Setting the Stage for Your Creative Work

How I set the stage; a personal recorded visualization just for you!; a note on envy...

Hello all! Happy May!

From the bathroom of Elliot Bay Book Company

I’m in the middle of writing a first draft of my latest novel and it has me thinking about plot in some major ways. I have reached the moment I knew I was writing toward, and am now left to consider what the hell happens next. I don’t worry too much about this part because to me, this is the fun part, and in my experience, will always reveal itself if I set the stage properly for insights to come through.

This post will be about what this “setting the stage” looks like for me in practice and hopefully you will find it useful in some way for your own writing. I have also included a recorded version of the guided visualization I wrote for the novel class Kimberly King Parsons and I taught (a definite way I like to set the stage for my writing)! This recording will invite you to consider the beginning, middle, and end of your novel and reframe the way we think about our projects. I have found I really enjoy writing and recording these visualizations, and soon you will be able to access a library of them through Kim and I’s forthcoming platform, The Fountain.

During the class, I read it live and was amazed by the response some students had. It proved to me what I already knew but constantly need reminding of—things do not have to be perfect to get the job done. In fact, just me reading the script and setting the stage was enough for many students to have deep insights, and even shed a few tears. This I hope is also a reminder that if you are on the fence about self recording your own affirmations because you’re not sure you will sound “good enough”, it’s really the intention that matters most to pave the way for huge shifts to come through.

This ten minute audio recording and the bulk of the post is for paid subscribers only—I had a number of people ask to make it available in the class, and I am happy now to offer it here in the following section about visualizations.

Before I get into the paid content, a few things:

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Miranda July for Portland Monthly all about her new novel ALL FOURS, which I loved. What a freaking dream. Read it here!

Kim and I will be doing a talk for Creative Mornings! We were so thrilled to be asked to do this and I’ll share more information soon. It will be happening live in Portland in July, but the great thing is that they record it so it will be available everywhere, and I’ll be sure to post it! We are really excited for these opportunities to teach together and do these talks that we hope are highly inspirational. This one’s theme is “Trust.”

Madwoman was just named a Zibby’s Summer Read for the category “Books that Make you Tremble.” And though it comes out in September, you can certainly pre-order it this summer! wink wink.

I have been listening to The Girlfriends podcast again because season two is out! I love this podcast so much—It’s about a group of incredible women who work together to find justice for Gail Katz who was murdered by her husband in 1985 by solving her cold case themselves. I don’t partake in true crime personally—I’ve lived too much true crime, thank you very much—but this is not that. This is about women standing up for women and never forgetting victims of domestic violence. I urge you to listen to season one before season two. I wrote to Carole Fisher, the host of the podcast, and she wrote me back the kindest message that I will re-read and re-read again. I love when the internet works that way. When hearts connect in this way.

I am curious what everyone is reading and loving right now? I am reading a few novels in manuscript form that aren’t out yet, and then mostly reading books that pertain to my new project. These books happen to be everything I can get my hands on about near death experiences, mediums, psychic stuff, signs, and angel communication. The work chooses us, what can I say?

To read this post in full, consider becoming a paid subscriber! I am really enjoying connecting with this community and I feel like I’m finding my stride as far as what feels good to write about. Thanks for joining me, xo, C