A Counterintuitive Step for Finishing Your Story by Veronika Magali-Marosy
Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Veronika Magali-Marosy as she shares with us “A Counterintuitive Step for Finishing Your Story.” Enjoy!
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What do you do, when the pieces of your story are there, but they just won’t fall into place and anything you do to help it, seems to backfire?
It’s a place of agony and despair, as whatever you do seems to do nothing but mess things up even more. The good news is, you’re probably closer to finishing your story than you think.
Enter the spy guy
If you’d write a comedy version of a spy story, it’d include a scene, where the main character, a.k.a. spy guy arrives at the most important part of the mission, but he’s in trouble. He’s stuck in one place, because if he picks up his right leg, the alarms will go off and he’s caught. But he needs to get going, because it’s almost time for the bad guys to come back to their base. What is he to do?
The information spy guy needs to sabotage the evil plan of the bad guys is right in front of him. He needs to get it, disarm the bomb and sneak back out to report to the special units, but it’s just not happening. He’s trapped and he’s panicking.
Likely, when you finish writing your story, everything is there. You have a storyline, the main character, the conflict, the resolution. But somehow, it seems like it’s just a big messy blob of words. You may be panicking.
The mess gets bigger
In our “Mission Impossible” comedy, the spy guy would become extremely clumsy when he’s nervous. Every breath he takes makes him sink even deeper into trouble. Every move he makes, only makes his situation worse.
This is how it feels when your story is there, the pieces are there, but it hasn’t come together just right. And whatever edits you make, it seems to mess things up even worse.
Finishing Your Story: Is there a way out?
What does the spy guy need to do in this situation? The moment our spy guy realizes where he stands, he stops. He probably gets distracted by a rat running away with a sandwich he was eyeing on the desk, but then…. Magic happens!
He suddenly sees the plan. He sees the blueprint of the enemy base, remembers all the alarms and potential traps, and sees where he can disarm the bomb and steal the critical information.
It all shows up when he slows down.
Similarly, whenever you feel like your story is chaotic, whenever you feel like you don’t see the forest from the trees, it’s time to let it rest.
Take a rest from writing. Your story is there, but it needs clarity to emerge in its most amazing form.
Getting away, but not like you thought
A great and easy-to-access way to take a rest and really recharge your creative energy is to meditate with a transcendence meditation.
These are the meditations, where you go beyond what you can perceive with your senses. You clean the slates, so to speak, like sniffing the aroma of coffee in between smelling different perfumes.
In these types of meditations, you seek the silence in between the repetitions of a mantra or word.
This is how to do it:
- Choose a short mantra or a word. The meaning is not important for the meditation, it’s the resonance, that counts. Choose something that feels refreshing if you feel tired of working on your story or calming if you feel panicky.
- Sit down in a comfortable position. It’s not important to sit in perfect lotus. Choose a position, where you can relax and won’t be bothered by aches and pains. It’s all about the ease!
- Say the mantra silently in your mind. You don’t need to move your lips or tongue, let the mantra come to you effortlessly, like any other thought.
- Whenever you notice you get distracted, repeat the mantra and look for the silence that comes just after you repeat it.
If you’d like to be led through a mantra meditation, you can meditate with me here.
The fertile emptiness
When you let your senses rest, you create space for integration. This is why deep sleep is so important. We need it, so we can “digest” all the information and experience we gather during the day and wake up refreshed and a little wiser every day.
That is why when the elements of your story are there, you need to create the space for integration, letting each part find its own place.
Here’s to your creative success!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Veronika is a mother, former illustrator, meditation teacher and a recovering master procrastinator. She helps creative entrepreneurs, freelancers and working parents, who are dedicated to make a difference in the world, but who struggle with staying productive.
Website: www.nosywitty.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nosywitty
Insight Timer: www.insighttimer.com/VeronikaMaMa
