Jessica Bayliss
  • Home
  • About
  • Books & Stories
    • BREATHLESS
    • BROKEN CHORDS
    • TEN AFTER CLOSING
    • Anthologies
    • All Books & Stories

It's a Writer Thing - Writer's Block Series Part 4

8/19/2019

7 Comments

 
Picture
​Hello, Wonderful Writers and welcome back to It’s a Writer thing! This is post 4 in my Writer’s Block mini-series. So far, we covered the importance of generating the WHYS of writing, how to generate ENTHUSIASM when the fire is dwindling, and how to generate JOY. (You can read all the past posts by clicking HERE.)

As promised, this time around, I’ll be discussing a visual imaging process.

Visual imagery has been recognized as a useful tool for decades. Psychotherapists teach visual imagery exercises to clients, professional athletes use it as part of their training, surgeons employ imagery to prep for procedures, and the list goes on. I once used it to prepare for a big talk I had to give. I first visited the space where the symposium would be taking place. I got up on the podium, looked out on the auditorium, and took a mental picture. Then, when I practiced my talk, I imagined I was standing at that spot. It helped immensely. I approached that day as though I’d already given tons of lectures from that stage, and in some ways I had! In my head.​
Picture
​Research demonstrates that by engaging in visual imagery, we activate neurons in our brains—the same ones that fire when we’re actually doing the activity we’re visualizing. On a neuronal level, parts of our brains interpret the images as real. In one remarkable study from the Cleveland Clinic, researchers found that by visualizing sets of biceps curls, subjects increased their strength. Their brains sent signals to their muscles even though they hadn’t lifted a single dumbbell. (This also means that I need to start visualizing myself doing squats …) By the way, this neuronal process is part of the reason reading is as powerful as it is.

What does this mean for us writers?

I bet we can come up with dozens of examples (and if you have any good ideas, PLEASE share them in the comments), but I’ll share one important one with you today. I want to share a process for using imagery to ENVISION POTENTIAL.

I started off by naming this “Re-envision Success,” but I realize that title wasn’t quite right. This is why. My most emotionally-powerful moments weren’t the “success” moments, not when I got my agent or book deal. They were when I had my first short story accepted, when I got the first voice mail from my agent (the call), when I found out I was selected for a competition much like Pitch Wars, and when I had a full request from an agent back in my query days. They weren’t “you made it, girl!” moments. They were, “all the good things are possible” moments.

Potential is EVERYTHING. The blank page is potential. A brand new book, spine uncracked, is potential. Every scene is potential.

​Why is potential so important? Potential is EVERYTHING. The blank page is potential. A brand new book, spine un-cracked, is potential. The same with that brand new journal or planner (I’m such a planner fiend). Every scene is potential. Every time we throw a submission or query out there, it’s potential. We do what we do because of the potential for it to result in success, for the joy of reaching our dreams. Losing the ability to see our potential is like cutting the power to a house. You can’t light anything up anymore. 

If we cannot envision potential in our futures, then we’re an empty, dark house with no power. It’s cold, desolate, uninviting. Scary. It’s wasted potential. 

I’ve experienced this particular barrier to my writing. It came at a time that was particularly stressful for me because several disappointments hit me, back-to-back. The result was, I found I had no motivation to sit down and work on my projects. I didn’t want to even think about writing or books or the publishing world. Then, one day, it hit me what was wrong: I’d stopped being able to see good things coming my way. The series of disappointments left me feeling like all all future outcomes on my writing journey would be bad outcomes.

Once I realized what was wrong, I was able to fix it. Here’s what I did.
Picture

Your action steps.

1. RECALL MOMENTS OF POTENTIAL. We all have them even though we’re all at different places in our careers. For someone established, the moment might be a really great first review on a book or that moment when you learn that your editor was liking an idea. For someone just starting out, that moment might be a positive comment from a teacher or a critique partner. It might relate to outcomes or feedback OR it might be more linked to our own actions in writing, such as remembering the first time we hit the 1000 word count point or the 50K point. Another HUGE potential moment for me was the day I finished my first draft of my first book. That is still one of the most incredible days of my life.

You may even want to jot down a list of moments of potential to have on hand in case you’re struggling.

2. BUILD A RICH MENTAL IMAGE. Really recreate it. Generate as much detail as you can. Don’t just focus on the visuals. Summon as much sensory detail as you can. Smell the environment (if that relates to your moment). Imagine the sounds you heard that day.  If other people were involved, pull in memories of the conversations or roles they played.

The day I got my first ever story acceptance, we were doing holiday baking. The smell of kolachi filled the house (and probably my mouth), the Christmas lights were all lit on the tree, and holiday music played. Those sensory details will forever be tied up in my memory of that first YES.

3. FEEL IT: Got your image? The next step is to let yourself feel the emotions you had in that moment. Let them fly. This one is the hardest to explain simply because we all feel our emotions differently, and each emotion can feel different during different situations. My excitement the day I got that first story accepted was WAY different than my excitement when I found a voice mail from my future agent on my cell phone. So, whatever the flavor for YOUR potential moment, try to go back and revisit that as deeply as possible.

The hardest part is building a habit and sticking with it.

​4. COGNITIVE PROCESSING: Now it’s time to process the event COGNITIVELY. To do this, ask yourself some questions. Here are a few examples:

What did that moment mean to you? What were your thoughts? How did that moment change your appraisal of yourself as a writer and what was possible for you? What great things did you imagine happening next? What did you feel empowered to tackle next? What, as a result of that potential-moment, did you try and achieve? What domino effect did that one moment have on your life? How might your life be different today if you never tried?

