Your Transformational Journey with Fiction by Beth Barany
Today we’re talking about the Your Transformational Journey with Fiction by Beth Barany…
“The way of the mystic and the way of the artist are related, except that the mystic doesn’t have a craft.” — Jean Erdman (1916-)
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I write my novels to bring my readers on a journey of change. By I didn’t know when I was starting out as a novelist, that I was crafting a transformational journey for myself as well.
I wasn’t new to the self-awareness arts, but I thought learning to write a novel was about understanding and crafting a story.
Little did I know that it was also about confronting my greatest fears, expanding my sense of self, and being challenged to go ever deeper with every book.
I didn’t take me long though to realize that I’d signed up for more than learning craft.
Twenty years ago, I realized that I needed to give up on my dream or being a novelist or doing something about — because I wasn’t doing anything about it. Not writing. Only day dreaming.
I looked around for help and joined a local writing group that got me writing — the very thing I wanted and the scariest thing to face.
I realize now that being an artist of any kind is about facing one’s fears and growing one’s self—both as a person in the world and inward as a soul.
I’m not a meditation teacher, though I do include meditations in my classes.
I’m not an NLP practitioner, though I’ve been trained as one, and do include adaptions of that training into teaching fiction and how I help writers.
(Some of those tools are part of our upcoming Plan Your Novel October 2018 workshop. Registration closes Sept. 30th.)
Some writers already have a practice of self-awareness integrated into their lives. Others may seek still to integrate one more deeply into their creative practices.
If you’re looking to explore a self-awareness path or just expand your toolkit for self-knowledge, there’s many paths to explore.
You can explore self-awareness alone or with others. Or both. You can received the help and support of a teacher or peers, or both. You can do your learning live or online.
You may also seek a different modality than the one you may be currently practicing.
Contemplative
— meditation
— prayer
— soulful movement
— reading/study
— changework
— psychotherapy
Creative
— any art form
— journaling
Active
— sports
— walking
— social dancing
— conversation
— activism
What other modalities are there?
As an adult, we have the opportunity to broaden and deepen our relationship with ourselves throughout our lives.
Which path do you choose, if any? What steps will you take on your journey into self-awareness? I’d love to hear.
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ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker, who helps fiction writers experience clarity, so that they can write and polish their novels, and proudly publish them to the delight of their readers.
Owner of the Barany School of Fiction, an online training hub, Beth takes great interest in how humans learn, create, and grow, and includes all her students’ life experiences, including the ancestors, into the moment.
She offers a year-long group program to help novelists edit and publish their novels. See more here.
*Want a course to help you prepare to write your novel? Check out the comprehensive home study Plan Your Novel course here or our annual October intensive here.
*Questions? Just drop Beth a line here.
*Start your writer’s adventure with the Free 5-Day Writer Discovery course here: https://writersfunzone.com/blog/your-writer-discovery-mini-course/.
