First you must die!
I ignored the obituary.
Setting the book aside was a choice that locked my brakes and halted forward motion—a pity—because there’s so much to explore, and time keeps walking, even if I’m sitting.
After several weeks of procrastination, I picked up a pen and notebook and eulogized my life. If you could have been or done anything what would it be? How do you want to be remembered? Kind of like standing in front of fifty cereal varieties and deciding which five you’d like to eat every day for the rest of your life, but more important, with a side effect of coming face to face with all of the nooks, crannies and canyons where you’re falling short.
Ever tried writing your life story in the past tense?
Through the process, I uncovered all kinds of great adventures I should start working on right now, you know—while I still can.
Writer Get Noticed by Colleen Story sends the reader on an archaeological dig to discover the why behind a writer’s efforts…. not the sort of book you can read lounging in a recliner or on a beach towel. You’ve got to get out your tools, solve problems and ask yourself a lot of questions like:
What were some of your childhood strengths? What’s your writing goal and how do you see the accomplishment changing your life? How much pain can you handle—drudgery, emotional, financial, security? List your strengths—ugh! I hate these kinds of lists!
But…I’m 1/3 of the way through the book and even though my answers aren’t surprising me, they are assembling into a frame where I can move pieces, see patterns, and create a picture of where I want to go.
It’d be easier to kick back and watch or read somebody else’s creative accomplishments, but that’d make for a pretty dull obit. Gail enjoyed watching TV and reading historical fiction. The end.
Writer Get Noticed presents a ten question pop quiz—like the kind you’d find in a magazine. If you were a tree, would you be a maple? an oak? a birch? What shape would you choose for your leaves, round? heart-shaped? oval?
The analysis key, compiling A,B,C,D and F answers left me blinking and thinking. For six out of ten questions, I chose D even though A,B,C and E raised their hands, too. Choose the answer that resonates most strongly the directions said. Tally your answers to find your primary motivation.
A= Achievement and Recognition
B= Connection and Relationships
C= Independence and Freedom
D= Creative Fulfillment and Transcendence (Really? Tell me more!)
E= Influence and Power
Sometimes a person, book, article, experience…..or quiz, points out something we’d not find without a nudge.
What are you reading? Who are you meeting? Where are you going?