I know that I NEVER thought I could write a book, so when I remember the potential moment of finishing my first novel involves appraisals of this entire new world that was now in my grasp. I was a writer. Holy BLEEP! When I got the first yes, my appraisals were different. There was a sense of validation, a sense that some outside expert had told me that what I was doing was strong. I was on the right track. And, maybe, more YES’s waited for me in my future.

These emotions and thoughts are SO important. These are part of WHY we’re here to begin with. 

5. REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT. For optimal benefit, build a habit. Why wait to lose the mojo to re-envision potential when you can practice daily? The hardest part is building a habit and sticking with it. Daily visualization doesn’t need to take a long time. Literally, 60 seconds of practice can completely change your mood. It can give you that boost you need to sit down to your WIP with excitement. It can mean the difference between working and not working at all. And it costs you nothing but a little bit of time.

Maybe you’re not into daily meditative exercise. If so, then you can …

6. USE VISUALIZATION STRATEGICALLY. The key is knowing your TRIGGERS for pulling out this process. What are good times to try this? When you’re avoiding your WIP. When you receive negative feedback from a CP or an agent. Or a rejection. If you have to scrap a project that’s just not working (though I have some thoughts on that for a future post). When you find yourself comparing your journey to someone else’s. (I have a hypothesis that jealousy comes when we get so bowled over by someone else’s success that we begin to lose sight of our own potential.) And so on and so on …

That’s it for this month. If you try out this process, let me know how it’s going in the comments. Next month, I’ll switch gears and talk about how to look out for the unhelpful thoughts in your head. Until then, remember, "You can do it! You can write!"
Picture
7 Comments
Priscilla Bettis link
8/19/2019 07:40:18 pm

I use visualization-based meditation. It helps clear clutter from my thoughts. But sometimes, if I'm just worn out and frazzled but still in a good mood, I'll just do breathing exercises with no visualization. So for me, it depends what my mindset is.

Reply
Jessica Bayliss link
8/19/2019 08:44:46 pm

Absolutely, Priscilla! The breathing is definitely perfect for calming and relaxation, whereas the visualization I describe here SHOULD actually energize and excite us. It's so interesting how practices that roughly fall under "meditation" can have very different effects on us.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!

Reply
Amanda Dejong link
8/20/2019 07:27:48 pm

This was so needed!!! I’m certified in Clinical Hypnotherapy & also write. My book was rejected by an agent I really wanted, and even though the feedback was excellent, it still hurt. I was told the voice, plot, tension, climax and characters worked, but the ending felt unfinished. (My intention was to make it book one in a series). The advice was to wrap up the ending and I agree with her assessment. So, after a good cry I brain stormed how I would do it, but then became so fearful I couldn’t sit down to type. I just kept thinking how close yet so far I was. I totally forgot all the visualization techniques I had learned, let alone thought to apply them to my writing!!! Thanks for the reminder. Seriously, this is just what I needed. (I think I’ll try to enter this new version into Pitch Wars. Fingers crossed. 🤞🏻)

Reply
Jessica Bayliss
8/21/2019 05:33:00 am

Hi, Amanda. Sometimes the most helpful rejections are still the most gutting. I definitely know that feeling. How great to get feedback, though, not that it lessens the sadness and disappointment. And it's so funny how we can be experts in something when it comes to helping others, but still need the extra support when we're working through something ourselves. How cool that you're a clinical hypnotherapist! I love teaching all the various practices to my clients. It's funny how we can underestimate something like breathing or visualization, but when they TRY it, they're blown away.

Thanks for sharing your story here!

Reply
Melissa Menten
8/20/2019 10:03:26 pm

Very timely article for me. I have been avoiding writing/revising all summer because the lone agent who requested my MS gave me feedback on what she didn't like that I can't brainstorm a solution to. I need to work on envisioning what direction to take that might solve that revision problem and also decided what my next project will be. Thank you for helping with motivation!

Reply
Jessica Bayliss
8/21/2019 05:43:45 am

Hi, Melissa. I'm so glad that you're feeling like you can use this process get back into the writing. When we get helpful feedback, it can feel like all we can see is what's not working, and that can definitely mess with our emotions, our confidence, our motivation. Losing the drive to work on our stories is such an empty feeling. To me, the most important part of it is to keep writing something, even if we have to take a break from the project that needs revising to get some perspective. And the funny part is, sometimes what helps with plotting THIS story is getting started sorting out the NEXT book. Something might spark as you start laying out your new project that will serve the one you're feeling stuck on. I know, however, that if you keep at it, you WILL find the right solution for your book. It's your story; the answer is in your head there, somewhere.

Thank you so much for sharing!

Reply
Connecticut Sensual Hookup link
12/3/2022 04:38:21 am

This waas great to read

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe
    Jessica Bayliss Blogs about reading, writing, & other fun stuff

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Allegory EZine News
    Award News
    BREATHLESS
    BROKEN CHORDS
    Contest News
    Craft
    Feedback Mini Series
    Giveaways
    Guest Posts
    Inspiration & Motivation
    It's A Writer Thing
    Latest News
    Live Events
    Pitch Wars
    Release News
    Submission News
    Tech & Gadgets
    TEN AFTER CLOSING
    The Business Side
    THE FIVE SENSES
    There's A Story There
    Utter Randomness
    What I Want Wednesday
    What's New?
    Writer's Block Series
    Writer Wellness
    ZOMBIE CHUNKS

    Archives

    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.