believe in yourself.

Trust the gut feeling and the passion behind the desire you have to create this product, book, course or innovate or invent something new. That’s what you were made to do. It is the right thing. It might look impossible, but take another look. Dig deeper. There’s small steps you can take that will bring you closer every day to making your dream come true.

Don’t quit. Be true to yourself. Create from your heart. Do it in your own authentic voice and let it be about what you passionately believe in.

Have you had obstacles in the path to your dream where you’ve felt like quitting? I’d love to hear your story in the comments.

 

*Photo Credit By: BeccaLillian (Creative Commons)

*Some of the above links are affiliate links and help to support this blog

 

Give Yourself Permission to be You

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“If you show up regularly with generosity, everything else is gonna take care of itself.” Seth Godin

Trust. It’s such a little word that is packed with a lot of punch. It’s something that we all crave, but rarely give to others.

And yet trust is exactly what we are building with others when they read our words, listen to our podcasts or read our books. And when we have trust, we have people’s permission to get into their lives a little bit more.

In a world full of noise, the best way to get attention and keep it is by building trust.

stop waiting - lornafaith

When Waiting for Permission is a Bad Idea

Sometimes waiting for permission is the worst thing you could do.

I mean, we don’t ever want to force what we have to say on someone who doesn’t want to hear it. But the truth is:

No one is going to give you permission to be yourself.

If you want to be a writer, a artist, a musician or whatever your dream is, you must pick yourself.

You can’t wait for someone with all the qualifications to show up on your doorstep to validate you and tell you you’re good enough.

You must begin to let yourself be you.

Why do we wait for permission?

  • We’re anxious that what we’re about to do won’t work out.
  • We’re scared that we’ll fail.
  • We’re insecure of our own gifts and skills.
  • We don’t believe we have anything to offer.

Those are the reasons I waited for years to begin to write my first book. I thought I wasn’t good enough to be an author. So I was convinced I needed to wait for validation from an agent or one of the big publishing houses to tell me that I was a writer.

And honestly, it’s the same fear and nervousness I’m facing now as I’m finishing my next book. It’s scary stepping out into the unknown.

Fear is a very real thing. And it’s true that life throws us all kinds of curve balls that are scary. It’s also true that we’re not as good right now as we could be, but we are good enough to start.

So maybe it’s time that you got started on your dream.

Affirmation from others won’t get rid of fear…

Having someone tell you they love your work, is nice. But that isn’t enough to keep you going day after day. What you really need is the will to keep following your passion when no one cheers you on.

What you’re creating, isn’t easy work, but it’s good work. It hardly ever happens until you realize you have a gift to give to the world.[Tweet this]

All of us are missing out, until you decide to give yourself permission to be you.

This is scary as much as it is exciting. But only you can choose to move forward, tossing aside fear and overcoming the obstacles that stand in your way.

You will need to be brave.

The exciting thing is, that as you take those steps forward, you will gain a sense of momentum that will be hard to shake. And as you continue being brave, you’ll become stronger.

That is if you don’t quit.

Still…

Many of us are still waiting to be picked.

We are hoping someone will give us the keys to the magic kingdom, giving us the right to enter.

But that will never happen.

The truth is, no one can make you begin but you.

And that’s the scary part.

This calling we feel, to be ourselves rests solely on you and me and our willingness to show our true selves to ourselves and to others. And honestly, I can’t think of anything scarier than that.

Choose today to stop waiting for permission. Create the work you love and put it out into the world.

 

Have you been waiting for permission, to begin the work you love? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

 

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